Thoughts on Presentations, Round 2

First, let me apologize for the lack of donuts - it was a crazy morning and, well - I owe you.

Let's talk presentations:

Matt and Manan: Where to begin? I dug the tone. I thought a few of your slides (especially the one that portrayed the African-American person on crack) were over the top. Still, I think humor is a good way to go here. It kept our attention, that's for sure. I also liked how you incorporated "institutional plagiarism" into the mix. Humor is a double-edged sword: it draws people in, but it can obscure your message. 12 points.

Kisha and Marcus: Solid presentation. I like the idea of an online tutorial, although I'm thinking that it should be part of a broader website. The trick is to get folks to use it once, then convince them to come back again and again. I also thought that the text in your examples could have been a bit easier to read - spaces between paragraphs, highlighting or bolding key terms - that sort of thing. 13 points.

Joby and Kurt: Great flow to your presentation. Using non-Glass examples, as it were, is a good idea, since not everyone who commits plagiarism, or who fabricates all or part of an article is a pathological liar like Glass. But is exposing someone as a liar enough of a punishment in our day and age, where we treat liars (Glass, Blair, Barnicle, etc.) like rock stars? Make sure you also clearly explain "trust" - I like to think of it as a contract between the reader (who plunks down 50 cents for the paper) and the journalist. 14 points.

Amanda, Kesun, and Andrew: The skit was a terrific idea. It raises the question, though: why do we have to be entertained all the time? I'm all for making learning painless, but at some point you have to bring folks back to earth and teach them the concepts. I don't think you need the movie at all - just a bit more prefatory material before the skit, and perhaps a section that involves the audience - "what would you do here?" - that kind of thing. 13 points.

All in all, a terrific batch of ideas. Thanks for sharing them with me. I have two final papers to hand back (Sarah/Jenna, and Amanda/Kesun/Andrew. I'll be happy to get them back to you next term. You can stop by my office, or email me.

I also have noticed that a few of you owe me some of the earlier (1-4) papers - please get them to me by Thursday, or else I'll be unable to grade them before I have to submit final grades.

Please stay in touch, and have a great holiday.