Week 12 Discussion Guide: Tuesday and Thursday

        For your own presentation, prepare as if you were about to give a speech to professional colleagues.  Briefly outline the issue you are researching, why it's important, what specific sources you have used and what each source is saying about the issue.  If you still have problems you still need to solve, describe them and ask us to help.  As you did in the biographical research project for the Hawthorne paper, use a handout to distribute the preliminary bibliographic documentation page.  Try to compress your talk to between three and five minutes, and be ready to answer questions afterward.

        While you are in the audience, listen carefully to the presentations, taking notes. Ask yourself if you really understand the terms used and the nature of the issues being described.  If not, wait until after the presentation and request explanation of key terms. Suggest solutions to the problems the presenters raise, and help them focus their theses and discover potential implications of their research.   Check the sources for possible quality problems.  If necessary, follow up on the discussion after class.  I believe that getting writers to reach this level of collegial cooperation is an important part of English 105's mission in Goucher's curriculum.  If your suggestions are acknowledged by the paper's author in the paper, I will give you extra credit on your own research project's grade.