Discussion Forum for Mid-term

Procedure

1. Preparations in advance.

Each team will be the unit of presentation. The order of the presentation is drawn one week ahead. The instructor will announce, in advance, a list of topics taken from course material—text book and material on line.

2. Drawing topic:

At the presentation time, each team will take turns drawing a topic. Each topic will be used only once.

3. Preparation (10 minutes):

After the group has drawn a topic, it will have ten minutes to finalize and coordinate its preparation outside of the classroom. Students should apply words and phrases they learned in class.

4. The Forum (8 minutes in principle)

Each group has ten minutes for the forum—five or six minutes for presentation and two to three minutes for discussion. (If the group is small, the time may be reduced)

(a) In the presentation phase, members take turns to present their ideas on the topic. Each person has about one minute (about 150 words).

(b) The discussion phase is two minutes. Group members will ask questions, voice opinions, suggestions and comments to their peers. The primary goal for the discussion phase is to keep alive the flow of conversation. (Avoid dramatization. Just discussion.)

5. Follow-ups from the audience (2 minutes):

After each forum finishes, the instructor as well as the whole class will have a follow-uptime. They may ask questions or add to the discussion of the forum topic.

6. While one team starts the forum, the next group draws their topic and go outside to prepare for ten minutes. This procedure repeats until all groups finish their forums.

7. Time management is important. The presentations will be timed.

Evaluation

Each student will receive two scores: one for their individual performance and and one for team performance. Both evaluations will be based on content (including organization) and English.

Topics for Mid-term, Spring 2008

1. Cuttlefish—master of camouflage

2. Traffic jam on the internet

3. Complain about public conduct

4. Social responsibilities

5. Life in Mega Cities

6. The benefits of (cer tain) pets

7. Opinions about the treatment of animals

8. Compare/contrast animal characters

9. Values of animal conservation