Every student will sign up to do a short (roughly 5 minutes) presentation based on a reading or resource they’ve chosen for the week’s specific theme. Three or four students will present, in the second half of the three-hour seminar, each week on the same topic but on a different reading that they have found. In this way, we will “crowdsource” a reading list beyond  what I assign you. It will allow you to tailor the course content to your areas of interest and encourage you to do active research at an early stage. It will also encourage you to deepen and broaden your own “personal learning networks” for future reference.

Process:

• In the second class, you will all sign up for one of the themes/subject areas and form a group of 4 or 5 students. That you will be assigned a date for your group to lead the discussion.
• Immediately begin reading, researching, surfing the webt, checking uSource, consulting Twitter, scanning UVic and other academic Experts Lists to shortlist possible articles, essays, online videos, podcasts, or other material that shed light on the week’s theme or subject area. Talk to me long before the deadline, if you are struggling with your search.
• Choose your favourite: a story/resource with an idea that will provoke us to think in new ways or offers an interesting example to discuss. Readings should be article-length; viewings less than 20 minutes, ideally shorter.
• On the Wednesday before the due date (AT THE LATEST!), send me the link to the resource, or a scanned PDF, or bring a paper copy to class for me to scan and upload to our site.
• We will all read or view the resource over the next week.
• In the second half of class, you will join a panel of other students. You will each give a short overview of the resource, discuss its strengths and weaknesses, and begin a discussion with the class with one or more open-ended questions (i.e., not yes or no).
• It’s meant to be a casual panel discussion, rather than a formal presentation (that comes later). So no need for A/V wizardry or wearing your business attire.

Evaluation (5%)

• You will earn up to 5 marks toward your final grade based on the originality and relevance of your chosen resource; the clarity in which you summarize and explain the ideas to the class; the strength of your delivery and use of audio-visual aids; the depth of learning achieved in the discussion that follows.