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Group Project
Purpose:
While this is not a course that is intended nor designed to be a
systematic study of the world's religions (there are other courses for
this), I often find that students are anxious to learn more about a
specific religion. This project is intended to give you the opportunity to
do just this while seeing an example of how the pieces of religion fit
together to form a systematic and interrelated whole.
Objectives: Upon completion of this project students
will be able to
- apply the principles of an academic
study of religion to learn about a specific religion of personal
interest
- demonstrate how the various
dimensions of religion common to most religions manifest themselves in
the context of a single, specific religion, working together in a
comprehensive and systematic whole.
- be able to locate and evaluate
credible and reliable websites and incorporate information from those
sources into a research project
- work cooperatively as part of a team to produce a creative
presentation of factual information
- reflect on your learning as well as the team process
Overview:
Select one specific religion and locate and use at least three
websites (to include at least one "insider" site, if
possible) (other sources, such as books, may also be used) to gather
additional information on the religion to help you compile an overview of
the religion (demographics, beliefs, practices, etc). Address the multiple
dimensions of religion you learn about in the course. Submit a
presentation on the religion as a systematic whole.
Presentation format may be a series of PowerPoint
slides (may use Google
Docs Presentation). a Prezi,
a series of webpages, a video/podcast or
other such creative presentation (no traditional papers,
please).
Illustrations/images should be included. A paragraph of
information (or series of bullet points) for each topic should suffice for
most religions. Some religions will lend themselves more to some topics
than others.
Individually students will:
- submit a personal reflection (a paragraph)
on what you learned: What three aspects of the
religion interested you most and why?
- complete a peer evaluation
- ask and answers questions about the presentations
The group process:
- Choose
a religion to research: Group members will be comprised of students who
express interest in researching the same religion. Two or more students
may request to work together and decide together to research a given
religion. I may assign an additional one or two classmates to work with
you if they also choose to research the same religion. First
claimed, first served: once four students are assigned to a
group, others desiring to research the same religion will have to make a
second choice. So stake your claim early!
- Group work will proceed over a three week period with time in
class for group meetings (meeting dates noted on class
schedule). However, you may also want to meet or otherwise
communicate with each other outside of class. A group space will be
created for each group in the Blackboard course site. This space will
make it easy for you to share your research findings and communicate
with each other outside of class, even if you cannot all meet in person
outside of the classroom. Each "group space" will contain a
group discussion board, group blog, group chat area, group file
exchange, group e-mail and other group tools.
- Group members may organize themselves as they choose.
A "group manager" will be selected the first week of
the project. A Project Designer (key person) will also be selected. Divide the
topics and tasks
(roles) amongst group members and
consolidate your findings into a single presentation (submit a single
collaborative project). A project time line and list of tasks is
provided to assist with your work.
- Once the project is submitted, group members will complete a
peer review to let me know to what degree each member of the
group contributed to the project. The group grade will be adjusted as
necessary so students who do more than their fair share will get a
higher grade than students who do less than their fair share. Equal
participation in the process is part of your individual grade for the
project.
- Each group member will write a paragraph
reflecting on their learning: What three aspects of the religion
interested you most and why?
- Presentations will take place in class during the last few weeks of
the semester. All projects are due on the same date (see
class schedule) even if not all groups present on that day (no group
will get more time to do their work than others). Finished projects
should be submitted to the Blackboard course site (see directions on the
course site) so they can be readily accessed for presentation in class.
- Presentations should take approximately 10-15 minutes and will be
followed by questions from the class to be answered by the group
members. Every group member is expected to answer at least one
question and should also ask a question of at least two of
the other projects when you are in the audience. Asking and
answering questions is part of your individual grade for the project.
Grading: The entire
project is worth 15% of your course grade, sub-divided as follows:
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