Thursday, October 16, 2008

Class 10.16.08

I liked the way class began today. I thought it was helpful how Prof. Dean explained what the plan was for the next few class meetings. I always get nervous because there is not technically a syllabus set in stone so I am always afraid we will have a big assignment due when I am not expecting it.
When we split into groups before the power point presentations, Prof. Dean spoke to the two groups that had already gone. I think her comments were very helpful and something we could take and learn from for future projects. I did feel like our presentation was seven separate presentations instead of one unified one. I know I felt rushed to put together something that the teacher would like and help me receive a good grade. I like taking my time on projects, especially with power points because presentations can be tricky. However, I definitely understand what Prof. Dean was saying about a lack of a central theme with ours. Prof. Dean made a comparison of making a presentation for your job in the real world. Would you just put something up and not really know what it meant? No. I would make a power point with a main concept or theme that showed the importance of what I was speaking about. I think this comparisons showed that maybe the first couple groups were not as prepared as the thought and tried to take the easy way out. Maybe? Not sure. 
After the first presentation of class today when we had a chance to comment on the presentation and what they group spoke about, I was a tad confused. I felt that Prof. Dean was asking us more about how the groups presenting skills were when I thought the more important question would be how they comprehended the material and presented the most important concepts. I am not saying critiquing a presentation is not important because it definitely is, but other students did not necessarily remark on the content from the book.  I am fault because I commented on the presentation when I had a chance to speak about the groups content from the reading material. 
I thought the last presentation given today was great. I think the group had a very solid foundation of the main topics of Rebooting America. They presented the material very well and I liked the examples the group used. I thought the group broke down the reading into four simple, easy to understand concepts that allowed everyone to follow easily. I think maybe that is what separated a good presentation from a not so good presentation. One main and big reason why I think this group was above and beyond other was because they were organized. The group only had four people. Does a group size matter? Do smaller groups work more efficiently? Hmm...
As the class neared the end, I think we a productive discussion about the class and what is to come. I think Merel brought up an interesting question about reading assignment and class expectations posted on the internet. I spoke about this earlier in this post and in other posts. I have said that I like how Prof. Dean takes a step back at the beginning of class and clears the air of what is to come in the next few weeks.  I like how she puts the work on the LocationF8 site and then says it in more detail at the beginning of class. 
Looking forward to learning how to put a video together!

Sam

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