Geography 423: Pacific Rim: A Human-Environment Approach

Reading abstracts/outlines and discussion leadership

 

 

Time-frame of assignment: term-long

Percentage of final grade: 10%

 

Task:  Throughout this course, you will be called upon individually or in a small group to provide an outline of one of or a portion of a reading and then lead the discussion in class for the section of the reading that you cover.  You may also wish to write a short (no more then 200 words maximum) abstract of what is covered in your reading, this is optional but can be a very useful way of leading others into your notes.  If you are working in a small group, each member will turn in an independent assignment demonstrating their own contribution,.  It is expected that you will most likely divide the reading into logical parts and each take a portion for presentation purposes.

 

Submission:  These materials are to be typed, and electronically submitted individually prior to class-time to the instructor. Please also bring handouts to share with the class.

            e-mail:  Patrick@cc.wwu.edu

 

 

Structure: In your outline, be sure to include the following items:

 

1.  Reference to the reading at the beginning and if you are outlining less then the entire reading indicate the pages your outline covers and if it comes from a chapter from book indicate the Chapter title.

 

For Example

 

Outline of Pages 298 – 310 from Chapter 8: A Drier World: The Summer of 1988

IN

Opie, John. 2000.  Ogallala: Water for a Dry Land. Lincoln, NB: University of Nebraska Press.

 

 

Other reference examples

Journal Article Example:

Karon, B. P. (1990). The fear of understanding schizophrenia and the avoidance of the acutely disturbed student. Journal of American College Health, 39, 61-72.

Chapter or Article in an Edited Book or Anthology Example:

 Fonagy, P. (2004). Psychodynamic therapy with children. In H. Steiner (Ed.), Handbook of mental health interventions in children and adolescents: An integrated developmental approach. (pp. 621-658). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Check the Library web page for reference methods:

 

 

2.  Optional Abstract if you so desire, keep this to less then 200 words and use full sentences.  Writing this could make you presentation to class much, much better.

 

3.  Outline notes on the reading.  Use a standard outlining format.

 

1.  Main idea 1

    - detail 1

    - detail 2

      - further detail 2.1

    - detail 3

      - further detail 3.1

      - further detail 3.2

2.  Main idea 2

3.  Main idea 3

etc.

 

 

Utilize headings in the reading to help you organize your outline.  Use tabular format not prose.  You may wish to clearly differentiate between theories/hypotheses and evidence for them.

 

*These notes will be a combination of your own words with information such as titles and/or key ideas verbatim (in quotes) from the reading.  Be sure that you are carefully using all of these approaches to your maximum benefit. These notes are also to be YOUR OWN WORK and not that of your peers. Each person will hand in there own notes even if several of you work on the same reading.

 

What this is not: These outline notes are not your journal

The purpose of these notes is to prepare you to lead the discussion in front of the class and to assist your classmates as they study the chapter.  That means these are a much more in depth look at the materials then would occur in your notes.

 

 

Expectations of the project:

The purpose of your outline is three-fold:

  • First and foremost, it adequately breaks down the logic of the argument being provided in the reading. 
  • Second, this is intended act as a catalyst for you to use in leading the classroom discussion.
  • Last, and most important, it is designed to help you understand the reading and start the process of thinking critically about the reading.

 

How to study web page http://www.cse.buffalo.edu/~rapaport/howtostudy.html