Effective Presentations

The ability to deliver an effective presentation isn't just an AP Seminar skill - it's a critical life skill. People who can communicate clearly are in demand in almost every industry.

Therefore, I spent a lot of time this year coming up with activities and lessons to teach my students how to put together a good presentation.  Today I'm sharing the activity that we started with.

First, I gave my students a copy of this HANDOUT.  Then I had them watch two presentations:

1.  Steve Jobs presenting the first iphone (we only watched the first 10 minutes of this presentation)

2.  Bill Gates presenting a new touchscreen

After we'd watched the two presentations, the students discussed the differences in body language, language, slide style and confidence of both speakers.

But here's the twist!

After we'd discussed the presentations, I told the students that they had one more thing to do.  They had to turn their handouts over and make two columns - one for the iphone and one for the touchscreen.  Then they had 2 minutes to write down as many facts as they could remember the speakers relaying about each.

When the time was up, every student had more facts about the iphone.  Most could barely remember anything about the touchscreen.

This activity was a great way to introduce the idea that a great presentation includes slides that are intended to assist the audience's understanding of the topic.  It's explained in simple, easy-to-understand language and it focuses on the most important information that the speaker wants to convey.

Effective Peer Review

I'll be the first to admit that I did not do a good job last year of teaching my students to peer review each other's work.

I thought it would be enough to teach my students about how their papers and presentations would be scored, hand them a copy of the rubric and let them start scoring.  Suffice it to say, the results were not good.   Students got contradictory advice - "This paper was great!  Good job!" would be scribbled next to "This paper was very weak."  I think most of my students would have agreed that the Peer Review didn't help them at all.

Which was sad, because peer review is a powerful tool when students apply it well.  Not only does it allow them to help one another - it also improves their own understanding of the subject matter.

Rather than scrap the idea of peer review,  I completely changed my approach.

1.  TRAIN STUDENTS TO PEER REVIEW

I realized that one of the the main problem was that the students didn't have a firm understanding of the how their papers were scored, so I started by breaking down the College Board rubrics into simpler to understand language.  I also focused on one Row of the rubric at a time.

The students read three sample IRRs.  Every day for about two weeks, we spent about fifteen minutes of class talking about how to score each paper in a single Row.  We practiced until the students were almost as well trained in grading as I was.

2.  LESS IS MORE

Once my students were trained,  I divided them into groups.  Each group consisted of 4 students who were considered the "experts" in a single Row.  When we had a set of draft IRRs, we divided them so that each group of students had a small number of drafts to read through and score in just their Row. By the end of class, the IRRs have circulated through each group and each one had an accurate score for each Row. In addition, the students left great feedback for one another on their papers.  Instead of comments like "This paper was weak,"  students got comments like, "you need to add another perspective to your argument" and "dont' forget to add attributive phrases to indicate the credibility of the author you're quoting."

Outline for Performance Task 1 IRR

I was lucky to have a great English teacher in high school.  When you left her class, you knew how to write an essay.  Her favorite thing to say was "Never start to write until you know what you want to say."  Before we started writing anything in her class, we had to prepare an outline first.

Her favorite thing to say was "Never start writing until you know what you want to say."  Before we started writing anything in her class, we had to prepare an outline first.  An outline was the skeleton that would give form to our writing.

When I first started teaching, I was shocked to find that most students just dive write into writing their paper, whether they have a good idea of what they actually want to write or not.  The result was always a rambling, illogical mess.

For the first Performance Task for AP Seminar, I developed this OUTLINE to help my students organize the elements that must be included in a successful IRR.

After they've come up with their group topics, my students spend about a week to two weeks doing research, finding evidence and filling out this outline.  Almost all of my students admit that it's the hardest part of writing the IRR.

Once they've submitted their IRR outlines, we do a peer review to improve them and to identify any weaknesses in their arguments.

Only then do they actually get down to the business of writing their IRRs.  The great thing about the rubric is that it forces the students to think about the elements that are most important to the IRR scoring.  In addition, it helps them to develop logical arguments where the claims are supported by strong evidence.

I hope you find it as helpful as my students do!

Grading Standards 2, 3 & 4

In previous posts this week, we've analyzed how Rows 1, 5 & 6 for the Individual Research Reports from Performance Task 1 are graded. Today we'll finish with Rows 2, 3 and 4.

Each of these rows can be assigned a score of 2, 4 or 6.

ROW 2:  Understanding &  Analyzing Argument

To get a perfect score of 6 for this row, the Performance Task must:

• Incorporates specific information from sources (uses quotations or paraphrase)
• Establishes a Line of Reasoning in the research
• Offers a solution to the stated problem

To obtain a perfect score for this section, students have to use specific, cited information from their sources in their Individual Research Reports. This information can be paraphrased or include a direct quotation and must be cited. The evidence must be judiciously chosen to support the line of reasoning in the paper. If the student is just throwing in random quotations, they will not score well in this Row.

In addition, their argument must offer at least one possible solution to the stated problem.

ROW 3:  Analyzing Sources & Evidence

To get a perfect score of 6 for this row, the Performance Task must:

• Controls development of the argument - sources are used deliberately to build the argument (again, the sources are not just thrown in as random, loosely-related facts)
• Credibility is addressed through attributive introductions

The first criteria for Row 3 seems redundant to me since using the sources to build an LOR in the argument is already part of the criteria for Row 2.

The second criteria addresses the student's ability to evaluate the credibility of a source.

For example, a student could introduce a fact or direct quotation by employing attributive introductions like the following:

According to John Smith, an expert in the field, ... 

Jane Doe, a renowned scientist, states that...

As published in the highly respected Journal of the American Chemical Society, ...

Row 4:  Understand and Analyze Perspective

To get a perfect score of 6 for this row, the Performance Task must:

• Discuss the topic through a range of perspectives
• Draw relevant connections between the perspectives

Again, this Row seems redundant to me, since perspectives are already part of the grade for Row 1. I'm not sure why the College Board includes some of the criteria in multiple rows, but it is what it is.

I hope this discussion of the grading for the IRR for PT 1 has been helpful to some of the newer teachers.  

Next week, I'll share some of my PT1 Outlines that help my students make sense of Performance Task 1.  

Grading Standard 1

Row 1 of the Rubric for the Individual Research Report of Performance Task 1 is arguably the most important since it directs the standards for the entire paper.  Prepare yourself - this is a long post!

Students can score a 2, 4 or 6 on this Row.

Row 1:  Understanding &  Analyzing Context

To get a perfect score of 6 for this row, the Performance Task must:

1. Clearly identify an area of investigation within one lens
2. Identify multiple perspectives within that lens
3. Show connections among perspectives through the use of transitions and in the conclusion
4. Address counterarguments/limitations
5. Discuss viable solutions to the problem
6. Demonstrate use of a wide variety of sources in formulating the argument

This Row basically sets the outline for the entire IRR. It's imperative that your students understand how they'll be scored in this row. If they don't understand the grading, they probably don't truly understand what they have to write.

1. Each student will examine their group's argument from a different lens.  Remember, the eight lenses are: scientific, economic, environmental, social & cultural, ethical, artistic & philosophical, political & historical and futuristic.

2. Within that lens, they must identify at least two perspectives.

For example:

If a group is arguing that the United States should expand its nuclear energy resources, one student might argue from an economic lens that nuclear energy is cost-effective compared to other sources of energy because uranium is relatively inexpensive compared to other sources of energy (perspective 1). In addition, the costs for running a nuclear reactor are low (perspective 2).

A second student might write from a futuristic lens and argue that switching to nuclear energy is wise since there is a limitless fuel source, while fossil fuels are expected to run out (perspective 1). In addition, nuclear energy does not produce greenhouse gases and could help to minimize the threat of global warming (perspective 2).

3. This component of the grade relates to writing style. The student must use effective transitions to show connections between the perspectives. Basically, the perspectives have to be linked to the same issue - they can't just be random ideas that are thrown together. 

For example:

A student might write, "In addition to the low fuel costs for nuclear reactors, the reactors themselves have low running costs."

"In addition to" relates the low running costs for the reactors to the low fuel costs and strengthens the overall argument that nuclear energy is cost-effective.

In addition, students need to summarize their perspectives in the conclusion of their IRR.

4. Students must address possible counterarguments or limitations of their solutions.

For example:

Despite the fact that nuclear reactors do not contribute greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, critics argue that spent fuel must be transported from the reactors to a safe location. The transport of the spent fuel does contribute greenhouse gases.

5. Students must offer viable solutions to the problem.

For example:

By building nuclear reactors close to facilities that can safely store spent fuel, transport would be limited and the contribution of greenhouse gases from transportation would be minimized.

6. Each IRR must demonstrate that a wide variety of credible sources were used to develop the argument. The bibliography must show that students did not get all of their information from area. For example, if the students only cite web pages in their bibliography, this does not constitute a rich and wide variety of sources. However, if they cite web pages, academic journals and a TED talk, they have shown that their information comes from a variety of sources.

Truthfully, I think that the College Board packs waaay too many criteria into this Row. There are too many things that a student can do right and still end up losing points because there's something else that went wrong. Nevertheless, as of the 2016-2017 school year, these are the criteria that a student must master to get a perfect score for Row 1.

Grading Standards 5 & 6

This week we're looking at each row of the grading rubric for the Individual Research Report (IRR) component of Performance Task 1 (PT1). We'll break down what a student needs to do to get a perfect score.  We'll start with the two easiest rows to grade.

ROW 5: Apply Conventions

This row grades the student's citations. The possible grades for this row are 1, 2 or 3.

To get a perfect score of 3 for this row, the IRR must:

• Have no mistakes in citation or attribution
• Cite each source correctly in the bibliography
• Employ consistent formatting throughout the bibliography

Before we dissect what each of these factors means, it's important to note that the College Board does not dictate the method of citation. Students can use MLA, APA or any other recognized method of citation and they will not lose points so long as they apply it correctly.

Every source that's used to gather evidence for the IRR must be appropriately cited in the bibliography. Every piece of evidence included in the IRR must be cited. Students lose points here if they include evidence from a source in their IRR but neglect to cite the source that their information came from. They can also lose points if the cite the evidence to the wrong source. It's imperative that students double and triple check their citations to ensure that they are all included and that they are attributed to the correct sources.

The last item is concerned with the students' formatting of their bibliographies. It must remain consistent throughout. For example, students can lose points if they underline the title of one article, italicize the title of a second, put the title of a third in all capitals, etc. Even if every citation and source is included and correct, messing up the formatting will knock a student's grade down to a 2.

ROW 6: Apply Conventions

This row grades the IRR based on spelling and grammar.

To get a perfect score of 3 for this row, the Performance Task must:

• Have few/minor errors in spelling and grammar

That's it. The more spelling and grammar errors the student makes in the IRR, the lower score. In my experience, the student can still get a perfect score even if there are a few spelling or grammar errors. However, they must be minor and there can't be a lot of them, maybe two or three at the most. The more errors and the more egregious they are, the lower this score goes.

THIS WEEK: GRADING PERFORMANCE TASK 1

It's only October 16th - why are we already talking about grading the Performance Tasks?

Because what I discovered last year is that you can't teach students how to write excellent Performance Tasks unless you understand exactly how they will be graded.

Since most AP Seminar classes will start working on their first Performance Tasks within the next month or two, now is the time to make sure that you understand what the Performance Tasks are to ensure that your students understand what they will be required to produce.  Remember, once the students begin work on their Performance Tasks, you cannot give them any direct assistance.  This includes, but is not limited to:

• helping students to develop research ideas
• providing students with sources to use for their Performance Tasks
• editing students' work
• providing any sort of grading feedback to students

Essentially, once your students begin work on their Performance Tasks, your hands are tied. Admittedly, it's a weird system.  I can't think of any other class where I can't help a student fix a mistake that they're making.  Last year, I was frequently frustrated whenever I saw a student completely misunderstand part of the Performance Task and knew that I couldn't step in and help out. 

According to the College Board, the only way that you can give feedback to your students is indirectly.  

• If you see that a student isn't citing their material correctly, you can't speak to that student directly, but you can go over correct citation procedures with your whole class.  The problem with this method is that the students who most needed to review were often clueless that they didn't know what they were doing.  
• You can have students peer review their classmates' work.  Ugh, what a disaster this usually was!  Students would get conflicting feedback from their classmates or they would get vague feedback like "I liked this paper a lot" or "I thought this paper was weak" that would prove completely useless.  

So this week, we'll  explore each Row of the scoring rubric for the Individual Research Report.   I'll break down the standards that your students have to hit to ensure they get the highest possible score. I'll also  share some reaching tips to ensure that your students become better reviewers of their own and classmates' work.

Here's a link to the official rubric:  2016-2017 Scoring Guidelines for Performance Task 1