(for a description of the
requirements of the specific sections of the project, click
here; for an explanation of the
process, click here
.)
Grouproles:
Leader
- a good people person, someone able to motivate the team; it is the Leader's
job to ensure that all members of the group are working and doing their assigned
tasks. The Leader should ensure that all group members have each other's
contact (phone) numbers. The Leader coordinates meeting times and
places for the group when needed. If one member of the group is not
working, it is, in part, the responsibility of the Leader. It is essential
that the Leader understand the
Process of the project. If the group has questions on what
needs to be done, the Leader should be the primary contact between the group and
the teacher.
Editor - a good details person, good at checking the team's work; the
editor is responsible for ensuring that the finished project is done correctly
and according to the requirements. This does not mean that the Editor
themself needs to do all the editing, just that they need to ensure that it gets
done. The Editor should be very much familiar with the
requirements of
each section.
Art Director - a creative person with an ability to judge what looks good;
the Art Director needs to ensure that the project looks attractive. It may
be the Art Director's final decision to include graphs, photos, charts, images,
supplementary music, etc. for the project.
Archivist - an organized person who can keep track of materials needed;
though this may seem a simple task at first, it is the Archivists responsibility
to ensure nothing gets "lost"; although it is not necessary that the Archivist
store all the materials, it may be reasonable to expect the Archivist to keep
extra copies of all word-processed work on the project in case of computer
disaster. The Archivist may be asked to store and keep track of the
Bibliographic materials as well.
Researcher - a thinking person who is able to find the info you need;
this may also be someone with good computer skills who can effectively guide the
group in valid web searches; the Researcher is the person who is best able to
interject the intellectually creative spark into the project - someone who has a
vision of what should be done and covered in the project. Along with the
Editor, the Researcher should have a good understanding of the
goals of each section
of the project and be able to assist the group in finding the needed
information. Note: this does NOT mean the Researcher does all the research
for the group, only that they be capable of guiding the group as necessary.
The Researcher must have school-approved Internet Access.
Evaluator - a fair person who can assess how hard people are working.
At the end of the project, the Evaluator will write a brief assessment of each person and how they did
on the project. In addition to the project grade itself, teams generally
receive 10 group points per person on the Evaluation sheet. Thus a 5-member
group will receive 50 points to distribute as they wish. The Evaluator will then distribute the points the teacher
placed in the upper left-hand corner of the groupsheet. If everyone works
equally, everyone receives 10 points. Negative points
may be given to those who did little or no work, but not exceeding the total
amount of points given by the teacher. Those points may then be
distributed to other students. If some worked harder than others, it is
reasonable for the Evaluator to give "slacker" members (negative) - 10 points
(or more, with a maximum negative equal to the maximum positive possible) and
add those extra points to the hard-working members' grade. All of the
re-distributed points are noted on the groupsheet, with explanations of why the
points have been distributed. Remember, however, all members of the group must sign
off on the Evaluator's written assessment of the team. These points
are simply added onto the total grade at the conclusion of the project.
Once all group members have signed the sheet, the sheet is placed at the front
of the project and the whole project is turned in.
The second set of roles are roles which play into the six sections of the
project. You will want to read up on the
parts of the project
before you assign these roles, but it is important to realize that the Project
Roles DO NOT DETERMINE what you necessarily work on for the project.
Project Roles:
Statistician - someone good at finding and interpreting statistical
data; they need to be able to think through the relationship between basic facts
(statistical information) and the reality behind them. The Statistician is
responsible for ensuring that the Statistical Comparison Chart is completed
appropriately. It does not mean that the Statistician has to do it all
themselves (they may, for example, have each member in the group contribute a
certain number of statistics on their own), but they must ensure it is completed
and valuable.
Cartographer - someone with a sense for what makes maps both
attractive and readable; the Cartographer does not need to produce all the maps
themself, but they need to ensure all the necessary information is covered.
They may, for example, assign certain maps to be done by each member of the
group.
Historian - someone able to interpret cause and effect in history;
generally the historian should be a good reader; the Historian does not
necessarily do the whole History portion of the project: they may assign someone
to cover the 19th century, another to cover up through WWII, another to cover
the Cold War era, and a final person to cover from the collapse of Communism
(1989) to present. The Historian must ensure, however, that all the
material is covered and that it flows well in terms of historical narrative.
SPEC Analyst - someone able to distinguish between what is
purported and what is actual; this is an investigative journalist role - someone
who can understand the current state of affairs in your country in terms of
Society, Politics, Economy, and the Constitution. Each aspect of the SPEC
analysis may be given to a separate member of the group, but it is the SPEC
Analyst's job to ensure that all portion of this section of the project
are complete and up-to-date. The SPEC Analyst's report must be the most
current and cutting-edge possible; it is strongly recommended that they be
well-attuned to current events worldwide.
Foreign Policy Advisor - someone good at thinking critically and
creatively, able to problem solve realistically; they will need to be able to
synthesize ALL the information gathered by the other members. In many ways
this is the easiest role in that it has only one focus: crafting the foreign
policy recommendation. It does not require any research other than that
which the group has prepared. On the other hand it is the most difficult
role in the project because it is entirely dependent on the rest of the group
members' contributions. The Foreign Policy Advisor MUST make use of and
reference the work of the other group members in their recommendation. The
Advisor may, of course, do additional research, but their findings, if they wish
to base any of their conclusions and recommendations on them, must be passed on
to the other appropriate group members for inclusion in their sections of the
project.
Bibliographer - someone good at working with details and formatting;
the Bibliographer is responsible for the two aspects of the Bibliography - the
formal and the collected. The formal Bibliography must follow the style
guidelines recommended by the teacher. Be sure to use the school's
official style guide
references to see how to construct this properly. The remainder of
the Bibliography should simply be a neat and accessible accounting of all the
research materials used by the group.
Once these roles have been assigned, have each member of the team explain
their role to the rest of the team mates. Once this is done, the archivist
will take the sheet (this is called the groupwork sheet) to the teacher who will
sign it and place a number of points in the upper left-hand corner. The
sheet is then given to the group Evaluator.
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