Monday, May 21, 2012

Reflection


Why there is still debate…




The expectations weren’t set, which lead to a confusion in how to present the oral. The requirements were to watch our given videos, take appropriate notes, and find external sources to support or counter various arguments and later on in form of a forum or discussion present the information to the class.

Here is the first step to a better understanding and meeting the outcome, question what a forum is. Katie and me weren’t quite sure what a forum is or had a different understanding than what it actually is. Since both of us had watched both our videos but each had a greater focus on either one or two, we knew our topic and what we were talking about very well. Therefore our idea was to talk about the main arguments of our videos, which we though was most efficient to bring the main idea across. There are various definition for what a forum is, the one that should have been applied to this discussion is, loud Merriam Webmaster: “a public meeting or lecture involving audience discussion/ a program (as on radio or television) involving discussion of a problem usually by several authorities”[1].

Furthermore as a better preparation and make the discussion flow, I should have had a meeting with my partner to discuss the outline of our discussion so we are able to talk back and forth. This would create a more controversy aura while informing the class about why there is still debate about global warming/climate change/destabilization, what ever you might call it, but that’s another point of discussion. The best way to have that done is by listing our arguments, finding the linkages and then create an outline, which can then be brought more into depth by adding the appropriate detail, evidence and external sources as required.

As being the first ones, not that this is a direct excuse, but Katie and me weren’t quite sure what to expect and how to handle it. We kind of had an idea of how our “discussion” should look like, but we hadn’t practiced it before, which could have been a good idea, therefore in the classroom there wouldn’t be any surprises. For example how to end the discussion, maybe with a resolution or a summary of all the arguments and how that leads to a conclusion. Our ending was more left open and if we had developed it more, there would have been a clear ending.

During the forum, I was kind of nervous and therefore forgot to mention different points, which happens to me often. I had stated the main arguments but supporting evidence to make it more credible or the linkages between the arguments was missing. Especially in the beginning I was kind of jumping around from one point to another which then settled towards the end. If we had a discussion, as Katie saying something then me, this would have limited it because I’d have focused just on arguments but not about the other people around me.

Through this activity I learned how to improve or actually have a forum between other students and me. Also that citing the external sources is very important to bring the credibility and reliability across. This made me aware that more sources give you more evidence and show which ones involve bias and which ones are not. To hold a forum you need to know your arguments and have a clear understanding of the outline, of course changes can be made through out incase new ideas arise. But the main flaws of our presentation is, not knowing what the requirements of a forum are and not having a meeting with my partner to precisely discuss a timeline of why there is still debate.


[1] Definition of Forum, Merriam Webmaster: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/forum

No comments:

Post a Comment