Group Project: Collaborative Research on Truth and Lies in the Digital World

Your final project in this class will be a group project. Groups will be comprised of approximately 4 students, and each group will develop a research question related to the topic of our class. Throughout this semester, we have read how researchers in different disciplines approach questions of disinformation, misinformation, progaganda, and much more. Your group will formulate a research question related to this work, identify a scholarly article related to that research question, and then present that article to the rest of the class. Groups will develop a presentation that follows the pecha kucha format and will also create a one-page handout that explains the article that the group read.

All members of the group will receive the same grade for the assignment. If members of a group inform me that any group members are not participating in the project, I will meet with those people and issue a warning. If the problem persists, those not participating in the project receive no credit for the assignment.

This project is worth 15% of your grade. When evaluating your one-page guide and presentation, I will be asking the following questions:

  • Have you identified a worthwhile research question that relates to the conversations we have had in class?
  • Have you identified a scholarly article that relates to that research question?
  • Does your one-page handout explaining the article show evidence of careful attention to detail and design? (If you have questions about how to best approach document design, I recommend that your group make an appointment with the Writing and Design Lab.)
  • Do your guide and presentation explain your research question, explain its relationship to our discussions in class, effectively summarize your chosen article (given the time constraints), and explain the significance of this research?
  • Did everyone in your group speak during the presentation?
  • Does your slide presentation reflect careful attention to design? (Again, consider visiting the WDL for consultation on your slides.)
  • Does your slide presentation follow the pecha kucha rules of 20 slides, 20 seconds per slide? Is there evidence that you have carefully practiced and choreographed the presentation?
  • Are your slides and one-page handout carefully written and free of grammatical errors?