Goal and Focus: To ask and begin to answer "the question of history." Through the use of library research (and course materials if relevant), each group of 3-4 students will ask: how does our view and understanding of the topic we have selected (say, teenage pregnancy, high schools, single parents) change when we examine it with the perspective of history? Does a longer time span change the way we see matters? Are today's issues long-standing ones or new concerns? What-alternative views are possible? and related questions. Various possible answers to such questions can be developed through a careful
but not overly-long search in library sources. We are not seeking either complete or final responses but rather tentative ones and "working" ideas.

The groups: During the third week of the semester, class members will generate a list of possible topics and then form groups (3-4 students per group) to work on them.

Each group, will :

--develop a plan to research and bring together the results of that research in the form of a 20 minute oral report to the class (or a part of the class); 
--central to the plan is defining, focussing. and narrowing the topic into a manageable issue or set of issues, and dividing the labor of group members for its study. For most topics, groups will need to be selective, and not attempt to cover their subjects in either too much breadth or breadth. Group efforts should aim to strike a balance;
--the instructor will provide "starter" historical references for all groups, and both the instructor and the teaching assistant will be available for consultation and advice as requested:
--when possible, class time will be allocated for project work;
--group planning will aim at defining the general topic and then dividing it into a selection of major elements or subtopics that individual members can research in the UTSA or other libraries, and then integrate the results of that research into a coherent oral presentation;
--groups should consult reference librarians for help in identifying appropriate and useful historical and contemporary source materials
--a wide range of research materials is available, although specific sources will vary from topic to topic and focus to focus. Among the usual kinds of materials that prove helpful are: government reports, often with a numerical basis; articles in academic journals and periodicals; reports in major newspapers and magazines; book-length studies including case studies of specific
places, times, or groups; anthologies or collections of studies on a specific topic; reports of various social service and volunteer groups. Some groups have interviewed persons engaged in relevant activities and professional experts in the San Antonio metropolitan area. There are many other possible sources too. Use the on-line catalogue of UTSA and San Antonio-area library holdings, and search there and in relevant indexes and databases for your topic and its related elements. Ask reference librarian to help you find relevant guides, indexes, and databases;
--keep in mind that your goal is to locate and sample a range of relevant information and points of views that helps you to survey selectively your topic and allows the kind of interim or tentative findings and conclusions suitable for a brief, 15 minute presentation to the class. No complete, exhaustive, or final conclusions are expected, or are even possible. Brief reports that focus relatively closely and clearly on major issues are the target.

Groups needing copies of handouts to be duplicated: and/or audio/visual equipment for their presentations should coordinate with the instructor (or teaching assistant) 1-2 weeks in advance of the time for their presentation.
 

At the time of presentation each qroup will turn in one copy of:
--their plan of work;
--a bibliography of the reference sources (primary and secondary) that they have consulted (length by itself is no virtue);
--a log that outlines each member's work on the project: tasks done and time spent on them--what was accomplished, when and where work done, etc. (no more than 1-2 pages);
--a general outline of the oral presentation (1 page);
--an anecdotal evaluation of the group's work with a recommendation for the group's grade for the overall project. This statement of no more than 2 pages should address problems that arose and the steps taken to solve them as well as problems that remained unsolved. It should be serious and constructively critical, asking, for example, what alternative plans or steps might have been taken, how as a result of this effort might a new plan differ from the first, what steps worked well and what steps did not (and why), etc.

Evaluation: the peer, self-evaluation of each group will make up about 40% of the qroup's grade for this assignment (oral reports make up 20-25% of overall course grades). it is very important that the anecdotal evaluation (supplemented by the plan of work, bibliography, and log) and the recommended grade support each other (especially since I don't expect many groups to recommend low grades for themselves). Except in very exceptional situations, all members of each group will get the same grade for the project.

Evaluation--by both each group and the instructor--is based on:
--the quality of the plan of work and its degree of success in meeting the overall assignment;
--that success includes the defining and narrowing of the topic, the dividing of labor, the quality (not just the length) of the bibliography, the conduct of research, and the results of that definition and research as presented in the form of an oral report;
-the development of the oral presentation to select, integrate and interrelate, and synthesize the research;
--the presentation itself (as evaluated by instructor and teaching assistant)

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