Introduction

The ten week group research project will provide students with the opportunity to engage in a number of different writing activities throughout the entire length of the class - group writing, Web-based research, Wiki-based peer critique, MOO-based discussion, engagement with a theoretical/critical perspective, and responses and criticism from classmates as well as readers outside of the classroom.

The final graded group document will consist of three parts:

· a five to six page double spaced group written critical introduction on a topic coming from popular culture

· eight, 150-200 word critiques of websites pertaining to your topic

The critical introduction will be a group written document that should address readers who are new to your subject. Your goal is to inform these readers as to the benefits of studying your topic and becoming people with intermediate understandings of the issues surrounding the topic involved. While making this pitch, your group will pay special attention to issues arising out of one or more critical perspectives. Race, class, gender, and sexual preference are the most common critical perspectives, issues of age, disability, language, and religious culture are also on the table. Other critical perspectives are possible as well. You will have the responses of a number of outside readers during the drafting process. You should pay careful attention to those responses and make thoughtful choices based on them. A successful critical introduction will encourage readers to explore the URLs that come after it.

The website critiques should consist of eight carefully chosen websites. The names and URLs for these Web sites will follow your critical introduction. The short critiques will follow each URL. The critique of these websites should also address the critical perspectives engaged in the critical introduction. These sites may also be evaluated as beginning, intermediate, or advanced. A well chosen list of eight websites will contain all the information necessary to bring the studious novice into an intermediate understanding of the topic involved. Pay attention to the needs of your audience during the drafting of this part of the project.

It is our hope that this assignment will provide an enjoyable learning experience and that the knowledge explored here will reverberate fruitfully with students' individual writing assignments throughout the course.

About the Project:

This project was created by John Borczon and Paul Shovlin, two Ph.D. students at Ohio University. Feel free to reproduce it and modify it to fit your needs.