Activity: Oral presentation
The purpose of this activity is to give you structure, practice, and feedback on your oral presentation skills so that in your career you will be a more successful and effective persuasive speaker. You will gain these skills by learning and practicing scientific-style persuasive communication. Your presentation will be limited to 10 minutes (you will be timed), 5 minutes of questions and answers, and 5 minutes of evaluation by the class.
You may select any topic of interest to you pertaining to the prehistory or history of the North American Southwest. Here are a list of possible topics but you should develop your presentation around an issue that your are interested in. If you are not interested in your topic, this activity will be much more difficult. Some representative questions:
What factors influenced the pithouse-to-pueblo transition between 700 to 1000 CE?
What factors led to the Hohokam depopulation of the Phoenix basin?
What were "towers" used for in the northern Southwest?
What were kivas used for in the northern Southwest?
What changes occurred in the shape of kivas over time? What might explain these changes?
How widespread was violence in the Southwest?
Which model (trade/redistribution, ritual center, Mesoamerican outpost, chiefdom) best explains the Chaco phenomenon?
What factors influenced the Sedentary to Classic Period transition among the Hohokam?
How extensive is the looting of archaeological sites in the Southwest?
Two excellent sources of information about many issues in Southwestern archaeology are the scholarly journals, American Antiquity and Kiva. Both are available electronically through the UTA library. You may also find useful information at these sites: Archaeology Southwest, National Park Service, Archaeology Program, and Crow Canyon Archaeology Center.
After you have selected your question, do some initial reading on the topic and develop a simple argument map and send it to me or meet with me during my office hours (please use the CMAP argument map template file). Your map must include your thesis, a few arguments you will make to support your thesis, and a list of a few of your sources. You can only present a topic once I approve your argument map.
If you like, I will video type your presentation and give you the file. Seeing yourself present is the best way to learn what you need to do to improve your presentation skills.
Please review the following resources to learn how to develop an effective presentation: Effective Presentations and the Design of Presentation Slides. I expect you to use the "Assertion-Evidence" slide design explained at the previous link. There are also slide templates available that are designed for the assertion-evidence method. .
The criteria your classmates and I will use to evaluate your presentation is here.
You may select any topic of interest to you pertaining to the prehistory or history of the North American Southwest. Here are a list of possible topics but you should develop your presentation around an issue that your are interested in. If you are not interested in your topic, this activity will be much more difficult. Some representative questions:
What factors influenced the pithouse-to-pueblo transition between 700 to 1000 CE?
What factors led to the Hohokam depopulation of the Phoenix basin?
What were "towers" used for in the northern Southwest?
What were kivas used for in the northern Southwest?
What changes occurred in the shape of kivas over time? What might explain these changes?
How widespread was violence in the Southwest?
Which model (trade/redistribution, ritual center, Mesoamerican outpost, chiefdom) best explains the Chaco phenomenon?
What factors influenced the Sedentary to Classic Period transition among the Hohokam?
How extensive is the looting of archaeological sites in the Southwest?
Two excellent sources of information about many issues in Southwestern archaeology are the scholarly journals, American Antiquity and Kiva. Both are available electronically through the UTA library. You may also find useful information at these sites: Archaeology Southwest, National Park Service, Archaeology Program, and Crow Canyon Archaeology Center.
After you have selected your question, do some initial reading on the topic and develop a simple argument map and send it to me or meet with me during my office hours (please use the CMAP argument map template file). Your map must include your thesis, a few arguments you will make to support your thesis, and a list of a few of your sources. You can only present a topic once I approve your argument map.
If you like, I will video type your presentation and give you the file. Seeing yourself present is the best way to learn what you need to do to improve your presentation skills.
Please review the following resources to learn how to develop an effective presentation: Effective Presentations and the Design of Presentation Slides. I expect you to use the "Assertion-Evidence" slide design explained at the previous link. There are also slide templates available that are designed for the assertion-evidence method. .
The criteria your classmates and I will use to evaluate your presentation is here.