STUDENT ROUNDTABLES

Students in groups will be responsible for leading one class discussion. The purpose of this exercise is to encourage student participation and improve verbal communication skills. Participation in this exercise meets partial fulfullment of the course requirements. Failure to participate in this exercise will result in zero points and a heavy sigh of disappointment from your classmates. This penalty will be waived if the student demonstrates good cause. However, since the student has missed an in-class assignment which cannot be made up, she/he must submit a two-page written summary (double-spaced) of the presentation they would have made in class. However, since the student missed the verbal component of the assignment, five (5) points will be deducted from this exercise. The summary is due no later than one week after the date of the in-class exercise. Otherwise, no points will be awarded.

Each student member of the roundtable should address the class for approximately 4-5 minutes which will leave approximately 10-15 minutes for class discussion. 

Quiz:  There will be a multiple choice quiz at the completion of the six groups (30 points).  The quiz is scheduled for December 7.

The basis for this assignment is the Smith book.  Although the chapters in the book lay the foundation for each roundtable, you can bring in material from other sources to enhance your group's presentation.

Focus:  Environmental Policy Issues

1.  Air Pollution

2.  Water Quality

3.  Land Management

4.  Toxic and Hazardous Waste

5.  Energy Policy

6.  What Have We Learned?

Format:

• Student Roundtables 1-5 will provide the class with an overview and analysis of the important aspects of the issue.
  
• Student Roundtable 6 will tell us what we have learned about environmental politics and policy through a summary and assessment of the five issues.  

Evaluation: Students will be evaluated by the instructor using a five-point scale (1=poor, 5=excellent) as follows:

Sample Evaluation
Criteria	Points
Knowledge of the Subject	4.5
Clarity of the Presentation	3.5
Organization	3.0
Analytical/Critical Thinking Skills	4.0
	15 out of 20 points

 Note:  If the students in a group feel that one of their members is not participating to the same extent as the other members, you may submit a brief memo to the instructor explaining the problem.  It must be signed by all other members of the group.  The student in question has the right to respond to the memo in a meeting with the instructor.