S – structure – 5 pts

I  – information        5 pts

A – accuracy

A – analysis – 5 pts

Essay Format (20 pts.)

                                                                         S. O. S.          

                                                                   Setting of Stage 

                                                                             Thesis

                                                                           Sentence

                                                                Explain / Describe

                                         Provide Specific Contemporary Examples (5 pts)

                                                                 Analysis (Why?)                    

                                                                           Brief

                                                                       Summary

                                                                    Your Opinion

(Document #2: Abstract, Duncan, 2003)

ABSTRACT

Desmond E. Duncan Jr.

U.S. GOVERNMENT – POS 2041

U.S. Government is a required course for students seeking an AA degree at Valencia Community College.  The indifference displayed by students of our unique system of government makes teaching this course, at times, a very challenging proposition.  In an article for The Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy, Professor Thomas E. Patterson aptly makes the point that "Today's young adults are measurably less interested in politics than those of even a decade or two ago."  In order to pique the interests of their students in the study of our national government and the political process, many instructors have implemented, in a variety of ways, the adoption of current events in their curriculum.  In March of 2003, I sent out a questionnaire to several of my colleagues at Valencia Community College to ascertain their views on the use of current events in their classrooms.  Their responses and my observations over the past eleven years as an instructor of U.S. Government have encouraged me to assert that with required, consistent and effective monitoring of the mass media, students will measurably improve their understanding and appreciation of the institutions of the national government and the political process.  In order to test my assumptions, students will write well-structured essays, design a PowerPoint presentation with the use of specific contemporary examples to buttress their information and initiate class discussion by using appropriate specific contemporary examples.  During the fall semester of 2003, students in one of my U.S. Government classes will be administered a pre and post survey of their media monitoring habits, and knowledge and appreciation of the institutions of the national government and the political process.  They also will be assessed on four essay test questions, one collaborative research project that will be presented in PowerPoint and orally.  The results from the students’ surveys, frequency or lack of student initiated discussions of contemporary issues relevant to each lesson, and the quality and quantity of contemporary specific examples used in essays and the semester research project will provide information on whether or not I should continue with my teaching methodology or make some modifications.