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I would also agree with having more diverse readings - the books sometimes got a little repetitive and took up a lot of reading time that could be devoted to more case studies or other articles. One thing that might be interesting is to include things going on in the news that relate to whatever topic your discussing. I was definitely behind on the current events on some of the issues we talked about, and having an article to read a week would be an enjoyable and light, yet informative source for information.
Can you please read these articles for class on Tuesday:
http://www.kof.ethz.ch/publications/science/pdf/wp_146.pdf - please focus on the intro, previous literature and conclusion sections and skim over part III
http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/4151710.pdf
http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/books_ladd-educationreform
http://www.jstor.org/sici?sici=0161-956X(198922)66:4<72:IUEIT1>2.0.CO;2-2
http://www.mathematica-mpr.com/publications/pdfs/teach.pdf - please read the Executive Summary and Chapters VI VII and VIII (the last three chapters including the conclusion)
Let us know if you have any questions.
Thanks!
http://www.masdaruae.com/text/v-files.aspx
http://show.zoho.com/public/cprens4/US Energy Transition
http://show.zoho.com/public/cmackugl/China and Sustainable Development and Retrofitting
McKibben's "The Greenback Effect": http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2008/05/the-greenback-effect.html
The 7 Myths of Energy Independence: http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2008/05/the-seven-myths-of-energy-independence.html
The Nuclear Option: http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2008/05/the-nuclear-option.html
I think both presentations have been awesome and extremely informative. Good work! and good luck to the other groups!
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/04/08/america/LA-GEN-Brazil-Condom-Factory.php
The most interesting thing I found in their presentations is the problem between native culture and foreign intervention. Nick made a great point that Americans would vehemently ignore any foreign nation who was trying to change us, so why would Africa be any different? This led to the problem of pace and scale, do we continue to administer the ARV's which will eventually run out, or do we take the hit for one generation and reallocate the ARV funds to education and prevention?
The next group can take more from the 1st groups second day, the division into the smaller groups definitely sparked a lot of good conversation and (at least it seemed) that the groups were able to think up some ideas that the presenters hadn't thought of before. Thinking back on the different presentations that we have had in class to date, I think that the later groups should try to copy the classroom dynamic and presentation style of Will and the Step it up guys more so than Woolcock. good stuf.
I learned most about ideas that work, have worked, and ones that have failed. They all provide a great basis for the need of these programs and why it is imperative that steps be taken to spark change. On the surface, solutions seem to be ‘easily’ obtained though thought, but as we chatted in groups together we all could see the problems that quickly surface.
For the groups coming in the following weeks, I would suggest that we follow a similar set up to what group 1 did, with a few changes. On Tuesday, the leading group members should have make their presentations on their topics, but limit them to 10-15 minutes per person. This should be followed by immediate small group (3-5 people) discussion. This way, the ideas, problems and potential solutions are fresh in all of our heads. For the second class, a quick summation by the leaders should be discussed followed by some more quick leadership by them on their topic. This would progress into small group talks and finish up with a closing synopsis on the topic and progress that has been made. I think with an approach similar to this, participation will be provided by all and it will be a beneficial experience for not only the leading group and their projects, but the rest of us in the class.
One thing I really liked about my groups' discussion on Thursday was that Lizzie asked us our opinion on an organization she seemed to want to create/explore for her project. I think discussing the specifics of her project gave her the most constructive feedback, and allowed us to really see what type of approach she was looking into. I think discussing our potential solutions with the class, instead of just presenting the issue should be a focus for future groups.
Overall, they did an excellent job at finding how their projects overlapped and asking questions that pertain to all four of the issues.
New York Times, April 11, 2008
• What did you learn the most from their presentation?
• How might the next group further improve on their presentation?
I think that the good did a good job of sharing their knowledge with the rest of the class, the powerpoints were well thought out and the delivery of the information was great. I would say that it was somewhat difficult to retain all of the information because it was one presentation after another. I think that if there was time for questions/discussion in between each presentation the material would have been absorbed a bit more.
The thing that stuck with me from the presentation was the importance of developing strong connections between all parties involved and open lines of communication. We saw examples of the importance of strong networks in all of the case studies – micro finance, AIDS treatment, and indigenous land rights.
The next group could further improve on their presentation by allowing more time for discussion about the content of the reading and the content of the presentation.
Each speaker was very composed and very prepared with the research that they presented. I think that their power points highlighted the most important topics and that it was easy to take things away from their power points in addition to taking things away from what they added through their actual “speeches”.
I felt that the Elahi reading was very helpful because it provided a great deal of information about microfinance as well as a case study in a very succinct and comprehensive way. Even though it was short, I learned a lot from that reading and really began to actually understand the idea of microfinance and lending for the first time.
In the future it may be helpful to have a bit more discussion about the topics because I felt that there was a lot I wanted to hash out but we did not really have time to talk about things as thoroughly as I would have liked.
Overall, great job and good luck with your projects.
One suggestion is to devote Thursday entirely to a class-oriented exercise and to cut out the formal group presentation piece. That was the original intention for my group, but as you could see, we ran short on time during Tuesday's class. The upswing to this is that from here on out, most of the individual projects will have stronger connections and aren't quite as disparate as ours were. This means that ya'll can combine your presentations of Tuesday more fluidly, if for example, you're all researching clean energy solutions or education.
Ditto on the previous comments about incorporating the readings. Perhaps in the future, it'd be best to pick readings that are more provocative for discussion, that even take a divisive stance, as opposed to the more traditional readings that only cover the barebones of our project. As a final suggestion, it'd be fun to do a simulation of splitting up the class, for example, between officials at the World Bank, representatives of a NGO, and local community members who are facing whichever problem that the presenters are covering that day. How do the different forces interact (or not), and what are the challenges/self-interests that each host?
I think the first day presentations were quite valuable however, in that they gave the class a more in depth look at each of our topics. I think it is important for class dynamics to fully understand what each of us are trying to tackle.