HIS 111
Ibn Battuta Group Project

 

 

Pictured here is an old Persian caravanserai. These structures, usually rectangular with a single, gated entry arch served as resting points for travelers and merchants (and their caravans) as they traveled along major trade routes. The caravanserais could be simple or luxurious and were usually built about a day's travel apart. Ibn Battuta in his many journeys stayed in these all over the Muslim world. Photo credit travfotos.

Caravanserai

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Read the excerpt from Ibn Battuta about the African kingdom of Mali (along with the background notes and the study questions) and answer the following question.

Citing specific evidence from Ibn Battuta (not from the textbook), what were some of the main features of Mali political practice and ceremony?

For this assignment, you will work as a group of 3, 4 or 5 students. You will use a group discussion to get started, and once started, you will use any other communication tools that you find useful to complete your assignment. You do not have much time; so get started asap so that you can meet all of the specific deadlines described below. First, take a few minutes and watch the short video on this assignment.

You have three options for completing this assignment.

I have tried to keep these instructions short and clear but also giving you some flexibility. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Let's Get Started!

You have one week to finish; so you need to get organized and work fast to complete this project on time. It is up to you to determine how you will communicate, here are just some ideas that I have.

Click on the People link in the course menu in Canvas, and then click on the groups tab. Here you will have access to your group's message board. If you don't see that you have access to any group, please contact your instructor immediately. It is important you do use your group discussion to establish initial contact and to post the contract and progress report so that I can offer feedback to your work.

Note: I do encourage students to try out Google Drive, which is accessible through your student email, and which you can use as a group to all work on a document at the same time. See the NVCC page on Google Apps. You can also check out this video, Creating Documents in Google Drive Tutorial 2014.

There are several steps that are part of this assignment.

Your group check-in

Every group member is required to check in to the group and confirm to your instructor that you are in contact with your group. Failure to do check-in by the assigned date will result in a grade penalty.

The group contract (posted by a group member to your group discussion by midnight Wednesday)

One of the group members should post a group contract on the group discussion. The contract should include the following information.

  1. The contract is not graded but is required. No contract = no group project grade.
  2. Decide how you will communicate. Will it be solely by group discussion, by email, phone, messenger, social media, etc? You can use a variety of these, and you can change this later if necessary.
  3. Decide how and when you will all be able to communicate with each other.
  4. List the project version that you will be doing and assign a role to each group member. Who will email the instructor for help if needed? Who will post items to the group discussion boards? Who will edit materials? Who will find the multimedia to include? You can make changes later if needed.
  5. It is important that by this point in time that I see that everyone has checked in on your group message board. You may end up using different forms of communication, but I need to see that initial contact has taken place.

The progress report (posted by a group member to your group discussion by midnight Friday)

One of the group members should post a progress report on the group discussion. The report should include the following information.

I am available to offer feedback on your group work before you submit. Please make sure to email me a draft of your project.

Group project assignment (posted by the group leader in the discussion by midnight Sunday)

The group leader should submit the project (paper or presentation URL), using the reply to discussion prompt in Canvas.

Your peer evaluation assignment (submitted by each group member in Canvas by midnight Sunday)

Every group member is required to evaluate the work of their colleagues in the group at the end of the project. Grade each group member on a scale of 0 (no work done) to 10 (fully participated in the group project). Be fair and accurate in your assessment of your collaborators, and try to be specific about what exactly each group member did. If your group project earns 100 points and your group mates have each given you an evaluation of "10," then you will receive the full 100 points. However if your group mates gave you an evaluation of "8," then your individual grade will be 80% of 100 = 80. Submit your peer evaluations on Canvas. Failure to do this by the assigned date will result in a grade penalty.

Again, let me repeat. Here are some ways to communicate as a group.

Please take a moment to review Charlie's History Writing Center for specific information on the writing requirements for the assignments in the course. Please check this short explanation of what it means to cite historical evidence.

Important, Questions, Confusion

If you have questions or are confused at any time, please contact your instructor.

Group Assignment Warning

Famous quote, from an anonymous professor, that you should remember: There is no such thing as a bad group.