Thursday, November 20, 2008

Today’s Agenda

1)       Group presentations

a.       While groups are presenting, you are to keep split-page journal entries. On the LEFT on the entry, you are to note similarities between the group’s presentation and your own. On the RIGHT, you are to note the differences between the group’s presentation and your own. We will do this for each group.

2)              Research Questions:

a.       We are probably starting to notice that we are “running up against some walls in our knowledge.” That is to say, it is becoming obvious that we do not have a clear picture yet of what happened, and that we will need to do some considerable research before it will be possible to develop a clear idea of what happened to the Challenger, and what the implications of its explosion were.

3)              We are going to begin to developing research questions that will guide you as you develop a focused argument.

a.       Because there are literally an infinite number of questions we may ask, we are going to begin this process by focusing our questions around specific topics:

i.      The Challenger accident and workplace communication

1.      Questions?

ii.      Public and Political Appropriation of Challenger Accident

1.      Questions?

iii.      Implications of Challenger Accident in Current NASA Objectives

1.      Questions?

iv.      Concerns with hierarchical management structures

1.      Questions?

v.      Ethics and communication

1.      Questions?

4)              You will develop a research question based on your analysis of the Challenger documents. This research question will be the basis for your research project, which will be more fully articulated in the research prospectus. Once you have developed  questions, outline a research plan. What constitutes a reliable source? Where will you find these types of sources?

4)      Prospectus handout.

Homework:

Begin work on the prospectus.

Advertisement