Consensus Email Tips

I'd like to clarify something for those groups choosing to do a consensus session. In the email your group (5:20 or 8:00) sends me a week before your consensus session presentation, I only want two things:

1. A formal premise/conclusion version of the main argument in your article.
2. Your group's systematic evaluation of this argument (check each premise and the argument's structure).

That's it! Furthermore, this is basically what I expect you to do in your group presentation: present and explain the main argument in the article, and lead a class-wide evaluation of this article using the thumbs-up/thumbs-down voting system.

In other words, I don't expect your group to give a general presentation on your topic. There's no need to go into a detailed explanation of the topic, or explain the science behind your issue, or whatever. Nor do I want you to make up your own argument for what you believe on the issue.

I just want you to present the author's argument as you understand it. I don't care whether you like or dislike this argument; your job is to (fairly) explain it to the rest of the class. If you dislike the arg, you can mention reasons why when you lead the class-wide evaluation of it.

So here's an example of the type of email I expect:

To: slandis@camdencc.edu, other group members
Sent: 1 week before our presentation
Subject: Bioethics Group #4's Arg

Susan Sherwin's Argument
P1) Poverty doesn’t fully explain why oppressed groups receive worse treatment in the U.S. health system.
P2) There are few women & minorities in positions of power in the health system.
P3) Those now in power often fail to see how their decisions harm oppressed groups.
C) Oppressed groups should have more power in the U.S. health system.

Our Group's Evaluation of Sherwin's Argument
P1: true, although we think poverty plays a larger role than Sherwin suggests.
P2: true (her stats are outdated, so it's probably improved a bit since then, but it's still predominately white males in power)
P3: questionable? We're a little confused by this point. It seems true sometimes, but is it often true, as the premise says? We're not sure.
Support: not good.  Even if it's true that there's a big problem in the U.S. health system, it's not obvious that Sherwin's proposed solution in the conclusion is the best way to fix the system.

That's it! It doesn't have to be a long email. Just give me the arg and your evaluation of it.