Syllabus

Exploring Teaching and Learning Practices to Develop City Tech as a Living Laboratory

Seminar Objective

The seminar is designed to make General Education more visible in our classrooms and courses.  We will build an engaging environment for learning through exploration, implementation, and assessment of a variety of proven teaching practices using Civic Engagement, Critical Thinking, Ethical Reasoning, Information Literacy and Teamwork as our focus this year.

At City Tech we define these student learning outcomes in the following manner:

Civic Engagement

Civic engagement is “working to make a difference in the civic life of our communities and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivation to make that difference. It means promoting the quality of life in a community, through both political and non-political processes.” (Excerpted from Civic Responsibility and Higher Education, edited by Thomas Ehrlich, published by Oryx Press, 2000, Preface, page vi.) In addition, civic
engagement encompasses actions wherein individuals participate in activities of personal and public concern that are both individually life enriching and socially beneficial to the community

Critical Thinking 

Critical thinking is a habit of mind characterized by the comprehensive exploration of issues, ideas, artifacts, and events before accepting or formulating an opinion or conclusion.

Ethical Reasoning

Ethical Reasoning is reasoning about right and wrong human conduct. It requires students to be able to assess their own ethical values and the social context of problems, recognize
ethical issues in a variety of settings, think about how different ethical perspectives might be applied to ethical dilemmas and consider the ramifications of alternative actions. Students’ ethical self-identity evolves as they practice ethical decision-making skills and learn how to describe and analyze positions on ethical issues.

Information Literacy

The ability to know when there is a need for information, to be able to identify, locate, evaluate, and effectively and responsibly use and share that information for the problem at hand. Adopted from the National Forum on Information Literacy.

Teamwork

Teamwork is behaviors under the control of individual team members (effort they put into team tasks, their manner of interacting with others on team, and the quantity and quality of
contributions they make to team discussions).

Full details of the AAC&U General Assessment Rubrics can be found on the Faculty Commons website: https://www.citytech.cuny.edu/aire/gen-ed-rubrics.aspx

Seminar Outcomes

Upon completion of this seminar, participants will be able to:

  • Integrate the General Education Student Learning Outcomes of Creative Thinking, Foundations and Skills for Life Long Learning, Inquiry and Analysis, Integrative Learning  and/or Intercultural Knowledge and Competence into their course syllabi and course segments and/or assignments.
  • Use the OpenLab to engage in Open Pedagogy
  • Gather, interpret and apply Kuh’s High-Impact Educational Practices (HIEPs) in their teaching
  • Acquire and use assessment tools
  • Develop/apply strategies for place-based learning 
  • Share General Education philosophy and practices with students and colleagues

Meeting Dates

Seminar 1 Introduction                          Jan 9, 2024

Seminar 2 Open Pedagogy                    Jan 10 , 2024

Seminar 3 Assessment                           Jan 11, 2024

Seminar 4 Review Session                      Jan 16, 2024

Seminar 5  Place-based Learning          Jan 17, 2024

Seminar 6 Final Presentations               Jan 18, 2024

Seminars run from 9:00am-12:00pm.

Zoom Meeting Link

Seminars will be held on Zoom unless otherwise noted:

LL Gen Ed Seminar Winter 2024 Zoom Link:

Meeting ID:

Seminar 1: Introduction, Gen Ed at City Tech and AAC&U’s HIEP

January 9, 9:00am-12:00pm 

Seminar 2: Open Pedagogy

January 10, 9:00am-12:00pm 

  • Presentation of the OpenLab platform and its features and functionality.
  • Seminar activity and discussion on opportunities and strategies for open pedagogies. leveraging the OpenLab digital platform.
  • Use of OpenLab and L4 in seminar.
  • Introduction to Place-based Learning

Seminar 3: Assessment and Progress Review

January 11, 9:00am-12:00pm 

  • Presentation on Assessment by Guest Speakers on the design and implementation of assessment strategy. 
  • Review of resources provided by the Office of Assessment, Institutional Research & Effectiveness (AIRE) Discussion of access to information on assessment at City Tech.
  • Review of draft proposal for course integration of Gen Ed Learning Outcome into course segment/assignment.
  • Small group discussion of draft proposals and assessment strategy(s) based on selected SLO.

Seminar 4: Review Session

January 16, 9:00am-12:00pm                     

  • Review progress on development of syllabus and/or activity/assignment.
  • Rehearse presentation within defined time limit

Seminar 5: Place-based Learning and the BWRC 

January 17, 9:00am-12:00pm 

  • Introduction to the Brooklyn Waterfront Research Center (BWRC)
  • Discussion on place-based learning. 
  • Guest Speaker Presentation
  • Group discussion on integration of place-based learning activities in courses. 

Seminar 6: Presentation of Participant’s Course Segment/Assignment

January 18, 9:00am-12:00pm 

  • Presentation by each participant of integration of Gen Ed Learning Outcome into course segment/assignment.
  • Invited guests from college administration to join review.
  • Final discussion and reflection

Seminar Deliverables

Submit all deliverables as required below no later than May 31th, 2024:

  • Development of a new or redesigned course assignment/project targeting one of the General Education Learning Goals;
  • Presentation of the activity during the final Seminar meeting on Jan 19, 2023;
  • Implementation of the assignment/project in the Spring 2024 semester (if teaching the course for which an activity will be created) and reflection on the activity implementation included in the activity template posted on L4: Living Lab Learning Library, OR a written reflection on the Seminar participation and a template of the proposed activity submitted on L4.

Seminar Readings/Videos

  • See Seminar OpenLab site READINGS page for all readings and videos.

Contact Information                                                                 

Susan Phillip Javiela Evangelista
Associate Professor Co-Director Associate Professor Co-Director
sphillip@citytech.cuny.edu jevangelista@citytech.cuny.edu