L4: Living Lab Learning Library

May 26, 2024

Promoting the SBAR Communication Tool with Nursing Students

Konstantina Caris

New York City College of Technology/Nursing

NUR-1110/Caring for Clients with Common Alterations in Functional Needs

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

Knowing that patient handover is often poorly performed, with critical detail being omitted and irrelevant information included at patient handoff this activity stresses on implementing the use of the ISBAR tool with nursing students during clinicals. SBAR stands for situation (clearly and briefly describe the current patient’s situation), background (provide clear, relevant background information on the patient), assessment (state your professional conclusion, based on the situation and background), and recommendation (telling the person with whom you’re communicating what would you recommend correcting the problem).

This format ensures clinicians communicating significant information in continuity of patient care, preventing errors and harm in hospital settings or community settings. It provides a standardized approach to communication which is a core skill that needs to be taught to nursing students and junior clinicians. It highlights key elements and explores teaching techniques that aim to ensure the framework is rooted in practice effectively resulting in patient’s safety and better patient outcomes.

Learning Goals: What do you aim to achieve with this activity?

The goal of this activity is to develop the student’s critical thinking and communication skills during patient’s handover by following the SBAR format. The need to assess, understand, analyze, prioritize patient health issues, and recommend solutions, is imperative among clinicians in healthcare. Communicating accurate patient information from team to team is an essential component of good patient care, effective management of the patient’s condition, and teamwork. However, critical thinking skills does not happen overnight. Students need to practice this format constantly during clinical rotations to enhance critical thinking and communication skills and at the same time prevent patient errors.

Timing: At what point in the lesson or semester do you use this activity? How much classroom time do you devote to it? How much out-of-class time is expected?

This activity was implemented step by step during clinical rotations the entire semester. For two weeks we devoted 60 minutes learning and understanding the importance of the SBAR tool and how it works.

Next, for four clinical days students practiced the format taking into consideration the information they obtained while caring and assessing assigned patients. Their report emphasized on the patient’s main problem, on communicating appropriate patient’s history, the right examination/observation, and creating a clear recommendation.

At midsemester, while each student gave report, the other students listen and observed. At post conference they had the opportunity to critique the report by asking questions, make suggestions, and reflect if the sequence of the SBAR format was followed. For example: “If the student highlighted key elements of effective clinical information”, “Did they give excess information or too little”, “How did they feel being the presenter as opposed to observer”, or “What they would have done differently and why”. This activity took between 30-45 minutes.

Logistics: What preparation is needed for this activity? What instructions do you give students? Is the activity low-stakes, high-stakes, or something else?

This is an ongoing interactive high stakes assignment where the instructor assigned a patient to the student to assess and care the entire clinical day. During this time the student must think critically when deciding what patient information should be communicated to other healthcare professionals according to their assessment, knowledge, analysis, problem solving, and reflection. Practicing the ISBAR format during nursing clinicals increases their capacity to share key information, be mindful of their role as well as their team members, enhance their confidence on patient assessments, and implement optimal patient interventions.

Assessment: How do you assess this activity? What assessment measures do you use? Do you use a VALUE rubric? If not, how did you develop your rubric? Is your course part of the college-wide general education assessment initiative?

High stakes assignment=level of engagement.
Students who observed as well as the instructor had to complete a four-point scale ranging “Not performed the SBAR format competently”, to “Able to perform format under minimal direction”. Student’s performance focused on “What is going on with the patient”, “ What was the patient’s clinical background or context”, “If appropriate assessment/observation was done”, and “ What would they recommend to correct the problem”.

Reflection: How well did this activity work in your classroom? Would you repeat it? Why or why not? What challenges did you encounter, and how did you address them? What, if anything, would you change? What did students seem to enjoy about the activity?

A continuous effort to stress the importance to communicate key elements of effective clinical handover emphasized during clinicals with nursing students. By following the use of the SBAR format during clinical, prepares them not only for the clinical demands of the job, but also focuses on their critical thinking and communication skills that are so important for improving patient outcomes and recognizing a decline in a patient’s condition. At the same time instructors can explore teaching techniques that aim to ensure the framework is embedded in practice effectively.

Involving students to learn a structured way to communicate relevant patient information to other healthcare professionals was challenging due to overwhelming nursing material they had to cover during their semester. However, at the end of their clinicals they expressed that the SBAR format helped them organize patient information in a structured way saving time. Prioritizing on what information should they handover was also challenging because they had to focus on what is going on currently and taking into consideration patient’s general health status.

Additional Information: Please share any additional comments and further documentation of the activity – e.g. assignment instructions, rubrics, examples of student work, etc. These can be links to pages or posts on the OpenLab.

SBAR

Situation-Background-Assessment-Recommendation

Example

Mr. Barnes is a 72 y/o admitted to the oncology unit yesterday for his 5th cycle of in-patient chemotherapy for gastric cancer. He has a fever of 102.5 F. He’s receiving a continuous 48-hour infusion of Oxaliplatin and 5-FU. other than the fever, his vital signs are all normal: BP 124/64, HR 62, RR16, O2 98%. He has no complaint of pain or discomfort, NKA. As the primary nurse you’re concerned about the fever and neutropenia. You would like and order for Tylenol, blood cultures, and a CBC.

Organized structured format for SBAR

Situation-Background-Assessment-Recommendation

S=This is Jane Doe, the primary nurse for Mr. Barnes, on the medical oncology unit. He is febrile, 102.5 F.

B- He was admitted yesterday for his 5th cycle of in-patient chemotherapy for gastric cancer. He’s receiving a continuous 48 hors infusion of Oxaliplatin and 5-FU. He has no known allergies.

A-Other than the fever, his vital signs are all normal: BP 124/64, HR 62, RR 16,02 98%. He has no complaint of pain or discomfort.

R- I am concerned about the fever and neutropenia, I recommend an order for Tylenol, blood cultures, and a CBC. Is there anything ales you would recommend at this time?

Please share a helpful link to a pages or post on the OpenLab

May 24, 2024

TikTok Library Challenge

Valerie Work

English, City Tech

English Composition II (1121)

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

What: Students will collaborate in teams of 5 to create a 1-2 minute TikTok video designed to introduce new City Tech freshmen to the City Tech library and encourage them to use it.

Assignment: Your group will create a 1-2 minute TikTok video to introduce next year’s freshmen to the City Tech library AND encourage them to use the library’s resources.

Questions to Consider:
-What do you think next year’s new freshmen will most need to know about the library? Why?
-What do you think they will most WANT to know about the library, and why?
-How can you use the genre conventions of a TikTok video (or a specific sub-genre of TikTok video) to accomplish your purpose AND engage your audience?
-What is the most logical structure for your video? What will be the beginning, middle and end? How will you organize or order your material?
-What locations within the library will you show in your video, and why?
-How will you shoot the footage you need without violating library rules (i.e., you can’t make too much noise, disturb other library users, or damage property!)
-How can you divide the tasks needed to make the video in a way that is fair to all group members?
-How will you manage your time efficiently during and after the site visit so that your project is finished by the deadline?

Each group will share their video using the room’s projection system at the next class meeting ( you’ll need to upload it by then and bring the link!) The class will vote on the video it thinks will be most effective, and the winner will be shared during the first week of next semester with my 1101 students.

Learning Goals: What do you aim to achieve with this activity?

-Students will be better prepared to understand the principles of multi-modal composition after having created a simple multimodal project as a group. I hope they will therefore be more engaged by the following class discussions introducing the terms, concepts and assignment for Unit 3.
-Students will feel more confident in creating a multimodal project on their own and generate stronger work if they have first made one as part of a team (scaffolding).
-Socially useful–-1101 students can be terrified of the library! I hope this will help next year.
-Supports the Gen Ed goals of Critical Thinking (primary) and Teamwork (secondary).

Timing: At what point in the lesson or semester do you use this activity? How much classroom time do you devote to it? How much out-of-class time is expected?

When: The library site visit will take place on the first day of Unit 3 (Multimodal Composition). The following class meeting will be an opportunity to share the videos with classmates, and we’ll then use them as a springboard to introduce the unit.

The groups are encouraged to finish their videos during the 75 minute library site visit class, and many did. In some groups, a member who arrived late or was otherwise less involved with shooting footage took responsibility for additional editing and/or uploading the video to TikTok after class.

Logistics: What preparation is needed for this activity? What instructions do you give students? Is the activity low-stakes, high-stakes, or something else?

I made an announcement in the previous class to meet in front of the library along with a brief description of the project, and I also posted this information on Blackboard as an announcement. It's a low-stakes assignment.

All students who attend the site visit class and engage with the task will receive a classwork credit towards their classwork grade. Completion of the videos by the following class will count as a homework assignment. Students will also complete a pass/fail in-class writing assignment evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of their team’s process and final product that will count as the second day's in-class writing task.

On the whole, I would repeat the activity. The students who completed it were highly engaged and referred back to the project for the rest of the semester enthusiastically. Many commented at the end of the term that they felt the class was an excellent opportunity to develop relationships with classmates, and I felt that this activity supported that process. My students did seem to feel more comfortable approaching their own multi-modal project after successfully creating one with a team. The teams who presented their videos felt a great sense of accomplishment and enjoyed discussing their process and choices with the class. Also, some of the more low-performing students turned out to be really knowledgeable about using cell phone cameras and/or TikTok, and it gave some C students a chance to shine.

That said, the poor attendance patterns that were a part of the Spring 2024 term for many sections did significantly limit the impact, as only 10 students attended my 10 am class and 6 attended my 11:30 am class on the day of the library site visit, and some of those students were then absent the following class and missed the presentations and discussion. I initially wanted to limit the amount of information I gave about the activity in advance because I wanted the students to work through the challenge on the day of the assignment with their teams, but in retrospect, I believe I should have talked up the benefits of the project more at the previous class meeting to encourage more students to show up for it. On the other hand, I'm not sure that would have helped, as there were many other class periods during the second half of the term that were also this poorly attended.

There was a minor altercation with a library worker who became extremely irritated when she thought the students were filming her (even though they were actually filming the circulation desk sign). I suggested that the remaining teams stay away from the circulation desk, as she seemed unusually sensitive. One team was particularly disappointed that they were not able to include this area in their video. All of the other library staff seemed neutral to enthusiastic about the project, and I don't think that it disrupted operations apart from this one incident.

Please share a helpful link to a pages or post on the OpenLab

May 22, 2024

Noticing as a Means of Detailed Writing

Adin Dobkin

English

ENG1101 – Composition I

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

This is a two-class session activity, with a short homework assignment acting as a bridge. On the first day, each student is given one of three photographs from a moment in NYC history. No context is provided to the students, only the photograph itself. They're given twenty minutes to write down as many details as possible from this photograph, taking note of what is there as well as what isn't. Then, they're asked to select from those details the five that they believe best capture that image, and describe why they believe those are the most significant.

Students are then put into groups according to which photos they were given (these groups will be static throughout the semester, but students haven't yet worked in them). Together, the group selects the five details that they agree are the most significant. Next, they put those details into relation to one another. This is open, and can either be written out in paragraph form, relations can be drawn with arrows, etc.

For homework, the group's task is to collectively come up with a description, using these details, of what they believe the photograph shows. I emphasize the importance of deriving this understanding through the details, not by attempting to find the photograph.

The next class session, the photograph is displayed at the front of the classroom. The group shares their description, how they decided upon it, and any struggles they encountered along the way. Then, to each group individually, I pass them a bit of historical information about their photograph: what it actually shows. As the last part of this assignment, I ask them to reflect on any details they see anew, or anything they missed without having that proper context.

Learning Goals: What do you aim to achieve with this activity?

This assignment started with an understanding that attention is something students often struggle with, particularly when reading. The most notable consequence of this is writing that doesn't include details. But I had a hunch that by using visual texts, and by describing this process that I think can be replicated in readings, students might get it.

I hope that students internalize the act of paying attention -> noticing details -> putting those details into relation to one another -> seeking an explanation for that synthesis -> reflecting on their accuracy. This assignment also works to embody a process of engaging with NYC history, working in groups to debate and synthesize details, and think about the ethics of writing.

Timing: At what point in the lesson or semester do you use this activity? How much classroom time do you devote to it? How much out-of-class time is expected?

This assignment took place in the second and third classes of the semester, with about two hours of total time, plus maybe 30 minutes to one hour with homework.

Logistics: What preparation is needed for this activity? What instructions do you give students? Is the activity low-stakes, high-stakes, or something else?

This is a low-stakes assignment, but a key one in embodying the process that they will hopefully use for their first major assignment. Most work went into identifying photos that weren't too obvious, were detail rich, and spoke to moments of city history. Students don't have the full picture, as it were, until the assignment is through, but each individual step is more or less intuitive and guided by instructions.

As a low-stakes assignment, this assignment is primarily participation-based. I look to see students writing as many details as possible in the time allotted, but also that they get in the habit of answering why to as great of a degree as possible.

This assignment was consistently cited by students as one of their favorites this semester, I think due to its detective-like nature, the environment it quickly brings about in groups, and in the real-world history that it engages with. For these reasons, I would repeat it, though I don't think it as readily translated to their reading assignments (but this is a far bigger problem than any one assignment).

Please share a helpful link to a pages or post on the OpenLab

May 22, 2024

Critical thinking

Wenhsing Yang

City Tech

NUR 2110

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

Critical thinking through writing assignments-understand the patient care with their needs

Learning Goals: What do you aim to achieve with this activity?

familiar with priority, delegation, quality of care

Timing: At what point in the lesson or semester do you use this activity? How much classroom time do you devote to it? How much out-of-class time is expected?

I used half hours in class and lab for students to think about patient care and how to intervene with their needs.

Logistics: What preparation is needed for this activity? What instructions do you give students? Is the activity low-stakes, high-stakes, or something else?

students need to be familiar with the disease process and its influence to patients quality of life.
some are low-stakes, some are high-stakes, because it was being use in the simulation

I use Gen. rubric.

i will repeat it but I will use different scenarios because every patients is different

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May 21, 2024

LOOKING BEYOND THE OBVIOUS

JONNEL MORTLEY

DENTAL HYGIENE

Principles of Dental Hygiene Care III

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

Students are tasked with developing two case studies in their final semester (DEN 2400)on their E-Portfolio. This assignment is a precursor to what they can use for their final project . Students will use all the information gathered from a Clinic Patient and develop a case study that meets the following criteria for vulnerable population: The patient must have had no dental care in past two years or limited access to dental care. The ideal patient has no dental insurance. The patient must be from an underserved community within the Borough . The students will use the following assessments -Medical history, Social history , dental history , Intra and Extra oral examination, Dental examination , Periodontal examination , Calculus detection ,Radiographs and Intra oral photos to create a case study and develop a comprehensive care plan. They will focus specifically on the management , compliance and health outcomes for this assignment.

Learning Goals: What do you aim to achieve with this activity?

The students with use Critical thinking and Ethical reasoning when developing their care plan . They will use investigative questioning to gather pertinent information to meet their vulnerable population criteria . The students with learn key strategies for managing patient outcomes when limitations are involved . Students are expected to make the correlation between access and health outcomes. Students will consider cost as a barrier to compliance and make necessary recommendations .Students will learn how to compose a case study before their final semester's E-portfolio requirements.

Timing: At what point in the lesson or semester do you use this activity? How much classroom time do you devote to it? How much out-of-class time is expected?

This assignment can be started at any time in the Fall Semester as there are specific criteria to fulfill the assignment objectives. It will be an out of classroom assignment and students have until the end of semester to complete. This may take from 2hours – 4days to compose.

Logistics: What preparation is needed for this activity? What instructions do you give students? Is the activity low-stakes, high-stakes, or something else?

Students first have to first identify the ideal candidate (patient) to study. They have to complete the in clinic assessments on the patient and the case study is only completed after that patient's treatment has been completed in our dental hygiene clinic .
Students will be instructed to carefully access the patient for treatment needs. This is a high stakes activity.

The AAC & U Value Rubric will be used to evaluate. ETHICAL REASONING VALUE RUBRIC
Definition
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.
We will use a sliding scale from 0-4 .
O for a case study that does not meet the benchmark.
1 for minimally reaching objectives
2 for stating pertinent information but fails to meet all requirements
3 meets the requirements with some room for improvement
4 meets all requirements and satisfies the objectives

This assignment has not yet been adopted. It will be proposed in the Fall 2024 Semester. This assignment can prepare students to complete their Case study requirements in the E- portfolio .

This assignment is a modification of the following assignment completed in the Spring 2024 in Principles of Dental Hygiene Care IV.
The link below shows the current E-portfolio requirement https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/den2400sp2024/eportfolio/

Please share a helpful link to a pages or post on the OpenLab

https://www.aacu.org/initiatives/value-initiative/value-rubrics

May 19, 2024

Career Exploration Assignment

Rosa Abreu

Hospitality Management/Professional Studies

Perspective in Hospitality Management

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

As students prepare for their internship and future career, they will research employment prospects within the Hospitality and Tourism industry. The students are to write a two page essay answering specific questions, write a cover letter and provide a one page bibliography.

Learning Goals: What do you aim to achieve with this activity?

Discuss the scope of the hospitality and tourism industry.

Evaluate and apply information discerningly from a variety of sources to classify and examine food and beverage operations.

Describe and discuss the roles and responsibilities of key executives and department heads in the hospitality industry.

Timing: At what point in the lesson or semester do you use this activity? How much classroom time do you devote to it? How much out-of-class time is expected?

This assignment is introduced in week 6 of the semester, with a dedicated 45-minute session allocated for questions and answers.

Logistics: What preparation is needed for this activity? What instructions do you give students? Is the activity low-stakes, high-stakes, or something else?

This term project is high stake, as students are reintroduced to APA style guidelines and instructed on how to create a one page bibliography.

I utilized the AAC&U Information Literacy rubric for assessment purposes only. I don't use the rubric for grading students' work.

This activity proved to be highly effective in my classroom. As part of the project, students delivered a three-minute presentation about their chosen career paths. This not only allowed them to showcase their own goals but also provided their classmates with valuable insights into various careers within the industry.

Please share a helpful link to a pages or post on the OpenLab

January 13, 2024

Case studies -in class assignment

Wenhsing Yang

Nursing

Medical-Surgical Nursing

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

You will be assigned to a group (4 to 5 students) and discuss this case study with a Google link. This activity will take 30 minutes. After that, you have 10 minutes to present your answer to the class. You will need to use textbooks and online resources to provide your answers and rationales. This presentation will take 10 minutes per group. Feedback is welcome.
The link is here https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ZXzJYcymsyznni6tVvNWhUbW8V1EsekWJWQhF9rdraM/edit?usp=sharing

Learning Goals: What do you aim to achieve with this activity?

The goals of this assignment are based on ACEN requirement (critical thinking) as follows:
The goal is to avoid having your decision cause injury to anyone
With critical thinking skills, you can weigh many factors and skillfully solve problems, making good decisions a majority of the time
Operating in a critical thinking model while pursuing nursing studies helps develop the clinical judgment needed to practice safe nursing
Nursing uses a knowledge base to make decisions, generate new ideas, and solve problems

Timing: At what point in the lesson or semester do you use this activity? How much classroom time do you devote to it? How much out-of-class time is expected?

This assignment will be used at the end of the cancer chapter (week five).
This activity will take 30 minutes. After that, you will present your answer to the class.
You have ten minutes to present your answers to the class.

Logistics: What preparation is needed for this activity? What instructions do you give students? Is the activity low-stakes, high-stakes, or something else?

I will need to create a scenario and questions for students to complete the assignment. You have 30 minutes to complete the assignment and present it to the class.
This is a group assignment; you will be assigned to a group to discuss your answer. Please note, you will need to provide evidence-based on your answer. Please feel free to use online resources and textbooks.
This is a low-stakes assignment because it does not cause danger to people. Instead, the students will have the opportunity to share the answers with the class and ask for feedback

I use the Value rubric -critical thinking. This is part of a college-wide general education assessment.

Yes, I will repeat this activity with different classes. Different case studies will be provided based on the course objective and outcome.
Only a few students discuss in the class, so I will need to facilitate the activity and ask other students for their input.
I will give each group different case studies, so the students will have different understanding of each disease and their nursing interventions.
Students like to hear from other groups with their answers and rationales. Because each group has different answers based on their priority and information. Additionally, students will be able to work with other students. In nursing, teamwork is necessary.

N/A

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January 13, 2024

Critical thinking

Wenhsing Yang (Annie)

Nursing

Nur 2110

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

You will be assigned to a group (4 to 5 students) and discuss this case study. This activity will take 30 minutes. After that, you have ten minutes to present your answer to the class. You will need to use textbooks and online resources to provide your answers and rationales. Feedback is welcome.

Learning Goals: What do you aim to achieve with this activity?

The goal of this assignment is based on ACEN requirement (critical thinking) as follow:
1.Goal is to avoid having your decision cause injury to anyone
2.With critical thinking skills, you can weight many factors and skillfully solve problems, making good decisions a majority of the time
3.Operating in critical thinking model while pursuing nursing studies helps develop clinical judgement needed to practice safe nursing
4.Nursing use a knowledge base to make decision, generate new ideas, and solve problems.

Timing: At what point in the lesson or semester do you use this activity? How much classroom time do you devote to it? How much out-of-class time is expected?

This assignment will be used at the end of the cancer chapter (week five).
This activity will take 30 minutes. After that, you will present your answer to the class.
This presentation will take 10 minutes per group.

Logistics: What preparation is needed for this activity? What instructions do you give students? Is the activity low-stakes, high-stakes, or something else?

I will need to create a scenario and questions for students to complete the assignment. You have 30 minutes to complete the assignment and present it to the class.
This is a group assignment; you will be assigned to a group to discuss your answer. Please note, you will need to provide evidence-based on your answer. Please feel free to use online resources and textbooks.
This is a low-stakes assignment because it does not cause danger to people. Instead, students have the opportunity to share the answers with the class and ask for feedback.

I use the Value rubric -critical thinking. This is part of a college-wide general education assessment.

N/A

Please share a helpful link to a pages or post on the OpenLab

June 5, 2023

Global Diversity & Reading, Writing, & Research

Nadine Weinstein-Lavi

English Dept/NYCCT

Professional Development Program – Jan. 2023

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

1. Post a link to a song whose lyrics make you think/describe the emotions in one of the pieces my grandfather played (I played for you in class). Explain the connection and why you chose that song.

Students were asked to participate in an interactive blog/gallery type of activity by posting three items: a song, and two images, which reflected their responses to an historical artifact that was used as a text in class: Alfred Schenker's Secret War Diary, 1941-43 (written by my grandfather while in hiding during the Holocaust), and by writing a paragraph about each item that connected it to the diary.

The instructions were: 1. Post a song or a link to it whose lyrics match the emotions in one of the pieces that Alfred Schenker played on the CD you listened to in class. Show the connection in a paragraph about the song you've chosen and his piece. 2. Post an image that shows how you think he felt writing the diary and write a paragraph showing the connection between the two, 3. Post an image that shows how you felt reading the diary/how it makes you feel and write a paragraph showing the connection between the two.

Learning Goals: What do you aim to achieve with this activity?

The idea was to have students read an historical artifact – an actual WWII Holocaust document – and to make a connection to it in modern terms in a creative way (Some students posted cartoon images to correspond to the emotions they felt upon reading the diary), and to explain that in a paragraph. Creativity and analysis, and consideration of the context of the text (diary) and its relevance to themselves was a big factor in designing this assignment. Awareness of an historical event and gaining of perspectives – the ethics or lack, the context, and the connection to modern times, was key.

Timing: At what point in the lesson or semester do you use this activity? How much classroom time do you devote to it? How much out-of-class time is expected?

This activity was a mid-stakes assignment that followed the reading of the diary in the middle of the semester. We devoted about two weeks to the reading of, and the discussion of the diary, and a related assignment: a PowerPoint about it, and this interactive blog/gallery, which allowed all students to see what the others had posted and to discuss it.

Logistics: What preparation is needed for this activity? What instructions do you give students? Is the activity low-stakes, high-stakes, or something else?

This was a mid-stakes activity, but it was fun. The idea was to be as creative as possible in terms of finding corresponding songs and images. They did very well. The instructions were as follows:
1. Post a link to a song whose lyrics make you think/describe the emotions in one of the pieces my grandfather played (I played for you in class). Explain the connection and why you chose that song. c

This assignment was assessed based on it's creativity. The students got points for thinking outside the box for this. They were very creative. No rubric was used as it was a mid-stakes assignment worth 15 points. However, everyone did so well, that they got more than the allotted points. This course is English 1121 and is a required course.

I think that this activity worked very well as it enabled students to make connections between the text and themselves and their responses to the text in a new way, via music and images. It was also open for everyone to see, so there was less pressure for each student and they could discuss what they were going to do beforehand.

This was the set of instructions for the assignments:
1. Post a link to a song whose lyrics make you think/describe the emotions in one of the pieces my grandfather played (I played for you in class). Explain the connection and why you chose that song. 1. Post a link to a song whose lyrics make you think/describe the emotions in one of the pieces my grandfather played (I played for you in class). Explain the connection and why you chose that song.

Please share a helpful link to a pages or post on the OpenLab

May 31, 2023

Public Space design

Christopher Stienon

Fordham

Urbanism

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

This activity is for a course on urbanism that examines the context and principles of good urban design. This assignment began with a walking tour of Midtown Manhattan to visit several prominent public spaces including Rockefeller Center, Times Square, Bryant Park, Union Square, etc. The students were to experience these places and then select one they liked and hype it in the form of short video (like TikTok), a blog post, or podcast, etc. Based on their observations, they were subsequently asked to select a space they didn’t like and reconceive it using features and elements from the places they liked. These were presented to the class in the form of single image of a shadow box / stage set.

Learning Goals: What do you aim to achieve with this activity?

The purpose of the activity was two-fold. It gave the students a sense of the scale of the city and places within it (which was later used as a scale comparison with looking at other cities), and it pushed them to look at the character of place and the factors that made them this way. For example, was a space noisy or quiet, active or empty of people, shaded or sunny, small large, etc. The idea was to get the students to look at how the character of place affects human behavior.

Timing: At what point in the lesson or semester do you use this activity? How much classroom time do you devote to it? How much out-of-class time is expected?

This assignment was given at the beginning of the semester before examining the history of cities.

Logistics: What preparation is needed for this activity? What instructions do you give students? Is the activity low-stakes, high-stakes, or something else?

There is no preparation needed. The first part of the assignment was to follow a walking tour of several public spaces in Midtown Manhattan, starting at Grand Army Plaza next to Central Park and proceeding down Fifth Avenue to Rockefeller Center and crossing to Times Square and following Broadway all the way to Union Square.
The students were asked to look at all the open spaces to understand how they are physically different and what was contributing to the character of place. The students were to select a space they liked and hype it. That is they could create a photo essay, a blog or a TikTok video – or any medium that described why the space they liked was so appealing – and then hype it – that is, describe why the space was successful and attractive. Why should someone want to go there?
The second part of this assignment asked the students to then select a space they didn’t like and reconceive it using the elements from the space they liked. The students were to create a shadow box / stage set rendition of their proposal and present it in class.

The VALUE rubric touched on Analysis and Design. The activity was assessed by how well the students were able to communicate and describe what they were seeing and identify contributing factors to the quality of place (analysis). For example, Bryant Park was frequently cited as a successful public space because it was less crowded and quiet, it felt separate from the rest of the city yet there were activities and people within the park. The creation of a shadow box to illustrate a proposed redesign of a particular place they didn't initially like was assessed by how well they could take an idea or an observation and translate it to a different setting – and could these ideas be clearly communicated.

The assignment was well received, and I will use it again, but I will introduce the project to the students differently the next time. I'll need to emphasize that this is not simply a documentation of a site visit, but an actual analysis of why a space is attractive. It may entail an entire lecture devoted to the design of public open spaces so they understand what these contributing factors actually are before having them undertake the assignment.

As with all assignments, there are students looking for the simplest and fastest way to complete the work, so some students simply turned in a series of unedited video clips taken as they went from place to place and talked about what they were seeing along the way. If they did this in a group, then each student had more or less the same set of images. This was not entirely bad since there was at least evidence that they visited these spaces, but it was far short of focusing on the details of a particular place.

But the students who pushed a bit did some fantastic work. The result was an assortment of TikTok videos, podcast scripts and recordings, newsletters and blog posts – all capturing elements of the city; the lights, the sounds and the action.

With the second half of the assignment several students listed Times Square as there least preferred space, so there were several proposals for a Bryant Park or Union Square themed makeover of Times Square or 42nd Street. There was a general sense of playfulness and experimentation with these proposals and presentation.

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