Duration – Page 9 – L4: Living Lab Learning Library

May 3, 2017January 4, 2018

Editorial Illustration Part 1 – Project Research

Sara Woolley Gómez

Communication Design

Illustration 1

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

This activity is the introductory assignment of a scaffolded project, in which students create an Editorial Illustration for use to accompany an article in a magazine, printed or online. The project is broken into stages with peer critique and feedback given at each stage, spanning 4 weeks in total.

Part 1 Editorial Illustration Research:

1- Open with a Collaborative Learning Activity:

Rapid Fire Discussion: What do we care about?

There is a sterotype that young people are unaware or unconcerned with social issues and current events.
• Do you agree or disagree with this statement?
• Are there issues or events which you are particularly passionate about?

5 minute Brain Dump:
• In teams, grab a piece of chalk and fill the black board with a brainstorm of every issue you care about.
• If another student’s answer sparks an idea, draw a line to link the ideas.
• There are no wrong answers, but be sure to read before you write! No doubles allowed!

End with a 5 minute Reflection

2- IN-CLASS ASSIGNMENT : Editorial Illustration Research

Research: Find an article from a legitimate news source, online or printed, about a topic which you are passionate about or find particularly interesting, as source material for your editorial illustration. Carefully read and analyze those articles.

Brainstorm: Using the Word Stack method taught in an earlier assignment, students will write down all of the key words they can think of relating to the article. They then build out from those key word forming stacks, and make bridges between any concepts that they find related. For example, by theme, color, shape, etc. This part is entirely personal and represents part of their unique artistic lens.

Write: Students author a blog post on open lab in response to the article. Key stakeholders are identified. Who does this issue matter to and why? Students share the article as well as their brainstorm with their peers.

Discuss: Students prepare a brief presentation of their chosen article and brainstorm.

Presentation: Students present their findings to their peers, showing all related materials through the open lab. 3 minutes per student with an additional 2 minute Q&A.

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

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOME
Students discuss / analyze core beliefs and the origins of the core belief.
Analyze content and evaluate evidence
Apply critical thinking skills to make creative inferences
Evaluate different ethical perspectives and concepts
Respect and Use Creativity

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 is the introductory assignment of a 4 part scaffolded project, Editorial Illustration. We begin this month long project midway through the semester. It builds upon knowledge gained from two preceding projects, such as illustration professional practices, the revision process, technical skills, and concept development techniques. It also uses a place based learning experience at the New York Society of Illustrators annual show, as a springboard for the assignment.

This activity, project research is an in class activity and purposely designed so to allow opportunity for collaborative learning. It will take the full class session (3 hours) to complete. Students are expected to continue the assignment outside of class during the next three parts of the assignment leading to the final illustration and work process presentation.

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 activity does not require a great deal of preparation. As previously noted, the art form of Editorial Illustration is previously introduced through a place based learning experience at the New York Society of Illustrators. Students are not asked to come in with any concept of what they would like to work on. Instead they are to identify issues the care passionately about through collaborative learning with their peers. This also allows them to recognize and discuss multiple perspectives. Then they are to inform their opinions through thorough research. Then finally to present the issue to the class, expressing their views on it, and showing their research and an accompanying brainstorm.

This is a low stakes activity. It in an of itself is not graded, however it contributes to the process development of a high stakes project.

Students are given the following evaluation criteria:

Overall quality of your presentation to the class.
Clarity while explaining the topic you’ve chosen and it's significance.
Quality and depth of the Brainstorm created based on the topic.

• Identify the key stakeholders in the issue.
• Describe your perspective on the issue.
• Describe how different ethical perspectives might be applied.
• Explain your brainstorm, and share any creative insights or inferences it may have sparked.

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?

This activity uses a VALUE rubric to access the following learning outcomes:

Self Reflect and Identify personal values and ethics
Analyze content and evaluate evidence
Apply critical thinking skills to make creative inferences
Discern multiple perspectives

In addition I access the following outcomes using the same 4 tiered rating system:

Respect and Use of Creativity.
Overall quality and professionalism of presentation.

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?

This activity description represents a revision of a current assignment in order to improve upon it. Currently students are coming into class after having researched and chosen a topic on their own.

This new structured in class version allows students to learn collaboratively, and to discern multiple perspectives through evaluating the work of their peers.

Students in the current version of the assignment seem to greatly enjoy presenting the issue and their views on it as well as creative work to their peers.

One challenge I encountered was identifying the difference between a legitimate or false news source. At first I dealt with this on an individual basis, but once it had come up for discussion a second time I stopped the class to discuss the difference as a group, leading them to come up with a set of parameters.

In the future I'd structure in the same discussion and provide some better examples.

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.

Assignment Instructions:

Editorial Illustration (4 part project)

Overall Project Description:

Create an Editorial Illustration for use to accompany an article in a magazine, printed or online. This project is broken into stages with peer critique and critical feedback given at each stage, spanning 4 weeks in total.

The final illustration must be created using a limited palate of black, white, and one other color and should be made using a combination of traditional drawing / inking skills and digital coloring. Final art should be made to fit the real magazine’s specs. (Approx 9” x12”)

Final work will be judged on the clarity and cleverness of the overall concept, thoughtful utilization of composition, the use of value, and of course the skillfulness of overall technique.
_______________________________________________________

Part 1 of 4

Rapid Fire Discussion: What do we care about?

IN-CLASS ASSIGNMENT : Editorial Illustration Research

Brainstorm: Using the Word Stack method we’ve used for earlier assignments, write down all of the key words you can think of related to the article. Be sure to include the actions – what is happening, not just who, what, or where.

Write: A blog post on open lab in response to the article. Identify the key stakeholders. Who does this matter to and why? Highlight particular areas of interest to you. Share the article as well as your brainstorm and any images you may consider using in the future as reference material.

Discuss: Prepare a brief presentation of your chosen article and brainstorm.

PURPOSE
Identify personal values and understand how passion to fuels your work.
Listen to the values and consider the perspectives of others.
Understand ethical perspectives.

EVALUATION CRITERIA
Overall quality of your presentation to the class.
Clarity while explaining the topic you’ve chosen and it's significance.
Quality and depth of the Brainstorm created based on the topic.

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

https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/woolley-comd2313sp17/2017/05/03/editorial-illustration-process-book-examples/

May 2, 2017January 4, 2018

Telling New York Stories: Place, Identity and History

Megan Behrent

English Department, NYC College of Technology

ENG 1101

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

For this project, students will read excerpts from Anna Deveare Smith’s Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn and Other Identities. They will then compare and discuss Smith’s depiction of the Crown Heights riots in 1991 with newspaper depictions of these events and oral histories from the collection at the Brooklyn Historical Society. After extensive discussion of the ethical issues given expression to by the play, oral histories from the collection at the Brooklyn Historical Society as well as news of the period, students will think about conflicts in their own communities. Using Anna Deveare Smith’s theater as a model, students will create a monologue based on either an oral history they conduct themselves with someone from their community or an oral history from the archives of the Brooklyn Historical Society and write a monologue based on this research to be performed for the class.

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

Students will learn to think critically about the relationship between place and identity, a central theme of the course which is part of a First Year Learning Community. They will use place-based learning and conduct research to develop their ethical reasoning. Lastly, they will develop an understanding of creative writing and theater as a means of ethical, political and social commentary and learn to develop a creative monologue which gives expression to a these concerns.

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 will be a culminating project for this unit. The monologue itself will be written and performed in 3-4 classes but the research and textual analysis which inspires this assignment will take at least a month.

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

Reading excerpts from Fires in the Mirror and watching scenes from Anna Deveare Smith’s performance of these monologues will be crucial preparation as will visits to the Brooklyn Historical Society during which students will learn to conduct archival research and draw on oral histories for their monologues.

Students will be assessed throughout the project based on a customized rubric to evaluate their use of research, ethical reasoning, creative expression and presentation/performance

This project is still in course design stage.

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

April 28, 2017January 4, 2018

The ethical issue of biomedical engineering

Chen Xu

Computer Engineering Technology

BMET1101

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

In BMET1101, Introduction to Biomedical Engineering Technology, different subareas of biomedical engineering are introduced. Discuss the new development of prosthetic arm, watch the video of mind controlled robotic arm. Ask students to research about different aspects, such as biomechanics, neural engineering, and biomedical instrumentation, medical imaging. Then move to cyborg (short for "cybernetic organism") in the novel and movies, which is a being with both organic and biomechatronic body parts, such as iron man, spider man, and Darth Vader. Discuss the ethical issues, such as will the artificial devices may affect personal identity and dignity, can human still be held morally responsible for their behavior when their brain has been engineered by others to function in certain way?

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

Inspire students to explore the development of technology and critically think about the limit of technology.

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?

At the end of semester. Maybe discuss some topics in one lecture, then let students do more research, revisit the topics again after two or three weeks.

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

Show some videos, and introduce the background. It’s an open-ended question, write or present as a project.

Breadth of knowledge, lifelong learning, inquiry and analysis, integrate learning, ethics and value.

Still in course design stage.

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

April 28, 2017January 5, 2018

Political Talk Show

Jesse Ricke

Entertainment Technology/CityTech

Video Studio Operations

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

Students work in groups to produce TV format panel discussions on a topic relevant to their local experiences.
Each group member is on the panel. The discussion will be on a topic relevant to the group’s assessment of their communities. The group must be able to appreciate all sides of the topic. The video production must represent several sides of the topic.
Before the production is assigned students will be required to research social issues relevant to their community, using local media and histories. During class students will watch and dis- cuss examples of socially relevant panel formats from professional broadcasts. These exam- ples can draw from the full history of television, including early talk shows to modern cable news panels to web based productions, but discussions of the examples will focus on the con- tent’s ethical relevance and rounded treatment of the subject.
The production will be accomplished with one camera but must result in the appearance of a multi-camera, continuous scene. The goal is continuity and socially engaged content. The resulting piece of TV content should show concern for the topic and it’s affect on the intended audience.

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

Underpinning this assignment is the belief that socially topical media’s affect on it’s audience is an ethical concern, to be judged by the way the content treats it’s topic. One-sided treatments should be recognized as poor, multi-faceted treatments that respect several reasonable points of view should be recognized as high quality.
Given a rich and divisive topic, and a challenging production scenario, I hope students are able to approach the discussion from different sides and come to understand one another’s points of view, synthesizing their disagreements into high quality content.
By shooting the content shot-by-shot, they will need to pay careful attention to the pace and structure of the panel discussion, thus considering the various ways the ethical debate can be composed.

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 is the second group project in the semester, occurring directly after the midterm. They should already be familiar with essential production concerns by this time.
The assignment begins with homework to research relevant social concerns in their own communities. The next class includes a half hour review of the format, political talk shows. Students are asked to find examples and discuss the quality of the examples to their intended audiences.
The students then have the remainder of the class period, about 1 hour, for a production meeting. During the meeting they agree on topics and a general strategy for the shoot. From the production meeting, students have a week to formalize their scripts and treatments.
The next week, students return with a completed script and treatment and begin producing the footage with classroom gear. After a full session to shoot, the footage is edited for home- work to create the final production piece. The students have the option to produce a document describing how the footage should be edited.

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 must be familiar with production documents, camera operation, lighting, and audio capture. It is a fairly high stakes activity, accounting for %10 of the final grade, but the ethical depth is not directly tied to this grade. Rather, content will be judged by production quality and concern for relevance to the intended audience. Preparation for this concern will be done in the class discussion of format at the start of the assignment.
Here is a portion of the technical instructions:
Shoot a panel discussion (Crossfire, The View) of 3 to 5 minutes on any subject. Each group member is on the panel.
The shoot will be done with one camera but must result in the appearance multi-camera, continuous scene.
The goal is continuity and system integration
– use close and room micing
– use thoughtful three point lighting throughout
– a variety of close, mid, and long shots must be exhibited

Before the shoot, provide:
– dialogue
– cam script/storyboard
– credits, all crew members and their roles
After the shoot, provide:
– raw footage
– edit decision list with time shot number, time referent, duration, and audio notes.
For the shoot, you will have – 1 cam
– one card
– 1 lav mic
– 1 room mic
– 1 mobile lighting rig – 10×10 space

I assess the project for teamwork, production focus, organizational pre production, and over- all composition. Given a range of prior experience with studio production I mainly look for improvement since the first group assignment. For the new ethical aspect of the project I use the ACCU ethical reasoning rubric.

I gave this assignment a test run during Spring 2017 and plan to do an updated version in Fall 2017.
For the Spring class, the students performed the production well, and they did genuine reasoning about the ethics of their topics. I was surprised by some of the personal revelations some of the arguments relied upon. While the personal nature of many arguments made for serious content, students did not attempt to argue for the sake of social good. One group strayed far from ethical issues.
The Fall version will begin with more prompt, asking students to consider their production as a public good that should have a positive influence on their audience. This prompt should take place during the initial review of the panel format, paired with discussions about the formats conventions for shot variety, lighting, and audio capture. The ethics of content must become a main concern of this discussion.
It would also be useful to focus students by asking them to choose a specific example to emulate, one that has clear social intent. This would provide a specific guidepost by which to

measure their production choices and concept of public good. I would like to give students the freedom to consider the full genre but some method is needed to steer their choices to- wards ethically resonant productions.

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

April 28, 2017January 5, 2018

ARCH3610 Architectural Design VI: Community at Crossroads

Prof. Jieun Yang

Architectural Technology

ARCH 3610 Architectural Design VI

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

Students are designing a community center plus a plug-in program of the student’s choice (i.e. gym, gallery, school, etc.) on a choice of the following two sites that are going through a rapid change of renewal and gentrification:
Site A: 45 Park Pl. in Manhattan Downtown
Site B: 625 Fulton St. in Brooklyn Downtown

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

Using the place-based learning, students are expected to familiarize themselves with the conditions of the site, including its urban qualities of circulation, transportation, constraints, and demographic as well as its history which includes recent changes to the site’s urban fabric. Students are expected to understand the stakeholders and vision involved in design process and outcome by having a specific “public” to address. Students are also exposed to ethical reasoning by thinking about the role of design profession in its participation in new developments that sometimes can create equitable public space but can also create inequity and isolation through gentrification.

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 is a semester-long project, and students are expected to present their final design solution at the final review with invited guest juries consisted of faculty members and other professional architects.
The semester is largely divided into 4 parts.
During the first 2 weeks, students focus on the site analysis that requires gathering and synthesis of information as a group.
It is then followed by another 3 weeks of precedent studies during which time each student research and dissect existing community centers and plug-in program of their choice. Through this process, each student must understand and extract useful information such as a method of programming different spaces, circulation paths that accommodate users, and its relationship to the site.
Based on the research on the site and precedent studies, students are then expected to formulate their opinion and stance on the issue through abstract design. The process starts with making of collages and models that address site, community, and plug-in program.
The last 6-7 weeks of the semester consists of continuous development of each student’s design to support their “parti” (main idea) that resonates at multiple levels of relevant topics including site, massing, interior spatial experience, circulation, building envelope, structure, users, and most importantly, the design’s impact on the community and the site.
This project uses the full duration of each class. At times, the class is formatted for a group research and activity. Most times, it works as a thesis development with students continually working on the project and the instructor giving each student desk critique. There are 5-6 informal pin-ups and presentations throughout the semester (excluding the final review) where each student is expected to share their progress and findings with the fellow classmates and instructor for their feedback.
In order to successfully complete the project, average 10-15 hours of work outside the class time is required.

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

Since the activity is a semester-long project, it is essential to prepare weekly or bi-weekly assignments to lead students through smaller manageable steps to consider all aspects of the project. Rather than giving the students a list of assignments for the entire semester, each assignment is announced through the Open Lab and meant to compound upon the previous assignment to introduce multiple aspects and considerations needed for a successful project.
Each assignment gives a clear instruction on topics to consider and deliverables. When introducing a unfamiliar topic or methodology, an overview lecture during class accompanies issuance of assignments. The students are asked to submit their assignments through maintaining their own e-blog where they post their progress. Fellow classmates are encouraged to comment, and each student is encouraged to flip back through their past posts to reflect on their progress and spot issues or topics they may have bypassed and require deep-dive.
Each assignment is weighted equally and comprise of 30-40% of the overall grade. The final submission takes on the highest stake by making up 50% of the overall grade. The project as a whole is meant to be a high-stake project, and the expectation on each student is to have a clear, thoughtful resolution of design based on their research for the final presentation. The assignments are meant to help with the process by being more forgiving to allow for a room for exploration and experimentation.

1. Review students’ creative process (initial sketches through to the final project) by means of frequent pin-ups. (Los: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14-17)
2. Assess the students’ use of professional vocabulary during oral presentations and written work.(Lo: 7, 8, 14)
3. Review students’ ability to incorporate a concept into their design work. (Los: 1)
4. Evaluate students’ ability to write descriptions of building typologies and the surrounding neighborhood and their effective use of information literacy skills. (Lo: 7, 9)
5. Evaluate students’ participation in class discussions regarding students’ written and oral presentations. (Lo: 12)
6. Review students’ accuracy with applying quantitative information to a design scheme. (Los: 10)
7. Evaluate students’ application of design precedents. (Los: 3, 9)
8. Review students’ ability to synthesize circulation, zoning, urban context, and views into a design. (Lo: 14)
9. Review students’ ability to synthesize construction types, hierarchy, and light into building design. (Lo: 15)
10. Review students’ ability to incorporate environmental systems and sustainable concepts into their design work. (Lo: 1, 2, 3, 14, 15, 17)
11. Review of group projects will be based on the completeness of the work as well as the effectiveness of the group’s teamwork and communication skills. (Lo: 11)
12. Evaluate students’ ability to diagram complex media. (Los: 17)

https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/jyangarch3610sp2017/

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

April 28, 2017January 5, 2018

Word on the Street; Neighborhood typography

Patricia Childers

COMD

Typographic Design 3

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

This low-stakes activity introduces students to ethical reasoning while they investigate typographical messaging in the public arena.

Students explore typography as a narrative tool through typographic signage in their neighborhood. Deconstructing ideologies embedded in typographic representation provides information needed to discuss their beliefs about inherent messaging, and its significance to various shareholders.

Students begin the activity by posting photos of neighborhood typography with a statement about their significance on our class blog. They also comment on other postings.

This project culminates with each student presenting their findings to the class, explaining the connotations of their image, stating their position on how it functions within its context and any issues affecting them or other stakeholders. The class discusses alternative suggestions and points-of-view. Insight from this discussion helps the presenter develop a concept for a book based her viewpoint of the neighborhood.

This discussion is step one of a scaffolded process that results in each student designing a 20-page book. Through a series of typographic assignments students create material, organize, and produce a product that visually communicates their concept. Weekly critiques fine-tune material and concept assumptions.

For this activity I will address the ethical reasoning segment of the assignment, which takes place during class discussions at the beginning and end of the semester.

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

By examining the connotations of the students' examples, we can determine if their signage represent a unique vernacular specific to their neighborhood or a ubiquitous non-place specific representation. Most neighborhoods contain a combination of representation in neighborhood with loose demarcations of borders. Discussion explores the definition of neighborhood, implications of change with its benefits and challenges, students' personal experiences and beliefs on the effect of change, and the consequences to other stakeholders. Is there a right or wrong way to make change? What are the assumptions and implications of gentrification?

Terminology: denotation, connotation, vernacular, gentrification

Students experience typography as a way to confer meaning and establish context.

Students gain competency in observing and assessing the language of typography and develop the ability to present conclusions about typographic signification and its implications.

This specific activity develops
an awareness of local design traditions and enhances the appreciation of a diverse mix of influences
an awareness of the semantic representation of typographic form in the public sphere
an awareness of the effect of design decisions on multiple stakeholders
Students' awareness of the semantic representation of typographic form in the public sphere and the implications of their design decisions accentuates the need for ethical responsibilities to multiple stakeholders.
In the classroom
students respond to varied mindsets, respect conflicting points of view, empathize with the presenter and understand different cultural perspectives.

In the brainstorming process
students learn how to professionally ask probing “why” and “how” questions to drive deeper thinking to arrive at solutions.

By reflecting on content
students reinforce and internalize insights gained and the connection between their work and the ethical issues discussed.

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?

The activity is given on the first day of the semester to prepare student for an assignment that requires design from a specific point-of-view. Students are expected to photograph during their daily activity. In class discussion is an hour followed by self-assessment using the Ethical Values Rubric
At the end of the semester students reflect on the process followed by another assessment with questions asking students to reflect upon what has changed.

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

Ethical design refers to work that conveys a strong, beneficial message, promotes a worthy cause and encompasses social responsibility and public interest. As there is no formal class introduction to this subject, analysis through the deconstruction of existing "public" design provides a natural introduction

In this low-stakes activity students examine connotative messaging and its implication in preparation for future assignments.

Students use a basic camera and post to the class blog. To introduce the assignment, I provide a handout, explain the assignment, answer questions, and post the assignment on the class website. A lesson plan is provided at the end of this report.
Class presentations and discussions begin with a series of prompts, a review of terminology, potential ethical issues, and opposing viewpoints of potential stakeholders. Throughout the discussion prompts and potential issues are reintroduced if needed to spur discussion.

I used the Ethical Reasoning Value rubric to determine questions and establish a framework of expectations for both class discussions. Discussions take place at the beginning and end of the semester.
After each discussion students self-access using the Ethical Reasoning Value Rubric. The second assessment asks student's to reflect on their assumptions of the first class and described how they have changed.

This process provides students the opportunity to reflect upon their experiences and to see their progress. It provides me with a vehicle for assessment of the effectiveness of the assignment and insight to changes that will improve the activity in future classes.

I will assess the overall success of this activity using the Ethical Reasoning Value rubric Benchmark-Capstone evaluation.
Ethical Self-Awareness
Understanding Different Ethical Perspectives/Concepts
Ethical Issue Recognition
Application of Ethical Perspectives/Concepts
Evaluation of Different Ethical Perspectives/Concepts

This assignment provided an opportunity to introduce socio-cultural implications of typography in a low-key manner. Student engagement led to one of the most thoughtful discussions of the semester.

There were several unexpected consequences.
Using the camera to document work seemed alleviate some of the usual "critique" anxiety students can experience after laboring over a project. The reflective aspect of the discussion increased student engagement—and bonding. And, possibly because the students were not presenting their own design work and were less sensitized, participation in critiques was more fluid. Students openly engaged with one another without looking to me for approval. A few students found that although they lived in the same neighborhoods their experiences differed based on the amount of time they had lived there. They drew upon their individual histories in the area to compare past and current vernacular and convey very different individual perspectives.
By the end of the discussion students had a more nuanced understanding of the power of symbolic representation and the inherent assumptions of and consequences to stakeholders. A few students freely admitted apathy to change in the larger social and cultural environment. However, within a few weeks, students developed the unique perspective and understanding of details needed to complete future assignments.

I will repeat this activity for many reasons. Describing the proliferation of cafés on two blocks of Bed Stuy or the clutter of fast food signage in Puerto Rico revealed core beliefs. Through this brief activity, students who were aware of their positions, now had the knowledge to describe, analyze, and explain their context. As social predicaments become more onerous it is vitally important to guide our future designers to continue questioning ethical implications and recognize the implications of their work.

In the future I will increase student participation on the blog by having students answer questions each week. Adding categories to the comments section will allow us to can posts by subject matter. For example, students will be asked to respond to one of the quotes below:

“All paradises, all utopias are designed by who is not there, by the people who are not allowed in.” Toni Morrison, from a conversation with Elizabeth Farnsworth, PBS News, http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/entertainment-jan-june98-morrison_3-9/

“Our small choices as creators matter in powerful but sometimes subtle ways” Diógenes Brito, designer: Slack, from an article on Medium https://medium.com/@uxdiogenes/just-a-brown-hand-313db35230c5

This project was assigned to students in the second-year of their graphic design studies. At this point, their studies incorporate more than formal aspects of design, they experience design as a decision-making discipline. A "design thinking," human-centered, approach to problem solving values empathy with users.

Our neighborhoods, our homes as a reflection our humanity, provide a natural space for empathic inquiry. Encouraging our students to begin questioning ethical implications at this primal level is one step in the process of enabling them to confidently voice their opinions and intelligently take action.

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

https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/childerscomd2427spring2017/assignments/?preview_id=10&preview_nonce=9446e44352&_thumbnail_id=-1&preview=true

April 27, 2017January 4, 2018

Grand Army Plaza observation exercise

Grand Army Plaza observation excercise

Keith Muchowski

Library Department; School of Arts and Sciences

LIB/ARCH 2205: Learning Places: Understanding the City

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

Task:
Next class we will visit Grand Army Plaza where you will select a monument or memorial within the public space. Your memorial might include Bailey Fountain; the statues of Gouverneur Kemble Warren, Henry Henry Slocum, James S.T. Stranahan, Henry W. Maxwell, John F. Kennedy, Alexander J.C. Skene; or the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Arch.

Photograph your monument from different vantage points, with at least 1-2 putting it into the wider context of the surrounding community.

Find any information you can, either on the monument or on any accompanying signage, that may answer such questions as:

Who financed the monument and how much did it cost?
When was it constructed?
What is it made of? (stone? bronze? something else?)
How many people attended the dedication?
What is its condition?
How would you describe public interest in the site?
Did anyone ask you any questions while you were there?

Deliverables:
Upload at least three photographs to Open Lab and write a 250-300 word OpenLab entry based on your answers to the questions above. Your classmates are your audience. Be prepared to show the images and speak to your fellow classmates for 5-7 minutes next class. The OpenLab entry (with accompanying photographs) is 10% percent of your final grade. The presentation counts toward your class participation.

Grading rubric:
Students will be evaluated on a scale of 1 to 5 (with 5 the best) on each of the following criteria.

OpenLab entry:
Following directions (word length and proper number of images)
Relevance to the course and assignment
Accuracy of content
Punctuation and clarity
Audience appropriateness

Oral presentation:
Following directions (time length)
Relevance to the course and assignment
Accuracy of content
Diction, articulateness, audience appropriateness
Organization and ability to stay on topic

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

As per New York City College of Technology’s Learning Goals, students will:

Use the arts, sciences and humanities as a forum for the study of values, ethical principles, and the physical world.

Demonstrate social and civic knowledge [regarding social, political, economic, and historical issues].

Apply knowledge and analyze social, political, economic, and historical issues.

Demonstrate expanded cultural and global awareness and sensitivity.

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?

The site visit would fall in the third week of the semester with the OpenLab entry due before the next class session. Oral presentations would be on the class day after the site visit. This assignment would thus take one week of class time.

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

Over the first two weeks of the semester students will have been given a general overview of course, the instructors’ expectations, and a historical overview of Grand Army Plaza itself.

This is a low stakes assignment. Over the semester students will be doing primary and secondary research on their monument in various archives, libraries, and special collections. For this early semester assignment they are using their powers of observation.

We are using the AACU’s Ethical Reasoning VALUE rubric to assess the efficacy of the assignment. We want students to understand that there are economic, social, political, and ethical reasons why the built environment that they inhabit every day exists the way it does.

We found the assignment went well and would definitely use it again with a few changes. We had the students speak six times, with accompanying OpenLab entries, in one particular semester. My colleague and I found this to be more than necessary and would scale it it back to five or even four if we taught the course again. Also we would keep tighter limits on the allotted speaking times. It was our impression that students felt the pressure to “say everything” and so spoke for significant periods of time, sometimes as much as 25-30 minutes. A time limit should be strictly enforced for the presentations.

Please note that students will eventually be working in groups based upon their statue, monument, or memorial. One student may focus on the architect, another the dedication, a third on any renovation that may have been done, and so forth. If the course focuses on a site other than Grand Army Plaza, students may study the location in small groups across a timeline, through the evolution of such things as transportation (trails turning into paved streets, ferries giving way to bridges, the automobile supplanting the carriage, horse cars being replaced by buses, and the subway system), or by geographic area within the larger space.

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April 7, 2017April 7, 2017

Exploring cultural differences in dental care

Anna Matthews

Dental Hygiene / SPS

Oral Anatomy DEN 1112

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

In Fall 2016, students in three sections of DEN1112 completed a term project assignment with the focus on Intercultural Knowledge and Skills assessment.
This assignment consisted of several parts.
Individually, students watched a Frontline PBS documentary “Dollars and Dentists” (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/dollars-and-dentists/ ) which explores the complexity and availability of dental care in the U.S.
Next, students read the case study “Mortality associated with odontogenic infection” (Green et al., 2001) and answer accompanying questions. Students were asked to discuss the documentaries they watched in small groups. Students were provided questions for discussion prompting them to discuss their opinions regarding the status of dental health care in the U.S. as presented in the documentary. Students were also asked to share their cultural beliefs and attitudes towards dental care. Given the diversity of students in our Dental Hygiene program (over 50% of students were not born in the U.S. and speak over 20 primary/first languages), a difference of experiences and resulting opinions about health care more broadly and dental care in particular emerged in their discussions.

Individually, students wrote an essay reflecting on the Frontline documentary and the case study. Among the questions they were to address in their essay, they were asked to describe their interactions with peers in their groups and to evaluate how their own attitudes/opinions were or were not different from those of their classmates, what have they learned about other cultural beliefs/attitudes from the dialog with other students, how their own opinions have or have not changed as a result of the whole experience (watching the documentary and learning about the subject and their subsequent discussion of it in small groups).

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

1. introduce students to the complexity of dental care and its availability in the U.S.
2. connect the topics of spread of dental infection, as introduced in their Head & Neck portion of DEN1112 course, to the real-life situations leading to serious and life-threatening outcomes discussed in the scientific article (case study) and Frontline investigation.
3. work in teams to discuss the different cultural influences on how people perceive the necessity of dental care and its various aspects.
4. reflect on the whole experience by connecting all parts of this assignment in the written essay.

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 begins during week 13 of the Fall semester. The students discussed in small groups during class sessions twice for about 20 min. Depending on how long it takes students to write their 1200-1500 word essays, the activity would take at least 10 hours to complete outside of 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?

This term project is worth 10% of their final grade for DEN1112. The students were given detailed instructions for each part of the assignment and provided with the PDF of the article and a link to Frontine documentary.

In 2016, my course was part of college-wide assessment of Intercultural Knowledge and Skills. An appropriate AAC&U VALUE rubric was used for this evaluation, however, it was not used for grading. Students’ essays were evaluated based on the clarity and organization of the information, providing accurate and appropriate sources and citations (they were asked to substantiate their writing with at least two sources analyzing the topic of the video, other than the documentary itself), sentence structure, grammar and spelling.

This activity worked very well and I intend to repeat it in Fall 2017. I don’t plan to introduce any changes at this time. The students seemed to enjoy the small group discussions and according to their reflections in the essays, they learned a lot from each other as well as the case study and Frontline documentary. One student’s essay was selected for publication in the 2017 issue of City Tech Writer.

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November 5, 2016January 5, 2018

Observing and Describing: Brooklyn Bridge Park

Laura Westengard

English/School of Arts and Sciences

English 1101, Freshman Composition

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

In this single-class meeting activity, students literally study “Brooklyn Bridges” by observing and describing the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges and their surroundings in Brooklyn Bridge Park. This activity is part of a unit in which students learn to perform field research in order to vividly describe and characterize a location as part of an assigned “Profile” essay. Students meet at Jane’s Carousel with a notebook and a pen. They are instructed to choose a specific and unique location in the park within a 5-minute walk from the carousel, spend 20 minutes observing the location with attention to all five senses, and take detailed observation notes, using a double-entry journal format. After the observations are complete, students return to meet the class at the Empire Fulton Ferry Lawn (right next to Jane’s Carousel) and spend the next 20 minutes turning their observation notes into a paragraph that vividly describes the location and provides a dominant impression. Finally, the students read their descriptive paragraphs aloud to their classmates and engage in a discussion.

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

The students should practice effective observational skills, learn to take detailed field research notes, and practice turning field research into a descriptive, narrative paragraph. Students also will learn how to apply strategies for vivid description, including naming, detailing, using the five senses, and crafting comparisons using metaphors and similes.

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 exercise takes place near the beginning of the semester as part of a "personal narrative" essay assignment. It takes a single class period and requires no out of class time.

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 should already be familiar with taking field notes using a double-entry journal format, and they should also be familiar with strategies for vivid description. It is low-stakes, receiving only a grade for effort and completion (on a check, check plus, check minus scale) as one of many invention exercises completed in preparation for the essay assignment. I provide students with a handout for them to refer to while away from the class for their 20-minute observation period.

Because this is a field trip, the necessary field trip forms and Title IX training must be completed in advance.

This assignment is assessed only for effort and completion (on a check, check plus, check minus scale) as one of many invention exercises completed in preparation for the essay assignment. Additionally, students receive verbal feedback on their completed paragraphs from myself and their classmates. There is no rubric and the course is not part of the gen ed assessment initiative.

This activity generally worked well; however, students must be mature enough to follow the directions independently and return to the meeting place in the designated amount of time. Some students used the assignment as an opportunity to go get pizza and ice cream rather than focusing on dedicated observation and note-taking practices. Additionally, the outdoor setting made the final portion of the activity (reading the paragraphs aloud) a bit difficult to hear at times. It was a fun way to get students to think about applying observation and description practices in a new and stimulating environment.

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September 20, 2016September 20, 2016

Teamwork assignment

Anna Matthews

Dental Hygiene/SPS

DEN2315

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

This assignment focused on fostering students’ ability to work in teams, in class and online. Students in my Summer session’s class were randomly assigned to one of four groups (each had 5 members) and they were asked to create a PowerPoint presentation of 15-20 slides on a randomly assigned topic (one of four possible topics), which included a group of drugs that were not covered in class (anti-fungal medications, AIDS/HIV and drugs used in management, topical and systemic corticosteroids, and anti-allergy medications). Groups worked in class to create their own OpenLab project sites and I was a member of each group together with the five students. After the sites were created, students exchanged information and resources online and communicated among each other and with me. They had 2 weeks to work on their presentations and I evaluated their progress continuously. The final presentations were uploaded by one of the students from each group to our course OpenLab site. All students reviewed the presentations from each group.

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

I have done similar activity before and the main goal of it is to provide opportunity for students to work in teams and foster collaboration. While the final products by teams were always successful in the previous sessions of DEN2315, some students complained that it was not a true team effort and some students did not participate equally and did not contribute to the team’s outcome. By observing individual students’ participation online and evaluating their contributions to the process and the final group product, I was able to grade their efforts in a much more fair way and there was no more concerns from students about the unequal share of group’s work if some had done more or less than others.

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?

Summer session 2-S is a 5-week course, we meet twice weekly in class. This assignment was due after the 4th week of the session and a progress evaluation was done at the end of week 3. We spent about 30 min in class to discuss the activity, organize students in groups and create their OpenLab project sites. The rest of work was done entirely online.

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 needed to learn how to create and manage their OpenLab sites and how to post/comment/add media and links there.
The activity is one of the 3 online assignments and it is 10% of their final course grade.

I assessed students’ work by the following:
1. their participation in class in creating the site
2. the number of posts/comments they contributed during the group’s work online
3. quality of the resources they found and shared
4. clarity and organization of their own powerpoint slides in the group’s presentation
5. appropriateness of references/citations
I did use the VALUE rubric for the assessment of Teamwork as my guide to evaluate students’ interactions. My session was part of college-wide Spring 2016 assessment (although it was conducted in the Summer 2016 session) but the rubrics were used for guidance and assessment only, not for grading individual student work.

The activity worked very well. It was a marked improvement compared to the previous times I used this assignment and allowed students to select their own groups and topics as well as divide their work by themselves. Previously, for some groups it resulted in unequal work distribution and by overseeing each group of students I was able to evaluate each student’s work individually. I especially liked that this time all students worked together very well, even though they were randomly assigned to groups. Students’ comments about their experience were positive as well.

For students’ privacy, their OpenLab project sites were for members only. Assignment description is here: group-study-assignment-2016-teamwork
Teamwork VALUE rubric is on the CityTech AIR website.

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Category: Duration

Editorial Illustration Part 1 – Project Research

Telling New York Stories: Place, Identity and History

The ethical issue of biomedical engineering

Political Talk Show

ARCH3610 Architectural Design VI: Community at Crossroads

Word on the Street; Neighborhood typography

Grand Army Plaza observation exercise

Exploring cultural differences in dental care

Observing and Describing: Brooklyn Bridge Park

Teamwork assignment

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