Category: Semester Length

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Chef Report Self Assessment

Chef Report Self Assessment

Jessie Riley

HMGT

Culinary 1

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

In Culinary 1 each week students are assigned different positions in the kitchen and complete a chef report the week after they have served as chef. This was a disposable assignment. I created as self assessment rubric and discussed the assignment with students each week. We discussed evaluating ones own work to back and forward.

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

To provide the students a safe environment to evaluate their performance over the 15 weeks of the semester.

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?

It was described the first day and each week we would discuss the prior lesson and the up-coming lesson. In the class we devoted 15 minutes and outside of class it could take the students 20-40 minutes. to complete

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 started to use open lab but had some difficulty so moved the assignment to Blackboard. It is a low stakes activity

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?

I modified an assessment rubric and provided students with a hard copy and a soft copy

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?

Yes, as this was the first time I believe it can be improved and I have discussed with the chair about having other instructors incorporate the assignment. The chef report is completed by students in 3 other courses so there is an opportunity to incorporate it into the student's portfolio

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.

I will attach an excel work book and student assignments and the rubric in an email

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

Posted on

Formulate Questions to Advance Learning and Understanding of Course Content

Formulate Questions to Advance Learning and Understanding of Course Content

Diana Zhu

Mathematics/NYCCT

MAT1375 Pre-Calculus

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

Weekly discussion boards will be set up for students to ask questions from the class. Students can view and answer them. I will post feedback for the class to see, and I will take one or two good questions to discuss when I see them in the next class.

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

I want to create a learning environment where students are welcomed to ask and answer questions comfortably. I want students to know that their questions are being valued, and that plays a big role in their learning. It gives students another view of learning Math is not just working on Math problems, but formulating questions outside class is a key for deeper understanding of the course content.

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?

A week before the first day of class, I sent students an email to inform them about this discussion board. To get started, I asked them to write a post on the following questions: “What is your view on Math learning?” “How do you learn the best? Independently or in groups?” and “What are your expectations for this class?” I have a few reasons for giving them this: first, I get to know students before the first day. Second, it helps me design my classroom setting according to class topics. Third, I can track how many students have access to Blackboard.
During the first day of class, I would go over the Blackboard with students to get them familiar with it and informed them about the weekly discussion boards would be set up for discussion questions. I usually spent up to 20-30 mins on questions they were still confused after the discussions on Blackboard with their peers.
Outside of class, students are expected 10-30 mins on discussion board as posting a question or replying to their peers' questions. For students who did not have questions, I would also encourage them to share the problems they encountered or learned with their peers. For me, I would spend about 40-60 mins weekly as reviewing students' questions and see if they are anything that need to be clarified. I also gave them feedback when they replied to questions on discussion board. Also, sometimes I would send the class an email if what they shared on Blackboard would be beneficial to students before next 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?

Students would need to take good notes and use notes to work on their homework assignments. Sometimes, students will have questions by reading notes or working on homework questions. I was very flexible with questions they had from the class, and I just posted the weekly discussion board after each class. Also, I would send them a gentle reminder along with class update. When students got busy with their high school assignments or exams, I would remind and ask them to post questions after they finished with them. I think this activity can be low stakes if students ask very basic questions. It can be high stakes if students want to generate a question that requires deeper thinking. Sometimes, students may not understand others' questions because they did not have a good understanding of the content that the question is focused on. In general, formulating a question can be harder than answering a question.

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?

I counted this activity part of students' participation grades. In addition, students' in-class participation weighs more, but I did not tell that to the students. In class, I tried to cold call every student to get them engaged; I would ask students to come to board to show their work. I created a simple rubric that focuses on "initiative", but I did not make full use of it. Some topics may only require students to apply formulas that did not really give students much confusion where I did not expect questions from them. Therefore, it can be hard for me to assign specific points weekly based on students' discussion questions on Blackboard. Instead, I combined students' in-class participation and their participation on discussion board to assign participation grades for each student.

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?

*Being the first time implementing such activity, I think it went well as students got used to questions in my class.
*I would like to think about alternative ways to help students initiate questions because towards the end, many students would just post their screenshots of questions that they have from assignments. My original intension was helping students to generate questions not simply solving Math problems, but general questions related to the topics.
*Some students had the misunderstanding that if they knew the materials then no need to post questions. I had to have a class conversation to students that even if they understood everything, they were required to answer others' questions or share what they learned from each other's questions and responses. A student talked to me in office that he felt no need to post a question because his confusion can be answered during office hour. I told the student that team/group work is so important not just in school but in future career. I told the student about my expectations for him to share what he asked and learned from office hour to his peers, and he did. I think I would like to have a sheet of specific weekly discussion questions ready for future students and leave a question for students to write one. I think this way, I can check students for understanding and I can use students' common and meaningful questions for in-class discussions. This prevents the problem as no questions being posted on Blackboard occasionally.
*Students enjoyed the activity when they missed a class because they can ask each other questions on discussion boards. When they answered each other's questions, they also tried to be as specific as possible which made me very proud of. They did not rush to just giving out answers but explaining their work.

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.

I only used the OpenLab to share the reflection because I could not attach it here. I finally found a way to make the file onto OpenLab with tables shown. Overall, it was a great learning experience for me. Without attending the workshop, I could never come up with discussion board idea for my class to help students form the habit of generating questions and share with their peers. Very appreciate this opportunity.

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

https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/mat1375cn05/reflection-on-discussion-boards/

Posted on

How strong you should hit a ball to break a glass?

Adjunct Assistant Professor

Viktor Boiko

Physics

General Physics I (Phys 1433, Phys 1441)

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

The Project is based on the work of Pyotr Kapitsa, who was famous physicist and Nobel laureate. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyotr_Kapitsa)
He published book “Problems in Physics”, which include problems for discussion. These problems did not give all conditions and details for a solution, so a student can choose them.
One of such problem is: “What must be the speed of a tennis ball that can break glass?”
I modified a little bit this problem and student should find an answer on a question “How strong you should hit a ball to break a glass?” (What force should be applied)
To find an answer students should use all Physics laws and principles from a semester (Physics I) and to choose all conditions what they need for the solution.

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

What should student use during the project:
Physics
Imagination
Abstract and critical thinking
Understand how and which questions to ask
Basics of engineering design
Analytical thinking and mathematical calculations
Technical/report writing
Backward thinking
Calculation in a new soft/web program
Working with data
Working in a group

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 project is one thirds of a semester. Students should do it at home. All steps would be describe during class time and all questions would be discussed in a 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?

Students will have step by step instructions for this project.

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?

CRITICAL THINKING VALUE RUBRIC, PROBLEM SOLVING VALUE RUBRIC, WRITTEN COMMUNICATION VALUE RUBRIC, READING VALUE RUBRIC, CREATIVE THINKING VALUE RUBRIC (Project with wide borders for advance level of the course)

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?

Student are interested in the project, they ask a lot of questions. The assignment requires a good level of knowledge and some students have difficulties. In this case more time for a discussion should be during a class.

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.

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

Posted on

Programming in Python

Programming in Python

Marius Constantin

CET

EMT 1111

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

In the midst of the challenges we went through this Spring semester, I decided to address the priorities of general education using some critical and innovating teaching strategies, such as collaborative assignments and projects on OpenLab, ePortfolios, open educational resources to further engage my students in the new academic context.

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

Research has shown that online learning is generally less effective than face-to-face interaction and that students who are already struggling are likely to be harmed the most.
My goal is to compensate the drawbacks of remote instruction: self-discipline, time management, anxiety and depression due to isolation.

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 entire semester.

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

In terms of high impact educational practices, I will consider collaborative assignments and projects and ePortfolios. While I will continue to request that each homework assignment to be completed and submitted individually, multiple attempts are allowed and the highest grade to be recorded. At the end of the semester, a final project in a form of a computer program will be assigned to 4 groups of students, and each student needs to have his/her collaborative share. This final project will weight 30% of the final grade for each student in the group and needs to be posted on OpenLab.

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?

Inquiry and Analysis is the rubric I chose to assess the students’ needs. For a proper inquiry I need to identify what doesn’t work for them and then analyze these findings by chunking down information into smaller parts, or from abstract to more specific concepts for a better understanding.

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?

To compensate for the lack of physical presence I will continue to provide, and even improve, a supportive learning environment where all students feel comfortable participating.
Attendance was the foremost concern, followed by internet connectivity issues.

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.

I shall continue to use My Programming Lab, a excellent cloud-based tool, for the following reasons:
a. it provides a personalized learning experience that improves results for each student;
b. it contains a set of programming exercises correlated with the textbook that are focused on
a particular topic;
c. the feedback offered to students helps them master the syntax, semantics and basic usage
of Python programming language;
d. autonomous practice, where the feedback provided allows students to easily identify both compiling and logic errors in their code.

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

Posted on

Structure for Architects – Student Video Lessons

Structure for Architects – Student Video Lessons

Ramsey Dabby

Architectural Technology Dept / City Tech

Structures 1

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

Activity Description
The overriding mission of the college experience is to help City Tech students succeed in the classroom and beyond, by imparting an enthusiasm for lifelong learning. This enthusiasm can be dampened for City Tech’s multicultural population by the cultural obstacles many students face. The concept for this proposal is to enhance the student experience for a course titled “Structures” in the Architectural Technology Department, by stimulating an enthusiasm for this particular area of their studies. The idea encompasses a visual and intuitive approach within the classroom, combined with place-based learning outside the classroom. Aside from conveying technical knowledge, the intent is to create student awareness of cultural barriers that will help them navigate the complexities of today’s world.

Barriers
In a multicultural setting such as NYC in general and City Tech in particular, cultural divides abound. They can be obvious like nationality and religion, or more subtle like age and personality. They can also occur within the profession between its white collar “architectural” and blue color “construction” sides. Caught up in day-to-day problems, we (both students and instructors) tend to overlook these divides that create tensions and stresses in relationships.

Background
Structures is a branch of architectural study dealing with the engineering side of how buildings stand up. Architectural students, as conceptual thinkers, tend to be intimidated by the technical aspects of engineering and tend to “turn off” to their engineering courses. Added to this inherent aversion are the cultural barriers many City Tech students face such as language, family responsibilities, and deficient social support systems. For many, this also includes having to learn a new system of engineering units used in the US – the imperial system in place of their more familiar metric system. In short, the challenge is to address and overcome these cultural obstacles and create an enthusiasm for a course that holds the potential for dread in many architectural students.
 

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

Goals
The goal is to engage students and create enthusiasm for a course in Structures that will serve to further their undergraduate technical knowledge and professional lives upon graduation. This will be done through strategies for both classroom and place-based learning.

Classroom Learning
Conventional structural textbooks tend to be wordy and lacking an intuitive approach to the subject matter. These textbooks present a challenge to City Tech’s multicultural architectural students. Course material will be communicated across cultural and linguistic barriers by conveying structural principles in a visual, intuitive manner through discussion, dialog, and physical “props”, rather than formal “lectures”.

A key component of classroom sessions will be a series of short, five-minute student videos highlighting the essentials of structural principles. Students will be teamed to prepare these videos in discussion format, among themselves and their instructor, supported by physical props. The precedence for these videos is an experimental one I had prepared, without rehearsal and just for fun, to which students enthusiastically responded, overwhelmingly endorsing the concept and asking for more like it.

Place-Based Learning
The classroom experience will be complemented by visits to architectural offices and construction sites, where students will not only will see the professions in action, but also observe the general cultural distinctions and personalities of the two sides of the profession. A goal of these visits to create an awareness that technical knowledge does not work in a vacuum, and that an understanding the interrelationships of personalities, influenced by culture, is an essential part of a successful professional experience.

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 strategy is intended to be used throughout the semester. Classroom time will be approximately 10 minutes per session. Two place-based learning field trips will be conducted for a total of approximately 8 hours per semester.

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

See above.

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?

Assessment will be conducted by student essays reflecting on questions such as “why do I like this?” and “what is it that helps me learn?”

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?

Lead discussion on ways to learn without cultural coding; record outcomes of discussions.

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.

The experimental video can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4d3eDq_7pw

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

Posted on

Project of Gearbox

Project of Gearbox

Zhou Zhang

Mechanical Engineering Tech.

Machine Design

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

Students in the class are required to work on their projects of gearboxes which are supposed to use in different applications in practice. The project includes four parts: (1) proposal. Students will find out their favorite topic and discuss their project plan with respect to the problems existed in current products, the advantages of their design, the implementation of the plan and future applications. (2) modeling and simulation. The gearbox should be simulated firstly in order to get rid of the possible bugs related to manufacturing. (3) Mid-term report. The students are required to submit a midterm report in order to guarantee that they are working in the correct direction. (4) The project presentation and the final project report.

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

Through this design, the students will have the knowledge of the concept of product design and manufacturing, familiarize themselves with the design procedures, learn how to respect the multicultural traditions, learn how to work in a team, learn how to prepare for their professional career, and study how to integrate the fundamental theories into practice.

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 semester based. So, the students will be required to submit their proposal at the 3rd week. Then, the need to finish their modeling and simulation task at the 8th week. At the 9th week, the first project report is required. At the 12th week, they should prepare all the parts used in the project and be ready to assemble. At the 15th week, the presentation and gala are hosted.
This project is supposed to work in class, and the students are not necessary to take extra out-of-class time. The students will be given 1 hour per week to work on their projects.

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

For the project, there are some things to prepare. During the proceeding of the project, fundamental knowledge is given. Following that, the students need to do a survey and find out their favorite project. The project report template is distributed in order to facilitate them to work on the report. In addition, the students are provided tooling machines and 3D printers to manufacturing all the necessary parts.

The project is, in fact, an in-class project. So, it is a low-stakes activity.

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?

I used a rubric to evaluate the project. This work is also one part of the college-wide general education assessment initiative regarding teamwork this year.

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 is a semester-based activity. As a critical course in my department, this course will be repeated.

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.

The project in machine design is very important. The students will have the knowledge of the concept of product design and manufacturing, familiarize themselves with the design procedures, learn how to respect the multicultural traditions, learn how to work in a team, learn how to prepare for their professional career, and study how to integrate the fundamental theories into practice.
As a critic course, the project, in fact, enriches the contents of the course, makes the students prepared and improves the students' skills with respect to CAD, manufacturing, mechanics, structure, industrial design and simulation.

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

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Setting the Table Across Cultures: A Scaffold Approach to Intercultural Knowledge & Competence

Setting the Table Across Cultures: A Scaffold Approach to Intercultural Knowledge & Competence

Dolores C. Urena

Hospitality Management / School of Professional Studies

HMGT 2305 / Dining Room Operations (Lab)

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

In this three-part assignment, students identify, explain, and demonstrate the differences and similarities involved in the provision of dining experiences across different cultures in comparison to the specification of fine dining service as practiced in the dining room laboratory at City Tech.
Part I: OpenLab (Week 3 of the semester)
• Students individually post a picture of a tabletop setting different than the one learned in class.
• Students are required to post with the picture a short description of why the setting (silverware, china, glassware, table, etc) is different or similar to the one practice in dining room laboratory.
• Each student is required to comment on two other posts-more are welcome.
Part II: Collaborative Research Paper/ Self Reflection (After an in-class discussion on OpenLab postings, the instructor assigns groups on Week 4 of the semester)
• Students will be placed into groups of three to conduct research on the significance of the tabletop setting, and dining and service etiquette they have selected.
• Individually students are required to write a personal reflection paper.
• The instructor will provide prompt questions and instructions to assist students with the research and reflection papers.
Part III: Final Group Project / Presentation (Week 14 of the semester)
• Each group will submit a two-page research paper.
• Each group will explain and illustrate in class the tabletop setting they have selected.
• Individually students will submit a one-page personal reflection paper.

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

The purpose of this assignment is for students to interact and build a consensus that supports knowledge of an expanded cultural worldview. The assignment scaffold approach will help students assimilate the awareness, sensitivity, and proficiencies needed to succeed in the multicultural industry of hospitality. To do well in their chosen field, they will need the ability to interact, adapt and build relationships effectively across cultures.
Learning Goals associated with:
• Global / Multicultural Orientation
• Lifelong Learning
• Communication
• Information Literacies
• Professional / Personal Development

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 instructor distributes the three-part assignment on the first day of class.
Part I – Week 3 of the semester:
• Out of class time is expected to obtain, and post picture/comments on OpenLab.
Part II – Week 7 of the semester:
• An in-class two-hour workshop at City Tech Library.
• Additional out-of-class time is expected to conduct research before and after the workshop.
Part III – Week 14 of the semester:
• An in-class five to ten minutes presentation.
• Additional out-of-class time is expected to write assignments.

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

Part I – Knowledge of OpenLab:
• The instructor will instruct students on how to use OpenLab.
Part II – Visit to City Tech Library
• The instructor will give instructions to the students on how and what to research and reflective questions to contemplate will be provided.
Part III – Review Expectations:
• Preparation for final group presentation will be discussed in class.
• The instructor will provide students with the appropriate guidelines and rubrics to complete assignments.
The semester-length three-part assignment is medium-to-high stakes-15% of the final grade.

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?

The assignment will be assessed using the Intercultural Knowledge and Competence Value Rubric, as well as an additional rubric evaluating the quality of the presentation and teamwork.
Written assignments will be graded using an appropriate writing intensive course rubric.

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 information is not available yet. The activity has not been implemented.

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.

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

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