Category: Semester Length

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

Posted on

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

Posted on

Radiology Assignment

Radiology Assignment

Audra Haynes

Dental Hygiene

Dental Radiology/ DEN 1218

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

This semester you have learned about the production, use and safety of x-radiation. As dental professionals, you will encounter people with diverse backgrounds and ideologies. Exposing x-rays is part of overall patient assessment, yet that can be a challenge for some. Your assignment will be to explain to clinical patients what x-radiation is and why we use it. You must be able to explain the benefits versus the risks. You will have to demonstrate and articulate the understanding of x-radiation in patient care and assessment. You will do this using different case scenarios that a dental hygienist may encounter in the dental setting.

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

The learning goals that each student will aim to achieve are learning to communicate to diverse groups with both written and oral skills.
Students will apply global and multicultural orientation, by understanding the role cultural barriers play in patient care and assessment.

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?

Students will work on the assignment at the mid-semester period. The assignment will be worked on outside of class time, based on course material.

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 will involve working in groups of 2. Each group will be given a case scenario involving a situation that will require the group to develop patient education, which will address the case scenario. The patient education must involve a description of x-ray production, x-ray safety, and why x-rays are used in dental patient assessment. The group must account for cultural challenges and incorporate that into their patient education. While you will be working as a group on the assignment, each member of the group will submit their own written paper. The paper should be a 2 page, doubled spaced paper that will be submitted to the instructor. You are free to use additional resources not covered in class. All resources used must be cited.
Each group will create 2 role play videos of the case scenario. Each member of the group will have the opportunity to be both the clinician and the patient. The videos will 5-7 minutes at length and will be uploaded to OpenLab for peer review. The video must include all aspects of the case scenario as well as the written patient education developed by the group. Feel free to have fun with the video and make it as entertaining as you want but stay to the 5-7 minutes and keep to the case scenario and patient education developed. This low-stakes assignment is designed to help you incorporate what you have learned in the classroom into clinical practice.

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 will be assessed using a 2 rubrics. One rubric will assess the written portion of the assignment, evaluating the completeness, the understanding, and the writing mechanics of the assignment. The second rubric will evaluate the role play, which will address the communication style, interactive dialogue and non-verbal communication. The role play rubric will also have a peer rubric where the students will evaluate each other.
The AAC&U Intercultural Knowledge and Competence VALUE Rubric will be used to as a guide in creating the assignment.

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 yet.

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

Perception of homecare

Perception of homecare

Catherine Monchik

New York City College Of Technology

Principles of Dental Hygiene Care II

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

All students are required to take a “Prevention Exam” in Den 1200 lab. This exam consists of two components which consist of having the student teach home care to patients during two visits. The patient needs to have a 30% plaque score, with a minimum of 20 teeth present and 7-10 days between the two visits. The first visit will include assessing initial skills and homecare regimen, disclosing patient with solution so you can visualize where improvement is needed,  and choose an appropriate aid (flossing, brushing, interdental aid etc). On the second visit and second part of the exam, we check the patients compliance and technique. The student can reinforce what was originally taught if patient needs more assistance. Then we disclose again, to choose another aid, if the patient seems comfortable with the original method taught. The second aid will access another area of the teeth that the patient is finding difficult to reach and keep clean. The student will be required to write a reflection of both visits on the perception of value, of homecare taught due to their cultural background. They will need to analyze the patients level of ability to learn new skills. The assignment will be posted on openlab using only the patients initials with at least one paragraph.

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

There will be different goals from this assignment for the students to learn. The student will decide, based on the need of their patient, which aid is appropriate. By seeing the visible plaque with disclosing solution, the student should be able to choose the right aid. At the follow up appointment, check if the patient is compliant and has the ability to use the aid correctly. At this time we need to reinforce aid or introduce a new aid for another area that needs help. The student will see what worked or did not work, and why. The reflection will teach the student that along with dexterity, and ability to perform the aid, that compliance is essential. There are other barriers, such as cultural beliefs and background that have a big impact on accepting prevention measures. Professional development along with diversity learning will help the student grow as a better clinician.
*The student will gain knowledge from cultural self-awareness and knowledge of cultural worldview frameworks.
*Demonstration of skills of verbal and nonverbal communication and attitudes of openness will also be assessed.

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 discussed in the beginning of the semester. The student will post it on open lab one week after the completion of their prevention competency. It can be submitted at any time before the end of the semester. There will be no classroom time devoted to this. The out-of class time will require one to two hours.

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

The preparation of this assignment is minimal. The prevention competency is found in the back of the students clinic binder for them to review. After completing the competency, the student will have one week to write the reflection and post it on open lab. The student will analyze the the perception of value for homecare based on the patients cultural background. It will be a short paragraph reflecting the background of their patient. It will need to be submitted on time, with correct spelling, grammatical format and quality content. This reflection is a low stakes assignment, having a small percentage of their overall Den 1200 lab grade. Failure to complete the assignment will have a deduction of ten points to their final Den 1200 lab/lecture 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?

This assignment is geared towards second semester dental hygiene students, and not a college wide assessment tool. The grade will be determined on the completion of the assignment and the use of the Intercultural Knowledge and Competence VALUE 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?

As of right now, we do not have this implemented in our Den 1200 lab. If we did, I believe our students can learn a lot about their patients. Cultural backgrounds have a big impact on how patients perceive value in homecare and prevention measures in their dental health. Compliance is not only the reason, it is an understanding of what we believe in.

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

The OpenLab at City Tech:A place to learn, work, and share

The OpenLab is an open-source, digital platform designed to support teaching and learning at City Tech (New York City College of Technology), and to promote student and faculty engagement in the intellectual and social life of the college community.

Support

Help | Contact Us | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Credits

Accessibility

Our goal is to make the OpenLab accessible for all users.

Learn more about accessibility on the OpenLab

Copyright

Creative Commons

  • - Attribution
  • - NonCommercial
  • - ShareAlike
Creative Commons

top