General Education SLOs – L4: Living Lab Learning Library

May 26, 2022

Group Communication Summative Assignment

Misti Wills

Humanities/New York City College of Technology

COM1330 Public Speaking

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

Students will be put into small groups to identify and solve a problem on campus utilizing Dewey’s Reflective -Thinking Method of 5 Steps to Solving a Problem. They will conduct research, cite evidence, and brainstorm possible solutions. They will turn in a written paper and then present their work as a persuasive speech to the class demonstrating why their preferred solution should be taken.

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

HIEP of Collaborative Projects and Assignments and SLO of Oral and Written Communication Skills. This is an on site learning activity.

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 final one of the semester after they have studied persuasive speaking and presented persuasive speeches. I review the assignment and assign groups approximately one month before it is due. Some class time is utilized in the beginning and it is expected that students may need to get together outside of class for one or two meetings to prepare and practive final 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?

Students must know how to write an outline and know how to write a persuasive speech in order to succeed in this assignment. I begin the assignment by introducing the positive and negative roles people play in groups and by asking them how they feel when they have group project assignments and why. I ask them to strategize how best to deal with the negative roles when they encounter them and stress the importance of group work in future careers.

POSITIVE ROLES
Encourager
Harmonizer
Compromiser
Gatekeeper
Standard setter
Group Observer
Follower

NEGATIVE ROLES
Dominator
Blocker
Self-Confessor
Recognition Seeker
Special-interest pleader
Joker

I give out the grading rubric and instructions showing a separate grade for the paper from the oral presentation. I require that students brainstorm what problem they'd like to see solved on campus and state that it must be a problem they are all familiar with. I review that all students must participate in the oral presentation and deliver a part of the final speech and that they need two sources of information for research and a minimum of two visual aids. I encourage them to obtain videos and photos showing the problem whenever possible and to interview other students and faculty who may have experienced it as well to collect their evidence.
This is a low stakes activity worth 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?

I use the VALUE Rubrics from Oral and Written Communication which include the following;
ORGANIZATION-Cohesive Presentation
LANGUAGE-Compelling/Persuasive
DELIVERY-Effective Techniques
SUPPORTING MATERIALS-Establish Credibility and Authority
CENTRAL MESSAGE –Compelling and Memorable

The paper and oral speech are assessed separately for the total final grade for the project. Both require identifying and explaining the five steps they used to solve the problem and presenting evidence and persuading the audience to take their recommended solution.
My course is a general education requirement called Public Speaking.

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 was recieved with some trepidation because of the nature of group work which requires relying on each other. Once the students discovered they were empowered to choose to make a change to something on campus, their imaginations took off. They identified problems such as difficulty to find car parking, long lines at elevators, lack of enough outlets to plug in devices, etc. They also came up with wonderful solutions and ideas! Their video and photographic evidence of the problems, along with video interviews with other students in them, brought much delight during the presentations and bonded the students. It felt more personal than their other speeches had been in some ways and after two years without much in-person interaction, really seemed to delight them with just being together.
I would absolutely repeat this activity and plan to do so. It would be enjoyable to invite some administrators in to see their ideas!

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.

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May 19, 2022

PowerPoint Presentation: Global Learning – Comparison of Alfred Schenker’s Secret War Diary, 1941-43 to a Current Event in Terms of Human Impact

Prof. Nadine Weinstein-Lavi

English/NYCCT

English 1121

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

Students were asked to read my grandfather, Alfred Schenker's Secret War Diary, 1941-43, written while he was hiding in a cellar with nine other Jews in Lvov, then Poland, and to do namep-based and place-based research using the diary. Then, students were asked to compare an idea, quotes, names, and places in the diary to a comparable event, e.g. the current Russian invasion of Lvyv, now Ukraine (same city), or slavery, etc., and to conclude with how their ideas about those events changed as a result of their research, and how that has impacted them personally.

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

The Learning Goals for students are to acquire a global perspective in terms of learning about a specific historical event using an actual historical document (my grandfather's Secret War Diary) and to make a comparison to a comparable and/or modern event in terms of social, human, ethical, and cultural impact, so that they, in turn, might expand upon their perceptions of history vis a vis modern events and how they might effect change in actuality – whether via more open and embracing stances or more – in the world.

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 reading of the diary and the subsequent PowerPoint presentation assignment was done in the middle of the semester to mark it as a unique "break" and transition assignment from the previous text (a Netflix series) to the next one, and to have students engage with current events, e.g. the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

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

Preparation involved a guided reading and discussion of the diary in class, homework to finish reading it on their own, answering 5 Discussion questions posted on Blackboard about the diary with 1 paragraph responses to prepare them to think about it more deeply, and suggestions as to possible topics for comparison for the PowerPoint. A slideshow demonstrating how to create a PowerPoint using the diary was shown, and specific guidance was given to each student regarding his/her topic. This was a high stakes activity given the nature of the thinking and analysis that the students were asked to do in class and on their own worth 25 points. They did very well on this particular assignment.

The rubric was as follows (given in bullet points on the board):
*Aim for 10-12 slides
*Present SLOs and what you will determine
*Use images that you have researched about the diary and additional images you find about the places and names in it
*Use images of the comparable event
*Analyze the similarities and differences
*Answer 4 questions: 1. What were your assumptions about both event prior researching them? 2. How have your assumptions changed post-research? 3. How this has affected you personally and in terms of your worldview? 4. How will you effect change in the world as a result of this new perspective?

This activity worked very well in the classroom. Students were immediately engaged in reading an actual historical document being presented by a relative (me) of the author (my grandfather) whose eye witness account of the events in Lvov, then Poland, now Ukraine, during the Holocaust made them more real and uncontestable than other information they had seen about the Holocaust, such as movies, posts, articles. Students also found trying to do place-based and name-based research about the diary interesting and like being a detective. Analyzing how it compared to a comparable event asked them to think about it more deeply from an additional perspective, and summing up the impact it all had upon them personally was a good culmination.

NYCCTEng1121ProfLaviSpring2022JoshuaIronsPowerPoint.pptx
Alfred'sWarDiary.pdf
C:\Users\nlavi\Downloads\NYCCTEng1121ProfLaviSpring2022ArielCabreraPowerPoint.pdf

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April 29, 2022

GenEd Seminar Winter 2022 assignment

Laura Andreescu

Restorative Dentistry

Living Lab General Education Winter 2022 seminar

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

For the Living Lab General Education Seminar Winter 2022 I chose “Reading” as the main SLO. I developed and introduced a reading class activity for the laboratory section of the Dental Implant Prosthetics course, in which we read a scientific article titled “Provisional Restorations Options in Implant Dentistry” by Dr. Robert Santosa and published in the Australian Dental Journal, October 2007.
I chose this article because at that time, the lecture section of this course covered this topic and, the students were working on the laboratory project of fabricating a 3-unit provisional restoration for dental implants on teeth # 9 and # 11. After reading the article and having discussions students completed an informal assignment in which they had to answer few questions (short essay) about what they learned. This informal assignment was not graded and instructed the students to concentrate more on the concepts than the spelling and grammar. Based on the students’ responses, I concluded that most of them have a good understanding of this topic. However, this class activity sparked interesting discussions and students were able to evaluate what are some of the gaps in their knowledge.
I am planning to have at least one more similar class activity, and if the time permits to have a formal assignment, as homework, in which they will have to read and article and summarize it in an essay form. This homework will be graded, and I will provide the reading grading rubric as developed during the General Education seminar. The goal for the Student Learning Outcome is to familiarize students with reading and understanding scientific concepts and dental vocabulary presented in different forms such as peer-review journals, professional blogs, etc.

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

My goals are to develop students reading abilities, which will helped them gain knowledge and be better prepared in their careers.

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 class activity took place at the end of the laboratory session and it took approximately 15 minutes

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

This informal assignment is not graded, but is intended to show students their level of understanding of class topic and for me to see what areas of course instructions I need to develop more.

I used the informal assignment as a feedback to evaluate the students' level of understanding of course materials.

Yes. I will use this type of class activity in the future, because it is a barometer of how well they are doing in this course

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April 1, 2022

Comprehensive Understanding of Cardiovascular Medications

Dora-Ann Oddo

Dental Hygiene

Principles of Dental Hygiene Care III (DEN 2300 Seminar)

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

This activity will provide dental hygiene students to gain an understanding in cardiovascular medications and how to apply this knowledge to patients’ medical history as part of their assessment process. This activity requires dental hygiene students to gain proficiency in oral communication, information literacy, and the understanding of cardiovascular medications related to their patients’ disease/condition. Students will participate in a collaborative assignment by gathering research on cardiovascular medications. After students formulate their research, students will verbally present this information to the class. In addition, the students will upload their PowerPoint presentation on OpenLab, and review classmates research based upon a rubric scale. The verbal and written discussions of this activity support critical thinking and creates meaningful in-depth discussions among students.

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

The aim of this activity is to encourage verbal communication and information literacy about patients with cardiovascular diseases/condition. The learning goal for each student is to aquire an understanding of cardiovascular medications including indication of use, oral implications, side effects, and adverse effects. This activity will enhance students’ learning and the ability to ask critical thinking questions when assessing a patient’s medications. This activity encourages oral communication, information literacy, undergraduate research, working collaboratively and using open digital pedagogy.

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 will be implemented mid-semester and performed in the classroom for a duration of thirty minutes. The out-of-class time for students can range from one to two hours based upon their research, developing a PowerPoint, uploading the PowerPoint to OpenLab, and writing reflections on one or two students’ post.

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 is a low-stakes assignment. The instructor will randomly select students by using the Wheel of Names. Each group will consist of three students. After the students are divided into groups, the instructor will assign each group a cardiovascular medication.
Student will be given these questions to answer:
1. Identify the brand and generic name.
2. What is the indication for use?
3. What are the oral implications?
4. How does medication affect dental hygiene treatment?
5. Does this medication have any drug interactions?
6. What is the pharmacologic category?
The students will work collaboratively with their assigned groups by researching and answering the questions. Each student will be responsible for creating a slide as part of the group’s PowerPoint presentation. The students will have a week to prepare the PowerPoint and gather information to present to the class. The lead of the group will be responsible to upload the PowerPoint on OpenLab.

The second part of this assignment will culminate
a week later when the students present the PowerPoint to the class. Students will have the opportunity to ask their peers questions. Each presentation should be about five to ten minutes. After the presentation, the students write a review on OpenLab based upon a rubric scale.

This activity was developed by Oral Communications VALUE rubric. The students will be evaluate using Oral Communication Value rubric to assess proficiency preparedness, knowledge, and the ability to effectively communicate information to their classmates.

This activity has not yet been implemented.

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March 28, 2022

Ethical Design: Evaluating Digital and IRL Experiences (and how one might support or hinder the other)

Noreen Whysel

Communication Design/City Tech

UX and UI Design

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

In a Data for Good lecture at Columbia's Data Science Institute, dana boyd of Data+Society told the audience that her proudest achievements are often when she convinces a client not to create something that can potentially do harm.

When does it make sense to NOT make a digital version of something that would be better designed IRL? Are there activities that are more suited to online than IRL? Or are there cases where a combination of both appropriate?

In this exercise, I shared a few articles about online activities that have had an impact on real life. We discussed both positive an negative reviews of online activities, including Pokemon Go, which is often discussed in terms of it's getting gamers to be more social and active to Instagram, which has been shown to have a negative effect on the self-esteem of teenaged girls. A third example was on how social media use is contributing to the political polarization of America by removing the public commons from public space to largely anonymous forums.

After discussing these articles, students formed breakout groups to find a news article about an online activity and discuss the pros and cons of that activity online. And to also discuss how that activity could be replaced by or combined with an IRL activity to improve the experience. Finally, they posted a reflection on the exercise to the class Slack group.

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

This activity focuses on three learning outcomes: Reading, Information Literacy and Ethical Thinking. Students are asked to read an assigned text describing Digital vs IRL spaces and then in select an example from the reading of a digital experience that might be better In Real Life or paired with an IRL experience. After discussing in groups, they then share back to the class what they discussed and finally post a reflection on course discussion board about their understanding of the pros and cons of digital vs IRL for the chosen scenario.

To address Information Literacy, students must find one additional example of digital applications where the IRL experience takes precedence over digital. What might someone gain from a physical experience that they can't get from digital? When might a digital application enhance the IRL experience?

And to expand their understanding of who is impacted by their design decisions, they then work in groups to make a stakeholder map showing who is affected by the designed experience of your example. Who is participating in the experience? Who else might be affected by the experience? Or harmed? Who might be left out?

In addition to the reading, information literacy and ethical Thinking student learning outcomes, students gain gain from two High Impact Education Practices: Place Based Learning and Collaborative Assignments.

Place-Based Learning
Students consider the physical and embodied experiences of IRL versus digital experiences

Collaborative Assignments
Students participate in Discussion of the pros and cons of selected digital experiences

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

This activity was part of the Ethics and Accessibility lecture in Week 7 of the Spring 2022 semester. It took a little over a half hour to complete. There was no out-of-class time except if a student wishes to post their reflection after class. If we had more time (and were not otherwise online this week) we might have been able to go outside and play Pokemon Go or survey people about their online and offline political activity on campus grounds. We may still try to create an online/IRL activity during a later session and follow up with a stakeholder map, which we did not have time to do.

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 activity was low stakes and ungraded. The only preparation was to find three articles to discuss as examples of Online activities that either replace or compromise IRL experiences.

Because this assignment is ungraded, I plan to use it as part of the participation grade. I do not believe my course is part of the college-wide general educaiton assessment initiative. It is an elective.

Students enjoyed discussing online versus "In Real Life" very much. They are very aware of online activities that are creating unrealistic expectations for their real-life relationships and are concerned about exacerbating these experiences through their design careers. I would like to refine the activity and possibly replace a duller accessibility study that they do for credit and that could be done in class in groups or as a demonstration. Not being able to go outside or actually be IRL was an issue with this activity, though some students mentioned that it made it easier for everyone in their group to search for articles since they were all sitting at a computer anyway.

The activity presentation for the Living Lab course is openly available at : https://cuny907-my.sharepoint.com/:p:/g/personal/noreen_whysel27_login_cuny_edu/EeDP7sDKTAROh1Nle8uKlagB5bMXEem7EM4k6Lvh7nagBA?e=FgnQIx

You can also read about the activity on the course blog at https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/-whysel-comd-3562-he93-sp2022/2022/03/28/ethical-design-evaluating-digital-and-irl-experiences-and-how-one-might-support-or-hinder-the-other/

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March 24, 2022

Discussion on the newly discovered Salivary Gland

Khrystyna Vyprynyuk

Dental Hygiene

DEN 1112 Oral Anatomy

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

The activity is a discussion board assignment. Students enrolled in the DEN 1112 Oral Anatomy course are learning about multiple organ systems in the context of how they relate to the Head and Neck anatomy, dental anatomy, and the practice of a dental hygienist. The discussion topic is on the newly discovered salivary gland.

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

The goal of this activity is to promote student engagement by improving their reading skills. However, by participating in this activity students will also be incorporating their writing, information literacy, and teamwork skills.

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 will be incorporated mid-semester as one of the homework assignments. Minimal classroom time is devoted to this activity, only enough time to go over the assignment, expectations, and technicalities (10 minutes). Students are expected to spend 2 to 3 hours out-of-class time over the course of 2 weeks to complete this assignment.

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 activity is presented as a low-stakes assignment (4% of the total course grade). In preparation for this activity, students will read a chapter in the course textbook on Glandular Tissues and attend the lecture presentation on the same topic. Additionally, students will be required to read the assigned article "The tubarial salivary glands A potential new organ at risk for radiotherapy" https://www.thegreenjournal.com/article/S0167-8140%2820%2930809-4/fulltext.

The assignment consists of two parts. In the first part, students are instructed to summarize the article in at least 500 words and answer two or more of the following questions. The main post should include at least two references. One of the references should be from the article provided, additional references can be from any other scholarly article on this topic.

Questions:
1. Name one of the reasons why this mysterious gland has not been noted until now?
2. How would you classify this newly discovered gland and why?
separate organ
major salivary gland
minor salivary gland
3. What will this discovery mean in terms of sciences such as head and neck anatomy, oral pathology, radiology, or oncology?

In the second part of the assignment, students are asked to respond to at least 2 (each response is 25 points) of their classmates. A quality response should have at least 200 words. A short phrase, such as "thank you" or “good post”, will not be accepted as a quality response. Explaining why students agree or disagree with their classmates should be presented in a cordial and professional manner.

All posts are going to be available on the Open Lab course site. Incorporating open educational resources during this assignment allows students attending different sections of the same course to participate in the same assignment, which enhances collaboration and student communication.

The assignment is graded as follows: main post 50% of the grade, replies to the classmates 50% (25% each). Since the target of this assignment is to evaluate students’ reading comprehension, the VALUE rubric on reading assessment will be used to grade the main post. I believe the course is not part of the college-wide gen ed assessment initiative. Despite the main SLO of this assignment being reading, other SLOs such as writing and information literacy are also evident in this assignment.

This activity has been presented in a similar format during the Fall 2020 and Fall 2021 semester. It has since been modified and improved and has not yet been implemented in the new format. I am looking forward to implementing this activity in a new format, specifically on the Open Lab platform, the use of open educational resources will allow students from multiple course sections to interact with one another, develop new networking skills, and improve communication. In the past, the challenges that had been encountered were mostly due to students not following the instructions and in some cases forgetting to provide responses to their classmates. This has been modified by adding clarity to the instructions and providing clear breakdown of points distribution. I will definitely add a detailed grading rubric that would allow for more constructive feedback, incorporate main assessment points from the VALUE rubric. Students stated that they enjoyed discussion board post as a writing assignment that incorporated aspects of informal communication, allowed them to voice their opinion towards their classmates ideas in a professional manner, and that it is slightly different that what they had been assigned in the past.

One of the students was able to submit her work from a previously incorporated assignment to the CityTech Writer journal, which was selected for publication in the CTW vol. 16

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January 20, 2022January 23, 2022

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.

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)

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.

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January 20, 2022

ECHOES

Rob Rothblatt

CUNY CityTech Architecture

Arch3551 Sustainability Theory + Practice

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

Oral Communication Exercise, building on a Research Powerpoint which is already part of the established curriculum of this course. Activity builds Oratory and Rhetoric by appointing respondents to the Presentations who will "Echo" the presentation, building and challenging. This assignment will be Written, but then read as a speech.

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

SLO – Student Learn Outcomes include:
Foster Critical Analysis
Improve Oratory skills
Explore Rhetoric
Promote Multiple Viewpoints
Keep the Conversation Going

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 coincident with the 18 Student presentations, which happen in groups of 2 over 9 weeks, beginning in Week 4 and continuing through Week 13.
The Initial Presentations are 30 minutes – with 30 minutes devoted for the response and discussions for a total of 1 hour each.

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 assignment combining both the original presentation and the response (each student will do one of each) is high stakes in that together they comprise 30% of the grade of the semester.

Students will need to work on research, and have their initial drafts reviewed by the professor. They must address at least one point of the presentation to which they are responding which they feel is Enlightening and one which they find Disquieting and in need of either more support, or which they directly oppose

Assessments from the AACU Rubrics could include:
Organization
Language
Delivery
Supporting Materials
Central Message

However, we are likely to concentrate on just one or 2 in order to keep the assignment focused and reasonable/

Assignment is planned for Spring Semester 2022, finishing at the End of May. At that time, I will post the results.

Note I am taking on a class which I have never taught and which has not been put on OpenLab – however, in the future, perhaps the Course Coordinator will consider migrating it to an open platform.

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January 20, 2022

Reading, Diversity & Global Learning Student Project for English 1101 & 1121

Prof. Nadine (Weinstein) Lavi

English Department at NYCCT

English 1101 & 1121

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

Students will examine an historical text, Alfred Schenker’s Secret War Diary, 1941-43 for:

A. 1. Analysis: Understanding of the context, content, spirit, and message
2. Place-based learning: Discovery & research of the names and places mentioned in the diary

B. 1. COMPARISON of a comparable, current event in terms of ethics, ethnicities, discriminatory issues, cultural understanding.
2. Place-based learning: Discovery of places related to the comparable event

C. HIEP: Diversity & Global Learning
Students will explore the cultural sensitivities/insensitivities of the primary text (diary) and the comparable historical or current event in a place-based context or otherwise (analytical – report/research paper, visual – PowerPoint presentation)

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

Students will a. engage with the primary text for discovery and analysis of its themes, names, places, and events to learn about it from a firsthand account and to challenge their own assumptions and perceptions, b. research and analyze a second historical or current event with similar themes (oppression, cultural prejudices, racism, genocide, etc.) to question and examine their assumptions and perceptions about it, c. determine how it affects them and their lives.

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 mid-semester initial research gathering could qualify as a low-stakes assignment. Students can then do a Part 2 of a PowerPoint presentation with visuals about names and places in the diary and the comparable event. Students may then elect to add to the PowerPoint and/or write a report or research paper as an end of the semester high stakes assignment in lieu of a Final Exam (or use another text for that instead).

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 follow a guided modeling of research by me, their professor, of either a similar event or something from the diary, and then have to do their own research about the diary and their comparable event.

A place-based component could involve locating places that were mentioned in the diary based on a theme, e.g. a. all of the bars where the Jewish Militia invited the Gestapo to get them drunk before they did the "actions"- rounding up and killing Jews, b. cross referencing various names of people and places that are mentioned in the diary to find out as much information as possible about specific figures or places, and c. doing the same for a local (NYC-based) place-based event, e.g. all of the bars where Mafia met to plan hits, or slave-based locations (slave auctions, cemeteries, etc.)

The Reading Rubric from CityTech would be handed out to the students to use as a guide.

They would have to incorporate the answers to four questions assessing their experience in the PowerPoint presentation or report or research paper:
Students will incorporate 4 KEY QUESTIONS into the REPORT or POWERPOINT to show how the analysis, research, and discovery about Alfred Schenker’s Secret War Diary, 1941-43 and the COMPARABLE HISTORICAL/CURRENT EVENT impacted them:
1. What assumptions did I originally have about a. the Holocaust and b. the Comparable Historical/Current Event I have researched and analyzed?
2. What did I learn about each one?
3. How have my ideas/perspectives about each one changed?
4. How does this affect/impact me personally in terms of relating, values, my life, my vision?

Having used this text as a primary source for several semesters, I have found that the students respond to it, but by adding a new dimension of 1. a comparable event for them to research that is either historical or current, that is 2. also place-based (e.g. in NYC), it would make it more immediate and have a greater impact, but I will have to wait and see how it goes.

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June 12, 2020

Understanding Animations and Films Through a Deeper Cultural Understanding

Crystal Kim

Entertainment Department

Sound for Multimedia

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

Students are to choose the following:

1. An animation scene that has the original language used with English subtitles and with a version with English language recorded or dubbed over. Compare and contrast the mood, emotions, and character's thoughts between the languages used.

2. Choose a film where a different language other then English is spoken. Interpret the mood, emotions, and character's thoughts. Research of cultural values of language used will be needed to compare and contrast the cultural mood and emotions and evaluate how much of it is universal

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

I like for budding video and audio engineers to understand the making of animations or filmmaker's intentions further which includes understanding the culture and language that an animator and filmmaker uses. As animations, particularly ones used in Japanese, and foreign films are becoming universally popular, the foundation of how these videos or films are made are important to understand for anyone looking to take on any role in the film industry. This allows the students to be more culturally aware of people outside of customs they are used to, and to see the comparisons and contrasts. For production purposes, a deeper understanding of the foundation can aid with audio production for recording and film directing.

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

I will be introducing it before they do their midterm projects so they have an understanding of the basic foundation before they produce their midterm 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?

Doing some research of the culture and the cultural values in a language will be necessary to do the assignment. The students are to find what is idiosyncratic to a culture and common cultural themes used in animations and/or films for a particular culture and language. The activity is somewhat high stakes since I see students resonate with this sort of activity as most students tend to be very observant in analyzing a group with an identity and how it relates to their own.

I used the knowledge and skills area from the intercultural rubric. Within the knowledge section, the activity is to fulfill the cultural worldview frameworks and under skills, the activity is to fulfill the empathy and verbal & non-verbal communication section. Therefore, I use a value rubric. And my course is not part of the college-wide general education assessment initiative.

I was not able to use the assignment in my classrooms as I was not given any classes to teach for the semester. I think this assignment will go very well for every semester I teach the class. The challenge I see are students not doing enough cultural research before doing the assignment, particularly if one were to choose a foreign film scene since it takes of course so many years to really understand a culture. Unfortunately, I am not able to assess if students have enjoyed the assignment yet as I have not had the opportunity to give the assignment.

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

Understanding Animations and Films Through a Deeper Cultural Understanding

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