Information Literacies – L4: Living Lab Learning Library

April 9, 2026

Living Lab Seminar Activity (Final) Topic: • Intercultural Knowledge and Competence

Professor Meagan A. Sylvester

English & African American Studies

Living Lab Winter Project

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

Living Lab Seminar Activity (Final)

The featured course is AFR 1311 – African American Music/Caribbean Music

The aim of this activity to encourage students to use the Think-Pair-Share model together with fieldwork to foster the group work approach to examine and analyze the impact of Africa and African retentive cultures on the music of the diaspora, namely The Caribbean, The United States and Latin America.

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

The specific learning objective that the activity will speak to is:
Analyze how African cultures have influenced and shaped African American and Caribbean music

Learning Goals are as follows:

Content-Based Learning Outcomes
– Analyze how African culture(s) have influenced and shaped
– African American and Caribbean music;
– Discuss the creative contributions of African American and Caribbean music;
– Analyze African American and Caribbean music in
terms of their rhythmic and stylistic variations;
-Identify some of the major musicians who have made significant and notable contributions to African American and Caribbean music.

General Education Learning Outcomes
– Students will develop critical thinking and writing skills.
– Student will develop an appreciation of music from the Africana 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?

– At what point in the lesson or semester do you use this activity? See details below
– How much classroom time do you devote to it? First 8 weeks of the semester
– How much out-of-class time is expected? 2 weeks

Step 1. Lecture and Introduction to Africa, its colonial past, slavery , transatlantic slave trade history and settlement in The Americas and the Caribbean and the transference of music culture
Step 2. Think – Pair – Share (Part 1 – in the classroom)
Step 3. Visit to: (i) music lab at Brooklyn Academy of Music ( BAM) ; (ii) Visit to the Brooklyn Museum for First Saturdays for Brooklyn Pop Up Market and African Music Performance in Beaux-Arts Court (iii) music studio session at Crystal Sounds Studio, Brooklyn known for producing some of the major stars of Caribbean music.
Step 4. Return to the classroom Think – (Pair – Share (Part 2)
Step 5. Class presentations on learnings

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 for activity:
– Attend lectures
– Read assigned texts
– Complete assignments
– Participate in class discussions
– Watching films and videos on African Music, Caribbean Music and African American Music

– Instructions given to students:
Outline is praepared withcues to note and document durig field visits

– Is the activity low-stakes, high-stakes, or something else?
This is a high stakes assignment

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?

– How do you assess this activity? and What assessment measures do you use?
Step 4. Return to the classroom Think – Pair – Share (Part 2)
Step 5. Class presentations on learnings

– How did you develop your rubric?

Group Presentation of the Musical Genres listed below:

Hip Hop and Rap

Reggae and DanceHall

Calypso and Soca

Reggaeton

Afro Beat

Students are divided into groups of three or four. Each group has been assigned differing musical genres for which they will prepare a critical assessment of lyrics and sound and comment on the genre’s positives and negatives to the African diaspora musical landscape.

Format: Make a brief ten (10) slide PowerPoint presentation on assigned genre to be followed by analysis and discussion lead off which will include:

Characteristics of the Genre

History

Influence on the world stage

Popularity

Success Factors

Regional Influences and Social Movements

Fusion and Cross-Genre Collaborations

Technology

Ideology and Expression

Commercialization

– Is your course part of the college-wide general education assessment initiative?
Yes

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?

– How well did this activity work in your classroom?
This activity worked really well in the classroom. Students were open and engaged in learning about new cultures and musical traditions of the African diaspora.

– Would you repeat it?
Yes

-Why or why not?
Because it was hugely successful

-What challenges did you encounter, and how did you address them?
Scheduling of students to attend all three activities. Solved by providing transport oiptions to alleviate challenges to get to the location.

-What, if anything, would you change?
Nothing to change

-What did students seem to enjoy about the activity?
Students were open and engaged in learning about new cultures and musical traditions of the African diaspora.

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.

This activity will ensure that the General Education rubric of Intercultural Knowledge and Competence is achieved along the lines indicated below:

The intercultural knowledge and competence rubric suggests a systematic way to measure our capacity to identify our own cultural patterns, compare and contrast them with others, and adapt empathically and flexibly to unfamiliar ways of being.

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

https://www.canva.com/design/DAG4U7gAlHs/ui8Mz9uz9tfZJoNduDLCZw/edit?utm_content=DAG4U7gAlHs&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton

June 17, 2025

Designing Reflections + Final Portfolio Project

Sean M. Landers

Entertainment Technology / Emerging Media Technology at New York City College of Technology (CityTech)

Design Foundations I

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

This activity is a capstone portfolio, the culminating synthesis for a foundation course built on iterative design, thinking through media, and developing a reflective practice. Throughout the semester, as students engaged across rapid prototyping across media, they were tasked to complete preliminary freewrites and post-activity response writing.

This final activity gathers and makes use of those scattered pieces, making a final argument for the use and necessity of such reflective writing, even (especially!) in an age of AI.

Students document what they've made and design the presentation of that work, using their previous fragments of writing as a structure and support. This encourages to students to make sense of what they've made, to design the presentation of that work, and to draw meaning from the sequence and structure of the semester itself. The project is an archive and an interface, a user-centered reflection of their own design identity. The portfolio becomes a creative product and a reflective narrative: students explain their decisions, apply visual composition principles, and reflect on their identity and development as designers.

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

Students will:

synthesize work from across multiple project types and media;

understand and apply the principles of design thinking;

communicate ideas through formal and informal writing;

apply core visual composition & interaction design principles to create a cohesive user experience;

reflect on learning, growth, and process;

demonstrate an understanding of interaction design and design fundamentals;

engage with tools (Notion, Trello, Figma) introduced during earlier modules in a real-world, self-directed project;

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

This is a culminating assignment that comes it at the conclusion of the semester, but is most effective when the groundwork for it has been laid over the course of the semester in previous units, allowing students to accumulate a substantial body of writing to feed the process of reflection.

Assigned: Week 14
In-Class Support: Week 14–15 (Portfolio Inspiration, Artist Statement, Draft Workshop)
Final Due: Week 16
In-Class Time: ~3 sessions
Out-of-Class Time: ~5–8 hours over two weeks

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

Preparation: Students must have previously completed core projects (in the case of this course, three course projects, but it could be more or less), all of which include instructions that request brief (250-750 word), structured reflections on their process and product.

Instructor provides a structure, examples, and a sequence of scaffolded mini-activities (portfolio inspirations, artist statement, reflection prompt) both in previous activities and in this activity.

Instructions to Students:

Collect and describe each of the three projects completed during the term, which you have previously submitted in the form of project folders

Compose a 500–700 word reflective essay on design identity and learning

Apply principles of visual composition and interaction design to structure and present your work

Use any platform of your choice (PDF, website, slide deck, Figma file); justify that choice

Final portfolios must feel designed, not just assembled

This is the final assignment and represents 20–25% of the course grade; the other assignments represented in it previously accounted for ~50% of their course grade.

I began with

Clarity and Structure (30%)
Is the portfolio organized, legible, and navigable? Are sections clear?
Application of Design Principles (30%)
Are visual composition principles and interaction design principles applied thoughtfully across the whole portfolio? Does it reflect design thinking in its structure and layout?
Process Reflection (20%)
Is there thoughtful reflection on what you’ve learned and how your process evolved?
Representation of Design Identity (20%)
Does the portfolio communicate something meaningful about you as a designer?

This activity emerged from a desire to ensure that low-stakes reflections (e.g., freewrites), which had yielded thoughtful and interesting results in previous iterations of the course, were not merely disposable assignments. I hoped that incorporating them into high-stakes creative production as a precursor and an opportunity of reflection could yield a final expression of iterative design thinking; moreover, that it could take the format of the 'portfolio assignment', which sometimes feels stapled on and hastily presented and elevate it into a suitable capstone (which can model the skills and process necessary to succeed in subsequent high stakes capstones that they may be required to produce in subsequent course work).

The success of the activity lies in the clarity with which students articulated their growth, when given structured space to reflect. They learned to consider their audience in new ways, even when the audience was themselves, or potential employers, investors, or collaborators.

Challenges included time management — things get hectic at the conclusion of the semester. This is where it is helpful that so much of the material had already been produced; that this was, in large part, an exercise in structure and curation, and an opportunity to revisit and reflect on writing previously written. There was also the issue of tool friction — many of the authoring tools on offer had only previously been explored in project 3, and this assignment not only came on the heels of it, but had a substantial overlap between completion of project 3 and introduction of project 4 — that means there was a great deal of conceptual fuzziness as students tried to conceive of what their portfolio was and what it could look like. It also took a great deal of time to create the understanding of how this was more than just a cluster of previously completed assignments, and how it could be a designed experience; this was addressed most effectively through in-class checkpoints and exemplars.

Flexible submission formats were useful, but sometimes too much flexibility can be as frustrating as too little flexibility; next time around, I'll provide clearer tracks that I'll ask students to commit to early in the process, as well as a modification of the overall assignment write-up tailored to each track. This will also give the students communities of practice operating in the same mode of production; peer groups can perform reviews, share insights, and have informal working groups to share questions, concerns and frustrations with.

Next time, I plan to incorporate an early-semester preview of what a “design reflection” looks like to give students more scaffolding throughout the term; I also intend to introduce the formal writing component of overall reflection earlier in the process and request that students take their drafts to the writing center, in order to provide a more structured and comprehensive instruction in writing than I was capable of fitting into the semester.

I'm sharing links to the course OpenLab, as well as a page of the course assignments (Activities, low-stakes activities which structure their work overall, and Projects, which are the high stakes activities that demonstrate mastery) as well as the assignment for Project 04, the portfolio project.

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

https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/mtec1101-hd03-sp2025/

May 31, 2025

Co-Creating a Code Glossary

Sandra Lloyd

Communication Design (COMD)

COMD 2451

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

In groups of 4-5, students use a real-time, collaborative spreadsheet (such as Google Sheets) to fill out several terms as part of a glossary of code terms they need to learn. If time, they teach one or two of the terms to the rest of the class. Each group is graded on the accuracy of their entries. Then, the class can use the directory throughout the semester as reference material.

This activity can be used for learning HTML, CSS, or other coding languages or frameworks where students need to learn a large number of basic elements and their behavior.

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

Broadly, the learning goals are to build skills in reading comprehension, research, critical thinking, and collaboration.

In my class, I used the activity for the introduction to HTML.

The objectives specific to COMD 2451 are:
1) In order to get acquainted to semantic HTML so that they can create static websites, students will learn and retain:
a) what key HTML elements do
b) when and where to use these elements
c) how to write a line of code using these elements

2) Students will get to know each other and form bonds, while also building collaboration and teamwork skills.

(These learning goals can be adapted for CSS, W3.css, or other appropriate languages or frameworks.)

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?

There are three points in the semester of COMD 2451 where this activity can be used:
1) Week 3: HTML & Design DIscovery;
2) Week 4: CSS;
3) Week 7: Web Design & Interaction (introduction of W3.css framework)

However, I only implemented it during Week 3, for the purposes of teaching HTML. This is because it is helpful to have this hands-on activity when coding is new to them.

I devote 1.5 – 2 hours of class time to the exercise. No out-of-class time is expected. The only exception is if a group does not finish their glossary terms in the allotted time, at which point they may opt to finish it outside of class.

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

To prepare for this activity, the professor must create a Google Sheet (or similar real-time collaborative spreadsheet) as demonstrated in the HTML Glossary presentation on OpenLab. This must be populated with the desired html elements, along with columns for Definition, Characteristics, Example code, When to Use, and When NOT to Use. The first row will be populated with an example.

The activity is evaluated based upon a grading rubric that centers around errors. I assess the number of correct definitions or their quality.
My course is part of the college-wide general education assessment initiative.

The activity worked very well. Students were engaged throughout in their groups. It was also very clear that they quickly learned how to effectively search for information online and to problem-solve. Students tended to do better in my class this semester compared to last semester.

See the first post in the OpenLab to see more in-depth presentation deck and the site itself.

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

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Vm4zWUqOLdgNg3SPudPRq6lxSKsf0Bxa22ou3rrkb0g/edit?usp=sharing

May 31, 2025

Food, Culture, and the Body: Exploring Physiology through Place-Based Learning

OLUWAKEMI KADIRI

BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES/CITY-TECH

ANATOMY & PHYSIOLOGY II

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

This semester-long project invites Anatomy and Physiology students to connect course content with real-world food practices by investigating the intersection of nutrition, culture, and human physiology. Using place-based learning inspired by a field visit to the Museum of Food and Drink (MOFAD) or a virtual equivalent, students will research how cultural dietary practices affect body systems such as digestion, metabolism, cardiovascular health, and endocrine function. Students will present their findings through an OpenLab post integrating scientific analysis, cultural context, and visual/creative components (infographics, diagrams, videos, or photo essays).

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

• Apply foundational knowledge of human anatomy and physiology to real-world nutritional and cultural contexts.
• Apply anatomy and physiology knowledge to real-world nutrition and cultural contexts.
• Develop research, scientific writing, and public-facing communication skills.
• Engage in metacognitive reflection through drafting and peer feedback.
• Investigate health disparities related to nutrition and cultural practices.
• Foster a collaborative learning community via OpenLab, reinforcing a sense of community learning.

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?

• Introduced early in the semester (Weeks 2–3).
• MOFAD visit or virtual resource in Week 5.
• Milestones: topic proposal (Week 7), annotated bibliography and outline (Week 9), draft post (Week 11), final post (Week 13).
• Reflection and optional class discussion in Week 14.
• Estimated total workload: 10–12 hours outside 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?

Preparation:
• Set up an OpenLab course site with space for student publishing.
• Introduce and scaffold the use of OpenLab early in the semester.
• Coordinate MOFAD visit or offer virtual museum resources, video tours, or interviews.

Instructions to students:
Students will:
• Select a cultural food tradition or cultural dietary practice.
• Research how that practice impacts one or more body systems, physiologically.
• Connect the practice to current public health issues, access, or disparities.
• Create a post combining narrative, scientific explanation, and visuals (multimodal post).

Type of assignment:
• The activity is low- to medium-stakes and graded in stages with formative feedback and peer review.

• I will assess this activity using the Oral Communication VALUE Rubric developed by the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), adapted to reflect the specific goals of the Anatomy & Physiology OpenLab project.
• This rubric evaluates student performance in six categories: organization, language, delivery, supporting material, central message, and disciplinary relevance.
• Each criterion is scored on a 1–4 scale, providing a clear and structured way to assess oral communication skills within a scientific context.
• In addition to the rubric, I will provide formative feedback during class discussions, peer review sessions, and project milestones. This layered assessment approach ensures students receive both quantitative scores and qualitative input to guide their growth.
• This course is part of the college-wide Gen Ed assessment initiative, and this assignment supports key Gen Ed learning outcomes such as critical thinking, communication, and civic engagement.
• This project promotes integrative learning and deeper engagement with anatomical and physiological concepts by connecting course content to students' communities and lived experiences.

• This fall, I plan to implement this activity for the first time to replace the traditional Written Assignment.
• Before the semester begins, I will share the project plan with the course coordinator to ensure alignment and gather feedback.
• I anticipate the activity encouraging deeper student engagement by connecting course content to personal lives, cultural backgrounds, and future healthcare careers.
• By examining food, nutrition, and physiological health through a place-based perspective, students will likely engage more deeply and think critically, particularly as they relate the material to their communities.
• To support their success, I will include in-class workshops on research skills, scientific citation, and navigating the OpenLab platform.
• I also plan to offer a sample project to clarify expectations and encourage creativity. Understanding that some students may have limited digital literacy or may initially produce surface-level reflections, I will scaffold the assignment with guided discussion prompts, exemplar models, and opportunities for peer feedback to enhance depth of analysis.
• I am excited to see how this project fosters integrating scientific content with personal and real-world relevance, strengthening students’ writing, collaboration, and digital communication skills.

I plan to share:
• A sample student post (with permission)
• Slide deck introducing the project
• Library guide to credible sources for health-related research
• Peer review worksheet
• Full assignment sheet and grading rubric (available on OpenLab)

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

May 26, 2025

Reading To Support Architectural Design

Elizabeth Parks

Architectural Technology

ARCH2412 Design IV

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

The reading activity is part of the Lecture portion of the Design IV studio (Lab) class. Students are formed into groups of three or four to analyze and share a selected reading with the class. The activity has three parts: reading with annotation, completion of a Frayer Method Template to clarify a particular concept or vocabulary word, and presentation to the class with discussion. All students in the class are expected to read all of the readings to facilitate discussion.

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

The goad of the activity is to engage students with reading about architecture, architects, and the concepts that underlay the design process.

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

The activity is completed over four class sessions throughout the semester.
Session 1 in Week 2: Introduction to the activity, selecting or assigning readings to the groups. This is timed to coincide with the research and concept development work the students are doing in the Lab portion of the course.
Session 2 in Week 5: Presentations and class discussion for half the student groups
Session 3 in Week 6: Presentations and class discussion for half the student groups
Session 4 in Week 11: General class discussion of all the readings and their impact on student design projects.
Students are expected to meet with their group members outside of class to prepare the Frayer Method Template for their selected reading. They are also expected to read all the other readings for discussion. The total time required outside of class is expected to be at least 4-8 hours, depending on the number and difficulty of the readings.

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 Spring 2025 Semester, ten (10) readings were selected from "Imagining the Future Museum: 21 Dialogues with Architects", edited by Andras Szanto, published in 2022. Each reading is a dialogue between the editor and a currently practicing architect, specifically about that architect's approach to museum design. This material was chosen because the students are each designing their own version of a museum in the Studio portion of the class, but the focus of the readings could be adapted to suit other courses.
Students were given access to a shared Miro board with blank Frayer Method Templates, a list of concepts and vocabulary words pulled from the readings by the instructor, as well as space for the students to write a summary of the reading.
Part of the introduction to the activity was a discussion of how to read for comprehension and how to take notes while reading. The instructor's annotated readings were shared with the class as examples.
The following is a link to the completed templates from one of the Lecture sessions for Spring 2025:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/j4opnnl1snk3pyzrj0440/ARCH2412-Lecture-Reading-Session-1.pdf?rlkey=p3k2lplksc2p5dfu95pobd67d&st=8vmuzxb1&dl=0
In the fourth and final session, students were asked to write a brief statement describing how the activity impacted their design process and the design of their project.
The groups present a summary of the reading and a more detailed explanation of the concept or vocabulary word they chose and then lead a class discussion on the reading, ideas and how the information is applicable to the studio activities.

The activity was not formally graded, but the results were shared with all instructors. The lecture classes are shared between four instructors, each also teaching a discrete section of the studio. A mixed set of students attend one of two lecture sessions. All instructors were given access to the Miro boards and to scans of the written reflections.
The Studio environment is inherently a High Impact Impact Educational Practice, incorporating Common Intellectual Experiences and Collaborative Assignments and Project. This reading activity was designed to broaden and deepen the students' understanding of the design process by familiarizing them with the words and work of a broad range of current practitioners.

We will repeat the activity and are considering adding a graded rubric to formalize assessment. The degree of engagement with the readings varied between groups and it was clear that very few students had read any of the readings other than the one they were assigned, limiting their ability to contribute in a meaningful way to class discussions. Formally grading the activity may improve attendance and encourage them to read more.
The students were allowed to form their own groups, so generally felt comfortable working and sharing with one another.
It was clear from some of the students' written reflections that the readings did have an influence on their thinking. Students always struggle with the leap from their initial ideas to a building proposal that manifests those concepts, but the more comfortable they become with abstract ideas, the clearer their conceptual work is. And that leap to a "real" building becomes more possible and the ideas more legible.

Some written reflections from students, written in class in Week 11 of the semester (edited for clarity):
"The readings provided different ideas and perspective in regards to museum design…they made me think about my design choices more thoroughly." Adrianna Dilillo
"These readings helped me with my design process by understanding 'elevation by context'. Understanding the importance, meaning or status based on its surroundings/context." Daria Tourkova
"One of the ideas [from] the reading was for the museum to be a place for people to escape reality." Bryan Zamora
"Our reading helped me create a narrative for my project." Kelvin Jarama
"The reading helped me get a better understanding of what a museum is and how the museum is an extension of what is being shown in the exhibition. It taught me that circulation plays an important part in the story the building is trying to tell. Lastly the chapter I read defines a museum as a bridge that connects people with art. It is a response to a certain conflict and/or community." Diccia Castro
"The readings have influenced my design by integrating the site with my building by including a plaza that is embedded underground." Marti Tapia
"The readings helped with my design process by demonstrating ways to include everyone. … blending public space and exhibition areas [together makes the museum] engaging for visitors. This idea encouraged me to design my my museum with space for visitors to create something of their own" Thais Garcia

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

May 22, 2025

Menu Ingredient Pricing & Unit Conversions

Alejandro Cantagallo

Hospitality Management, Professional Studies

Food and Beverage Cost Control

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

Groups will be responsible for researching and documenting the pricing of all identified ingredients required for the term project menu, categorized by type. They will create a complete and organized list that accurately reflects purchasing specifications and applicable unit conversions.

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

Students will work in groups to research and collect pricing information for a set list of ingredients across various categories in the requisition sheet. The data gathered will be used as the standard pricing for the entire class’s term project. Additionally, students will convert the ingredient costs into consistent units of measurement for inclusion in a collective Excel worksheet.
Broadly speaking students will learn about group work, current pricing for food and beverage items and how to calculate costs related to food and beverage operations.

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

This is assigned on the 5th week of the semester with a week to complete and with half of the subsequent class time to complete the work in class with guidance anc coaching from the instructor.

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 be divided into groups. Each group will be assigned specific categories from the requisition sheet (e.g., Dairy, Produce, Proteins, Dry Goods).

Each group will designate members to the following roles:
Ingredient Collector: Confers with all students in the class to ensure the requisition sheet includes all ingredients needed for their term project recipes. Ensures no required ingredient is missing from the sheet.
Verifier: Confirms the accuracy of the ingredients listed. Checks the pricing data collected for consistency and reliability.
Scribe: Ensures all collected information, including pricing and unit conversions, is recorded accurately in the shared Excel worksheet.
Review the assigned category in the requisition sheet. Identify all specific ingredients you are responsible for pricing. Research current pricing for each ingredient. Use reliable sources such as: Local grocery stores (in-person or online platforms like Instacart or FreshDirect), Wholesale suppliers (e.g., Restaurant Depot, Sysco, or local distributors), CLT price list
Then document the price per unit (e.g., per pound, gallon, dozen) and ensure consistency across items.
This is a low stakes assignement that is not graded, but required because the resulting price list will be the source of truth for pricing that all students will need in order to complete their term project.

I will use the Quantative Literacy Value Rubric
Interpretation: The ability to explain information presented in mathematical representations.
Calculation: The ability to convert relevant information into various mathematical forms, including standardized costs.
Application and Analysis: The ability to make judgments and draw appropriate conclusions based on quantitative data.
Communication: The ability to express quantitative evidence effectively to support the purpose of the project.

I decided to keep this assignment ungraded partly because it was my first time running it and partly because we’re still considering whether to integrate it into the department’s standard curriculum. The assignment was introduced in one class session, and in the following session, we spent half the class troubleshooting, refining, and finalizing the pricing together. This structure allowed students to get started independently, recognize potential challenges, and then work collaboratively—both in small groups and as a class—to resolve any issues. This felt like an almost magical moment, because the students took a lead in correcting their own work and encouraging each other to get the work done well.
A key takeaway from this assignment was that it also served as an introduction to using formulas in Excel. Interestingly, a few students realized they actually enjoy working with numbers, which was exciting and reaffirmed the value of incorporating this type of work into the curriculum.
Moving forward, I’d love to deepen the integration of this process into my future classes and, ideally, see it become a standard part of how this course is taught. Beyond the core learning objectives—such as group collaboration and real-world research—the ability to work with Excel is an essential skill that will benefit students in their careers.

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

January 30, 2025

In the Pursuit of Knowledge: Focusing on ‘Lifelong Learning’

Sergio Belich

Computer Systems Technology / NYC College of Technology

Web Programming I (Lecture) & (Laboratory)

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

The activity centers on teaching CST2309 (Introduction to Web Programming) through a structured split format, dividing the 3.5-hour class into equal parts of lecture (1¾ hours) and lab (1¾ hours). During lectures, the instructor presents course topics using overhead projectors and whiteboards, works through practical examples, and actively solicits student feedback to ensure comprehension.

The lab portion focuses on collaborative learning, where students work in groups using a shared Google document to compile course-related resources, including linked definitions and training videos. Students contribute their thoughts and questions while also creating potential exam questions. This dual approach combines traditional instruction with hands-on collaborative work to enhance the Student Learning Outcome of "Reading," specifically targeting students' abilities to interpret, evaluate, gather, and apply information from online sources.

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

My goal is to create an engaging learning environment that promotes "Lifelong Learning" through a balanced approach of structured instruction and collaborative work. The primary goal is to enhance students' ability to interpret, evaluate, gather, and apply information from various online sources while fostering an interactive atmosphere that encourages students to actively participate in their learning process. This is designed to not only help students master the current course material but also develop skills and learning templates they can apply to their future academic pursuits.

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

The activity will start from the second class till the end of the semester. The first day includes discussing the this new class outline to students, and setting expectations. ] It represents the core structure of the entire semester for CST2309 (Introduction to Web Programming). Each original class session (from last semesters' 3.5 hour length) is now being divided into:
Lecture portion: 1¾ hours
Lab portion: 1¾ hours
Total in-class time per session: 3½ hours

Students will spend some time outside of class reviewing and contributing to the shared resources, including adding definitions and training videos, though the specific time requirement has not been specified, the results of participation will be graded.

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 needed for this activity is as follows:
Setting up shared Google documents for class readings and topics
Preparing lecture materials and practical examples
Creating overhead projector/whiteboard content
Organizing students into working groups for labs

The student instructions is as follows:
During lecture: Students are expected to engage with the material and provide feedback
During lab: Students work in groups to:
Access and contribute to shared Google documents
Add linked definitions and training videos
Share thoughts, ideas, and questions
Create potential exam questions
Collaborate with group members

This activity is relatively low-stakes, focusing on collaborative learning and continuous engagement rather than high-pressure assessment. The approach emphasizes building an "enjoyable environment to learn" where students can:
Get constant feedback
Receive multiple explanations if needed
Build on existing knowledge
Create study materials collaboratively
Develop templates for future learning

The structure is an ongoing evaluation while also leading to assessments via exams and a class project. Students' contributions will factor into their overall course performance.

Assessment Components:
Use VALUE rubric specifically focused on reading
Student contributions to Google documents (20% of final grade) measured by:
1. Number of definition links added
2. Number of video links contributed
3. Number of potential exam questions provided

Implementation Details:
Continuous feedback during lectures ensures ongoing formative assessment
Google document contributions provide measurable evidence of students' ability to "interpret, evaluate, gather and apply information from various online sources"
VALUE rubric on reading provides standardized assessment criteria
The activity supports the "Lifelong Learning" student learning outcome

Integration with Broader Assessment:
Course is part of the college-wide general education assessment initiative
Will be evaluated by AIRE in Fall 2025
Uses standardized VALUE rubric for reading to align with institutional assessment frameworks

This structured assessment approach combines quantitative measures (contribution counts) with standardized evaluation criteria (VALUE rubric) while supporting broader institutional assessment goals.

This activity is structured to work well in a classroom environment because:
It divides class time equally between lecture and hands-on lab work
It incorporates both traditional teaching methods and modern collaborative tools
It creates an "enjoyable environment to learn" through constant feedback and group interaction

Here is the organizational structure:

Initial Structure:
Each of the 5 groups is assigned specific sections of lecture material
Groups have primary responsibility for their assigned sections
Groups can still contribute to other sections they find important

This approach:
Ensures comprehensive coverage of all lecture material
Creates clear group responsibilities
Prevents excessive overlap in initial research
Allows for cross-section insights and contributions
Maintains flexibility for additional perspectives

For each lab session, groups would:
1. Focus primarily on their assigned sections to provide:
5 definition links
5 topic training video links
5 potential exam questions
2. Have freedom to add insights to other sections
3. Monitor and build upon other groups' contributions

This balanced structure combines focused responsibility with collaborative flexibility, helping create a comprehensive learning resource while encouraging broader engagement with all course material.

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August 2, 2024

A Museum of Culture/ Assignment 1A: Museum Research

Jieun Yang

Architectural Technology

ARCH 2412/ Architectural Design IV

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

Part A: Understanding “What is a Museum”

Each student will read articles and/or watch videos focused on Museum design. Additionally, each student will visit a Museum in New York City, document it through photography and sketching, and answer a series of questions to catalog their observations.

A. Learn:

– Read Chapter 01: The History and Theory of the Museum Building from the book Museum Buildings: Construction and Design Manual By Christian Schittich. (see Blackboard)
– Choose one short article (see Blackboard)
– Choose one video or podcast from the below list:
– John Oliver's Last Week Tonight episode on Museums
– Freakonomics Podcast "Stealing Art is Easy. Giving It Back is Hard."

– Deliverables: For each, write a short summary and outline a series of five bullet points identifying the most meaningful takeaways. Be prepared to discuss this in class.

B. Experience:

– Visit a museum in New York from the list provided in class.
– Document your visit through photography, sketching, and diagramming.
– Consider the following questions during your visit:
a. Who are museum users? Consider both visitors and staff. How do they use and move through the museum differently?
b. How does the entry sequence work? How visible is the museum entrance from the street? What is the first thing you see and do when you enter the museum? How do you orient yourself?
c. How are the entry and exhibition spaces arranged? In a linear sequence, clustered, or arranged around a central space? Does the visitor travel from space to space directly or are there areas devoted to circulation?
d. What is displayed in the museum? How is the art/information displayed? How many different types of exhibition areas are there and how are they the same or different?
e. How many people were in the exhibition area while you were there? Was the space crowded? Approximately, what is the area of the exhibition space? What were its proportions? How tall are the ceilings? How far away did the visitors need to stand to view or interact with the works?
f. What were the lighting conditions like? Were there windows or skylights in exhibition rooms? If yes, how were they considered in the placement of the works?
g. Were the exhibition spaces ornate or simple? How does the architecture relate to the content, is there a consistency or a contrast between the two?

Deliverables: One 11×17 sheet, beautifully and thoughtfully layout of document your museum visit and observations, to Include:
– Name and location of the Museum you visited.
– Photographs, Diagrams, and sketches
– Question responses

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

The assignment focuses on how to think critically about Museum Design and develop an understanding of this building typology.

The assignment prepares students for Part B: Topic Research and Concept Development, where each student selects a research topic, reads articles, and documents important information related to that topic to develop an overall theme for their proposed museum and develop their concept.

The assignment asks the students to meet the following objectives:
– Ability to research, gather, and study information to gain an understanding of a building typology.
– Ability to research, gather, and study information to derive an informed project concept.
– Communicate ideas and information both verbally, graphically, and through writing. (Gen Ed)

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

This is the first assignment in the semester. During the first class, we watch a museum scene clip from Black Panther, discuss the topic of repatriation through current news articles, read one of the assigned readings together, and share student reflections in class.
The students are then asked to complete the rest of the homework assignments outside class time. They present their completed assignments in the second class for peer discussion and feedback.

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 the note under Timing for the preparation and instructions on this assignment.
This is a low-stakes assignment designed to be used as an icebreaker and to prepare students for the critical thinking, analysis, and documentation required for the upcoming assignments.

The assignment is assessed on the following rubric, incorporating some of the gen-ed assessment categories.

1. Ability to research, gather, and study information to derive an informed project concept (35%)
2. Ability to translate concepts into graphic visual and physical representations (40%)
3. Communicate ideas and information both verbally and through writing (10%)
4. Assignment requirements and deliverables were met (10%)
5. On-time completion (5%)

The assignment helped students think deeply about the role of a museum, its historical conception, and how it may have led to problematic pasts (such as stolen cultural objects). It also set up a discussion on how we can reimagine a museum. Students engaged in lively debates with a wide range of viewpoints. We plan to repeat this assignment/ activity in the upcoming semester.
Students enjoyed different media forms (videos and podcasts) and did not rely solely on reading. Most readings are short articles, which makes the materials accessible to the students.
I want to try the missing links method by assigning specific readings to students, having different article readers come together to teach others through summarizing their lesson, and reporting their summaries to the whole class as a group.

Student Examples on Dropbox:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/n9xxp95mpi9gmzct7y1oy/ARCH2412_Assignment-1_Examples.pdf?rlkey=yikae381871d7dwmk7vy7qjkd&dl=0

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June 27, 2024

NUR 1130 Clinical Assignment case study

Kalliopi Parginos

Nursing/New York City Tech College

NUR1130

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

Interactive Case study on Type 1 Diabetes with short answers

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

Top 5 Ways Nurses Can Improve Critical Thinking Skills
Case based approach
Practice self-reflection
Developing a questioning mind
Practice self-awareness in the moment
Use a process

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 Importance of Enhancing Critical Thinking Behavior
Independence of thought
Impartiality
Perspicacity into Personal and Social Factors
Humble Cerebration and Deferral Crisis

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

review the case study
answer the 4 questions
Choose the correct answer for two multiple choice questions

Grade the questions
Plan to include it future clinical sessions either on the pre or post conference with the students

6/6 students completed the questionnaire
The case study will be repeated on the fall semester 2024
Plan to incorporate it different interactive case studies
Students work as a team

Rubric: Critical Thinking Value Rubric was utilized

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June 26, 2024

NUR1130 Clinical Assignmemt

Kalliopi Parginos

NURSING DEPARTMENT/City Tech

Living lab

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

Clinical assignment for students

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

Improve the understanding in Diabetes and the administration off different insulins

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?

Close to the end of the 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?

Study of Diabetes pathophysiology
Difference between Type 1 and Type 2
Administration of different insulins

Case study and Multiple choice questions

No challenges were identified

N/A

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

Category: Information Literacies

Living Lab Seminar Activity (Final) Topic: • Intercultural Knowledge and Competence

Designing Reflections + Final Portfolio Project

Co-Creating a Code Glossary

Reading To Support Architectural Design

Menu Ingredient Pricing & Unit Conversions

In the Pursuit of Knowledge: Focusing on ‘Lifelong Learning’

A Museum of Culture/ Assignment 1A: Museum Research

NUR 1130 Clinical Assignment case study

NUR1130 Clinical Assignmemt

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