Category: Lifelong Learning

Posted on

NUR1130 Clinical Assignmemt

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

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?

Case study and Multiple choice questions

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?

No challenges were identified

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.

N/A

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

Posted on

The Process Letter

The Process Letter

JHON SINGLETON

English Department/New York City College of Technology

ENG 1101- E093

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

The Process Letter is a formal exploration of the student's personal writing process journal within a semester. Think of it as a "love letter" to self and future composition level 2 instructor.

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

1. Students will be able to reflect and highlight thoughts and perceptions about the course content.
2. Students will express in writing their understanding of, reflections on, response to, or analysis of difficult writing academic concepts.
3. Students will express in writing their understanding of, reflections on, response to, or analysis of difficult writing moments.
4. Students will express a writing paragraph sample completed during the semester, showing editing and revising prowess that adheres to MLA format.
5. To further their academic writing journey, students have the opportunity to contribute to their future professor's itinerary/discussions for future lessons. This continues with Paulo Freire's "non-banking" system.

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 introduce The Process Letter activity once the research project has been talked about. It occurred during the 10th week of the semester. We went through the 6-paragraph process step by step using a student sample/ example. this takes about a class session. However, students are encouraged and welcome to discuss the parts of the letter during a 15-minute open forum with the remaining class session. Students are entitled to complete two rough drafts before I grade the final draft. 2 hours is expected over 5 weeks is expected. It is due along with the research project.

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 that is required is completing at least 70% of the course material to the student an opportunity to express a full reflection.
As mentioned above, I go through through the 6-paragraph process step by step using a student sample/ example. this takes about a class session.
I will consider this a "middle stakes" assignment because it is worth 10% of their final course grade, Most of the assignment is personalized and only ONE paragraph requires MLA format.

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?

There is a rubric for this assignment. It is based on a 10pt analysis of the student's presentation. Because of college-wide general education assessment initiatives, I believe a rubric is mandatory.

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?

My students love this activity. It allows them to have a pow-wow with their classmates about their triumphs and difficulties during the semester. I even learn how to improve the course for the following semester. The challenges were few but there were about 4 students who kept putting the project off until the last minute even with positive encouragement. They thought the letter was an easy A and completed it late.

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

Coping with Stress

Coping with Stress

Roriann Smith

Social Science

Intro to psychology

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

This was a two-part assignment where students had to first write a self-reflection essay detailing a personal experience with stress. They were required to describe the specific situation, discuss their emotional responses to the stressful event, and the coping mechanisms they employed to manage the stress, providing details on which strategies were effective and which were not. Additionally, students needed to analyze how psychological theories and concepts discussed in class aligned with or differed from their personal experiences. They were also asked to consider how cultural practices, traditions, and/or historical events may have contributed to their response to the stressful situation.

For the second part of the assignment, in groups of 4-5 students, each group had to select and discuss two anonymous students' stressful experiences from part one. The groups were then tasked with brainstorming a range of applicable coping mechanisms, drawing from both personal experiences and researched strategies, including local resources geared towards stress management. Using the information gathered, students were asked to create a compelling podcast episode, television show segment, or radio show where they engaged in a reflective dialogue concerning the assigned reflection essays, encouraged alternative coping mechanisms, and presented local resources as viable solutions. The show could be prerecorded or live.

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

The main goals of this assignment were to:
• Understand Stress and Emotional Responses:
o I want students to develop a deeper understanding of personal emotional responses to stress and the factors that trigger these responses.
• Critical Reflection and Analysis:
o This assignment would allow students to cultivate critical reflection skills by analyzing personal experiences and comparing them with established psychological theories and concepts.
• Public Speaking and Presentation:
o Students would improve public speaking and presentation skills through the creation and delivery of the podcast or show.
• Empathy and Support:
o Another goal was to encourage empathy and support within the group by discussing and reflecting on peers’ stressful experiences and suggesting helpful coping mechanisms.

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 first part of the assignment was done within the first month of the beginning of the semester. Part 2 was due on the last day of classes. Students were given 30 minutes on three separate days to work with their groups on the project. Depending on the scope of students’ projects, the out-of-class time varied.

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

Due to the complexity, the depth of knowledge and skills required, and its impact on students' grades this assignment is high stakes. The assignment requires a detailed self-reflection that involves personal introspection, analysis of emotional responses, coping mechanisms, and alignment with psychological theories which requires significant effort and understanding. The second part involves group work involving a collaborative element that requires coordination, communication, and cooperation among group members. Creating a podcast episode, television show segment, or radio show involves content creation, technical skills, creativity, and public presentation abilities which demands substantial time and effort. The assignment integrates various skills such as critical thinking, research, public speaking, empathy, and cultural awareness. The comprehensive nature of the task suggests a higher level of difficulty.

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 first part of the assignment was assessed using the Writing VALUE rubric. For the second part of the assignment, I developed a custom rubric by incorporating elements from the Information Literacy, Critical Thinking, Creative Thinking, Integrative Learning, and Oral Communication VALUE rubrics.

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 assignment was quite successful in my class, so I plan to repeat it. Although I didn’t encounter any major challenges, providing students with an example to follow could help them generate ideas more easily. Additionally, I would allocate more class time for students to work on their projects, as some groups had difficulty coordinating due to conflicting schedules. Students seemed to enjoy the production part of the assignment, and some groups wished they had been more creative after seeing other groups’ projects.

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

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Hzqc8nbFOwKpua0U1uBd1y1mH1GLwuMR?usp=drive_link

Posted on

Promoting the SBAR Communication Tool with Nursing Students

Promoting the SBAR Communication Tool with Nursing Students

Konstantina Caris

New York City College of Technology/Nursing

NUR-1110/Caring for Clients with Common Alterations in Functional Needs

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

Knowing that patient handover is often poorly performed, with critical detail being omitted and irrelevant information included at patient handoff this activity stresses on implementing the use of the ISBAR tool with nursing students during clinicals. SBAR stands for situation (clearly and briefly describe the current patient’s situation), background (provide clear, relevant background information on the patient), assessment (state your professional conclusion, based on the situation and background), and recommendation (telling the person with whom you’re communicating what would you recommend correcting the problem).

This format ensures clinicians communicating significant information in continuity of patient care, preventing errors and harm in hospital settings or community settings. It provides a standardized approach to communication which is a core skill that needs to be taught to nursing students and junior clinicians. It highlights key elements and explores teaching techniques that aim to ensure the framework is rooted in practice effectively resulting in patient’s safety and better patient outcomes.

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

The goal of this activity is to develop the student’s critical thinking and communication skills during patient’s handover by following the SBAR format. The need to assess, understand, analyze, prioritize patient health issues, and recommend solutions, is imperative among clinicians in healthcare. Communicating accurate patient information from team to team is an essential component of good patient care, effective management of the patient’s condition, and teamwork. However, critical thinking skills does not happen overnight. Students need to practice this format constantly during clinical rotations to enhance critical thinking and communication skills and at the same time prevent patient errors.

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 implemented step by step during clinical rotations the entire semester. For two weeks we devoted 60 minutes learning and understanding the importance of the SBAR tool and how it works.

Next, for four clinical days students practiced the format taking into consideration the information they obtained while caring and assessing assigned patients. Their report emphasized on the patient’s main problem, on communicating appropriate patient’s history, the right examination/observation, and creating a clear recommendation.

At midsemester, while each student gave report, the other students listen and observed. At post conference they had the opportunity to critique the report by asking questions, make suggestions, and reflect if the sequence of the SBAR format was followed. For example: “If the student highlighted key elements of effective clinical information”, “Did they give excess information or too little”, “How did they feel being the presenter as opposed to observer”, or “What they would have done differently and why”. This activity took between 30-45 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 is an ongoing interactive high stakes assignment where the instructor assigned a patient to the student to assess and care the entire clinical day. During this time the student must think critically when deciding what patient information should be communicated to other healthcare professionals according to their assessment, knowledge, analysis, problem solving, and reflection. Practicing the ISBAR format during nursing clinicals increases their capacity to share key information, be mindful of their role as well as their team members, enhance their confidence on patient assessments, and implement optimal patient interventions.

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?

High stakes assignment=level of engagement.
Students who observed as well as the instructor had to complete a four-point scale ranging “Not performed the SBAR format competently”, to “Able to perform format under minimal direction”. Student’s performance focused on “What is going on with the patient”, “ What was the patient’s clinical background or context”, “If appropriate assessment/observation was done”, and “ What would they recommend to correct the problem”.

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?

A continuous effort to stress the importance to communicate key elements of effective clinical handover emphasized during clinicals with nursing students. By following the use of the SBAR format during clinical, prepares them not only for the clinical demands of the job, but also focuses on their critical thinking and communication skills that are so important for improving patient outcomes and recognizing a decline in a patient’s condition. At the same time instructors can explore teaching techniques that aim to ensure the framework is embedded in practice effectively.

Involving students to learn a structured way to communicate relevant patient information to other healthcare professionals was challenging due to overwhelming nursing material they had to cover during their semester. However, at the end of their clinicals they expressed that the SBAR format helped them organize patient information in a structured way saving time. Prioritizing on what information should they handover was also challenging because they had to focus on what is going on currently and taking into consideration patient’s general health status.

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.

SBAR

Situation-Background-Assessment-Recommendation

Example

Mr. Barnes is a 72 y/o admitted to the oncology unit yesterday for his 5th cycle of in-patient chemotherapy for gastric cancer. He has a fever of 102.5 F. He’s receiving a continuous 48-hour infusion of Oxaliplatin and 5-FU. other than the fever, his vital signs are all normal: BP 124/64, HR 62, RR16, O2 98%. He has no complaint of pain or discomfort, NKA. As the primary nurse you’re concerned about the fever and neutropenia. You would like and order for Tylenol, blood cultures, and a CBC.

Organized structured format for SBAR

Situation-Background-Assessment-Recommendation

S=This is Jane Doe, the primary nurse for Mr. Barnes, on the medical oncology unit. He is febrile, 102.5 F.

B- He was admitted yesterday for his 5th cycle of in-patient chemotherapy for gastric cancer. He’s receiving a continuous 48 hors infusion of Oxaliplatin and 5-FU. He has no known allergies.

A-Other than the fever, his vital signs are all normal: BP 124/64, HR 62, RR 16,02 98%. He has no complaint of pain or discomfort.

R- I am concerned about the fever and neutropenia, I recommend an order for Tylenol, blood cultures, and a CBC. Is there anything ales you would recommend at this time?

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

Posted on

Global Diversity & Reading, Writing, & Research

Global Diversity & Reading, Writing, & Research

Nadine Weinstein-Lavi

English Dept/NYCCT

Professional Development Program – Jan. 2023

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

1. Post a link to a song whose lyrics make you think/describe the emotions in one of the pieces my grandfather played (I played for you in class). Explain the connection and why you chose that song.

Students were asked to participate in an interactive blog/gallery type of activity by posting three items: a song, and two images, which reflected their responses to an historical artifact that was used as a text in class: Alfred Schenker's Secret War Diary, 1941-43 (written by my grandfather while in hiding during the Holocaust), and by writing a paragraph about each item that connected it to the diary.

The instructions were: 1. Post a song or a link to it whose lyrics match the emotions in one of the pieces that Alfred Schenker played on the CD you listened to in class. Show the connection in a paragraph about the song you've chosen and his piece. 2. Post an image that shows how you think he felt writing the diary and write a paragraph showing the connection between the two, 3. Post an image that shows how you felt reading the diary/how it makes you feel and write a paragraph showing the connection between the two.

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

The idea was to have students read an historical artifact – an actual WWII Holocaust document – and to make a connection to it in modern terms in a creative way (Some students posted cartoon images to correspond to the emotions they felt upon reading the diary), and to explain that in a paragraph. Creativity and analysis, and consideration of the context of the text (diary) and its relevance to themselves was a big factor in designing this assignment. Awareness of an historical event and gaining of perspectives – the ethics or lack, the context, and the connection to modern times, was key.

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 a mid-stakes assignment that followed the reading of the diary in the middle of the semester. We devoted about two weeks to the reading of, and the discussion of the diary, and a related assignment: a PowerPoint about it, and this interactive blog/gallery, which allowed all students to see what the others had posted and to discuss it.

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 was a mid-stakes activity, but it was fun. The idea was to be as creative as possible in terms of finding corresponding songs and images. They did very well. The instructions were as follows:
1. Post a link to a song whose lyrics make you think/describe the emotions in one of the pieces my grandfather played (I played for you in class). Explain the connection and why you chose that song. c

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 was assessed based on it's creativity. The students got points for thinking outside the box for this. They were very creative. No rubric was used as it was a mid-stakes assignment worth 15 points. However, everyone did so well, that they got more than the allotted points. This course is English 1121 and is a required course.

Reflection: How well did this activity work in your classroom? Would you repeat it? Why or why not? What challenges did you encounter, and how did you address them? What, if anything, would you change? What did students seem to enjoy about the activity?

I think that this activity worked very well as it enabled students to make connections between the text and themselves and their responses to the text in a new way, via music and images. It was also open for everyone to see, so there was less pressure for each student and they could discuss what they were going to do beforehand.

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 was the set of instructions for the assignments:
1. Post a link to a song whose lyrics make you think/describe the emotions in one of the pieces my grandfather played (I played for you in class). Explain the connection and why you chose that song. 1. Post a link to a song whose lyrics make you think/describe the emotions in one of the pieces my grandfather played (I played for you in class). Explain the connection and why you chose that song.

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

Posted on

Public Space design

Public Space design

Christopher Stienon

Fordham

Urbanism

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

This activity is for a course on urbanism that examines the context and principles of good urban design. This assignment began with a walking tour of Midtown Manhattan to visit several prominent public spaces including Rockefeller Center, Times Square, Bryant Park, Union Square, etc. The students were to experience these places and then select one they liked and hype it in the form of short video (like TikTok), a blog post, or podcast, etc. Based on their observations, they were subsequently asked to select a space they didn’t like and reconceive it using features and elements from the places they liked. These were presented to the class in the form of single image of a shadow box / stage set.

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

The purpose of the activity was two-fold. It gave the students a sense of the scale of the city and places within it (which was later used as a scale comparison with looking at other cities), and it pushed them to look at the character of place and the factors that made them this way. For example, was a space noisy or quiet, active or empty of people, shaded or sunny, small large, etc. The idea was to get the students to look at how the character of place affects human behavior.

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 was given at the beginning of the semester before examining the history of cities.

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

There is no preparation needed. The first part of the assignment was to follow a walking tour of several public spaces in Midtown Manhattan, starting at Grand Army Plaza next to Central Park and proceeding down Fifth Avenue to Rockefeller Center and crossing to Times Square and following Broadway all the way to Union Square.
The students were asked to look at all the open spaces to understand how they are physically different and what was contributing to the character of place. The students were to select a space they liked and hype it. That is they could create a photo essay, a blog or a TikTok video – or any medium that described why the space they liked was so appealing – and then hype it – that is, describe why the space was successful and attractive. Why should someone want to go there?
The second part of this assignment asked the students to then select a space they didn’t like and reconceive it using the elements from the space they liked. The students were to create a shadow box / stage set rendition of their proposal and present it in class.

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 VALUE rubric touched on Analysis and Design. The activity was assessed by how well the students were able to communicate and describe what they were seeing and identify contributing factors to the quality of place (analysis). For example, Bryant Park was frequently cited as a successful public space because it was less crowded and quiet, it felt separate from the rest of the city yet there were activities and people within the park. The creation of a shadow box to illustrate a proposed redesign of a particular place they didn't initially like was assessed by how well they could take an idea or an observation and translate it to a different setting – and could these ideas be clearly communicated.

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?

The assignment was well received, and I will use it again, but I will introduce the project to the students differently the next time. I'll need to emphasize that this is not simply a documentation of a site visit, but an actual analysis of why a space is attractive. It may entail an entire lecture devoted to the design of public open spaces so they understand what these contributing factors actually are before having them undertake the assignment.

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.

As with all assignments, there are students looking for the simplest and fastest way to complete the work, so some students simply turned in a series of unedited video clips taken as they went from place to place and talked about what they were seeing along the way. If they did this in a group, then each student had more or less the same set of images. This was not entirely bad since there was at least evidence that they visited these spaces, but it was far short of focusing on the details of a particular place.

But the students who pushed a bit did some fantastic work. The result was an assortment of TikTok videos, podcast scripts and recordings, newsletters and blog posts – all capturing elements of the city; the lights, the sounds and the action.

With the second half of the assignment several students listed Times Square as there least preferred space, so there were several proposals for a Bryant Park or Union Square themed makeover of Times Square or 42nd Street. There was a general sense of playfulness and experimentation with these proposals and presentation.

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