Category: Skills

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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

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Pre-class discussion

Pre-class discussion

Changkyu Kim

Computer Engineering Technology/New York City College of Technology

Feedback Control Systems

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

Pre-class review session will provide an explanation with an analogy about the incoming lecture. Students will read a 10-minute review about the main engineering concepts and discuss them based on non-engineering experience. The pre-class review session will be found at OpenLab. The due date is always the following lecture date.

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

Students are requested to develop their own idea for the technical problems and submit short informal writing before the weekly class. The pre-class discussion will be evaluated by presenting pure reasoning rather than writing structure or grammatical 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?

Students will submit the writing assignments of pre-class discussion for the first half of the semester. During this period, students should be able to understand the main engineering concepts of control systems. Because a 10-minute preview of incoming lectures will be given in Openlab, additional discussion is not necessary during the lectures.

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

I have to upload the preview of lectures on Openlab, and the discussion question will be based on daily non-engineering experiences. It is low-stakes.

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?

Pre-class discussion writing will be evaluated based on the following criterion: 1. Sufficiently address the subject with supporting examples 2. Address the subject with consistent and concise logic. 3. address the subject and provide your own perspective.

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 was surprised that all students were eager to respond to pre-class activities. Most students presented their perspectives on each subject. The submission rate was higher than homework, which is given after classes. The main challenge for me is maintaining the same quality of discussion questions and the consistency of the subject during the whole semester. I would repeat the activities after improving quality and consistency.

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.

1. Instruction : Pre-class discussion
Pre-class review session will provide an explanation with an analogy about the incoming lecture. Students will read a 10-minute review about the main engineering concepts and discuss them based on non-engineering experience. The pre-class review session will be found at OpenLab. The due date is always the following lecture date.

2. General guideline
Format :
Font : Times New Roman
Size : 11, single space

The number of words : No less than 150 words

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

https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/kimcet4864sp2021/2023/01/24/lecture-1-introduction/

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Chef Report Self Assessment

Chef Report Self Assessment

Jessie Riley

HMGT

Culinary 1

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Assessment: How do you assess this activity? What assessment measures do you use? Do you use a VALUE rubric? If not, how did you develop your rubric? Is your course part of the college-wide general education assessment initiative?

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

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

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

Additional Information: Please share any additional comments and further documentation of the activity – e.g. assignment instructions, rubrics, examples of student work, etc. These can be links to pages or posts on the OpenLab.

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

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

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Formulate Questions to Advance Learning and Understanding of Course Content

Formulate Questions to Advance Learning and Understanding of Course Content

Diana Zhu

Mathematics/NYCCT

MAT1375 Pre-Calculus

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Assessment: How do you assess this activity? What assessment measures do you use? Do you use a VALUE rubric? If not, how did you develop your rubric? Is your course part of the college-wide general education assessment initiative?

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

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

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

Additional Information: Please share any additional comments and further documentation of the activity – e.g. assignment instructions, rubrics, examples of student work, etc. These can be links to pages or posts on the OpenLab.

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

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

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

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Student self-assessment that promotes learning

Student self-assessment that promotes learning

Patricia Childers

Communication Design (COMD)

Graphic Design Principles, Typography

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

A self-assessment activity for reflection and reinforcement.
• low stakes, high impact activity to promote deep learning through engagement
• a mechanism to help focus on specific goals
• a tool to help students track progress towards their goals
• a tool to guide educators in the effectiveness of their communication

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

Inquiry & Analysis
A pedagogical approach to student review that not only reinforces student learning, but reinforces that they have learned. The goals this student classroom experience is to support the analysis of creative and critical thinking through the use of HIEPs,

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 can be introduced at the conclusion of any student project. Classroom time in minimal, about 20 minutes based on the amount of material reviewed. There is no out-of-class time.

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 low stakes activity requires the project rubric and copies of the final project. Students self access using the rubric. Student assessment refers to specific examples, footnoted or cross-referenced directly on the copy of the final project.

Assessment: How do you assess this activity? What assessment measures do you use? Do you use a VALUE rubric? If not, how did you develop your rubric? Is your course part of the college-wide general education assessment initiative?

The rubric development is based on the General Education inquiry of Knowledge and Skills using specific project criteria. This course in not part of a college-wide assessment. The project in itself is not graded. I find that student's responses are a true reflection of the student's understanding. "When the act of self-assessing is given a learning-oriented purpose, students' self-assessments are relatively consistent with those of external evaluators, including professors." [Lopez, R., and Kossack, S. (2007). Effects of recurring use of self-assessment in university courses. Int. J. Learn. 14, 203–216. doi: 10.18848/1447-9494/CGP/v14i04/45277]

I do review the activity to insure that student's response indicates that they correctly understand the material. Any discrepancies are reviewed directly with the student to correct misconceptions. In this way, the activity reflects the impact of my communication of the material through the student's response. If student understanding of the material is low, I know that I need to change me approach.

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 activity works well and I use it several times a semester. The biggest challenge is the response of a few students to "having" to grade themselves. One student reminded me that grading is my job, not theirs. I explain that periodic, external replay of learned input patterns strengthens synaptic connections—the combination of structural plasticity, synaptic plasticity and self-generated reactivation not only stabilizes synaptic turnover but enhances their connectivity and associative memory. This explanation tends to erode resistance. And generally, many students have stated that they better understand the concept after the self assessment. The assessment is altered to support each different 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.

https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/pchilders-portfolio/2023/05/16/student-self-assessment-that-promotes-learning/

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

https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/pchilders-portfolio/wp-admin/post.php?post=266&action=edit

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

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.

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 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?

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 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.

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.

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

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

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GenEd Seminar Winter 2022 assignment

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.

Assessment: How do you assess this activity? What assessment measures do you use? Do you use a VALUE rubric? If not, how did you develop your rubric? Is your course part of the college-wide general education assessment initiative?

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

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

Yes. 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

Additional Information: Please share any additional comments and further documentation of the activity – e.g. assignment instructions, rubrics, examples of student work, etc. These can be links to pages or posts on the OpenLab.

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

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