Category: Collaborative Assignments and Projects

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Exploring cultural differences in dental care

Exploring cultural differences in dental care

Anna Matthews

Dental Hygiene / SPS

Oral Anatomy DEN 1112

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

In Fall 2016, students in three sections of DEN1112 completed a term project assignment with the focus on Intercultural Knowledge and Skills assessment.
This assignment consisted of several parts.
Individually, students watched a Frontline PBS documentary “Dollars and Dentists” (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/dollars-and-dentists/ ) which explores the complexity and availability of dental care in the U.S.
Next, students read the case study “Mortality associated with odontogenic infection” (Green et al., 2001) and answer accompanying questions. Students were asked to discuss the documentaries they watched in small groups. Students were provided questions for discussion prompting them to discuss their opinions regarding the status of dental health care in the U.S. as presented in the documentary. Students were also asked to share their cultural beliefs and attitudes towards dental care. Given the diversity of students in our Dental Hygiene program (over 50% of students were not born in the U.S. and speak over 20 primary/first languages), a difference of experiences and resulting opinions about health care more broadly and dental care in particular emerged in their discussions.

Individually, students wrote an essay reflecting on the Frontline documentary and the case study. Among the questions they were to address in their essay, they were asked to describe their interactions with peers in their groups and to evaluate how their own attitudes/opinions were or were not different from those of their classmates, what have they learned about other cultural beliefs/attitudes from the dialog with other students, how their own opinions have or have not changed as a result of the whole experience (watching the documentary and learning about the subject and their subsequent discussion of it in small groups).

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

1. introduce students to the complexity of dental care and its availability in the U.S.
2. connect the topics of spread of dental infection, as introduced in their Head & Neck portion of DEN1112 course, to the real-life situations leading to serious and life-threatening outcomes discussed in the scientific article (case study) and Frontline investigation.
3. work in teams to discuss the different cultural influences on how people perceive the necessity of dental care and its various aspects.
4. reflect on the whole experience by connecting all parts of this assignment in the written essay.

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 begins during week 13 of the Fall semester. The students discussed in small groups during class sessions twice for about 20 min. Depending on how long it takes students to write their 1200-1500 word essays, the activity would take at least 10 hours to complete 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?

This term project is worth 10% of their final grade for DEN1112. The students were given detailed instructions for each part of the assignment and provided with the PDF of the article and a link to Frontine documentary.

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?

In 2016, my course was part of college-wide assessment of Intercultural Knowledge and Skills. An appropriate AAC&U VALUE rubric was used for this evaluation, however, it was not used for grading. Students’ essays were evaluated based on the clarity and organization of the information, providing accurate and appropriate sources and citations (they were asked to substantiate their writing with at least two sources analyzing the topic of the video, other than the documentary itself), sentence structure, grammar and spelling.

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 and I intend to repeat it in Fall 2017. I don’t plan to introduce any changes at this time. The students seemed to enjoy the small group discussions and according to their reflections in the essays, they learned a lot from each other as well as the case study and Frontline documentary. One student’s essay was selected for publication in the 2017 issue of City Tech Writer.

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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Teamwork assignment

Teamwork assignment

Anna Matthews

Dental Hygiene/SPS

DEN2315

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

This assignment focused on fostering students’ ability to work in teams, in class and online. Students in my Summer session’s class were randomly assigned to one of four groups (each had 5 members) and they were asked to create a PowerPoint presentation of 15-20 slides on a randomly assigned topic (one of four possible topics), which included a group of drugs that were not covered in class (anti-fungal medications, AIDS/HIV and drugs used in management, topical and systemic corticosteroids, and anti-allergy medications). Groups worked in class to create their own OpenLab project sites and I was a member of each group together with the five students. After the sites were created, students exchanged information and resources online and communicated among each other and with me. They had 2 weeks to work on their presentations and I evaluated their progress continuously. The final presentations were uploaded by one of the students from each group to our course OpenLab site. All students reviewed the presentations from each group.

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

I have done similar activity before and the main goal of it is to provide opportunity for students to work in teams and foster collaboration. While the final products by teams were always successful in the previous sessions of DEN2315, some students complained that it was not a true team effort and some students did not participate equally and did not contribute to the team’s outcome. By observing individual students’ participation online and evaluating their contributions to the process and the final group product, I was able to grade their efforts in a much more fair way and there was no more concerns from students about the unequal share of group’s work if some had done more or less than others.

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?

Summer session 2-S is a 5-week course, we meet twice weekly in class. This assignment was due after the 4th week of the session and a progress evaluation was done at the end of week 3. We spent about 30 min in class to discuss the activity, organize students in groups and create their OpenLab project sites. The rest of work was done entirely online.

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 needed to learn how to create and manage their OpenLab sites and how to post/comment/add media and links there.
The activity is one of the 3 online assignments and it is 10% of their final course grade.

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

I assessed students’ work by the following:
1. their participation in class in creating the site
2. the number of posts/comments they contributed during the group’s work online
3. quality of the resources they found and shared
4. clarity and organization of their own powerpoint slides in the group’s presentation
5. appropriateness of references/citations
I did use the VALUE rubric for the assessment of Teamwork as my guide to evaluate students’ interactions. My session was part of college-wide Spring 2016 assessment (although it was conducted in the Summer 2016 session) but the rubrics were used for guidance and assessment only, not for grading individual student work.

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 worked very well. It was a marked improvement compared to the previous times I used this assignment and allowed students to select their own groups and topics as well as divide their work by themselves. Previously, for some groups it resulted in unequal work distribution and by overseeing each group of students I was able to evaluate each student’s work individually. I especially liked that this time all students worked together very well, even though they were randomly assigned to groups. Students’ comments about their experience were positive as well.

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.

For students’ privacy, their OpenLab project sites were for members only. Assignment description is here: group-study-assignment-2016-teamwork
Teamwork VALUE rubric is on the CityTech AIR website.

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

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Brooklyn Business Analysis

Brooklyn Business Analysis

Rachel Raskin

Business/ School of Professional Studies

ACC 1201 – Principles of Accounting II

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

The class will be divided into groups of 4-5 students. Each group will choose a Brooklyn based company from the list provided and develop a research paper about the company. Groups will also present their findings in a 15 minute presentation at the end of the semester. The research paper must address the following issues:

– Discuss the business, the industry and the history of the company’s formation. What type of business entity was it formed as (corporation, partnership, LLC, etc.)? What are the benefits of having chosen that specific entity? What business challenges did the founders face when launching the company? What accounting challenges did the founders face when the business was first established? How did they or how might have they dealt with these challenges?
– How has the location in Brooklyn aided or inspired the formation of the business? If the business is still in Brooklyn (such as Maker Bot, Etsy, Gotham Greens, Vice Media, or Brooklyn Brewery) visit its headquarters. Try to arrange a meeting with its employees and ask relevant questions to help you in your research. If you choose Pfizer or Domino Foods, the Brooklyn Historical Society has a wealth of primary sources on these companies.
– Find a similar company in the same industry and if the chosen Brooklyn based company is not public, make sure the second one is a public company that has filed a 10-K with the SEC. Provide a description and history of this business. Compare it to the similar business discussed that was formed in Brooklyn. What similarities do the two companies have and what are the differences?
– Analyze the financial statements of the chosen public company. Perform vertical, horizontal and ratio analysis and discuss how the business stands in comparison to its competitors and the industry. Access the financial statements through the SEC’s EDGAR filing system. All other articles and data should be accessed through Morningstar.

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

I would like students to be able to analyze a company’s position based on its financial statements. They should gain an understanding of how to research a company using reliable sources such as the Morningstar Market Research platform and SEC filing system. Ultimately, my goal is for the students to be able to connect their research about the company with the financial statement assessment they perform and put forth a comprehensive and original analysis. I would like them to step out of their comfort zone to work in a group, visit the business site directly to ask employee’s questions, and be able to convey all their findings in a professional presentation.

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 term project. I dedicate twenty minutes a week for the groups to discuss their progress in class. Most of the work is done 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?

Prior to starting the activity I will cover the main concepts students will need to complete the project. Mainly, how to perform financial statement analysis and the characteristics of various forms of business entities. I will also introduce the students to the databases they will need in order to conduct the research.
Students will be instructed to post two drafts of the project to our class’ Open Lab site for my review prior to the final submission. They will be encouraged to use our Open Lab site as a place for group discussions regarding the 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?

I use a points rubric based on the AACU’s Critical Thinking Value Rubric.

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

Overall, this project was a great learning experience for the students. The challenges the students had were making connections between the financial analysis and the context/current state of the company. To address this issue in advance, next semester I will have the students scaffold their work over a few drafts of the paper, leading to the final product.
I think the students liked working in excel to perform a complete financial analysis. They enjoyed the opportunity to apply many concepts learned in class. They also were surprised at how many companies were created right around City Tech and were pleased to know of all the potential career opportunities at these businesses. All students dressed in business attire to present their research to the class. I believe this gave them a sense of pride in 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.

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

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Government Concepts Explained with Photos from Brooklyn

Government Concepts Explained with Photos from Brooklyn

M. Victoria Pérez-Ríos

Social Science/Arts and Science

GOV 1101 American Government Spring 2016 Perez-Rios

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

A multiple-step assignment that incorporates open access technology used in a secure setting and that is going to be used to showcase student work. To complete the assignment students will have to find relevant sites in Brooklyn and use video, audio and the written word to connect those sites to basic concepts and/or institutions of the American government. In addition, they will find newspaper articles that support the relevance of the concept, evaluate other students’ work and self-reflect on this activity.

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

(1) Making learning American government meaningful to students
(2) Fostering deeper understanding of basic concepts and processes of American government
(3) Facilitating peer-to-peer learning.
(4) Creating together with my students a content-rich video/audio resource helpful to students beyond our classroom

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 used it after the midterm.

The class time devoted to it was a total of two hours and a half hours. (1) After the midterm I divided the class into groups to discuss their assigned concept (1 hour and a half). And (2) in the next class meeting we went on a tour of the surroundings of City Tech during an hour.

If students are thorough with the assignment, it will take them a minimum of two hours: (1) One hour to open an account in OpenLab and access the course, post the photos and check other student’s work and post their comments. (2) Half an hour to find newspaper articles and comment on their connection to each student’s assigned concept. And, finally, (3) half an hour to reflect on their learning experience.

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 included:
(1) Asking students to open an account in OpenLab and requesting an invitation to my course.
(2) Familiarizing myself with the immediate surroundings of City Tech.
(3) Checking whether all students have cameras or iphones to take the pictures/video

I have added the instructions for this exercise as an addendum at the end of this document.

The activity is low stakes (only 7 points in total) and it is for extra credit.

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 activity was and extra credit activity and I assigned three points to Step 3 and four points to Step 4.
Students who followed the instructions got full credit; I didn’t detract points for poor editing but for lack of relevant content.

No, to the best of my knowledge this course is not part of the college-wide general education assessment initiative.

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?

Some of the steps worked better than the others. 1) The preparatory steps (1 and 2) worked quite well and involved most of the students in the class. Step 1 or the in-¬¬class group discussion of assigned concepts was effective because most students took advantage of the time allotted in class to understand their assigned concepts in a more in-depth manner. I talked to each student and they shared their thoughts and examples on their assigned concept. Step 2 or the outside class activity of checking the surrounding area of City Tech also worked well and most students remained with the rest of the class for the whole hour I allotted for this activity. From the perspective of an Introduction to Government class, it was an ideal day for completing this activity because next door to City Tech the press and regular people were standing outside the Brooklyn Supreme Court waiting for the decision on whether former NYPD Officer Peter Liang had the right to a mistrial. Some students were very interested in making videos because there were also police officers in crowd control duty. Other students were excited about this event and started to talk about freedom of the press and of speech when a passerby started to insult Liang who was not present. Step 3 was completed by thirteen students and Step 4 by six. Almost half of the students that completed Step 3 didn’t post the photos and comments for all to see but as file attachments. In Step 4, four students completed a good self-reflection.

The two main challenges were: (1) keeping students together during the out-of-class activity. To overcome it, I made sure that the students who were restless took at least two photos and explained to me how the photos related to their assigned concept. And (2) making sure that there was enough student participation in steps 3 and 4. I may solve this in the future by offering this activity earlier on in the semester and as part of the regular assignments and not as an extra credit.

If I am scheduled to teach GOV 1101 in the future, I would like to repeat this activity but I will probably dedicate more time to prepare the guided tour. For example, I am thinking of bringing maps of the area to a class meeting and organizing an itinerary for the class and alternative ones for the students to do on their own in their way to and from the college.

As mentioned before few students chose to complete the self-reflection but I the ones that did liked the guided tour because it was something different from what they are used to in other courses. In addition, most students liked working in groups and they were happy to have their work presented outside of the classroom so other people can learn some basic concepts of the American form of government. The following are direct quotes from students’ self-reflection assignments [I didn’t edit their words; they are as they were posted]:
Melissa Feliciano: “This assessment was a good learning experience because I was able to explore more the meaning of government on my own. It definitely helped me learn the concepts in a better way since the definitions and examples were made by us the students which make it easier to understand than by reading complicated terms in a textbook. Also, despite the fact that it can be difficult for me to work in groups, it was fun to share the different ideas we had about the concept and being able to mash it together to make a unique and complete definition. Going out of the building to take pictures of our surroundings that would explain our assigned concepts was also very fun because we got to do something that rarely happens and at the same time we were being aware of what was around us by trying to relate it to our class. Furthermore, I do like the idea of sharing our pictures and examples to everyone out there because through this we are in a way leaving a mark in the world by sharing our ideas and helping others understand these concepts learned in government class”
Nazmon Nahar: “In class we also do group work that help us to know better our lesson and each other’s thought. When you don’t understand something if you work together in groups it help you to understand. That’s why I liked to do group work.”
“The most amazing day was the day we all went outside to take photos and videos for our assignment. Learning is just not only taking notes and my teacher proved that by doing different activates in class.”
Anthony Paton: Did you learn the different concepts better than just by taking notes in class and studying them for the tests? Why? Why not?
“I feel like I did learn this concepts a little bit better than just taking notes in class and studying them. The reason is because when I define the word, I had to find example of what I was defying. When I found the example, it made a clear understanding of what I was reading and I gain more knowledge over the concept. I’ll start doing this with more school work from now on.”

Did you like working in groups with other students? Why/why not?
“Yes I did enjoy working in groups with other students. The reason is because you get to hear another student’s opinion. Sometimes they might disagree with yours but that’s the fun part. You get to talk about and discuss your opinions on popular issues. For example students should have free metro cards would have a lot of students engaging in a conversation.”

Did you like going out of class to take pictures/video? Why/why not?
“Yes I enjoy going out side to take pictures and video. That was my very first time happening to me and I never expected it to be like that. I was actually shocked that people of different races were siding with the African American [Press and onlookers on the case of Officer Liang]. I quite happy and wanted to tell them but I didn’t.”
Do you like the idea of your photos and comments being used by other students in the future as part of an interactive map of Brooklyn populated with political terms? Why/why not?
“Yes I like the idea of my photos and comments being use by other students in the future as part of an interactive map of Brooklyn populated with political terms. The reason is because it allows students to teach and learn from one another. Students will probably have a better understanding after looking at these.”

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.

ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS
STEP ONE (in class): In groups of three discuss your assigned government concept and write down a definition that you will hand in to me at the end of the class. Include examples. Keep in mind that in our next class meeting we all tour the surroundings of City Tech to take pictures that will illustrate the concepts that you have been assigned. NOT GRADED.

STEP TWO (outside of the classroom): During the next hour we are going to tour, the whole class, the surroundings of City Tech and find sites, events and objects that illustrate the concept that your group was assigned in last class. Take several photos because you will be required to use two for Step Three. If you do not have enough time to take relevant pictures, feel free to take pictures in your spare time as long as they are taken in Brooklyn. NOT GRADED

STEP THREE (to be posted on OpenLab): What do you have to do?
1. Access the course on OpenLab where you have to post the exercise
• Students who have received an invitation to the course: I have invited to My Course, Open Lab all those students who have active accounts that could be identified by First and Last Names. You have to accept my invitation and then you can post asap.
• Students who have not received an invitation: Since this is an extra-credit activity it is your responsibility to access the course in OpenLab and request membership. NO EXCEPTIONS ALLOWED. If you do not have an account at the school, it is your responsibility to get one. The course in OpenLab is: GOV 1101 American Government Spring 2016 Perez-Rios
2. What has to be posted? Once you access the course you will see my example [See: below the sample of the exercise that I provided as the first entry in my OpenLab page]
• Every student has to post two photos that show in images the concept that you defined in class. Add a 50 word minimum comment to each photo. In addition, add a caption to each photo with your name, what is it, place where you took it, and date [This information does not count toward the 50-word minimum comment]. POINTS: 2.50
• Finally, you will have a look at the photos from the other groups and you will comment on at least one of them; the comment has to be 50 words minimum and it should include an assessment of how well the photo shows the meaning of the concept through images. In addition, you could evaluate the creativity of the student. POINTS: .50 of a point
3. POST ON OPEN LAB BY DUE DATE: TH, APRIL 21 AT 2:00 PM

©M. Victoria Pérez-Ríos/Brooklyn Bridge/Manhattan views from Brooklyn/October 2015
GOVERNMENT
It is an institution that provides services and protection to individuals who reside in a country, state or locality. In addition, the government controls the legitimate use of force within the territory over which its power is recognized. The USA is characterized for its federal system in which federal and state governments, as well as local governments, have decision-making powers.

PHOTO USED TO SHOW THE CONCEPT OF GOVERNMENT
You can see the Brooklyn Bridge that was inaugurated to the public in 1883 and facilitates communication and transportation of people and goods between Brooklyn and Manhattan. This bridge is a National Historical Landmark (NHL) and a city historical landmark. The Department of Transportation of New York City (DOT) “owns, operates, and maintains” the Brooklyn Bridge which allows pedestrian, vehicular and subway transportation without paying tolls (See: New York City DOT, “Infrastructure: Bridges,” http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/infrastructure/bridges.shtml). However, the city government benefits from resources provided by the Federal government when this bridge, for example, needs repairs: “$30 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds” (See: “Mayor Bloomberg And Vice President Biden Mark Start Of Brooklyn Bridge Rehabilitation Project” 2 June 2010, http://www1.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/247-10/mayor-bloomberg-vice-president-biden-mark-start-brooklyn-bridge-rehabilitation-project#/8).

CONNECTION BETWEEN THE CONCEPT AND THE PHOTO
The photo shows a relevant piece of infrastructure—a bridge—that is necessary to conduct intra and interstate commerce. The regulation of interstate commerce is one of the delegated powers of the federal government (See: Art. 1(8) of the Constitution of the USA) and the regulations of intrastate commerce is a reserved power to be exercised at the state/local level (Amendment 10 of the Constitution of the USA).
GOVERNMENT: SAMPLE EXERCISE BY THE INSTRUCTOR
Below you can see two examples of student work (Figs. 3 and 4).

STEP FOUR (to be posted on OpenLab): What do you have to do?
1. Add two newspaper articles (write down author, title, newspaper, date and internet address) that show the relevance of your assigned concept and post them in OpenLab. Each article should be accompanied by a 50-word comment on the connection between the article and the relevance of your assigned concept. POINTS: 2
2. Write a 100 word assessment of this multi-step exercise (POINTS: 2). Include at least the following:
• Did you learn the different concepts better than just by taking notes in class and studying them for the tests? Why? Why not?
• Did you like working in groups with other students? Why/why not?
• Did you like going out of class to take pictures/video? Why/why not?
• Do you like the idea of your photos and comments being use by other students in the future as part of an interactive map of Brooklyn populated with political terms? Why/why not?
• Any other comment
4. POST ON OPENLAB BY DUE DATE: Sun, May 15 at 11:59 pm.
STUDENT WORK POSTED IN OPENLAB: STEP THREE

Melissa Feliciano/ New York City College of Technology/CUNY College From Brooklyn, April 2016

This Image is an example of the concept of government since the institution, New York City College of Technology, is part of the City University of New York which is a public system subsidized by the government. As many other public colleges around the country do, students have the privilege to attend a four-year college without having to pay high tuition rates and often are granted loans and financial aid that is also granted by the government.

Melissa Feliciano/SUPREME AND FAMILY COURT/ from Brooklyn, New York
April 2016

The picture above is also a good example of government since it shows the Supreme and Family Court of the State of New York located in downtown Brooklyn. This is a governmental institution that enforces the law. When creating the new government, our founding fathers put the judiciary in charge of ensuring the American people with “equal justice under the law”.
FIG. 1: GOVERNMENT: EXERCISE COMPLETED BY MELISSA FELICIANO,
A STUDENT IN GOV 1101/D733, SPRING SEMESTER 2016

Anamaria Reyes: This picture was taken on April 14, 2016 at City tech. This picture show students who attend the college to enhance their education. (Waiting maybe for next class to start)

In this photo it shows the diversity in the college setting. The picture demonstrates the different cultures that attend city tech to enhance their education. Diversity is important in the education system because different cultures and races can contribute towards the students’ academic development. For example when students who socialize with someone of different racial groups or discuss racial issues this contributes to the student’s cultural awareness and commitment to promoting their cultural background to others. Having a diverse student body attributes to having a stronger commitment to multiculturalism, promoting creative thinking, and preparing future workforce.

Anamaria Reyes: Taken on April 14, 2016 in front of the Family court on Jay street metro tech. Those people are Journalist who have chosen that career path and interact with different culture, race, age and gender.

Diversity plays an important role in the jobs of each individual career choice. This picture was taken outside of the family court where reporters of different backgrounds came to record and interview an important case of a cop who had “Murdered” a civilian. As shown in the picture there are Asians, black, white and Hispanics come together to protest or record. This picture shows the diversity between gender and age in field of journalism.
FIG. 2: DIVERSITY: EXERCISE COMPLETED BY ANAMARIA REYES,
A STUDENT IN GOV 1101/D733, SPRING SEMESTER 2016

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

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A Gothic Guide to Brooklyn: Gothic Spaces Presentation

A Gothic Guide to Brooklyn: Gothic Spaces Presentation

Laura Westengard

English/School of Arts and Sciences

Eng 3407 (Gothic Lit. and Visual Culture) https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/groups/gothic-nyc/

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

Students created a travel guide for visitors interested in finding the “Gothic” spaces in Downtown Brooklyn (and the surrounding neighborhoods). Each group found a space in Brooklyn that they thought exhibited some of the Gothic elements we discussed in class. Then they created a profile of that place that describes the Gothic elements, analyzes the space in terms of one of the theoretical concepts discussed in class, and connects the space to one of the assigned literary texts.

These profiles will be posted on OpenLab along with images and videos. It will become a “Gothic Guide to Brooklyn!”

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

This place-based activity was designed to get students to view local architecture as a kind of text that they could analyze in relation to course concepts. They learned to synthesize course materials, apply course concepts to subjects outside of class, perform written and verbal analysis, work collaboratively, and use the online platform to deliver this information with appropriate style.

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 introduced the assignment early in the semester and scaffolded some in class activities each week leading up to the presentation (approx. 10-15 minutes a week). As we discussed the assigned readings and course concepts, we kept a running list of Gothic terms and concepts on the course OpenLab site so students had a glossary with which to interpret their chosen location.

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 need time to schedule out of class explorations of the neighborhood surrounding City Tech. I provide them with a handout that explains the requirements, and they also need some way to create images and/or videos of their site. It is fairly high-stakes (10% of the final grade).

High-Impact Educational Practices: Which of these practices based on George Kuh’s High Impact Educational Practices (and other innovative approaches) does this activity incorporate? Choose all that apply.

Collaborative assignments and projects, Open Digital Pedagogy (the OpenLab), Wrriting-intensive projects/assignments, Place-Based Learning, Brooklyn Waterfront

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

I use a worksheet on which each required item and its point value is listed. Next to that item, I included notes assessing the students’ work along with a score. This was not a VALUE rubric.

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

The first time I assigned this activity, my class was too small to complete it in groups, so it had to become an individual activity. This was not ideal because one of the learning goals was to provide an opportunity for collaboration. The creation of the list of Gothic terms and concepts was collaborative, however, and we also collaborated as a whole class to create and design the OpenLab project. We had a conference-style presentation day in class in which students gave feedback on their classmates’ work. I am currently repeating the activity in a larger class as a group project, and I plan to have the current class add to the existing project site.

Students enjoyed the place-based aspect of the assignment, and they seemed enthusiastic about the creation of online travel-blog style profiles with images and videos. They were very creative!

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

Link to Spring 2016 Activity Handout: https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/westengardeng3407sp2016/files/2015/01/Gothic-Spaces-Group-Presentation-Prompt-Eng-3407-S-16.pdf

Link to Completed Project Site from Spring 2015: https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/groups/gothic-nyc/

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Site Visit, Brooklyn Bridge Park

Site Visit, Brooklyn Bridge Park

Karen Goodlad, https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/members/karengoodlad/

Department of Hospitality Management, School of Professional Studies

HMGT 1101, Perspectives of Hospitality Management, https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/groups/goodlad-hmgt1101-f14/

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

Engage in a site visit of the Brooklyn Bridge Park as well as the surrounding community and lead discussions about tourism on the Brooklyn Waterfront as it pertains to a particular area of tourism.

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

A number of goals can be achieved through this place-based activity. Student Learning Outcomes
• Discuss scope of the hospitality and tourism industry
• Gather information from observation in regard to the hospitality industry from a local, national and global perspective
• Evaluate and apply information discerningly from a variety of sources

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

This activity is positioned early in the semester in order to provide an example of critical observation. But it can be conducted at any point in the semester. Weather is consideration.

An entire class session (2 ½ hours) is devoted to the place-based activity. Students meet at the designated location which is in walking distance to campus, consideration is given to ensure students coming from or going to other classes can do so without concern of being late. In addition to the actual day of visit, 10 minutes is dedicated during the prior class session and 5 minutes in the subsequent class session.

Outside of class it is expected that a student would spend 30-45 minutes in preparation and 15 minutes to reflect. The information gathered can be used to support future assignments.

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

Faculty should communicate with any industry partners that may be involved in the activity. I secure the date 4-6 weeks in advance and confirm 2 weeks and 1 week prior.

Students receive instruction about the subject specific prep they must do, and are asked to bring facts about tourism as well as the Brooklyn Waterfront in particular. They are also asked to learn about the industry partners that might be involved. In this case The Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy and Brooklyn Roasting Company. In addition, they are told how to find the meeting location and are asked to exchange phone numbers with at least two other classmates.

The activity is low stakes but is used as a support parts for two other written research projects.

High-Impact Educational Practices: Which of these practices based on George Kuh’s High Impact Educational Practices (and other innovative approaches) does this activity incorporate? Choose all that apply.

First-year seminars and experiences, Collaborative assignments and projects, Open Digital Pedagogy (the OpenLab), Place-Based Learning, Brooklyn Waterfront

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?

A rubric is not used for this particular activity. Assessment is conducted through reflection.

This course is part of the Gen Ed Assessment initiative but other assignments are used (Information Literacy and Oral Communication).

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 first time I used this activity was 2011 and it has been an important part of the course ever since. I feel that when teaching, especially first time freshman, it is valuable to model what you expect and use scaffolding techniques.

There are challenges in all assignments and activities, for this one in particular I have found that working with industry partners needs to be done in a diligent manner.

I usually change all my assignments and activities in a small way each time I teach them. In 2014, and then repeated in 2015, I shifted to having the students come prepared with historical facts about the Brooklyn Waterfront instead of having a representative from the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy lead that activity. They seem to find similar facts to the professional representative and are more engaged in the process. The activity is structured in a way that can easily include the shifting development of the waterfront and changes in our student population from year to year and class to class.

Over and over again I find that this is the first time students are at the Brooklyn Bridge Park and are seriously considering what happens on the Brooklyn waterfront. They have expressed excitement about the actual location and meeting with industry professionals. Though the immediate learning opportunity is valuable I find that when students come to me 6 months or a year plus later and say “Remember when we went to the park? That was so cool. I brought my family there to show them all the things that happen there” that the time invested in preparing for and participating in the activity will have positive lasting effects. It is a great way to support critical observation.

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

Site visit advice for students: https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/goodlad-hmgt1101-fall15/site-visits/

Day of assignment: https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/goodlad-hmgt1101-fall15/site-visits/brooklyn-bridge-park/

Student reflection: https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/goodlad-hmgt1101-fall15/category/brooklyn-bridge-park-submissions/

Student reflection: https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/goodlad-hmgt1101-fall15/category/brooklyn-bridge-park-submissions/