First Year Seminars & Experiences – L4: Living Lab Learning Library

May 28, 2019

Dental Hygiene Community Education

Maria Dimino

Dental Hygiene

Living Lab

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

Students will be divided in groups of four (three groups total). The assignment will be done on open lab as an E-Portfolio. This assignment is Place Based Learning. Each group will have an underserved population. The first group will have Head Start 0-5 years of age. The second group will have the YMCA ages 6-19 and the last group will have a group home ages 20-60. They will discuss and educate daily oral hygiene. They will assess their level of knowledge and perception.

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

The main goal is to get them out of their comfort zone of the clinic they are in daily. Also, they will be exposed to a diverse population in need of oral hygiene education. They will create a daily home care plan for each patient. In addition, they will interview staff and see if oral hygiene is a part of their daily regimen. They will create the E-portfolio discussing the interview process with staff and the patient's perception of of daily oral hygiene practice. They also have to comment on two other student's E-portfolio.

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 plan on implementing this toward the end of the semester when the students are more comfortable with their own knowledge on oral hygiene. I plan on devoting one class per month on their assignment. The out of classroom time is around three-four hours.

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 a low stakes assignment. I want the students to focus more on the communication process rather than the assignment being a big percentage of their grade. The students were instructed to interview the management staff and the patients. Then they are to create an E-portfolio with all the data collected from their assessments.

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 plan on using a Value rubric and they will be mainly graded on communication (verbal and non verbal), writing skills and cultural self awareness. I developed the rubric based on the goals of the assignment and wanted to keep it focused on those three areas to grade.

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 have not implemented this assignment as of yet, but I plan on in the near future. I truly hope the students will enjoy this opportunity to help others that do not have access to care. I definitely plan on doing this every semester and will probably make changes as I go along. I am looking forward to this Placed Based Learning activity.

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.

In the future if the assignment goes well I will look into getting a grant. The funds would go towards toothbrushes, toothpaste and floss.

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

http://www.jdentaled.org

May 2, 2017January 4, 2018

Telling New York Stories: Place, Identity and History

Megan Behrent

English Department, NYC College of Technology

ENG 1101

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

For this project, students will read excerpts from Anna Deveare Smith’s Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn and Other Identities. They will then compare and discuss Smith’s depiction of the Crown Heights riots in 1991 with newspaper depictions of these events and oral histories from the collection at the Brooklyn Historical Society. After extensive discussion of the ethical issues given expression to by the play, oral histories from the collection at the Brooklyn Historical Society as well as news of the period, students will think about conflicts in their own communities. Using Anna Deveare Smith’s theater as a model, students will create a monologue based on either an oral history they conduct themselves with someone from their community or an oral history from the archives of the Brooklyn Historical Society and write a monologue based on this research to be performed for the class.

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

Students will learn to think critically about the relationship between place and identity, a central theme of the course which is part of a First Year Learning Community. They will use place-based learning and conduct research to develop their ethical reasoning. Lastly, they will develop an understanding of creative writing and theater as a means of ethical, political and social commentary and learn to develop a creative monologue which gives expression to a these concerns.

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 will be a culminating project for this unit. The monologue itself will be written and performed in 3-4 classes but the research and textual analysis which inspires this assignment will take at least a month.

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

Reading excerpts from Fires in the Mirror and watching scenes from Anna Deveare Smith’s performance of these monologues will be crucial preparation as will visits to the Brooklyn Historical Society during which students will learn to conduct archival research and draw on oral histories for their monologues.

Students will be assessed throughout the project based on a customized rubric to evaluate their use of research, ethical reasoning, creative expression and presentation/performance

This project is still in course design stage.

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

November 5, 2016January 5, 2018

Observing and Describing: Brooklyn Bridge Park

Laura Westengard

English/School of Arts and Sciences

English 1101, Freshman Composition

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

In this single-class meeting activity, students literally study “Brooklyn Bridges” by observing and describing the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges and their surroundings in Brooklyn Bridge Park. This activity is part of a unit in which students learn to perform field research in order to vividly describe and characterize a location as part of an assigned “Profile” essay. Students meet at Jane’s Carousel with a notebook and a pen. They are instructed to choose a specific and unique location in the park within a 5-minute walk from the carousel, spend 20 minutes observing the location with attention to all five senses, and take detailed observation notes, using a double-entry journal format. After the observations are complete, students return to meet the class at the Empire Fulton Ferry Lawn (right next to Jane’s Carousel) and spend the next 20 minutes turning their observation notes into a paragraph that vividly describes the location and provides a dominant impression. Finally, the students read their descriptive paragraphs aloud to their classmates and engage in a discussion.

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

The students should practice effective observational skills, learn to take detailed field research notes, and practice turning field research into a descriptive, narrative paragraph. Students also will learn how to apply strategies for vivid description, including naming, detailing, using the five senses, and crafting comparisons using metaphors and similes.

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 exercise takes place near the beginning of the semester as part of a "personal narrative" essay assignment. It takes a single class period and requires 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?

Students should already be familiar with taking field notes using a double-entry journal format, and they should also be familiar with strategies for vivid description. It is low-stakes, receiving only a grade for effort and completion (on a check, check plus, check minus scale) as one of many invention exercises completed in preparation for the essay assignment. I provide students with a handout for them to refer to while away from the class for their 20-minute observation period.

Because this is a field trip, the necessary field trip forms and Title IX training must be completed in advance.

This assignment is assessed only for effort and completion (on a check, check plus, check minus scale) as one of many invention exercises completed in preparation for the essay assignment. Additionally, students receive verbal feedback on their completed paragraphs from myself and their classmates. There is no rubric and the course is not part of the gen ed assessment initiative.

This activity generally worked well; however, students must be mature enough to follow the directions independently and return to the meeting place in the designated amount of time. Some students used the assignment as an opportunity to go get pizza and ice cream rather than focusing on dedicated observation and note-taking practices. Additionally, the outdoor setting made the final portion of the activity (reading the paragraphs aloud) a bit difficult to hear at times. It was a fun way to get students to think about applying observation and description practices in a new and stimulating environment.

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

June 1, 2016January 4, 2018

A Peek on the Inside: Place Based Learning at Body World Exhibit

Linda Bradley

Nursing/School of Professional Studies

Phyiscal Assessment NUR 3010

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

The Bodies exhibit provides a fun and engaging way to provide the students with the ability to take abstract concepts and make them into a tangible reality. This will impact their practice and thus the thousands of people they will come in to contact for their lifetime as a nurse. There is no grade for this I would consider this low stakes.

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

Physical Assessment course includes review of anatomy and physiology, description of alterations in a system and assessment techniques which the student practice. As with most courses it does so in sections, thus providing the students with this learning experience it will:
1. analyze the connections between the organ locations and physical assessment techniques
2. understand the body’s normal and abnormal function
3. appreciate stress and lifestyle impact on the body

General Education SLOs:
Which of City Tech’s General Education Student Learning Outcomes does this activity address? Please be as precise as possible.

Information Literacy is the Learning outcome that this activity addresses: The ability to know when there is a need for information, to be able to identify, locate, evaluate, and effectively and responsibly use and share that information for the problem at hand.

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?

1. On first day of class during introduction of the course, devote time to introduce the students to the planned experience

2. Schedule the experience toward the end of 2/3rd of the course

3. Offer the course during one of the online course days or if your department allows students to participate in learning as part of their course offsite on their own then schedule it based on your departments abilities

4. State length of experience expectations which is approximately 2 hours at the exhibit

5. Provide pre and post experience assignment documents for student’s completion

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

1. Discuss and gain consensus for this experience with fellow course faculty and Chair of your department. Decide how you will fund this experience, if this would enhance a portion of your course or would replace an assignment, low stakes or high stakes, grade or not, the class schedule and best possible time that would allow this experience to occur. This then would require that you consider this experience well in advance of the beginning of the semester to receive the maximum amount of participation.
2. Contact the Body World Exhibit group number and discuss date, time, number of students and faculty and other pertinent instructions. Ask for a Group sales account representative 866.987.9692 info@tsxnyc.com 226 W. 44th Street New York, NY 10036
3. Once you have completed your initial discussions and have gained consensus in all areas required for the success of this endeavor next steps would be to provide the students with an overview of the experience, expectations, pre-experience assignment, in class discussion and post experience assignment. Generate a list of students and faculty who will attend. Provide everyone with the required Travel Waiver. (If your students are under 18 there is specific instructions on the document)
4. Obtain final list of all attendees and all must complete Travel Waiver and submit to Evening office more than two weeks before the trip.
5. Complete and send travel waivers to of which your Chair and your Dean/Provost would sign for approval of the off campus trip
6. Faculty must have complete a current Title IX training and signed document which must be included in the forms send to the Evening office along with all of the travel waivers.
7. Meet the students at the site at the specified time (If your students are under 18 there is specific instructions on the document)
8. Enjoy the experience! But be sure to seek opportunities to turn the students attention to areas related to course content, SLOs and any other area you deem valuable
9. Provide the students with an expected due date for their assignment

Assessment of this place-based learning experience would be through:
1. I would provide the students with a question prompt within the course Open Lab site. Prior to this I would utilize the computer lab at the beginning of the course to provide Blackboard and Open Lab orientation
2. Students would then add their own question for consideration prior to the experience. I
3. Students would choose those most appropriate and post them.
4. We would then meet at the exhibit and then they would return to those questions and complete them. I would also provide them with an opportunity to provide a reflection of their experience.
5. I would use the Information Literacy Value rubric
6. This course would be a part of the college-wide general education assessment initiative.
.

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 most definitely would repeat this experience. The challenge will be funding, scheduling and timing so that the majority of the students would be able to attend, obtaining signed travel forms in advance of the experience. The change I would make is to include more student input as noted in the assessment process indicated above.

Why is this change different?
*It will incorporate student’s decisions as to what will be the area of focus related to the planned experience
*Students will be provided with an opportunity to determine the scope of the questions and key concepts before the experience and use them post experience
*Systematically analyze their own and others assumptions and evaluate the relevance of contexts when they present their positions.

What inspired the change?
* Incorporation of importance of classroom climate—adding humor and fun into the classroom
*Teaching to the needs and learning styles of the students and not that of the faculty
* Need to make abstract scientific and clinical information into tangible transferable information

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

May 9, 2016January 4, 2018

#TheGuide: An Academic Service Learning Project

Laura Westengard

English/School of Arts and Sciences

English 1101, Freshman Composition

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

This academic service learning project asked students to create a public OpenLab site to be used as a guide for the City Tech campus and the surrounding community, including the Brooklyn Waterfront. The client/audience for the OpenLab site was the City Tech community, including new and existing students at City Tech, faculty and staff, and friends and relatives of City Tech students. The students were asked to create the webpage itself, design the layout and visuals, and contribute three major essays from English 1101: College Skills, City Tech Places, and Local Grub.

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

Write clearly and coherently in varied, academic formats (such as formal essays, research papers, and reports) using standard English and appropriate technology to critique and improve one’s own and others’ texts (Writing and Reading Processes, Knowledge of Conventions)

Demonstrate research skills using appropriate technology, including gathering, evaluating, and synthesizing primary and secondary sources (Critical Thinking, Reading, Writing, and Researching)

Support a thesis with well-reasoned arguments, and communicate persuasively across a variety of contexts, purposes, audiences, and media (Rhetorical Knowledge, Composing in Digital Environments, Critical Thinking, Reading, Writing, and Researching)

Formulate original ideas and relate them to the ideas of others by employing the conventions of ethical attribution and citation (Critical Thinking, Reading, Writing, and Researching, Knowledge of Conventions)

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 was a cumulative project that spanned the entire semester. The students created and launched the final site as an end of semester event, but the smaller assignments throughout the semester were all designed to contribute to the site. It is difficult to quantify the in-class and out-of-class time devoted to the activity because the scaffolded structure.

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 project was part of a First-Year Learning community partnership (Profs. Goodlad and Akana, Hospitality Management). Profs. Goodlad, Akana, and I introduced students to the assignment at the beginning of the semester with a handout. In my English 1101 course, each smaller assignment was designed to contribute to the site, and I reminded students of this throughout the drafting and revising process. After invention, drafting, and peer review, I gave students feedback and a grade on their essay. Then they were required to meet with me to discuss their strategy for revision, with the audience of #The Guide in mind. We spent about two class meetings designing, naming, and structuring the site itself. Students suggested ideas and voted on them, and they appointed certain class members to contribute graphics and images for the site. After revising their essays, students posted the essays on the website using the categorization that we had determined as a group. At the end of the semester, students wrote a brief reflective essay that discussed their experience working with a client, working with peers, the process of writing and publication, lessons learned, and a self-assessment. Their participation and reflection held moderate weight in the course but were not extremely high-stakes, but the cumulative weight of the essays themselves was significant.

Students’ individual essays were assessed using the English Department’s 1101 rubric along with the basic features of the specific genre (listed in the textbook St. Martin’s Guide to Writing). I did not use a VALUE rubric.

Rubric Assessment Categories: Content, Structure, Sophistication of Language, Mechanics

Basic Features for Explaining a Concept: A Focused Explanation, A Readable Plan, Appropriate Explanatory Strategies, Smooth Integration of Sources

Basic Features for Profiling a Place: Detailed Information about the Subject, A Clear Organizational Plan, A Role for the Writer, A Perspective on the Subject

Basic Features for Justifying an Evaluation: A Well-Presented Subject, A Well-Supported Judgment, An Effective Counterargument, A Readable Plan

Peer-review workshops

Informal oral and written responses to invention materials and drafts

While the students did not see the relevance of their work at the beginning of the semester, they grew increasingly invested in the project as they realized the great service they were offering to their community. By the end of the semester, the students exhibited pride in the work that they accomplished and many articulated the desire to continue to contribute to the project in future semesters.

The activity was a large-scale endeavor, but because I scaffolded the assignment from the beginning of the semester it was not overwhelming. I plan to repeat it again in some form. In future semesters, students will not have the opportunity to create the site from scratch, but they can work together on revision and supplementation.

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

https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/theguide/

October 16, 2015

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

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).

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.

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/

October 12, 2015January 4, 2018

Court Observation and Report

Kerin E. Coughlin

Law and Paralegal Sudies/ SPS

LAW 1103

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

Students will attend and observe a civil trial or hearing in a New York civil trial court (such as New York Supreme Court) for at least two hours, alone or in small groups. After the observation, each student shall:
1. post a short reaction on our course OpenLab site (to be constructed), as a preview of what they learned and to provide guidance and encouragement to fellow students who have not yet completed their observations, e.g., to note positive responses they received from court staff, or days/times when many trials and hearings occur, or future proceedings students may want to attend; etc.; and
2. draft a letter to a client of the (imaginary) law firm for which the student works, who will soon participate in the New York civil court system for the first time as a party to a litigation. The purpose of the letter is to prepare the client for her/his experience by explaining how our civil court system works and what the client should expect, based on the student’s knowledge obtained in our course and her/his observation of the proceeding; and
3. give a 3-5 minute oral presentation about her/his observation to the class.

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

Students will conduct independent research to identify and locate a court proceeding to observe, and to learn individual courts’ and judges’ rules (e.g., if cell phones are permitted, etc.).
1. Students’ thinking about their academic and career goals will be informed, including by:
o witnessing first-hand what one type of legal practice in which they will probably work at some point – civil litigation – is really like; and
o interacting with legal practitioners and court employees.
2. Students will be able to relate what they learned in the classroom (e.g., rules of civil court procedure) to actual practice. Hopefully, this will enable them to recognize/appreciate the reasons behind such rules and other concepts we have learned.
3. Students will be able to communicate what they have observed and learned to others, orally and in writing.
4. Students will come to appreciate the value of teamwork in learning, including by encouraging other students and benefiting from others’ encouragement.
5. Students will achieve an understanding and appreciation of what it means that courts are a “public entity,” through the experience of being fully entitled to enter a courthouse and attend proceedings freely.

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

I will reference this activity at the beginning of the semester, as a preview. I will introduce it in detail at the start of the second half of the semester, after we have covered a significant amount of the curriculum. Students must complete the assignment by a few weeks before the end of the semester.
I will devote about one total class session (1.25 hours) to assigning and providing guidance on the activity: about half a class when I first assign it, and occasional discussions thereafter as needed (e.g., if students bring issues to my attention that warrant addressing with the whole class.). I will also spend as much time as needed outside class working with individual students on the assignment. At the end of the semester, we will devote 2-3 class sessions to students’ oral presentations on their observations. Students are expected to devote 5 to 8 hours of out-of-class time, including researching and identifying proceedings to observe; observing proceedings for at least two hours; drafting OpenLab posts and letters; and preparing oral presentations.

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 includes general instruction throughout the semester on civil court procedural rules (the topic of the course) and specific instruction on the activity (described above, under “Timing”). Instructions include a detailed handout (letter to students) and oral discussions with the class and with individual students (also described under “Timing”).

First-year seminars and experiences, Service- or community-based learning, Place-Based Learning, Collaborative assignments and projects, Diversity and global learning (“difficult differences”)

I will assess this activity by evaluating students’ OpenLab posts, letters, and oral presentations, according to rubrics to be established. Evaluation will be included in grade calculation.

These issues will be addressed after I have used the assignment with my students.

Category: First Year Seminars & Experiences

Dental Hygiene Community Education

Telling New York Stories: Place, Identity and History

Observing and Describing: Brooklyn Bridge Park

A Peek on the Inside: Place Based Learning at Body World Exhibit

#TheGuide: An Academic Service Learning Project

Site Visit, Brooklyn Bridge Park

Court Observation and Report

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The OpenLab at City Tech:A place to learn, work, and share

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