Open Digital Pedagogy – L4: Living Lab Learning Library

May 26, 2024

Studying Linear and Exponential Growth Models using General Education Learning Goals.

Lili Grigorian

Mathematics/ NYC College of Technology, CUNY

MAT1190 Quantitative Reasoning

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

This project has five parts:

Part I:
Students will be asked to record a 5–10-minute video that describes linear and exponential growth and a scenario from their everyday life which they believe can be modeled by linear and/or exponential growth. Including a picture/description/video.

Part II:
Students will learn, apply, and analyze linear and exponential growth by looking at the price of a smart phone and different options (cash, credit card, etc.) a person may buy and pay off for the smartphone.

Part III:
Students will go for a field trip to the Bank with post discussion.

Part IV:
Students will be interviewing people around them to gather information for project's reflection.

Part V:
After completing the project, students formed a view regarding linear and exponential growth and how it affects paying off the balance. They had a chance to examine, analyze, and rethink the financial choices they and people around them make, and how those choices affect them and their community. Students will have a choice to create either of the listed below with a focus on questions provided as a guide.

• Record at least a 10-minute-long video reflection.
• Write at least a 2-page-long (size 12, double spaced) written reflection.
• Present at least 10-minute-long oral presentation in class.

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

This project uses various components of General Education Value rubrics that Living Lab Seminar had focused on during our meetings.

The 1st part uses Communication.
The 2nd part uses Inquiry and Analysis using Linear and Exponential Growth.
The 3rd part uses Community and Civic Engagement through Place-Based Learning and Teamwork.
The 4th part uses Integrative Learning through Gathering Information via Interviewing.
The 5th part uses Foundations and Skills for Lifelong Learning through Digital/Writing/Oral Communication.

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 project will take about 2-3 sessions of class time and 1-2 sessions of out-of-class time.

Start date: A week before linear and exponential growth models are taught.
Part I is due in 1 week from the start date. To be completed individually or in pairs.
Part II is due in 2 weeks after Part I is due. To be completed in groups during class time. (1 – 2 sessions)
Parts III and IV are due in 1 week after Part II is due. Part III to be completed in pairs or in groups. (1 session for a trip) and Part IV to be completed individually.
Part V along with Parts I, II, III, and IV in 2 weeks after Parts III and IV are due. To be completed individually.
End date: One to two weeks before semester ends.

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 is high stakes. Students will need to have an electronic device with audio/video recording and internet access. Organization for a field trip.

The following are submission methods for each part:

Part I: Students will have a choice to upload on a platform of instructor’s choice. (Ex. Dropbox, Blackboard, etc.) or on the class channel created on YouTube.
Part II: PDF documents uploaded on a platform of instructor’s choice. (Ex. Dropbox, Blackboard, etc.)
Part III: Documents to be annotated on https://web.hypothes.is/start/ and fieldtrip will be discussed in the group chat using app of student’s choice. (Ex. googlechat, whatsapp, etc.)
Part IV: PDF documents uploaded on a platform of instructor’s choice. (Ex. Dropbox, Blackboard, etc.)
Part V: Students will have a choice to upload on a platform of instructor’s choice. (Ex. Dropbox, Blackboard, etc.) or on the class channel created on YouTube.

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

This project will be assessed using General Education Value rubrics mentioned earlier as well as my own rubrics I use for Mathematical computations.

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 not teaching MAT1190 this semester to implement this version of the project, but I did get a change to use a similar version during last Spring semester. It worked pretty well, and I am looking forward to being able to use this version of the project with a focus on a General Education Value rubrics. Most of my students enjoyed this project in the past since it is about smartphones that are a big part of their life. I believe my students will be even more attracted to this version, especially that one of the added components will be a field trip.

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.

Main quote for this project:

“The more we prepare students to consider problems from multiple positions, using different approaches and strategies, the better adapted they will be to the struggle of keeping up with a fast-paced workforce.” Davidson, Cathy N., and Christina Katopodis. The New College Classroom, Harvard University Press, 2022.

Grading Policy:

Part I: 10 points. Completed individually or in pairs.
Part II: 50 points. Completed in groups during class time.
Parts III: 10 points. Completed in pairs or in groups.
Part IV: 10 points. Completed individually.
Part V: 20 points. Completed individually.

Entire Project is worth 15 % of the course grade.

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

https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/pcorbett-portfolio/research-and-publications/

January 13, 2024

Case studies -in class assignment

Wenhsing Yang

Nursing

Medical-Surgical Nursing

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

You will be assigned to a group (4 to 5 students) and discuss this case study with a Google link. This activity will take 30 minutes. After that, you have 10 minutes to present your answer to the class. You will need to use textbooks and online resources to provide your answers and rationales. This presentation will take 10 minutes per group. Feedback is welcome.
The link is here https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ZXzJYcymsyznni6tVvNWhUbW8V1EsekWJWQhF9rdraM/edit?usp=sharing

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

The goals of this assignment are based on ACEN requirement (critical thinking) as follows:
The goal is to avoid having your decision cause injury to anyone
With critical thinking skills, you can weigh many factors and skillfully solve problems, making good decisions a majority of the time
Operating in a critical thinking model while pursuing nursing studies helps develop the clinical judgment needed to practice safe nursing
Nursing uses a knowledge base to make decisions, generate new ideas, and solve problems

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 will be used at the end of the cancer chapter (week five).
This activity will take 30 minutes. After that, you will present your answer to the class.
You have ten minutes to present your answers to the 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?

I will need to create a scenario and questions for students to complete the assignment. You have 30 minutes to complete the assignment and present it to the class.
This is a group assignment; you will be assigned to a group to discuss your answer. Please note, you will need to provide evidence-based on your answer. Please feel free to use online resources and textbooks.
This is a low-stakes assignment because it does not cause danger to people. Instead, the students will have the opportunity to share the answers with the class and ask for feedback

I use the Value rubric -critical thinking. This is part of a college-wide general education assessment.

Yes, I will repeat this activity with different classes. Different case studies will be provided based on the course objective and outcome.
Only a few students discuss in the class, so I will need to facilitate the activity and ask other students for their input.
I will give each group different case studies, so the students will have different understanding of each disease and their nursing interventions.
Students like to hear from other groups with their answers and rationales. Because each group has different answers based on their priority and information. Additionally, students will be able to work with other students. In nursing, teamwork is necessary.

N/A

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

June 23, 2022

Being Informative and Persuasive when Discussing Legal Topics

Terel Watson

Law and Paralegal Studies

Senior Legal Seminar

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

In this activity, students are required to view two videos relating to an area of Criminal Justice Reform that the students are drafting their scholarly paper analyzing. The two videos are excerpts from documentaries or journalistic pieces. The students are then required to spot the legal issues presented in the videos and use the research they have done on the topic and discussions in class to take a position on those issues orally. Students will have 5 minutes to present their position. The presentation is followed by a 5-minute student-led question-and-answer session.

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

This is an assignment for a writing-intensive capstone course. One area in my students' writing that needed improvement was their ability to articulate their position using reliable evidence. While all of my students had strong opinions on the legal topics discussed in class, they struggled to defend why they had certain positions. For their scholarly paper, my students are asked to inform on one of three areas of Criminal Justice Reform and to persuade an audience of their position relating to an aspect of the topic. The students are then required to use numerous primary and secondary sources to inform and defend their position.

This assignment assesses their ability to articulate their views orally and cogently. Once this assignment is completed, students will apply the same principles to improve their ability to inform and persuade in written form.

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 course requires that much of the semester be devoted to the 15-page significant written assignment. This oral assignment serves as part of the scaffolding process in students preparing their papers. Thus, the oral assignment would be completed during the latter third of the semester, during the drafting of the final paper. In addition, time will be devoted to the presentations over two, two-hour class sessions.

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

As students are writing their final paper, they are doing significant research into the issues presented. This assignment is designed so students aren't required to do research outside the scope of their paper. Once students understand that they are very receptive. Students are first alerted to the need to complete an oral presentation early in the course. The syllabus also provides a brief overview of the oral assignment. The syllabus also states that the oral presentation is 15% of the final overall grade. Thus, it can be "high stakes" for students.

My course is not a part of the college-wide general education assessment initiative. The Oral Communication VALUE Rubric is a great guide for me in assessing the student’s mastery of the learning goals related to this assignment. However, I do not publish a set rubric for this assignment. I will consider doing that in the future. As a general matter, below are some questions I consider determining a student's success with the assignment:
1. Did the student spot the legal issues requiring analysis?
2. Did the student properly use primary and secondary sources to inform on the issue?
3. Did the student use their sources to present the information accurately?
4. Do students properly use primary and secondary sources to persuade their audience on their position.
5. Are the students logical and coherent in their presentation of their position?
6. Can students answer questions about their position extemporaneously? Or is the student tied to excessive notes?

While I have always had an oral presentation component to my course. I have not yet implemented this video-driven prompt to my course yet. Last semester I taught Legal Ethics and not this seminar. However, in the past student used PowerPoint to present on their legal topic. However, this led to students excessively lecturing on the topic and made it difficult to incite dynamic and meaningful questions after the presentation in some cases. Thus, the use of provocative videos serves to focus the presentations a bit. These videos will also stimulate deep thought on "hot-button" issues important to students. I look forward to incorporating this into my course the next time I teach the seminar!

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

https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/watsonlaw4900spring2020/course-materials/assignments/

April 1, 2022

Comprehensive Understanding of Cardiovascular Medications

Dora-Ann Oddo

Dental Hygiene

Principles of Dental Hygiene Care III (DEN 2300 Seminar)

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

This activity will provide dental hygiene students to gain an understanding in cardiovascular medications and how to apply this knowledge to patients’ medical history as part of their assessment process. This activity requires dental hygiene students to gain proficiency in oral communication, information literacy, and the understanding of cardiovascular medications related to their patients’ disease/condition. Students will participate in a collaborative assignment by gathering research on cardiovascular medications. After students formulate their research, students will verbally present this information to the class. In addition, the students will upload their PowerPoint presentation on OpenLab, and review classmates research based upon a rubric scale. The verbal and written discussions of this activity support critical thinking and creates meaningful in-depth discussions among students.

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

The aim of this activity is to encourage verbal communication and information literacy about patients with cardiovascular diseases/condition. The learning goal for each student is to aquire an understanding of cardiovascular medications including indication of use, oral implications, side effects, and adverse effects. This activity will enhance students’ learning and the ability to ask critical thinking questions when assessing a patient’s medications. This activity encourages oral communication, information literacy, undergraduate research, working collaboratively and using open digital pedagogy.

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 will be implemented mid-semester and performed in the classroom for a duration of thirty minutes. The out-of-class time for students can range from one to two hours based upon their research, developing a PowerPoint, uploading the PowerPoint to OpenLab, and writing reflections on one or two students’ post.

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 activity is a low-stakes assignment. The instructor will randomly select students by using the Wheel of Names. Each group will consist of three students. After the students are divided into groups, the instructor will assign each group a cardiovascular medication.
Student will be given these questions to answer:
1. Identify the brand and generic name.
2. What is the indication for use?
3. What are the oral implications?
4. How does medication affect dental hygiene treatment?
5. Does this medication have any drug interactions?
6. What is the pharmacologic category?
The students will work collaboratively with their assigned groups by researching and answering the questions. Each student will be responsible for creating a slide as part of the group’s PowerPoint presentation. The students will have a week to prepare the PowerPoint and gather information to present to the class. The lead of the group will be responsible to upload the PowerPoint on OpenLab.

The second part of this assignment will culminate
a week later when the students present the PowerPoint to the class. Students will have the opportunity to ask their peers questions. Each presentation should be about five to ten minutes. After the presentation, the students write a review on OpenLab based upon a rubric scale.

This activity was developed by Oral Communications VALUE rubric. The students will be evaluate using Oral Communication Value rubric to assess proficiency preparedness, knowledge, and the ability to effectively communicate information to their classmates.

This activity has not yet been implemented.

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

June 12, 2020

Understanding Animations and Films Through a Deeper Cultural Understanding

Crystal Kim

Entertainment Department

Sound for Multimedia

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

Students are to choose the following:

1. An animation scene that has the original language used with English subtitles and with a version with English language recorded or dubbed over. Compare and contrast the mood, emotions, and character's thoughts between the languages used.

2. Choose a film where a different language other then English is spoken. Interpret the mood, emotions, and character's thoughts. Research of cultural values of language used will be needed to compare and contrast the cultural mood and emotions and evaluate how much of it is universal

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

I like for budding video and audio engineers to understand the making of animations or filmmaker's intentions further which includes understanding the culture and language that an animator and filmmaker uses. As animations, particularly ones used in Japanese, and foreign films are becoming universally popular, the foundation of how these videos or films are made are important to understand for anyone looking to take on any role in the film industry. This allows the students to be more culturally aware of people outside of customs they are used to, and to see the comparisons and contrasts. For production purposes, a deeper understanding of the foundation can aid with audio production for recording and film directing.

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 be introducing it before they do their midterm projects so they have an understanding of the basic foundation before they produce their midterm projects.

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

Doing some research of the culture and the cultural values in a language will be necessary to do the assignment. The students are to find what is idiosyncratic to a culture and common cultural themes used in animations and/or films for a particular culture and language. The activity is somewhat high stakes since I see students resonate with this sort of activity as most students tend to be very observant in analyzing a group with an identity and how it relates to their own.

I used the knowledge and skills area from the intercultural rubric. Within the knowledge section, the activity is to fulfill the cultural worldview frameworks and under skills, the activity is to fulfill the empathy and verbal & non-verbal communication section. Therefore, I use a value rubric. And my course is not part of the college-wide general education assessment initiative.

I was not able to use the assignment in my classrooms as I was not given any classes to teach for the semester. I think this assignment will go very well for every semester I teach the class. The challenge I see are students not doing enough cultural research before doing the assignment, particularly if one were to choose a foreign film scene since it takes of course so many years to really understand a culture. Unfortunately, I am not able to assess if students have enjoyed the assignment yet as I have not had the opportunity to give the assignment.

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

https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/multimediasound/understanding-animations-and-films-through-a-deeper-cultural-understanding/

June 3, 2020

Impact of Culture, Geographic Location, and Oral Health Literacy on Dental Hygiene Practices

Isis Marsh

Dental Hygiene

Dental Hygiene Seminar III or IV

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

Dental hygiene students have applied previous learning from DH seminar and clinical instruction to integrate Medical/Dental histories and clinical findings to assess and determine the appropriate course of patient management and communication. This activity will require students to advance their patient management and communication skills by having them consider the impact of their patient’s culture, geography, and oral health literacy into their total assessments. As dental professionals, students must be prepared to communicate effectively in real-world scenarios and care for patients with differing levels of health knowledge and diverse backgrounds. Students will participate in a combined independent/collaborative project by gathering and researching patient information, and then working with peers to evaluate and discuss case reports.

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

This activity aims to encourage critical thinking that produces effective written and verbal communication with patients of various cultural/demographic backgrounds that have different levels of dental knowledge. The learning goals of each student is to correlate global and multicultural impacts into patient assessment, care, and communication, and to work collaboratively with others from diverse backgrounds. This project will progress students’ conceptual knowledge, reasoning and problem solving, cultural self-awareness, understanding of cultural worldview, and how to relate such experience into clinical application.

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 student activity lesson is best suited for senior dental hygiene students. Thirty minutes of classroom time will be devoted to oral health literacy tools and interpreting findings. Students will then use thirty minutes of clinic time to conduct an interview. Two to four hours of out-of-class time is expected for this project; 1-2 hours of research/writing and 1-2 hours of collaboration with the group.

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

Students will read an assigned article and view a video on oral health literacy and cultural sensitivity for supplemental learning before a 30-minute in-class lecture. Students will also be provided with an interview questionnaire and assignment instructions to follow accordingly. The activity will be a low-stakes assignment. To begin, students will work independently by interviewing one patient (with consent) on cultural background, demographic location, and oral health literacy. Individually students will explore patients’ cultures (beliefs, attitudes, customs, and diet), demographic location (access to transportation, care, and fluoridated drinking water), and oral health literacy findings (better or poorer than expected). Students will then write a research/case report (2 pages) with a reflection portion discussing if any of the information they acquired changed their perspective of the patient, and how communication and patient management may have been modified due to the additional information. The collaborative portion of the assignment will require students to present their case report on Open Lab and collaborate with peers (groups of four) to discuss and answer questions on similarities and differences between their patients and themselves.

This activity was developed using the AAC&U Intercultural Knowledge and Competence VALUE Rubric as a guide. Students will be evaluated using a rubric to assess writing quality, analysis & application, problem-solving & decision making, connection to course material, contribution to learning, and timeliness.

The activity has not yet been implemented.

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

May 29, 2020

Design Your Own Culture

George Larkins

Communication Design

Motion Design

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

It is for students to become aware of people of diverse cultures who are doing design work that students hope to do themselves. And to invite them to question why the creative work of people of color is not recognized for their contributions to the design world.

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

This will also give students insight into the possibility of a place to start when looking for a career.
Current research shows very few people of color are represented in the design field at all levels. And too often, their work has been obscured or taken credit for or they were asked to remove the attribution.
This assignment addresses cultural self-awareness
And knowledge of cultural worldview frameworks on the rubric.

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 an introduction to the class in the first two weeks. A minimum of two weeks will be devoted to this project. Students should be prepared to spend two to three hours of research out of the classroom.

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

In order for students to be successful. They must be prepared to spend at least two hours of research time before any production can be they will be able to move forward.

Discover at least five people from an underrepresented cultural group in the design world and be prepared to share their work with the class. Students will be asked to choose one of the five and analyze influences on that person’s design. Students will create a design campaign in the style of that designer celebrating an aspect of their culture. The campaign will include a combination of print, web, and video spots.

n/a

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

June 10, 2019

The Spanish Flu

Stephanie Boyle

Social Science/ Arts and Sciences

History 1103

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

Three part assignment that includes the HIEPs: Writing Intensive, Place Based learning and Collaborative work. This will be used for History 1103 online which is a zero cost textbook course with an OER.
1- read and complete a written assignment and provide feedback
2-go the Brooklyn Historical Museum and explore the exhibit
3-write response to the experience at the museum on Flipgrid (explore flipgrid at www.flipgrid.com)

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

The General Education Outcomes that the assignment will address are: Intercultural Knowledge and Competence

Demonstrate expanded cultural and global awareness and sensitivity. (part one)
Discern multiple perspectives. (part two)
Use awareness of cultural differences to bridge cultural and linguistic barriers. (part three)

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 will be due at midterm. They will go on a visit to the Brooklyn Historical Society after watching a video on the Spanish flu and then participate in a discuss on flipgrid about the project.

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

The instructions for part one are found below:
The Spanish Flu
A world-wide epidemic caused by influenza viruses led to between 50 and 100 million deaths in 1918 and 1919 (as much as 1 of every 18 people). Because neutral Spain was not censoring news it became associated with Spain but its origins are more likely to be the USA or France. It came in three waves (Spring 1918, Autumn 1918, and Winter 1919) and the second wave was unusually deadly. And unlike typical flu pandemics it disproportionately killed young healthy adults. Many researchers have suggested that the conditions of the war significantly aided the spread of the disease. And others have argued that the course of the war (and subsequent peace treaty) was influenced by the pandemic. To help understand questions about the worst disaster in history we have built a computer model of the pandemic.

Brief documentary about the Spanish flu pandemic :

We have also prepared videos of the execution of the Spanish Flu model. There is a lively debate about where the flu started. Below you will find simulators for two of the supposed epicenters of the flu. The first video for both Camp Funston and Etaples are the historic video and are based on the available historical sources that tracked the disease. The second simulator tracks the disease as if there was no war and the last tracks the disease had the war ended in 1920. Since the No War and War ends in 1920 are not historical- what can we learn by comparing them to the Historic videos? What can we learn about disease, war and its movement.

First case Historic No war War ends 1920
Camp Funston 2:01 video 2:02 video 2:20 video
Etaples 2:19 video 2:20 video 2:21 video
Please answer each of the following cluster of questions and use the information that you gathered from the simulators to answer the following questions:

The differences between war and no war are dramatic. What might account for this? Conditions in army camps? Celebrations and troop movements due to the armistice? How could we attempt to answer this?

Army camps during the war were both very crowded and had a heavy flow of troops in and out. How might this affect the epidemic's dynamics?

The no war scenario outcomes are very different depending upon whether the first cases were in Camp Funston, Kansas or Etaples, France. Why would that be?

The computer simulation generates dynamics for counter-factual scenarios based on many factors and assumptions. How good is this? Are there alternative ways of answering such questions?

This is the rubric that students will follow to complete all three parts of the assignment.
https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/hist1103oer/policies/rubric-for-long-writing-assignments/

This is used for an online class. It will give students a chance to go on a site visit and engage with their fellow colleagues on Flipgrid for a group discussion.

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

June 7, 2019

Walking Tour in Paris

Thalia Pericles

Hospitality Management, SPS

Thomas Ahrens Int’l Work/Study Program

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

Students are placed in groups and given a specific site in Paris, which will become the focal point for their walking tour while in Paris. They will be the tour guides for the rest of the cohort and Professors during the study abroad experience. The focus is the history, tourism, food and culture.

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

After conducting research on the history, food, culture and tourism components of their site, they will be able to conduct an informative walking tour of the area in Paris.

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 is given about 1.5-2 months before the program begins so that students have ample time to prepare.

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 high stakes project. Students conduct their research and then are asked to create a visual aid to share with the group during the tour. This can be in the form of a post card, map, brochure etc.

The grading criteria is as follows:
GRADING CRITERIA

Content (History, Culture, Food, Tourism) 30%
Depth of research 20%
Cohesiveness, Flow and Organization 20%
Equal Participation of Group Members 20%
Visual Aid 10%

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

June 4, 2019June 6, 2019

The Peopling of New York City: Neighborhood Explorations

Monica Berger

Library

LIB/ ARCH2205: Learning Places

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

How do we understand a neighborhood in terms of who lives there? Specifically, we will look at the different immigrant and ethnic groups that people a neighborhood. This four-class unit is designed for LIB/ARCH2205, Learning Places, but could be used as a module for other courses. The timing of this module in LIB/ARCH2205 would depend on whether the course focuses entirely on the intercultural theme or if the module infuses or adds intercultural learning as a secondary or tertiary aspect of neighborhood exploration. For the full intercultural focus, I envision this module in weeks 4 and 5 after students have learned about New York City and United States immigrant and ethnic history and as well as ethnic studies as it relates to identity and intersectionality. I hope to bring in faculty with expertise in sociology, anthropology and/or history to either co-teach or guest lecture.

We will focus on the Sunset Park, Brooklyn neighborhood: it has a varied and rich ethnic and immigrant history and sociology and is easy to travel to from campus. Class one is an information literacy-oriented workshop that foregrounds student understanding of the neighborhood preparing them for intercultural and place-based learning and meaningful analysis and reflection. Next, in class two, students observe the neighborhood through the intercultural lens. They will be guided in their observations with a series of prompts. Chiefly using photography and audio recordings, they will record their observations. In class three, the students will work together in teams to create a short (5 minute) presentation. They will be supplied with a PowerPoint template that guides how their incorporate their documentation. In the final class of unit, class four, the teams will share out their presentations. The unit will culminate with an in-class reflection and a related homework reflection. For homework, students will also select a signature artifact from a cultural group in their home neighborhood. In the following class, the class will play a game to deduce the artifact and, in the process, may become more aware of individual presumptions. For courses with a semester-long focus on place-based learning, this unit prepares students to continue the iterative work of synthesizing close observation and research. Students would return to the neighborhood to develop and deepen the observation and research connection, moving towards and into a substantial research question.

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

Class 1: In the Wikipedia exercise, the students will be introduced to domain knowledge about the neighborhood. The structure of the article will help students begin to see how a topic is structured and give them a frame for future research. The exercise will also incorporate many facets of information literacy including documentation, attribution and bibliographic references to published/library resources. Students will learn how to find books and other materials including newspaper articles. There will be a brief activity where they find the call number of location of the books in our library. Time will also be given to reading the Encyclopedia of New York City article on Sunset Park. The class will end with a group think-pair-share activity where students compare and contrast Wikipedia to library resources. Homework will require students to find an article in a local newspaper or magazine related to Sunset Park and write a 75-word blog post on OpenLab summarizing the article. Every article must be unique.

Class 2: The exploration: students will learn how to observe visually and aurally and record key facets of a neighborhood and its people through a series of prompts related to the intercultural knowledge and place-based learning. Students will practice utilizing non-text documentation to capture their observations.

Class 3: Preparing the presentation: Students will practice group work and learn how to incorporate their findings into a template that makes the observation coherent. Students reflect on what they observed about ethnic and immigrant culture(s) in a specific neighborhood. Did they see relationships between the culture of a specific group and the culture of their neighborhood-as-place? They will be guided by the affective aspects of the experience.

Class 4: Sharing the presentation. Students will practice oral presentation skills and reflect in class on the unit’s overall learning goal. They will journal to this prompt: How did this activity help you see relationships between a specific cultural group and place (how ethnic groups situate themselves in a neighborhood)? The homework will generate an explicit learning experience where students relate the unit back to their own neighborhood (and self). The homework incorporates metacognition since the students will be “teaching” (explaining to another person) what they learned in a new context. Homework will also involve selection of an artifact for a game for the next class. This little game will also help students to become more self-aware of their own intercultural knowledge.

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?

Between weeks 4 and 8. Provided this unit will be used in LIB/ARCH2205 which has longer class sessions, the entire class time will be used for all four sessions although the first class could be compressed into a shorter session of about 60-75 minutes. The other three classes will require the full two hours normally scheduled for this class. Time for assignments: Out of class time for class one: about 30 minutes; class four: about 30-60 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?

Class one: no preparation. Tablets are needed for student work. For the two activities the instructions will be given on the worksheet and orally (see activity as attachment). For the homework, the instructions will be on OpenLab. Low stakes.

Class two: Observation prompt instructions will be given onsite to the students as a handout that will also have instructions for the production in class three. All instructions will also be added to the course site on OpenLab. Students need to shoot at least three photos but sketches are also permissible as a substitute. Students should record an audio note about why they shot the photograph and how it addresses the supplied prompts. They will also record at least two signature sounds of the neighborhood. We probably will lead the students all together initially for the first 30-60 minutes and then break them up into teams of three to explore on their own. Whether or not we’ll subdivide the neighborhood into discrete physical units for exploration will be determined.

Students should use their phones to record their observations as much as possible since written note taking is difficult in the field. Students are also reminded to be sensitive to anyone they are photographing or recording and to avoid any situation that might be construed as invasive. The activity is the high-stakes activity for the unit. Homework incorporates parts of the Learning Places site visit template and will be emailed to the instructor to avoid plagiarism. See Class Two details for instructions.

Class three: Instructions will be given in class on the white board. Students will break into teams of three where one student each is responsible for photos, audio, and artifacts. Students will copy their images and recordings to their laptops or tablets to integrate them into the PowerPoint template supplied by the instructors. Homework requires the students to work together to finalize their presentations.

Class four: Student teams will each have five minutes to present. After the presentation, each table of students not presenting will be prompted to ask the team who presented a good question. This will take at least 1 hour. [whether or not to have students use a rubric to grade each other is a big question]. The instructor will then discuss the student homework from the fieldtrip for 10 minutes followed by 5 minutes to discuss the upcoming homework. Next, students will spend 10 minutes on a journal reflection (see class description for details). Remaining class time can be spent in lecture preparing students for the next unit of the course.

Parts of the INTERCULTURAL KNOWLEDGE AND COMPETENCE VALUE rubric will be used for student work in classes 2-4, particularly the student presentations. Additionally, for the student presentations, elements of the VALUE rubric for INQUIRY AND ANALYSIS and ORAL COMMUNICATION will be selected, modified and simplified. Class one’s homework is too simple to apply the VALUE rubric for information literacy. It will relate to other assignments and products in LIB/ARCH2205.

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

I can only speak to the Wikipedia module I teach to English 1101 and 1121. Students enjoy it but I haven’t yet turned it into an active-learning experience since 50 minutes is very brief. I will move this forward over the summer as I flesh out the teaching material for class one of this unit. The site observation, using a very different theme and template, was challenging for logistical reasons because students often were late and got lost. Students generally enjoy any place-based learning but ideally it needs foregrounding, repetition, and scaffolding to be truly robust.

Teaching outlines and materials for classes one and two are attached.

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

Class One: Wikipedia for Learning Places (70-90 minutes)
https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/mberger-portfolio/files/2019/06/wikipedia-for-learning-places-for-L4-deposit.pdf

CLASS 2 INTERCULTURAL PLACE-BASED LEARNING investigation / observation https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/mberger-portfolio/files/2019/06/CLASS-2-INTERCULTURAL-PLACE.pdf

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