Category: Undergraduate Research

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Term-Long Case Report

Term-Long Case Report

Daniel DeBonis

New York City College of Technology

PSY 1101

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

A case study is an in-depth, detailed investigation into a single person, small group, or specific event. Choose ONE of the following options:

1. Create a FICTIONAL person and tell me a bit about them — their age, where they are from, what some of their family and friends are like, and what their general vibe is.

2. Find a small group (3–10 people) from history that you find interesting. Tell me a bit about the group members and what this group does. This group can be anything: a music group, a small sports team, a cult, etc.

3. Choose a specific event from history and tell me about the event. What happened? Who was involved? Who was impacted? Is this event seen as positive, negative, or are there shades of gray? Examples include: the COVID-19 pandemic, a music festival, the Great Depression, Woodstock, etc.

Each week of the term, students will apply the concept discussed in that week's chapter to their topic of choice. At the end of the term, the students will combine the writings from each week to create one, comprehensive case study.

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

Creative Thinking. By tying the case study to a topic that the student finds interesting, my hope is that creativity can take center stage. Half of the assignments are informal, allowing students to use their voice in connecting their topic with course content.

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

This project spans the entire semester and 1-3 hours each week will likely be dedicated to this project 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?

Each weekly writing assignment is worth 6% of their total grade, and the final case study is worth 16%. This makes each assignment low-stakes, while allowing room for experimentation and creativity. The final case study is ultimately the high-stakes assignment. Each week, detailed instructions are given regarding what is to be written and the style in which to do so.

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?

Each activity is graded on a rubric, with 2 points being dedicated to quality of course information, 2 points being dedicated to the intersection of course information and the student's topic, and 2 points dedicated to meeting the requirements of the assignment (word count, formatting, etc.). The specifics of this vary from assignment to assignment, and each has it's own specific 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?

I didn't implement this activity in Spring 2026, but spent the term preparing it. I look forward to implementing it in the Fall 2026. The main challenge I predict is student's relating the prompts to their specific topic. My plan to remedy this challenge is through open and frequent communication. My hope is that students enjoy the creative and iterative nature of the 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.

Final Case Study Assignment Prompt:

Write a 6–10 page case study on the subject you have been investigating all term. Your paper should be organized as follows:

Introduction: Briefly introduce your subject and explain why it is worth studying. (Revised and expanded from Week 1)

Background & Context: Developmental, historical, and situational context. (Drawing from Weeks 8, 9)

Biological Factors: Neurological, genetic, and physiological dimensions. (From Week 3)

Psychological Factors: Learning, cognition, memory, emotion, motivation, and personality. (From Weeks 5, 6, 7, 9, 10)

Social & Environmental Influences: Social psychology, organizational context, and health. (From Weeks 11, 12, 13)

Clinical Picture: Psychological disorders, DSM-5 criteria, and diagnostic considerations. (From Week 14)

Treatment & Interventions: What evidence-based treatments or interventions are relevant? What would you recommend, and why?

Conclusion: What did you learn? What questions remain? What was most surprising or meaningful?

References: Minimum 6 peer-reviewed sources, APA format.

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

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Family Life History Paper

Family Life History Paper

Judith Sedaitis

Social Science

SOC 1104 Race & Ethnicity

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

This activity is the capstone of research work in-class and as homework on the 2 main sociological theories and on the role Western imperialism. plays in history of student's cultural heritage. Students describe one of their ancestors home, usually their mother's or father's and analyze the trajectory of their family history from the lens of both individual accountability (cultural theory) and from the primacy of economic and other external forces (conflict theory)

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

The over-arching goal is to teach self awareness through critical analysis. This means several aims are involved. 1) To learn how to critically consider the two competing sociological theories and the historical/ economic role of imperialism in their ancestral country. 2) To use enough interpretation/ evaluation to develop a comprehensive analysis . 3) To successfully argument drawing on their preferred approach. And finally, 4) To acknowledge the other point of view and the complexities of the debate.

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?

We build the skills necessary for a successful paper from weeks 5- 10 in the semester. Since this is a social science class, most the lectures in this period teach material that students will use in their papers, and is reinforced and expanded in smaller, weekly homework assignments. This assignment weaves together weeks of classroom learning and homework. The actual writing period is about 2 weeks, but the students usually take only a day to write it, using the knowledge they gleaned the 5 weeks prior.

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 paper is 20% of their final grade. The preparation is 5 weeks of lecture and homework assignments.

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 the 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?

I thought it worked really well. It was clearly a challenging piece of writing that students became personally invested in because they were interviewing and writing about their own family's history.
And they couldn't use AI to do it instead!

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.

Rubric on how to write the paper: https://bbhosted.cuny.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-83761766-dt-content-rid-676728781_1/xid-676728781_1

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

https://bbhosted.cuny.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-83761766-dt-content-rid-676728781_1/xid-676728781_1

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Global Diversity & Reading, Writing, & Research

Global Diversity & Reading, Writing, & Research

Nadine Weinstein-Lavi

English Dept/NYCCT

Professional Development Program – Jan. 2023

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Prof. Nadine Weinstein-Lavi

English/NYCCT

English 1121

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

Students were asked to read my grandfather, Alfred Schenker's Secret War Diary, 1941-43, written while he was hiding in a cellar with nine other Jews in Lvov, then Poland, and to do namep-based and place-based research using the diary. Then, students were asked to compare an idea, quotes, names, and places in the diary to a comparable event, e.g. the current Russian invasion of Lvyv, now Ukraine (same city), or slavery, etc., and to conclude with how their ideas about those events changed as a result of their research, and how that has impacted them personally.

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

The Learning Goals for students are to acquire a global perspective in terms of learning about a specific historical event using an actual historical document (my grandfather's Secret War Diary) and to make a comparison to a comparable and/or modern event in terms of social, human, ethical, and cultural impact, so that they, in turn, might expand upon their perceptions of history vis a vis modern events and how they might effect change in actuality – whether via more open and embracing stances or more – in the world.

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

The reading of the diary and the subsequent PowerPoint presentation assignment was done in the middle of the semester to mark it as a unique "break" and transition assignment from the previous text (a Netflix series) to the next one, and to have students engage with current events, e.g. the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

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

Preparation involved a guided reading and discussion of the diary in class, homework to finish reading it on their own, answering 5 Discussion questions posted on Blackboard about the diary with 1 paragraph responses to prepare them to think about it more deeply, and suggestions as to possible topics for comparison for the PowerPoint. A slideshow demonstrating how to create a PowerPoint using the diary was shown, and specific guidance was given to each student regarding his/her topic. This was a high stakes activity given the nature of the thinking and analysis that the students were asked to do in class and on their own worth 25 points. They did very well on this particular assignment.

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

The rubric was as follows (given in bullet points on the board):
*Aim for 10-12 slides
*Present SLOs and what you will determine
*Use images that you have researched about the diary and additional images you find about the places and names in it
*Use images of the comparable event
*Analyze the similarities and differences
*Answer 4 questions: 1. What were your assumptions about both event prior researching them? 2. How have your assumptions changed post-research? 3. How this has affected you personally and in terms of your worldview? 4. How will you effect change in the world as a result of this new perspective?

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

This activity worked very well in the classroom. Students were immediately engaged in reading an actual historical document being presented by a relative (me) of the author (my grandfather) whose eye witness account of the events in Lvov, then Poland, now Ukraine, during the Holocaust made them more real and uncontestable than other information they had seen about the Holocaust, such as movies, posts, articles. Students also found trying to do place-based and name-based research about the diary interesting and like being a detective. Analyzing how it compared to a comparable event asked them to think about it more deeply from an additional perspective, and summing up the impact it all had upon them personally was a good culmination.

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

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

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

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Comprehensive Understanding of Cardiovascular Medications

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.

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 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.

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 has not yet been implemented.

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