What You're Doing, Where We're Going
This project was created by students in Prof. Laura Westengard’s course, ENG 3407: Gothic Literature and Visual Culture. Students have posted photographs, video, and written about numerous Gothic sites in New York City, analyzing them through the theories and concepts they’ve been learning in class. For those interested in taking their own spooky tour, the students created a Google Map that includes all the locations on the site. Check it out, but as they warn, enter at your own risk!
The Biological Sciences Department has created an excellent site on the OpenLab, which is full of resources, news, and helpful information. It’s well-structured so that everything is easy to find, both on the home page, and in the top menu. They also have a helpful feed of upcoming departmental events and deadlines in the sidebar. Take a look!
Prof. Jill Belli’s Science Fiction course site has a lot happening, and is well-structured so it’s easy to explore and access specific information and resources. The site is very active, with frequent student posts and interaction in the comments sections. There are also some great discussions generated in the Class Discussion Posts, where conversation is extended beyond class time. You can tell from reading through any of these comment threads that students are very engaged with the material they’re studying, as well as their classmates’ ideas. Each week the class votes on which student post they think should be featured on the site, and the winner is chosen as the People’s Choice Post of the week. We also love that the course avatar (pictured above) was created by a student in the class, Andrew Dutt.
Students in Prof. Claire Stewart’s Culinary Improvisation course are reflecting on their cooking techniques and the foods they use for weekly improvisational challenges in the kitchen. We were impressed with the detailed descriptions of their process, accompanied by photographs they took themselves. By reading through their posts and comments they’ve made on each other’s work, you get a sense of the community they’re building in the class. Take a look at what they’re up to, but with a warning that it might make you hungry!
PSY3405: Health Psychology
Prof. Amanda Almond’s course site is very active and full of interesting assignments and class discussions. Recently, students watched and commented on a video embedded on the course site. We also like how students engaged with the course policies page by either proposing an addition or elaborating on one of the policies listed. Take a look!
The OpenLab site for Professor Sandra Cheng’s Introduction to Film course is well-organized, informative, and visually appealing. It’s easy to find course information and student work, and she has included plenty of helpful and relevant resources, such as links to City Tech and NYC film-related resources and an RSS feed from the New York Times Movies section. Course activity has just begun with students introducing themselves, but they’ll be engaging with interesting topics throughout the semester, so be sure to keep checking back to see what they’re writing about!
In Inna Guzenfeld’s Historical Preservation course, students are considering questions such as how historical significance is determined, and researching examples of cultural heritage preservation. They’ve also done field research at a historic district in NYC, documenting their observations about the site and its architectural significance. The course site is clean and well-structured, making everything easy to find. Take a look!
Professor Michael Krondl‘s Culinary Tourism course is, as the site tagline says, “exploring New York’s exciting food landscape,” and one of the great things about the course site is that it shares those experiences with us on the OpenLab! The class has already taken a few culinary field trips–or walking food tours–of the Flatiron, Astoria, and Williamsburg neighborhoods, during which they sampled food in each neighborhood and wrote about their experience on the course site. By the end of the semester students will be creating a culinary walking tour of their own. They’ve also been trying out a new food and blogging about it, under the “food first” category. In addition to the great interactive work students are doing, the site includes many resources for all the foodies out there in the Blogroll and Links sections in the right-hand sidebar. Check it out!
“Ways of Seeing” is a First Year Learning Community for ADGA students who are taking Professor Jenna Spevak’s Graphic Design Principles I and Professor Jody Rosen’s English Composition I courses. Students are creatively reflecting on the world around them through image and text, from New York City more generally, to local field trips, City Tech, the view from their window, and more. The course site is well-structured, making it easy to browse through the projects for both courses. Students have also created ePortfolios, which can be accessed from the course profile. Do take a look at their great work!
The OpenLab is an open-source, digital platform designed to support teaching and learning at City Tech (New York City College of Technology), and to promote student and faculty engagement in the intellectual and social life of the college community.
