Bucks County Community College Transliteracy Institute presentation on assignment design basics.

1. +
Assignments Requiring
Group Work and
Technology Tools/Social
Media

2. +
Incorporating transliteracy
 Indicates a 21st Century approach to education
 Requires your students to access, analyze, evaluate and create
messages using a variety of resources
 Can build an understanding of the social context of their work
 Facilitates the development of essential skills such as inquiry and
self-expression, necessary for citizens of a democracy (
 Enhances student’s learning experiences by building fluency
across media, modes, and disciplines
 Do these objectives always fit your course objectives? NO, but
that’s OK! Pick and choose what works best for you, and your
students.

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Use “Backward Design”
 Step 1: Start by defining the objectives for the assignment
 Step 2: Determine the activities and methods necessary for your
students to complete in order to achieve the desired objectives
 Step 3: Chose an assessment tool or policy that evaluates how
well students completed the activity and met the objectives of the
assignment
 Understanding by Design by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe,
2005

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Step 1: Defining the assignment
objectives
 Most important step
 Objectives for the assignment = objectives for course =
objectives for program of study
 Ask yourself these questions:
 What is the goal for the students in completing this assignment?
 What topic do I want the students to explore by conducting research
and critical thinking?
 Is this topic conducive to building transliteracy skills?
 Is group collaboration essential to this project, or is this project best
suited for individual work?

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Step 2: Determine activities and
methods
 Choose activities that, when completed, students achieve the
objectives
 For example:
 (A) Research and use 3 scholarly peer-reviewed journal articles
 (A) Research and use at least 1 video to demonstrate the main
concepts supported by the journal articles
 (O) Build Transliteracy skills
 Activities should require tools and resources accessible to all
students
 In this step, choose a project tool appropriate to the skill level of
the students and objectives of the assignment
 Whether or not you included group collaboration in your objectives
will impact the activities and methods you choose

6. + Step 2 Cont’d: Choose a Media Project
Tool
Tool Overview
Video Mashup Video, image, audio and text resources
(www.bucks.edu/mashup) compiled to support a topic or thesis in
logical manner (similar to a
documentary)
Glogster Interactive poster built using image,
(www.glogster.com/edu) video, audio and text resources
Prezi Zooming, non-linear presentation tool
(www.prezi.com)
Timetoast Interactive, media enriched, timeline
(www.timetoast.com) generator
Other Contact Jackie Fritz
….lots and lots of possibilities! (fritzja@bucks.edu, x8056) or Paul
Proces (procesp@bucks.edu, x8711)

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Step 2 Cont’d: Group Collaboration
Tools
 If you decide to do a group project, consider requiring the
following…
 Group communication building activity
 Ice-breaker-like games to get students working together
 Group Contract
 Written document completed by the group of students
 Outline skills of group members
 Create a schedule of meeting places and times
 Decide what to do if conflict arises
 Signed by every group member and submitted

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Step 3: Assessment
 Rubric
 Set of criteria and standards linked to learning objectives
 Each criteria is accompanied by a brief description of requirements
associated to a given point value
 Examples: http://tinyurl.com/38ezerk,
http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide/
 Assessing Group-work
 Self and peer evaluations
 Students evaluate how well each member, including themselves,
followed the group contract and contributed to the project

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Suggestions from the field…
 Scaffold the assignment  Be aware of the resources
 Require students to hand in available to you and your
pieces of the assignment. students
Provide feedback before the  Librarians: meet with faculty
next piece of the assignment to collaborate on building an
is due assignment
 Allows students to learn as  Librarians: conduct media
they complete the literacy sessions specific to
assignment the assignment for your
course
 Keep in mind timing!  MInDSpace: provides the
tools and assistance to use
 The more detailed the
the tools for faculty and
assignment, the better
students

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Brought to you by the Bucks
Librarians…
 Contact Paul Proces, New
Media Librarian
 X8711
 procesp@bucks.edu
 Contact Jackie Fritz, Faculty
Liaison, Learning Technologies
 X8056
 fritzja@bucks.edu