academics_anon, posts by tag: course development - LiveJournal (original) (raw)

| One of my housemates will be teaching an online course for the first time. He's working on the syllabus, and he's mostly drawing a blank about how he should structure the course. He's taught plenty of times and written plenty of syllabuses, but how he's used to structuring a course doesn't seem able to be carried over into the online course.One of his concerns is how he should set up the testing, because he's not sure whether he should be concerned with cheating or not. And he just wants to be able to do multiple choice tests, because he's got a heavy load this term, so he doesn't want to overload himself with work.Also, because it may make a difference, it is a philosophy course.Any advice about teaching online and writing up the syllabus would be wonderful!Thank you in advance!N.B. If all you want to do is criticize the idea of giving a multiple choice test in a philosophy course, then you can either save yourself from wasting your time, or you can read this comment about what a multiple choice test in philosophy can cover, and what it can't.No one denies that multiple choice tests are far from ideal, and it would be wonderful to banish them. But when practicality makes them difficult to avoid, well, one is really stuck with what one has to work with.If all you are looking to do is to pick a fight or criticize, well, then you only reveal your own immaturity and lack of academic integrity.But if you can actually offer useful and helpful guidance, then it will be greatly appreciated.Tags:course development, syllabus questions Hi folks,I've scanned heaps of things under the tags and not had any luck, so going to be brave and post the question here:Can you please tell me about texts you have used in a World History Survey course? (As teacher or student)Ideally, I'd like a title and then a comment or two about what was good or bad about the book.I've been searching for book reviews, text recommendations etc. and just can't seem to find anything. Although, I confess, I'm rather taken with The No-Nonsense Guide to World History by Chris Brazier. Can you imagine teaching a World History survey with a book that is less than 200 pages, coupled with regular, selected primary texts?Tags:ask the a_a reference desk, course development, reading-recommendations, when google fails-a_a to the rescueMood:hopeful I am developing a syllabus for a course on LGBT policy for social work students. The class is 15 weeks and needs to cover a wide range of conceptual topics and the relationship between social problems and the social policies that exist to address it (or cause it!). I was wondering if anyone here might be willing to provide me with some thoughts and suggestions on my outline and/or specific readings that really knock your socks off? "Classics", newer academic works and any essays that may have helped in one's personal journeys are welcomed, as even if I've read things before (e.g. Adrienne Rich Compulsory Heterosexuality as a classic), these sorts of things bear repeating. I would also be interested to learn about comms where it might be appropriate to post seeking help.Based on my experience teaching social work students about LGBT issues in a policy advocacy course I created for another school, I must anticipate and meet the needs of students possessing a range of knowledge from "Well I have a gay friend" to "I can give you a better rundown on cissexual privilege and current policy than anyone at this University".Here is my outline **( thus far:Collapse )**Any help anyone can provide would be deeply appreciated. And apologies to a comm if this is not appropriate to post. Please let me know.x-posted to academics_anon, bisexual_world, debunkingcis, partners_of_tg, postqueer, ra_activists and my own LJ.Tags:"the a_a reference desk", course development, syllabus questionsMood:busy Hello! I am in my second year of doctoral study (Japanese Studies) and I am starting to teach a lecture on Japanese comics this autumn. My concept is to study it first from the historical point of view - is roots in traditional art, its development through the years, famous artists etc., and then - in the summer semester - turn the viewpoint a bit and study Japanese society through the comics (for example, Japanese educational system, feminism, nationalism, economy, etc.). However, this is the first time I am going to teach anything else than Japanese language, and I must say that I feel quite nervous about it. I'm especially wondering how to make the lesson as interesting as possible. Do you have any advice or tips regarding lessons about comics/visual art? What you think I should definitely do or what should I avoid? Any help would be greatly appreciated. :)Tags:course development Happy Friday!I recently received some good news: I will be teaching two sections of comparative arts this spring-- if they make, of course. I get to choose my own focus, and my topic for the semester is adapting literature to other media. We will probably focus mainly on adapting fiction to film and poetry to music (and vice versa in some cases). Can anyone recommend a good textbook for this?The course is listed arbitrarily as ITDS 1145, which fulfills a general Humanities requirement. There are no pre-requisites, but I can safely assume that any level of undergraduate in any major will be registering. I will be talking up the class among the English majors in my composition courses, but I want the texts I use to be accessible for other majors as well, esp. music and art.I will be photocopying a chapter or two from _A Theory of Adaptation_, but if there is a good textbook out there on adapting literature to film I would be pleased to know so that I can check it out. Thanks for all feedback!Tags:course development, reading-recommendationsMood:contemplative I will be teaching a new course this fall for which I want to have students create a Wiki. Our IT department does not have the resources to support any particular Wiki package, nor can I host the Wiki on our servers, and I would prefer of course not to have ads on the site. For various reasons I am not interested in going the "edit Wikipedia pages" route. Does anyone have experiences using some Wiki site that might meet these requirements?Tags:course development, recommendations, software-and-technology I'm working with a theme in my English 101 (basic college-level composition/research) course, focusing on copying, borrowing, and plagiarism and the ethics of using other people's ideas, words, style, etc. It's currently structured in three general parts:Part I: I like to begin with a section examining notions of imitation in education--I was thinking of starting with Plato's "Allegory of the Cave," that basic idea that the shadow is inferior to the original, the source, the real...but I'm not sure. Was thinking a classic text would give the course a little gravitas, announce its seriousness to students, which I like to do in my context....but maybe there's a better choice?I have in the past taught Richard Rodriguez's essay "The Achievement of Desire", but I might like to work with something else...if anyone has any suggestions of an essay that explores the role of imitation, mimicry in the process of becoming educated, I'd welcome it. I'd like something that acknowledges how much learning depends upon mimicry and what it means to both copy, work with, and then move beyond one's teachers...that's what I see/like in Rodriguez's work. Part II: We then work with a Malcolm Gladwell essay "Damaged" from the New Yorker that profiles psychiatrist Dorothy Lewis's work with serial killers, and which the British playwright Byrony Lavery then copied massive portions of for her play FROZEN, and then we read Gladwell's defense of Lavery's actions in his essay "Something Borrowed." This section is pretty well in hand, and I like the way it works. I have used Jonathan Lethem's "The Ecstasy of Influence" (from Harper's Magazine a few years ago), in which he plagiarizes everything in the essay to make a case for a broad understanding of the creative commons, and then offers all his sources in the end. Part III: I'm interested in then moving to exploring cultural appropriation, and I'd like to do it through requiring students to read an accessible, book-length argument, if possible. I.e., I'd rather not use essays but work with them on how to read an extended argument. I have short pieces, like Nell Bernstein's "Going Gangsta', Choosin' Cholita" and could contrast that with James Ledbetter’s “Imitation of Life” (about white appropriation of rap music)... I've used the PBS Frontline documentary "The Merchants of Cool" which is pretty dated by this point but it's about corporate appropropriation of youth culture....(In the past, I also worked with Ariel Levy's problematic book Female Chauvinist Pigs in this class, having them read critical reviews of it--and it's very accessible, so I can keep the focus on learning to work with a book-length text rather than on basic understanding.... But I just have too many problems with her argument.)I'd welcome any and all brainstorming that people would be willing to offer on this course.Tags:course development I'm looking for ideas about how to keep all my teaching stuff organized. This fall, I started teaching six classes a week (two per day), and I do all my prep work at home. I have the same classroom for all six classes, but can't leave much in the classroom itself. I have the usual stack of papers to carry around: textbook, attendance lists, course outline & syllabus, lesson plans, photocopied handouts, student assignments, materials I'm working on for future classes... And I need to be able to fit everything in a single backpack or briefcase, because I walk or bike to work (plus, I don't have that much room to work at home, either). Originally, I tried to fit most of it in a single binder, but that binder is going to explode any minute now. Plus, I'm *still* scrambling to find that handout/assignment/set of flashcards in class. I'm trying to figure out a reasonably portable system that will help me stay organized. What I have at the moment is passable, but I want something better. I'm not an adjunct, but I figure that many adjuncts face similar challenges (no office, traveling to multiple classes).So: How do you stay organized? How do you carry your stuff around? How do you find that handout halfway through your class?Tags:class handouts, course development, getting organized, teaching-tools Top of Page | | | 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