Categories

Creativity and Performance

Creativity and performance assignments encourage students to engage with technology when creating works of an imaginative or expressive nature. Examples range from studio recordings of live performances to time-lapse recordings of art being created to 3D printing musical instruments. Projects should include a significant level of originality, innovation, and imagination.

• Assignment Example (PDF) – 3D Printing in ART 119
• Assignment Example (PDF) – Podcast in GBUS 311
• Assignment Example (PDF) – Video in SOCI 322

Critical Review

Critical review assignments build on a student’s research and help them evaluate, interpret, and analyze the content or source material being studied. This approach can vary between disciplines—examples could range from taking a scene and performing it with different interpretations to conducting a usability study on a website or program, comparing findings to existing research, and then developing recommendations for improvements.

• Assignment Example (PDF) – Multimedia Podcast in HIST 142

Design and Innovation

Assignments in this category empower students to use technology-related solutions to address a human need. Students will be expected to synthesize technology with original ideas to create or restructure an object or system; this could be done by developing prototypes like 3D reproductions, digital blueprints, or exhibits, and then reviewing and improving their prototypes through multiple iterations.

• Assignment Example (PDF) – 3D Printing in ART 119
• Assignment Example (PDF) – Digital Exhibit in HONR 250
• Assignment Example (PDF) – Multimedia Podcast in HIST 142

Evidence Based Research

Evidence-based research projects incorporate data or other primary sources and require a significant level of data analysis, interpretation, and/or experimentation. Some instructors require students to collect the data they’ll be working with for this assignment firsthand, often by conducting surveys, interviews, scientific experiments, field work, or archival research.

• Assignment Example (PDF) – 3D Printing in THEA 253
• Assignment Example (PDF) – Podcast in GBUS 311
• Assignment Example (PDF) – Digital Exhibit in HIST 295A (Student Samples) 

Historical Perspectives

Assignments in this category give students the opportunity to contribute to the investigative work of exploring the past. Examples of this could be video interviews with witnesses to historic events or developing virtual tours of historical sites. Students access technology and academic resources that will aid them in uncovering and understanding the social, cultural, and intellectual settings that shaped people’s lives and actions within a particular historical context.

• Assignment Example (PDF) – 3D Printing in THEA 253
• Assignment Example (PDF) – Digital Exhibit in HONR 250
• Assignment Example (PDF) – Multimedia Podcast in HIST 142

Scientific Methods and Reasoning

Projects in this category challenge students to use technology to better observe, measure, and experiment in order to facilitate learning or test a hypothesis. For example, a class could use time-lapse photography to monitor plant growth or develop 3D printable molecular models to better understand their structures and functions.

• Assignment Example (PDF) – Multimedia Podcast in HIST 142

Social Justice

Social justice projects ask students to think critically about issues of inequity or discrimination that adversely affect certain individuals and communities. Students are expected to go beyond just defining terms and learning about an issue to contextualize the issue within larger historical and societal structures and to propose recommendations or possible solutions. Examples could include an audio podcast on cultural inclusivity, a cultural immersion video essay, or creating a news story on a social justice topic.

• Assignment Example (PDF) – Multimedia Podcast in HIST 142
• Assignment Example (PDF) –  Podcast in POLS 295
• Assignment Example (PDF) – Video in SOCI 322

Student Voices and Reflections

These projects have a more narrative quality and provide a student’s personal perspective on a topic. Students might reflect on their lived experiences, their class readings and discussions, and may include a few external sources to back up a claim or make a point; extensive research and evidence from academic sources isn’t always needed. Examples include a reflection of one’s study abroad experience or a public service announcement audio podcast.

• Assignment Example (PDF) – Multimedia Podcast in HIST 142
• Assignment Example (PDF) – Digital Exhibit in HIST 295A (Student Samples) 
• Assignment Example (PDF) – Video in ENTR 303
• Assignment Example (PDF) – Video in PCST 399