It’s the most dreadful time of the year

With the students’ stress rising

And everyone telling you be of high spirit

It’s the most dreadful time of the year

For most students, the exam period is the most stressful part of the semester. The exam itself is the very manifestation of this stress, but the late-night study sessions at the library, the pressure of figuring out what is testable, memorizing big books, scrolling through hundreds of lecture slides, and at times pulling all-nighters just to feel an ounce more prepared to take an exam is also challenging.

Taking exams has been a big part of many of our college and university experiences, and has remained, for better or worse, the reigning assessment form throughout our education history. Based on assessment efficacy, exams are typically viewed as a good way of testing course knowledge, as they require students to study the same materials to answer the same, or at least similar, questions. Therefore, traditional exams provide us with a uniform, or in better terms, standardized mean, of assessing a large group of individuals, with each being examined on the same basic level of difficulty and understanding. To put it simply, an exam provides an even playing field, hence any disparity in performance or grades would be due to differences in students’ ability or time spent revisiting/studying the course material. While as a recent graduate, with modest social skills, I have yet to come across a single peer who actually enjoys exams, I can see the reason why they have become the dominant assessment form. As a comprehensive test of knowledge, exams are a very good method.

But mind you, when a certain Professaurus Rex, or P-Rex, invented exams as an assessment tool to evaluate his Studentaurus on their ability to hunt and forage, the world was a different place. This is my subtle and arguably humorous way of saying; exams are ancient and should not have survived the mass extinction event. While I am 99.9% sure a glass-wearing T-Rex scoring exams using a red pen with his tiny T-Rex arms didn’t invent exams as an assessment tool, I know that exams have some ancient roots.

Now did you know that at some point in time, being a government official was a matter of great prestige?! Shocking, I know, but almost 2000 years ago in ancient China, being a government official was of such high esteem that the only way of joining this elite band of officials was to pass examinations that were designed under the careful supervision of Emperor Zhang of Hen.

Now going by some other historical sources, the person behind the invention of exams as a torture device, er, I mean assessment tool, was the one and only American businessman, and philanthropist, Henry Fischel, sometime in the late 19th century. However, some other sources accredit the oft-dreaded invention to a man of the same name, Henry Fischel, who was a professor of religious studies at Indiana University during the early 20th century. Besides the historic finger-pointing to identify the tormentor, it’s important to realize that whenever and by whomever exams were designed, they were done during a time when education differed significantly from today.

Today the types of courses taught in colleges and universities cover a limitless range of disciplines, –  from math, science, statistics, coding, literature, pop culture, marketing, to fashion – just to name a few. The broad spectrum of courses and kinds of knowledge offered at educational institutions and sought by learners are incredibly broad and cannot all be assessed by the same assessment tool built and offered at a time where few universities existed in the world with an incredibly narrow range of offered subjects. Take the Cambridge hall of exams for example. Cambridge is one of the most widely recognized higher educational institutes in the world, and in the late 19th century, was approached by schools in England to administer a standardized test, which was, at the time, only available to male pupils. Hence, the first mass execution of students’ morale, I mean, The Cambridge assessment took place December 14th, 1958, on the subjects of English, Mathematics, Geography, History, Latin, German, and just a handful of other languages.

It’s important to acknowledge the fact that just like Homo sapiens, education has also evolved, and will continue to do so. Our society, expectations, goals, needs, and values are ever-changing, and untapped markets for work and education are always unfolding. So then why in the name of a round Earth are we still resorting to a historic tool to shape, facilitate, and assess learning? The kinds of skillsets sought, desired, and required by society and employers today are wildly different from that of a year ago, let alone 150 years ago.

Assessments drive instruction and learning. Assessments inform instructors on what students know and don’t know, which sets the direction of a course. The way in which you deliver material and what you emphasize, be it factual knowledge to memorize or a particular skill set is also determined by how you will assess your students. In turn, what and how students learn depends, for the most part, on how they think they will be assessed. Assessments are also meant to inform both the instructor and the student on the progress of their learning. Feedback is essential in facilitating students’ growth, as it provides them with the opportunity to identify their areas of weakness. In this way, assessments must clearly match the content and nature of thinking, and the skills offered by the course and sought by the learner. A good rule of thumb is: if done well, assessments should not be a surprise to students. Aside from supporting student growth, assessments also support your skills as an instructor. Your students’ performance and accomplishments present you with the opportunity to determine how well their learning achieves your outcomes for a lesson.  Therefore, in a way, by sticking to just one assessment tool, you are not only limiting your students’ growth, but also that of your own.

If there was ever a time for reflecting, updating, and improving your assessment bag of goodies, it’s now.

With the COVID-19 outbreak, online testing brought on an entirely new level of intensity to exams. Between lockdown browsers, online proctoring, strict time limits, technical difficulties such as computer crashes or Wi-Fi outages, and an array of other issues, online testing became a new playing field.

Testing through exams in an online format is inherently unfair because while some students may complete a test easily from their device and location, we can’t assume all can.

On a more positive note, we have now administered at least a full academic year online in response to remote teaching during the pandemic. Moving forward from the emergency ‘how do I conduct my exam online’, instructors have now had time to choose, implement, and receive feedback on different assessment tools and methods. It has been a time of creativity and innovation in education. In this guide, we have hand-curated a collection of alternative assessment strategies, tools, and examples to help you on your journey to discovering exciting new means of supporting and evaluating your student’s learning!

So put on your best space outfit (rocket print pajama set accepted) and get ready to break with the traditional exam by blasting off Earth towards a galaxy of alternative assessments with your trusty guide in hand.

Sevda Montakhaby Nodeh
MSc Student, McMaster University

‘After week eight, consolidate… ‘

Or ‘When you are three quarters through, no need to add anything new….’

A proposition for more meaningful assessment

I have adapted my teaching and assessing using a Universal Design for Learning framework and in so doing have made several decisions about how much content is enough (that is, I do less, better) and how, how often, when I engage in assessment. One of the decisions is how much content is enough. The duration of a semester at my university is 12 weeks long.  Following the ‘do less better’ mantra, I have shifted to organizing around threshold concepts and to curtailing the introduction of new content to the first eight weeks, or three quarters, of the term. This allows me to use the last four weeks to consolidate the earlier learning through application and real world problem solving and it allows me to plan for early assessment that functions in a formative and scaffolded fashion to support learning, middle of the term assessment that involves both information and digital literacy skills and embedded engagement with the foundational threshold concepts, and later in the term assessment that compels consolidation of threshold concept material, partner and group engagement and proximal learning, as well as peer review and accountability.

I will offer examples below from one course to illustrate how these strategies work and how the assessment unfolds.

Threshold concepts are concepts in a course that are foundational for learning and progressive in the sense that future learning depends on having established the threshold concepts. In my fourth-year course on Adaptive Physical Activity Programming, there are several threshold concepts:

1. Fundamental movement patterns form the basis of future complex movement patterns
2. Planning individualized movement requires observation and analysis of a person’s movement patterns over time and across contexts to program developmentally and age-appropriate movement and activity
3. Movement planning and programming require the ability to break a task into its constituent elements and then rebuild the task using station based distributed practice
4. Developing expertise in the above three areas, actively practicing anti-ableism, and interrogating normalcy as an unquestioned starting point allow practitioners to be more attitudinally prepared to work with movers of any ability.

These four threshold concepts contain embedded knowledge that I must present in the form of content-based materials, skills practice, and direct contact with disabled people; my assessment must be ongoing and progressive as well.

I use Participation Posts that are in a Pass/Fail format. These online posts have a prompt that allows students to practice their engagement with content or a process or problem solving that will then occur later in the module for more formalized assessment. If students achieve a B level in their post, then they get the full grade (5/5). If they do not achieve a B level, then they get 0/5. This seems harsh at first, but it takes the pressure off students’ need to be perfect and it allows them to understand what a B grade is. If a student fails, I offer an opportunity to revise and resubmit after they have seen and experienced the zero. I do not offer this option until after they have received their grade. Then they can choose to try again or move on. I usually have four participation posts over the term, @ 5%, so the students have significant control over their destiny in these posts since they are designed to be achievable at a B level for full marks. The last participation post of the term is one that consolidates knowledge from the previous eight weeks. By this time, they have become more proficient in this type of post, and they usually do a 5/5 level post near the end of term.

I schedule the Online Activity (OLA) for each module for the end of the module so that the participation posts can offer practice and feedback that will allow the students to do a better job on the OLA. I usually have three to four of these OLAs @ 10% which allows me to formulate different kinds of prompts, applications and problem solving that I can then assess across three to four modules.  For example, an OLA would pose a problem about designing a station for fundamental movement practice, and a Participation post preceding it would ask them to break a skill down into its components.

One culminating assignment is the group-based board game that the students work on from week four onwards with in class facilitation of their ongoing work. The board game consolidates material from all the threshold concepts so that the eventual game functions as both a fun activity and an educative opportunity. Students play each other’s games either in person or online and then do a review of the game they played using a template provided by me, and then post this in addition to their own game for assessment.

The other culminating assignment is done solo, partners, trios or small groups and involves an experiential project. Students have choices among event planning, placement in an activity program or an organization, an accessibility audit, or a design of an accessible home and garden activity circuit. This is also a consolidating assignment and uses all four threshold concepts in application.

These two culminating assignments take up considerable class time in the last module and allow students to integrate their previous eight weeks’ work into two final products that take shape over the term as they build experience and expertise.

Students appreciate the Participation post rehearsal for the OLA, they appreciate the 20% assigned to achieving B level work that makes their planning more manageable. Ironically, their writing in the pass/ fail posts that only require them to work at a B level is usually better than their writing in their OLAs. It seems that when the pressure is off to write at an A level, they relax into their writing more.

They appreciate how the assigned work and content diminishes as the course unfolds, instead of having it build incrementally and still having new learning as late as the last week of classes. This allows for progressive engagement with material, a manageable selection of prioritized content, and the freedom to fail in ways that are not catastrophic or unsalvageable. It also allows me to scaffold the assessment so that early work is more literal, then moves into more  interpretive integration and problem solving and finally moves into consolidation and application.

Dr. Maureen Connolly

Professor, Kinesiology, Brock University

Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives framework serves as the basis for classifying learning, teaching, and educational achievement in Canada (e.g., Ministry of Education, 2008). It consists of six hierarchical learning categories, and is often depicted in the form of a pyramid. The framework was initiated by Benjamin S. Bloom to facilitate the exchange of assessments among universities (Krathwohl, 2002). By doing so, Bloom hoped to curate a test bank to help minimize the labor of preparing annual comprehensive exams (Krathwohl, 2002). He believed that, beyond its function as a measurement tool, the taxonomy could be used as a common language for clear and honest communication across faculty, subjects, and grade levels (Krathwohl, 2002).

At the heart of Bloom’s taxonomy framework is the ability to create achievable learning goals that both teachers and learners easily understand in order to build a definitive plan to meet them. Using the categorization, educators can more effectively organize objectives and create lesson plans with appropriate content and instruction to lead students up the pyramid of learning.

Educators can also design various assessment tools and strategies to ensure each category is met in turn, and that each part of the course material is in line with the level’s objectives, whether it’s basic knowledge at the beginning of a course (e.g. basic recall), or applying that knowledge towards the middle of a school year (e.g. using the learned information in specific settings by solving problems).

For students, Bloom’s levels bridge the gap between what they know now, and what they need to learn to attain a higher level of knowledge. At the end of the learning process, the goal with Bloom’s taxonomy is that a student has honed a new skill, level of knowledge, and/or developed a different attitude towards the subject. And that teachers can effectively assess this learning on an ongoing basis, as the course moves through each stage of the framework.

We refer to the Bloom’s taxonomy framework to provide you with an organizational structure that will aid your understanding of the objectives classified in its categories and how you may consider and integrate new alternative forms of assessment. We hope that by doing so, we are helping you in your quest for a new and exciting assessment tool that best aligns with your educational goals. We encourage you to read the following overview of the categories prior to looking through the examples.

Each level of Bloom’s taxonomy should be addressed before moving on to the next. When course planning, bear in mind the implications—how quickly to introduce new concepts, when to reinforce them and how to test them. Something can’t be understood without first remembering it; can’t be applied without understanding it; must be analyzed before evaluating it, and an evaluation needs to have been conducted before making an accurate conclusion.

Integrating Technology with Bloom’s Taxonomy

Due to the increasing demand for online and hybrid delivery of courses, there is an added level of complexity when it comes to the challenge of creating authentic learning experiences in new formats. One important element to consider is students’ abilities and motivation, when integrating digital tools into assessment. An additional challenge with the online format is managing reduced real-time interaction with peers and instructors. As an instructor it is key to consider how to provide meaningful learning experiences for students using tools that are intrinsically motivating.

The revised digitally-focused Bloom’s Taxonomy aims: “To expand upon the skills associated with each level as technology becomes a more ingrained essential part of learning” (Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy, 2015). Your use of this adapted version and tools suggested should not focus  “on the tools themselves, but rather on how the tools can act as vehicles for transforming student thinking at different levels” (Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy, 2015).

Summarized in the infographic below are the levels featured within Bloom’s Revised Digital Taxonomy accompanied by a scale of its relevance and examples of digital tools that connect with this taxonomy framework.

Description

The board game assignment is best used as a formative, process-driven activity that supports students to complete a culminating final project. Ideally, you should provide students with the choice of working in preferred group size (1, 2. 4). Introduce the assignment criteria at the beginning of term and allocate at least 30min of group time to allow groups to incorporate new learnings from class each week. This can be done in person or online in breakout rooms.

The board game assignment in this exemplar asks learners to consider issues around accessibility, inclusion, and embodiment. These are important considerations for any assignment but, in particular, for this course, they are directly aligned with the course content. Consider how your course content can align with the challenges and activities that a board game can provide. What are the main issues for consideration? How can you fold in consecutive learning outcomes for weekly considerations?

The key part of this assignment is that students will then, in their same groups, play and review each others’ board games. The review process allows opportunities for critical reflection on how their peers addressed key learning outcomes. See the rubric section for the Review Guidelines. The variability in different approaches and types of board games and rules provides a rich opportunity to explore complex topics in an engaging and interactive way.

Students are graded on both their game and their review of other groups’ games.

Grade breakdown: 30%

Construction of BOARD GAME with inclusion and activity modifications and instructions for play 20%

Playing classmates’ GAME and Reviewing the GAME  10%

Criteria

Students are asked to comment on how the GAME performs based on the criteria below:

• Game has incorporated course material in ways that make the concepts clear (players are able to have some insight or an ‘aha’ moment). Identify the concepts that you think are being applied in the game.
• Game modifications have allowed the overall structure of the game to be relatively recognizable (that is, the modifications have not dismantled the game)
• The game’s challenges or dilemmas or lessons are sound, but still maintain safety and dignity
• Instructions are clear
• Game has a flow and does not ‘drag’
• Game is (mostly) fun
• For what ages and groups is the game appropriate? How might the game be used as a professional development tool or an awareness workshop?
• Other comments you want to make

Technology Used

Students can use any technology they like to create the board game but old fashioned paper-based can work as well, provided there is a mechanism to play/review the game online in some way.

For synchronous sessions, group work can take place using any web conferencing software (Teams, Zoom, Collaborate, etc)

Sharing of all the resources can be done through the Forum Discussion boards in the learning management system.

Facilitation Tips

This is a great opportunity to reflect deeply about your core learning outcomes for your course. What big ideas do you want students to take away and remember long after they have graduated? Building the opportunity to incorporate sub topics on an ongoing basis through the semester requires you to consider how your weekly sessions are connected.

Examples of Student Work (in Supplementary Resources)

Student Work: Board Game (Cranium)

Student Work: Board Game (Game of Life)

Description

The scavenger hunt assignment is an activity to promote and facilitate students to move beyond skimming towards more meaningful, engaged deep reading. It can be used for a full text or a series of readings. Students create a series of ten quiz questions and an answer key based on the content of reading material for a particular week. Students are responsible for 2 chapters/readings.

It is recommended to allow students to work solo, in partners, or in groups up to 4. Instructor pairs up question creators with question responders based on group size and week.

Questions must be right or wrong, can be multiple choice or short answer but not essay or interpretive questions.

Quizzes are disseminated in the last 2 weeks of the course as a final exam. Students in groups must work together to collaborate and ensure they agree with each others’ answers.

Criteria

• Total Grade: 20%
  • Construction of HUNT and answer key 10%
  • Doing classmates’ HUNT 5%
  • Assessing classmates’ response 5%

Rubric

Peer and Self Assessment (Group / Partner work)

• Course name and number and term/year
• Title of the project on which you worked.
• Your name
• The names of the other members in your group
• Provide an assessment of yourself based in the criteria/elements listed below (grade out of /10)
• Provide an assessment of the other members of your group based in the criteria/elements listed below (grade out of /10)
• Comment on the group’s overall functioning based in the criteria/elements listed below.

Self and peer assessment criteria/elements:

• Respectful interactions with each other
• Abiding by the agreements made about the project and the distribution of tasks
• Using compromise and negotiation for disagreements
• Being flexible regarding contingencies
• Timely communication
• Timely task completion
• Commitment to understanding and implementing/applying course material
• Willingness to plan and share responsibility
• Open communication regarding challenges/ conflicts/ problems
• Seeking assistance when necessary

Group functioning elements:

• Awareness of a balance between task focus and human focus
• Equal contribution to grunt work and preparation
• Able to consider many alternatives and approaches to build/design the project
• Commitment to the project
• Able to put aside differences for the good of the project in the spirit of trust and respect
• Timelines set and accountability built in
• Realistic goal setting given the abilities and contingencies of group members

Technology Used

Questions and answer key are submitted using the assignment tool.

Quizzes are disseminated, answered, and peer graded using forum discussion boards

Facilitation Tips

This activity requires extensive organizational skills and input from the instructor to match the groups, assign readings, and disseminate quizzes, and allocate grades.

It can be resource intensive but students find that this activity does help their learning and encourages them to read more deeply. Since students are grading each other, some time should be given to the importance of feedback as there can be push back on peer grading. This assignment was used in a course with many students who want to become teachers so the construction of assessments is a core skill and desired learning outcome.

Student Work Examples

See De Lio, CHYS 3P30, Scavenger Hunt Example

Description

A mind map is a visual representation of a subject or topic that allows you to creatively represent key information. A mind map is like a diagram with pictures, words, drawings and links or connections between different ideas. Mind maps let you think through the key areas of your theme or topic. Some people use mind mapping to take notes in class, to brainstorm new ideas and plan projects.

Mind maps allow students to:

• Research an issue or explore an academic concept in depth
• Present academic concepts in an organized, creative and graphic manner
• Strengthen understanding of a concept by using graphic illustrations and examples
• Illustrate to others the depth and detail of their research work and understanding of a concept
• Make connections between course concepts in ways that make sense to the student
• Create an easy to read graphic representation of course concepts that can be easily shared and used for studying

Mind maps allow instructors to:

• Offer an assignment that is an alternative to a standard writing assignment
• Encourage students to explore a topic in depth in a creative way
• Assess course learning objectives in a comprehensive way that combines text, image, colour and use of space (use of hierarchy/connections to show how concepts fit together)
• Engage students in creative methods of learning and expression

Rubric

Technology Used

Students may submit either a digital map (using computer software and saved as a PDF document) or a hand drawn map (scanned or photographed at a high/legible resolution).

Some Learning Management Systems have file size limits. Students will submit a mind map and reference list preferably uploaded as one document. There are many digital programs available that allow you to create a mind map. Here is a link to an article that reviews popular mind mapping software. You may already have access to programs that you know how to use. How you create your mind map is entirely up to you – feel free to use whatever medium that you are most comfortable with.

Facilitation Tips

Tips for starting your map:

• Start in the middle of a blank page, writing or drawing the leisure concepts that you have researched.
• A landscape orientation on your page will help give you the space needed to expand and grow your map from the centre.
• Develop the related subtopics around this central topic, connecting each of them to the center with a line.
• Repeat the same process for the subtopics, generating lower-level subtopics as you see fit, connecting each of those to the corresponding subtopic.
• You may want to start by looking at each category and subcategory in the SLP and think about how your leisure activities fit into or exemplify each.

Some recommendations:

• Use color, drawings and symbols that are appropriate for the information that you are presenting.
• Be as visual as you can! Feel free to be creative and use materials that you are comfortable with.
• You can draw your map, use photographs or collage, use Power Point, Word or other digital software programs.
• Keep the topic labels as short or brief, in some cases it may make sense to keep them to a single word or phrase with a picture.
• You may be tempted to use long phrases or sentences, but always look for opportunities to shorten it to a short phrase or single word, your mind map will be much more effective that way and will allow you to include the detail necessary to illustrate each section or concept with an example.
• Vary text size, color and alignment.
• Vary the thickness and length of the lines.
• Provide as many visual cues as you can to emphasize important points. Every little bit helps engaging your brain.

Examples:

If you have a look at some of these maps, and other maps online, some have broken away from the format of starting in the centre and working out, and have added other creative ‘frames’ for example having topics or categories take the form of books on an image of a bookshelf, as ideas that stem from an image of a person’s head or that appear as countries or islands on a leisure map of the world.

How to use mind maps to unleash your brain’s creativity and potential

Mind mapping 101: your practical introduction

The complete guide on how to mind map for beginners

The Benefits of Mind Mapping

Mind Map Wikipedia Entry

The Power of a Mind to Map – Tony Buzan TedTalk

Here are a two of examples where students have used different types of media:

Description

Students will work in partners OR in groups of 3, 4, 5 or 6 through a series of prompts based in reading and reflecting on an assigned book.  book, will notify the course instructor of the names of your partners or group members in the Forum topic designated for that purpose. Once the partners or groups have submitted their names, the instructor will set up a Response and Comment Rotation. This will be posted in the course hub – likely within a Learning Management System (LMS). Groups will be posting their own response to the prompt and commenting on another group’s post. This ongoing work will keep you on track for timely engagement with the course material.

Each group will submit a FINAL SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS on the book in the form of an 800-1200-word executive summary, which will include:

1. identifying the premises and concepts associated with the book
2. identifying policies, contexts and other socio-political forces discussed in the book
3. commenting on autobiography, biography, newspaper, policy, legal or other forms of composite or public domain narrated lived experience that was discussed in or which influenced the book
4. An overall analysis of the book that highlights the issues, actions and any remaining challenges using the work done in the iterative and recursive response posts and comments

The Executive Summary will be submitted in the LMS assignment tool following the final week of the term and will be developed from the ongoing response posts and comments that are responses to iterative and recursive prompts from the instructor.

The Book responses will be done on a schedule finalized by the instructor. One example might be to straddle this response window over the period of three weeks, with each week starting with a prompt provided by the instructor. Group responses to this prompt and group comments to all group responses would be due on a staggered basis.

The instructor will construct the comment rotation and post it in the LMS with guidance and deadlines. It is encouraged that group responses have a limit of 800 words and comments have a limit of 500 words.

The LMS Discussion Forum is the platform that will be used – with the typical ‘post and comment’ representing the responses/comments. The responses and comments will represent the work of all the students in the groups, so students must collaborate so that the work represents all of them. To encourage engagement and to prevent claims of ignorance, we will use the declarations templated below in each post and comment. NOTE: THE DECLARATIONS ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THE WORD COUNT. 

Theresponse (to the instructor prompt) post must begin with the following declaration: This post has been prepared and written by PERSON A, PERSON B AND PERSON C after a consultation with the other group members. The post that follows reflects the majority opinion of the group as it pertains to the prompts provided AND includes the minority opinion of group members who did not agree with the majority opinion (if a minority expresses this).

The comment to each group’s response post must begin with the following declaration: This comment has been prepared and written by PERSON A, PERSON B AND PERSON C after a consultation with the other group members. The comment that follows reflects the majority opinion of the group as it pertains to the requirements provided in the prompt AND includes the minority opinion of group members who did not agree with the majority opinion (if a minority expresses this).

Instructions for Students:

Comment on the response by considering the following:

What are the similarities and differences in your group’s response and the response of the group you are commenting on?  What insights do you now have about the ways that seemingly reasonable, so-called well-intentioned people can subvert rights-based processes and legislation and make laws and regulations disappear? What connections can you now make about stressed embodiment and peoples’ relationships to the natural, interpersonal, built, and constructed world?

Technology Used

Learning Management System

Discussion Forum

Facilitation Tips/Course Example

This assignment was used in a course at Brock University, and the book under discussion was Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist. The following describes the prompts and timelines used.

Prompts for Module 2

Respond to the following questions about Section One of Being Heumann:

Provide a brief background on Judith Heumann which includes historical, familial, medical, educational and career information. In your background summary include at least two examples of Heumann’s early activism. THEN explain the significance of the butterfly metaphor in Chapter 1 and describe what Heumann did to be considered insubordinate in Chapter 2.

Comment on your classmates’ response by considering the following:

What were the similarities and differences in your group’s response and the group you are commenting on? How do Heumann’s embodied experiences of discrimination prepare her for her future forays into activism? and what insights does this offer you about disability rights activism in general?

Prompts for Module 3

Write a response to the following questions about section two of Being Heumann:

The 26 days of protest prior to the signing of the U.S. enabling legislation for Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 had numerous significant events. Select THREE events, describe them briefly, and explain what made each event you chose significant. Connect your events to at least TWO course concepts (two total, not two per event).

In your comment write about the following:

Compare your response to the group you commented on in terms of your similarities and differences. What have you learned from reading the other group’s response?  What, if anything surprised or frustrated you in the other group’s response? If nothing surprised or frustrated you, what points of agreement do you feel most relieved about? What lingering ambiguities do you have about collective disabled experience and embodied activism?

Prompts for Module 4

Respond to the following questions about section three of Being Heumann:

In Section Three, Heumann describes her experiences within several U.S. breakthroughs regarding disability rights (eg, IDEA, Section 504, ADA and the signing (but not ratifying) the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities-UNCRPD). Throughout this section she provides important background on how alliances and processes unfold which both help and hinder progress on disability rights. On page 194 she claims that lack of exposure to and lack of knowledge about disabled people are two of the main impediments to progress. Compare the U.S. breakthroughs to similar Canadian breakthroughs (eg, Section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, 1985; the Ontario Building Code Act, 1992; the AODA, 2005) and comment on the relevance of Heumann’s claims about lack of exposure and knowledge for the Canadian context.

Due dates for book response entries and comments

Module 2,3 & 4 weeks: RESPONSE entry by Tuesday; COMMENT by Saturday

Final Report and Analysis due at the end of the course. One submission per group, submitted as PDF.

Description

An infographic distills information into a digestible, picture-driven format that viewers can easily retain.  Infographics are visual representations of information that can include numbers, text, images, or any combination of the three.  Infographics use evidence and practice-based data, compelling statistics, easy-to-read fonts, complimentary color schemes, simple charts, bold graphs, and other graphics.  Effective infographics tell a story. Note that this assignment should include the option to create an infographic using described video – and, that all student infographics should contain text alternatives. Each infographic should also include a written transcript that provides the same information and a similar experience as the infographic.

To create in an online or hybrid course use PowerPoint, Canva, Piktochart, Infogr.am, Photoshop, Word, or an accessible HTML/CSS tool of a students’ choosing and have them submit the final assignment to the Learning Management System or Email.  The infographics can be shared with student peers through a Discussion Forum, Collaborative webspace/blog or via social media.

Rubric

Technology Used

To create: PowerPoint, Canva, Piktochart, Infogr.am, Photoshop, Word

To submit: Learning Management System, Email

Share via: LMS discussion forum, blog, collaborative online space, social media

Facilitation Tips

Creating an infographic enables students to develop skills in graphic design and data visualization.  Students also gain experience in using a different than usual mode to convey findings.

When students create infographics, they are using information, visual, and technology literacies.

An infographic assignment could be part of a scaffolded series of assignments with a focus on research.  Assignments should adequately scaffold students’ progress through the various steps involved in designing an infographic as a final product of the research process. Steps could include creating an annotated bibliography, a draft of the key points, and a sketch of the design

Finding an infographic in your field to analyze together with your class would be helpful for the students’ success.

Through an infographic students may learn how to a digital tool to share knowledge and resources, engage critically and effectively with media and images, find, select, use, and combine information from a range of sources, communicate effectively through visuals and in writing (digital literacy, creation, curation, communication, critical analysis)

Students or teams of students create infographics as a way to teach their peer

Student reflections

“The infographic assignment was a great experience. It allowed me to be creative since there wasn’t anything done on my topic. It allowed me to use a new technological tool and to my surprise, it was easy! The short video tutorials online helped me to explain how it all works. I really liked the canvas online because it was simple and organized. Although this was my first time making an infographic, it didn’t take as much time as I had thought. The best part was sharing my work online and even with my peers.”

“This was scary! I was first introduced to infographics in this class, and it took me a while to understand them. At first, I thought it was just a bunch of pictures and key words and phrases. To my surprise, creating this infographic was hard work; not the actual creation of it, but the amount of research I had to do. Infographics actually contain a lot of information and also intelligently uses the images to prove the point. I was nervous at first because I was used to writing a report. This was a great way to understand the conflicts and I got to learn a new tool. I will definitely use this next year to impress my peers and professors!”

Example from course

Decide on one health topic as the foundation for creating an infographic.  For example, sleep disordered breathing among adolescents, mental health and mental disorders in early life, or vision loss among older adults.  Upon selecting a topic, your group will develop an infographic to disseminate the topic in a way that effectively communicates with diverse audiences (i.e., media, scientists, non-scientists, non-disciplinary experts, disciplinary experts, policymakers, voters, etc.).

Description

Podcasts, which can include audio, video, PDF and ePub files can be subscribed to and downloaded through web syndication or streamed online to a computer or mobile device. Educational podcasts can be used for those who want to learn through audio lectures, discussion, and interviews.

The Podcast Assignment is done in groups, and is devoted to exploring the portrayal of key concepts in the news media and linking concepts to course material.  Students are required to get approval for their topic in advance of commencing the research and recording.  Within the first 10 seconds of the podcast, each student in the group is expected to state their name.  Introductions should be followed by the title or concept that they will discuss.  The remaining time is spent discussing the fundamental concepts, including those covered during lectures.  Group members should divide their effort accordingly – be it writing, speaking or production roles. Students are encouraged to interview other experts on the topic, and other content to bring into the podcast.  Podcasts are to be about 4-5 minutes long, but can be flexible depending on group size and assignment expectations.

Rubric

Each of the following criteria is graded between 0 (poorly done) to 5 (excellent) for a total out of 25 points.

1. Format & Quality (length of podcast, sound quality, all group members given equal time)
2. Broad coverage of course concepts (introduction and explanation of broader topic, overview of portrayal in news media
3. Link to fundamental concepts (links to lecture content, links to other course materials)
4. Synthesis, integration (all parts of podcast linked together, evidence of deeper critical thinking about the topic, opinions presented and discussed)
5. Creativity (effort to make podcast interesting, fun, entertaining, evidence of creative thinking)

Technology Used

To create: Garage Band, Windows Voice Recorder, Audacity, Soundtrap, YouTube

To stream/host: PodBean, Kaltura, SoundCloud, Youtube

To submit: Learning Management System, Email

Facilitation Tips

• Podcasts are an effective form of group work.
• In some cases, groups could not find some time to work together, so individuals were able to record sections separately and merge them together after the fact
• Students had no complaints or technical issues.  They were all able to access software and hardware for this assignment, and uploading assignments to the learning management system was smooth
• Ideal as a student assessment tool, especially when class sizes make written assignments unmanageable
• Enjoyable to grade
• Allows students to exhibit creative talents that they otherwise would not get to explore in the ecology class
• Podcasts were effective at assessing how students were engaged with the course content
• Explaining ecological concepts is difficult and requires a deep and intimate knowledge of the content.  “Teaching” in the form of a podcast, is an excellent way to learn
• Be sure to refer to the criteria in the rubric by which the podcast will be assessed
• When finished, upload the podcast to the learning management system (assignment drop box)
• The podcast must include the following: an introduction, some background music in the podcast somewhere, at least two people speaking (to increase auditory interest), a conclusion

Course Example

McGill University.  Professor Chris Buddle.  ENVB 305 Population & Community Ecology

Environmental Biology: Interactions between organisms and their environment; historical and current perspectives in applied and theoretical population and community ecology. Principles of population dynamics, feedback loops, and population regulation. Development and structure of communities; competition, predation, and food web dynamics. Biodiversity science in theory and practice. The “Ecology Podcast’ was an assignment in this course and was aimed at exploring the portrayal of ecological concepts in the news media and linking concepts to fundamental ecological concepts, including those discussed during lectures.

https://soundcloud.com/chris-buddle/snow-geese

Description

While we are advocating for new assessment forms in this guide, it is important to realize that we are not saying that we should completely abandon the good old tradition of exams. It may be the case that a test or exam is the best tool to assess your course material and the kind of learning you expect from your students. Or, perhaps an exam is required for certain professional accreditation or designation. However, this next exemplar, achieved a middle ground between a traditional versus contemporary form of examination.

Imagine a conventional exam. Now make it, semi-take home. This alternative assessment tool was administered in an advanced third year psychology course. The course focused on a select set of themes that have shaped the study of human memory over the past half century. These themes were considered in light of contemporary research that encourage critical analysis of widely held beliefs about human memory. The two main objectives of the course were:

• To provide students with an overview of the research literature on human memory.
• To foster the development of research skills.

These objectives were addressed in part through synchronous lectures on selected topic articles, and in part through synchronous and asynchronous discussion. In addition, students were required to read a set of original research articles, contribute to discussions, and to either write short position papers or lead oral discussions based on those articles. But the main assessment tool that will be discussed further is the examination method administered in this class.

Both the midterm and final exam accounted for 25% and 35%, respectively, of the entire course grade. They were devised, in part, of short answer questions, worth two marks per question, that tested students’ knowledge of key concepts covered in lectures, the topic articles, or both. The short questions targeted relatively well-covered concepts such that preparation for these questions aimed at understanding concepts and not memorizing detail. Moreover, in the short answers portion, students were asked to apply and connect constructs taught about human memory to real-world experience. This encouraged answers to the short answer questions that are different across students. Ideally, if students attended lectures and read the topic articles, they should be able to readily apply their learning and knowledge of learned constructs to their personal experience.

Furthermore, the second part of the exams posed essay style questions, which were given to students a week ahead of the exam date. Students were provided with four possible essay style test questions, two of which appeared on the exam. Students were encouraged to prepare answers to the essay questions beforehand, and simply submit them at the time of the exam. This strategy would allow students to dedicate almost all of their time to answering the short answer questions.

Importantly, students were told that they may benefit from discussing the essay style questions with colleagues, and in fact such discussions were strongly encouraged to the extent that they helped students to integrate relevant conceptual ideas that were discussed in the course. However, it was made clear that under no circumstances should this collaboration take the form of sharing prepared written answers to the exam questions. All note taking and written preparation for the exam should be a product of students’ own thinking about the study questions, even in cases in which those thoughts have been aided by discussion of conceptual issues with other students.

Note that both short and long answers were not timed, students could move backwards to read previously completed items, and also could read ahead to anticipate and plan ahead. Also, to achieve good marks for the essay questions, students could not simply wrote down a “jumble” of facts related to the question asked. Students should spend their time thinking about how to structure an argument that answers the question clearly and concisely. One answer structure that might be suggested to students is an introductory paragraph that introduced the main issue, followed by one or two paragraphs that contained the body of answer, and a concluding summary paragraph. The target word length for the essay answers was 250-400 words. Any content that exceeded 400 words was not considered for grading.

This is an “open book” exam; students could use their notes, recorded lectures, topic articles, or research articles to aid in answering all questions. Moreover, students were allowed to discuss the essay questions with colleagues and prepare written answers prior to the exam. Those prepared answers to the essay questions can be cut and pasted into this form.

However, under no circumstances could students discuss any exam questions, short answers or essays, with colleagues during the exam.  They are to complete all questions on the exam without consulting with colleagues.  In addition, answers could not reflect anyone’s writing but their own.

Rubric

Technology Used

• Any online platform that enables online student discussion
• The one used in this exemplar was the D2L/Brightspace Learning Management System Course Discussion Forum
• Any online platform that enables administration of an exam online
• The one used in this exemplar was the D2L/Brightspace Learning Management System

Facilitation Tips

Grading is a major barrier when it comes to formulating an assessment. There is a limit to the number of hours a TA or instructor should be spending grading midterms. However, with this examination format, one major benefit is that you get your students to think about and formulate a response to a multitude of questions covering almost all units, while you only spend time grading a handful that actually appear on the exam.

Importantly, this assessment format encourages student interaction. When given the questions, students are encouraged to meet and discuss their answers with their colleagues. This stimulates the deep and meaningful discussion among students, where they can bounce off ideas, learn from each other, as well as apply their learning in class. The type of discussion encouraged and supported by this assessment format is the kind sought after and expected of graduate level students. In that sense, this course is ideal for students thinking about pursuing graduate studies.

It should be mentioned that particular attention should be paid when it comes to communicating expectations for responses. Your instruction and rubric should not be so specific as to box-in or limit your students’ responses. It should provide them with enough information to understand that they must, for example, provide you with an overview of the paper, adopt a nice narrative, and talk about implications. However, it should not be so specific that it would prevent your students from using their own creativity when it comes to discussing conceptual links and theories.

Example from course

McMaster University. Dr. Bruce Milliken. PSYCH 3VV3 – Human Memory

Description

The Minute Paper takes – well, just about a minute – and while usually used at the end of class, it can be used at the end of any topic discussion.  The Minute Paper is a formative strategy and participation in the activity is normally not assessed, but it could be considered as part of a participation grade.

Between ending a synchronous session or an asynchronous lesson, ask students to submit a quick one-minute paper/response about what was discussed in class.  Give students time to submit  and set a deadline (such as by the end of the day or immediately after session or lesson).  They work well at the end or the beginning of class serving either as a warm-up or wrap-up activity.  If it is a wrap-up activity, consider giving students a heads-up at the start of the class that this will be included so they have time to process their thoughts throughout the lecture/lesson. Minute Papers can be used frequently in courses that regularly present students with a great deal of new information.

Minute papers are most useful in large lecture or lecture/discussion courses, although the technique can be easily adapted to other settings, i.e., lab session, study-group meeting, field trip, homework assignment, videotape.

Responses can be submitted using text, or audio. Use a text-entry assignment on a learning management system, so students don’t need to figure out uploading a short document, Google Docs, Polling Software: Mentimeter, PollEverywhere, Zoom, MS Teams, Socrative, Miro. Many LMS systems also support submission of an audio file as a response.

Rubric

Technology Used

To create: Use a text-entry assignment on a learning management system using an anonymous discussion forum thread, online form submission or classroom response software. These may include Google Docs/Forms, Microsoft Forms, or Polling Software/functionality available through Mentimeter, PollEverywhere, Zoom, MS Teams, Socrative, Miro, etc.

To submit: Learning Management System, online form, classroom response platform, web conferencing poll tool, Email

Facilitation Tips

The Minute Paper’s major advantage is that it provides rapid feedback on whether the instructor’s main idea and what the students perceived as the main idea are the same.  By asking students to add a question at the end, this assessment becomes an integrative task.  Students first organize their thinking to rank the major points and then decide upon a significant question.  Instead of asking for the main point, the professor may probe for the most disturbing or most surprising item.  The Minute Paper is a very adaptable tool.

• Innumerable Formats: Signed, Anonymous, At the beginning, Midway through the class, At the end, Individual, Collaborative, Graded, Ungraded, Paper, Online
• Provides quick, simple way to collect feedback
• Quick to administer and easy to analyze
• Useful in large classrooms when interaction is minimal
• Allow students to reflect on their learning experience
• Encourage active learning that is recognized as best
• Students know that their instructor values their opinions

Sample Questions

Instructors can use all or a combination of the following questions, depending on their teaching goals and time alloted. If you truly do have one minute, one or two is sufficient.

1. What are the two [three, four, five] most significant [central, useful, meaningful, surprising, disturbing] things you have learned from the lecture?
2. What question(s) remain uppermost in your mind?
3. Is there anything you do not fully understand? If yes, what?
4. What questions remain unanswered?
5. When you hear the word________________________, what is the first thing that comes in your head?
6. Why is today’s topic of ____ important?
7. List three types of the__________________________?
8. Write your reaction to the lecture so far?
9. What is the most important thing you learned in class today?

Description

The practice of ‘curating’ – the selective collecting of other people’s work – rather than creating content has become popular in a number of fields, including education. Although curation can be automated, based on tags or other metadata, it’s more common to add a human touch when curation is used in teaching. It actually takes a great deal of expertise to carefully choose, sequence and annotate resources in a way that makes the curated collection meaningful to learners.

For this assignment, students will design a lesson on a topic related to the course disciplinary topic (either included in the course content or one of their own choosing – it is up to the instructor to determine) by curating existing resources from the web. They will decide on a learning goal that they want their (imagined) audience to achieve and then, using a web-based curation tool or practice, create a curated collection from web-based resources that they select to support the goal of your lesson.

Ask students to imagine that they are trying to teach someone else about something – for example, the physical properties of sound or the Idle No More movement: what is essential that others know in order to understand the topic? Do they require other background information before being introduced to key ideas? What perspectives should be represented? How can a lesson provide answers to those questions using existing web-based resources?

As students are working through the assignment, instructors should recommend the approach below:

A note on curation tools

Students will use a curation tool (their call on which one, but a few options include Padlet, Wakelet, Diigo and Google Keep) to organize and display their lesson on the web. Next:

• Choose a topic related to the course disciplinary area/content:
  • they should know enough about the topic to feel comfortable teaching it, but they don’t yet have to be an expert – trying to teach something is a great way to learn more about it
  • the topic shouldn’t be so specific or esoteric that it is difficult to find resources about it
  • they may want to use the same topic as you have chosen for other course assignments, as this will give them a good opportunity to find some useful resources for it.
• Identify a learning goal for their lesson to achieve:
  • setting a specific learning goal for the lesson will help students to narrow the scope of their search for resources to a manageable size; compare what’s available for ‘Typography’ with ‘Learning how to create a hand-lettered font
  • consider their audience; for example, what level of learner are they planning their lesson for? What prior knowledge are they assuming their learners have? In most cases, they will likely be creating a lesson for beginners but if they have significant expertise in their topic, they can be more particular about who their learners might be.
• Select web resources relevant to the learning goal:
  • start by collecting a larger number of web resources that they can whittle down according to how well they fit with their learning goal and in the overall collection (e.g. avoid duplicating information)
  • ‘web-based resources’ can include websites, videos, a game or simulation, a twitter list, a blog, a quiz, etc.
  • try to vary the types of resources included, ensure they are accessible, and that they are not all from the same source (e.g. a lesson on the history of NASA that only includes links to the NASA website)
  • engage with their critical appraisal strategies and use resources that are academically sound and credible. We encourage them to include at least one open access journal reference.
• Decide how the resources should be sequenced in the collection.
  • draw from their own experience of learning the topic to think about sequencing – in what order should they present the resources to the learner? Are there certain resources that should precede others? Is the lesson a conversation between multiple viewpoints? Or a step-by-step manual?
• Write an annotation for each of the resources:
  • annotations are short (1-2 lines maximum) descriptions or explanations of the resource
  • oftentimes, curated resources aren’t exactly made-to-measure for their purposes and they can use the annotation to direct the learner as to how they want learners to interact with the resource (“Focus on the section about…” or “Note that the video is describing an American context: how might it be different in Canada?”, etc.)
• Add a brief statement that describes the purpose of the lesson and any additional elements that will make the lesson more coherent as a collection:
  • write an opening statement that will help orient the learner to the lesson you’ve created – it should be no longer than a paragraph
  • students can use graphics, metadata tags, speech-to-text audio, described video or other details and strategies to enhance the learning experience of the lesson

To sum up, to  successfully complete this assignment, students are required to:

1. Purposefully select 8 to 10 resources
2. Write annotations for the individual resources and a brief statement which contextualizes the collection as a whole
3. Use a web-based curation tool as the ‘container’ for the collection

Rubric

This assignment will be graded based on the following criteria: (max 5 points for each item for a total of 35 possible points)

• relevance
  • is the learning goal meaningful, and clearly defined on the rationale form? Are the selected resources relevant to the learning goal?
• sequencing
  • is the collection of resources sequenced in a logical way? Is there a sound reason given for the sequencing?
• annotation
  • are the annotations useful in helping the learner determine what the purpose of the resource is? Can a general idea of what the resource is be determined by the annotation alone?
• clarity
  • how readable are all of the written elements created for the collection (i.e. annotations and other descriptive text)? Are there spelling mistakes or grammar errors? Is the tone of the writing appropriate for the audience?
• quality
  • is the collection of resources credible (think back to the CRAAP detection worksheet from Unit 2) and of good academic quality?
• user experience
  • how user-friendly is the collection? Do all of the links work? Are there any accessibility barriers with using the collection? Has there been some consideration of the aesthetics of the collection’s presentation?
• fulfillment of assignment requirements
  • does the assignment meet the requirements outlined above? Are there 8 to 10 curated resources in the collection, and are they presented through a web-based curation tool? Has the rationale form been completed?

Technology Used

To create: Up to the student but suggested platforms are Wakelet, Diigo, Padlet, and Google Keep as these are accessible curation platforms. If you do use a different curation tool, check it for accessibility.

To submit: Learning Management System, Email

Facilitation Tips

Example from course:

McMaster University: Digital Literacy for Learning (Devon Mordell & Joanne Kehoe, instructors)

• present course content using visual, auditory (graphic, and verbal) formats:
• comprehensive print and electronic syllabus specifying course requirements, course expectations, and due dates
• use an organizer to highlight essential course concepts
• ensure accessibility of course content and materials by using accessible documents and websites (today’s session):
• provide captions for videos
• select open educational resources/material that offer rich media options

Description

Papers and tests are a couple of ways for students to demonstrate what they know, but not the only methods. Using a multimodal project as an assessment in a course is a valuable culminating assignment alternative. It can represent the accumulation, distillation and dissemination of knowledge a student has gained in the course.

For this final multimodal project, students must incorporate elements from at least 3 key topics or units of the course. Students are then given a choice of project options based on their preferences and interests:

• a multimodal presentation on a topic/unit discussed during the course;
• a multimodal narrative of your development as a learner in the course; OR
• a media artefact (video, website, podcast, video game, etc.) that teaches a complex concept in the course to a general audience

Guidelines

Each of the options for the final project is discussed in greater detail below:

A multimodal presentation on a topic discussed during the course

Multimodal refers to the use of two or more communication modes. In this assessment example, the modes should be digital in nature. This could involve the use of images, text, video, audio, webpages, presentation slides, animation, blogs, e-book, etc. This assessment reflects the principles of universal design for learning by giving choice and encouraging diversity around the modes of representation.

The topic students select can be taken from any of the units covered in the course, but must also incorporate or reference material from at least three units of the course in total – to represent the depth as well as the breadth of knowledge acquired. Students are expected to do additional research to build on what has been discussed in class and to make meaningful connections with the reference material from the other unit topics chosen; that is, students will present a deeper or more specific treatment of the topic.

A multimodal narrative of your development as a learner in the course

Using a mutimodal approach as outlined in the previous option, you will develop a narrative that examines the experiences in your life (and this course!) that have impacted your learning experience in the course and your understanding of the course subject. Students might want to start with a reflection on what the course topics meant to them at the start of the course (a good welcome module activity by the way),  and focus on how that changed (or didn’t!) throughout the course.

A media artefact (video, website, podcast, video game, etc.) that teaches a complex concept covered in the course

Students will create a media artefact to teach someone else (making the assumption that they have not been exposed to this concept) a complex concept from the course. The ability to communicate what they know in a clear, compelling manner is a key competency of knowledge translation and students may want to retain this as a useful portfolio item, depending on their career plans.

Requirements:

• Final Multimodal Project Proposal
• Final Multimodal Project

Final Multimodal Project Proposal

Multimodal projects, like any scholarly endeavour, take time and careful consideration, and the proposal stage gives students and the instructor the opportunity to have a conversation about what they are planning before students get too far into making it. The project proposal should be required about ¾ of the way through the course; if, as an instructor, you are following the advice of “after week 8, consolidate,” that is an ideal time to make this proposal due.

Multimodal Final Project Proposal Metadata Document

The project metadata document helps the instructor understand the student’s thinking as they develop their final project, as well as encouraging them to reflect upon why they are making certain design decisions. It should be about 2 to 3 pages in length and should be submitted twice – several weeks prior to the final project deadline and along with the final version of the project (with the self-evaluation/reflection piece added in). The proposal metadata document should include the following:

Feedback and Critique

Students will also see and give feedback to their classmates during a final project showcase that they can use to make some refinements to their project before submitting it for assessment.

Feedback and critique sessions with peers are incredibly helpful to identify the strengths of the project and areas for improvement. The experience of giving feedback, however, is just as invaluable, because it develops and refines analytical skills which students can then apply to their own work as they self-assess it.

Final Project Details

The final project will be presented / provided to the class (the method used for this example was the Learning Management System Discussion Forum), with students then engaging in a feedback and critique process.Students are expected to comment on three peers during this time frame.

Students will then submit the final version of their project to a final project assignment folder by the end of the class.

In the final project, students are required to integrate concepts from at least three units in the course. Otherwise, the parameters of the project are fairly flexible. Students should take advantage of the proposal stage to have a conversation with the course instructor about their project to ensure that they are on the right track.

The length requirements vary widely depending on the project concept and the media used. For example, it takes considerably longer to animate a video or create an HTML5 game than to put together a pecha kucha presentation; likewise, if they are creating all of their images as opposed to using appropriated images. A few suggested guidelines for project length are given below, but they are *approximate* – if students have any concerns about whether your project is too long or too short, check in with the course instructor. Ultimately, students should aim to spend about 15 to 20 hours over the course of the term on the development of their final project.

• A two- to five-minute animated video
• A 10 to 15 minute podcast or recorded presentation
• A multiple-page website
• A one-level game

Due dates for the showcase and the submission of the final project are to be finalized based on the schedule of the class.

Evaluation Criteria

One tested approach to the evaluation of the multimodal culminating  project was to give it three distinct evaluation components: the final project proposal (5% of final grade), participation in the feedback & critique process (5% of final grade) and the project itself (30% of final grade). In total, the three components were worth 40% of a final mark in the course.

The proposal and participation components are effectively pass / fail, though substandard efforts may be penalized (i.e. if parts of the proposal are left incomplete or little feedback is given during the showcase).

The final project itself was evaluated based on the following criteria (items can be weighted equally or adjusted):

• project concept
  • is the concept of the project well-thought out? Is it approached creatively? Does it reflect a nuanced understanding of course topics?
• translation
  • how successfully is the project concept executed? Does the project reflect a clear authorial voice? Is the ‘message’ of the project focused and scholarly?
• integration of course concepts
  • does the project integrate course concepts in a meaningful and logical way? Does it go beyond summary to analyze, build on or critique the concepts?
• design
  • are the aesthetics of the project consistent throughout? Do they reflect an intentional approach to designing the user experience of the project? Are they appropriate for both the concept and the medium?
• technical
  • are there any technical errors in the project? Is it easy to use and functional? Is the selected tool appropriate for the project concept?
• mechanics
  • are there any spelling or grammar errors in written text? Are references given for works cited? Are the sources of any copied media properly acknowledged?
• fulfillment of assignment requirements
  • does the project incorporate concepts from at least three units of the course? Does it use multimedia to communicate a concept or narrative? Has the project metadata document been submitted?
• incorporation of feedback
  • does the submitted project incorporate feedback from the proposal & showcase phases? (to be addressed in the project metadata document)

Technology Used

The nature of the multimodal assignment is for students to choose what technology they prefer to use. If students are unfamiliar with what to use, consider what tools are supported institutionally, or check out the list of the top tools for learning created and maintained by Jane Hart. Ensure that the platform selected meets accessibility standards (Google and Microsoft apps offer this assurance).

Facilitation Tips

This assignment was created and used in the Digital Literacy for Learning undergraduate course. Effective integration tips include introducing the assignment and its expectations early on in the course and revisiting it as the class moves through content. Because the project included a self-evaluation / reflection, the assignment received pointed feedback, which was overwhelmingly positive, with many remarking that it was quite different than what they’d been exposed to previously throughout their education and their appreciation for the autonomy and choice over how the project was created. Because this course included units on multimedia for learning and exposure to various tools used to create multimedia artefacts, students were at an advantage. The course also included a learning portfolio requirement, which many used to host and feature their project. If integrating this assignment into a course, consider the ways students may need to be supported from the technical side, or make it clear that they should choose tools they are familiar with.

Student Examples

The Science of Aging and Immortality (by Robert Etherington)

Conversion Tips (by Sarosha Imtiaz)

Description

An annotated bibliography is a list of citations to sources (books, articles, websites, films etc.) that used to research a topic that includes a summary and evaluation of each source.

• Divide students into groups (self-select or random group assignment) of 4-6.
• Each group member will be responsible for finding three scholarly articles on the topic that will eventually be combined with the articles found by group members and formatted in one online, collaborative Annotated Bibliography
• Each group member must have different sources
• Articles must be scholarly sources that are at least 4 pages in length, not including the works cited page
• Resource Types can be varied – an instructor could require all to be journal articles or vary the types (e.g., website, book, peer-reviewed article, primary resource). Note the rubric example is built using a variety of content resource types as one of the criteria and can be modified.
• Group members are responsible for reading the sources that the group members find
• Once the group has selected their sources, they should cite them in the citation format indicated (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago) and annotate each of them
• Annotations should consist of a minimum of 250 words total (for reference, summary and analysis/reflection)
• Clearly indicate what annotation style references students should use and provide a citation guide link for their reference.
• Summary of the source should provide a brief account of the research article.
• The analysis/reflection should consider the resource’s strengths and limitations, as well as how useful it is to the research topic.

Rubric

Technology Used

To create: Collaborative document, presentation or curation platform of choice (Microsoft Word, Google Docs, PowerPoint, Zotero). Students can submit as a text-only document or be provided with the option to submit in the format of their choice – text, audio, video.

To submit: Online course assignment submission via link or file within a course Learning Management System.

Facilitation Tips

• Annotated Bibliographies are an effective form of group or individual work
• Excellent preparation for a research project
• Allows students to develop their literature research, writing, critical reading, analysis, thesis development, thorough understanding of sources, and citation management skills
• Readers, researchers, or instructors reading an annotated bibliography will get a snapshot of the important details that they need to know about each source
• Ask students to upload the annotated bibliography to the learning management system (assignment drop box) and ideally, share with other students through an open tool link (etc., Google Doc)
• Be sure to refer to the criteria in the rubric by which the annotated bibliography will be assessed

Example Annotation from Course REFERENCE: Blanchard, Paula.  Sarah Orne Jewett: Her World and Her Work.  New York: Addition-Wesley Publishing Company, 1994. SUMMARY: Part of the Radcliffe Biography Series, which publishes the life stories of prominent American women, Blanchard’s book is the definitive biography on Jewett. As her subtitle implies, she not only seeks to illuminate the events of Jewett’s life, but also to contextualize her writings and provide a critical reading of her most famous works. Many of the chapters in Blanchard’s biography are devoted specifically to major texts, such as Deephaven, The Country of the Pointed Firs, and The Tory Lover. Blanchard provides background on Jewett’s writing process (such as where she wrote and the degree of revisions she made) as well as brief literary analyses. Most of Blanchard’s chapters are centered on key relationships and themes in Jewett’s own life. Blanchard argues that it is only by thoroughly situating Jewett in her historical moment that we can understand her literary work, thereby issuing a critique of scholars who claim we can study Jewett’s canon in isolation. ANALYSIS & REFLECTION: Particularly useful for my project are the chapters that discuss Jewett’s coterie of literary friends in New England and her close relationship with Annie Fields. In a chapter entitled, “Neither Marrying Nor Giving in Marriage,” Blanchard seeks to uncover Jewett’s own motivations for remaining single, as well as place Jewett’s single status within the scholarly conversation about nineteenth-century unmarried women. She aligns herself with both Carroll Smith-Rosenberg and Lillian Faderman in saying that Jewett’s personal friendships and relationships with women (as well as male family members) were sufficiently fulfilling for her and therefore precluded a desire to marry. I will use Blanchard’s text in my paper to support my argument that unmarried women were deeply enmeshed in their communities, rather than being social pariahs stigmatized as “old maids.” I will also use some aspects of Blanchard’s argument as a point of departure, however, as I disagree with her claim that women’s close female friendships precluded marriage. Rather, I see Jewett’s friendships as helping her craft a meaningful life as a single woman instead of inhibiting her desire or ability to marry.

Description

This next exemplar showcases an combination of individual and collaborative work, used in a class taught by McMaster University instructor Dr. Joanne Wilson, who integrated a twist on an otherwise conventional group project. This alternative assessment form was administered in an advanced seminar style course focusing on current topics in physiology. The course was updated during the COVID-19 pandemic to be administered online with both synchronous and asynchronous components. Students were required to read one research article per week in preparation for a synchronous seminar style lecture led by a guest speaker. To build individual and class understanding of the research topic contained in the article, a group assignment was integrated, which contained three distinct components:

• Group Video Presentations on key topics in the article and Class Discussion Facilitation
• Individual Report
• Individual Annotated Bibliography

Video Presentation

To ensure the classes’ understanding of the major research topic introduced in the article, a small group of students were assigned each week’s paper. This group was to prepare a series of short video presentations about the paper, the physiological system, species of interest, methods/techniques, and major findings. These presentations were delivered as a series of short asynchronous videos (1 per student – so in a group of 5 students, there would be 5 videos) for the class to watch in advance of the synchronous lecture.

“The goal of the student videos is to prepare the class for the speaker and ensure that everyone in the class understands the topic in physiology to be discussed that week. Please note that the goal is NOT to go over every aspect of the paper but to ensure the class understands the paper.” Dr. Wilson.

Note that presenters were instructed to emphasize aspects of the paper (e.g., methods) that may be unfamiliar to students from other course work or faculty in their group presentations. Groups consisted of 2-4 students, but depending on class enrolment may change. While the videos were individual, they were coordinated for content across the group to provide a cohesive series and accomplish the group goal. Presenting students were also to moderate the discussion boards for the 2 days prior to the synchronous lecture. Presenting students should be prepared to answer questions from other students and lead the discussion.

There are components of the group presentations which are both group and individual work to accommodate students working remotely. Groups have flexibility in how much they integrate and work together but there must be some minimum coordination across each group. Below we have outlined the components of the assessment that is in group versus individual form.

Group coordination:

• The group must decide the topics to cover for the paper/topic
• The group must decide who will be responsible for each topic
• The presentations should coordinate and work together to achieve the common goal of preparing the class for the speaker and ensure better understanding of the research paper
• For each paper/speaker, the topics may change but could include: research questions, physiological system, species of interest, techniques used/methods, results and implications of the project
• The goal is NOT to summarize the paper in the videos but to provide support to the class to understand the paper better. For example, if the paper focuses on a physiological system well covered in a prerequisite course you don’t need to describe it BUT if it covers a physiological system you know nothing about then you should describe it.

Individual work:

• Each student in the group will research material related to the paper and topic.
• Each student in the group will prepare an individual video on their topic; based on the scope/content agreed upon within the group.
• Each student in the group will also write a report and annotated bibliography due one week after the guest lecture for their assigned research article.

Flexibility in group work:

• Groups are welcome to work in an integrated fashion to review slides, coordinate the video topics, decide content, develop scripts.
• If groups are struggling with integration, they are free to work more individually on their videos so long as they have ensured some base coordination of topics so that the videos do not overlap and work well together.
• This flexibility in how much the group works together is to better support students working remotely. Each group will be different and even individuals in the group may choose different levels of involvement. It is really up to you how much you want to work together.

Individual videos should be 10 minutes maximum; overall total of all videos should be a maximum of one hour, depending on group size. More than one hour of video will be too much asynchronous work for the lecture component. Videos should have rational titles so it is obvious what the content is, and groups should specify if they want the class to watch them in a particular order. Presenters should make sure that the videos are accessible with reasonable fonts, easy to read with high contrast and captions and transcripts are accurate and available to ensure they are easy to view by all. Videos are due for upload a week BEFORE the guest speaker to ensure students have sufficient time to watch the videos prior to the next synchronous lecture slot.

Class discussion

Students will be posting questions about the video content and paper on our Microsoft Teams channel as a part of their participation grade. Each week, individuals in the presenting group should moderate this channel to answer questions and lead the class discussion online. If the questions are specific to content in a particular video, that specific presenter should be trying to answer these but also aiming to try to contribute more generally to the topic. Discussion Boards should be more heavily moderated on the weekend. Students are welcome to post earlier but the expectation for the group is to be monitoring weekends to ensure questions are addressed before class.

Rubric

INDIVIDUAL REPORT: OUTSIDE JEB ARTICLE:

Each student will write an individual report due one week after their presentation (max 2 pages, single spaced). This will be based on the assigned paper. They should be written in the style of a “journal feature” such as the “Outside JEB” section of the Journal of Experimental Biology (http://jeb.biologists.org). Rather than trying to write for a specialist audience, students should write their report in such a way that it is interesting and easily understood by an undergraduate biology audience. The written report should distill the paper’s main findings, most interesting work, OR implications for a broader field and have a clear point of view; this should not simply summarize the paper section by section.

Annotated Bibliography

In this example, each student also completed an annotated bibliography, due one week after their presentation. The annotated bibliography should list all the pertinent publications that the student read to prepare the video and report. Full bibliographic details should be provided along with ~5 bullet points detailing the main points of the publication and critical data it provided for the seminar and report; students need to document what they used the publication for. An example of an annotated bibliography should be provided to the students ahead of time. Do not add extraneous publications as the point is not to have the most publications listed but to demonstrate that you have read a number of important papers related to your topic and can distill the critical information from the paper for your work.

Facilitation Tips

Instructor’s feedback

• What were some key goals/course objectives that you had in mind when creating these assessment tool(s) in specific group presentations?
• What are some key advantages to using this assessment tool?
• What are some challenges to using this assessment tool?

Student feedback

Looking back at my undergraduate career, this course, and in particular this assessment form stands out the most to me. It was one of the courses that best prepared me for my current graduate career. While I did not pursue my masters in the field of biology or physiology, rather in cognitive psychology, the research, writing, presentation, and analytical skills I picked up from this course benefit me to this day and are ones that are easily generalizable to jobs in the real world. The assignment is structured such that for one week in the course, your group is the class expert. You are able to bounce off ideas with your teammates, engage in deep conversations about the main points of the paper, as well as exchange secondary research articles to help you with your presentation, annotation, and understanding. I particularly loved how the degree to which you engage in collaborative versus individual work is to some extent up to the group to decide. Moreover, the constructive and hands on feedback from the professor during our meeting in the week prior to presentation upload was extremely helpful.

Description

A formative assessment leading to a summative activity on a simulation of a real-world task. This business trip exercise allows students in a business admin-type course to develop transferable skills that can be applied to future workplace.

Description for students (Example 1)

You are asked to plan a business trip for Ms. Johanne Trudeau, Director of the Sudbury office. She will be travelling with her colleague, Mr. Lapointe. They are scheduled to meet on the third Tuesday of next month at 1, Yonge Street, in Toronto. Ms. Trudeau and Mr. Lapointe will be asked to make a short presentation at the meeting, which begins at 10:30 a.m. They will take advantage of this trip to meet a client at 2:00 p.m. at Humber College and end their day at a hotel where you will have to make reservations.

Knowing that you must settle all the details of the trip as quickly as possible, you promptly send her the information. According to office policies, you must reserve a room for Mr. Lapointe and one for Ms. Trudeau; however, the trips to Toronto will be done jointly.

Ms. Trudeau will leave from the office, as it is company policy that employees must leave from the workplace. You must thus make these arrangements for her:

• Transportation to the Sudbury airport
• A flight from Sudbury to Toronto
• Transportation from the airport to 1, Yonge Street, for the meeting
• Transportation to her meeting at 205, Humber College Blvd.
• Transportation to the hotel (which you have confirmed)
• Add any other information that you consider important or relevant

Note: In order to save Ms. Trudeau time and to be of service to her, you decide to include a list of restaurants near their meeting place. It is also important to ensure that breakfast is included in the hotel room package.

Instructions

Note: This activity is a simulation. You must do the research and gather the necessary information, but do not confirm the reservations. For simulation evaluation purposes, perform the following steps, in point form, in a Word document of no more than two (2) pages:

1. Create the itinerary based on the example found in Section 8.4 of the course textbook and research the Internet to determine:
   1. The travel agenda
   2. Departure times and other travel
   3. Schedules including scheduled appointments and commitments
   4. Any other relevant information
2. Add evidence of your research in the form of screenshots pasted into a Word document, explaining the logic of your choices for each screenshot.
3. Justify any decisions you make about transportation, lodging and other options by providing all the details of the trip, and making sure they are legible and easy to find.
4. Submit the itinerary with all evidence and justification to your teacher.

Description for Students (Example 2)

You have organized the trip to the meeting for Ms. Trudeau and Mr. Lapointe at 1, Yonge Street, in Toronto. This morning, you are asked to make reservations for Ms. Tammy Francoeur to accompany them to the meeting.

Ms. Trudeau also asks you to make all the reservations for Ms. Francoeur, the Human Resources Manager, who works at the Sault Ste. Marie branch, and who will accompany them to this meeting. Ms. Tammy Francoeur’s assistant sends you an email with the following information:

Hello,
Here is the information that I was asked to send you regarding Ms. Tammy Francoeur’s upcoming trip to Toronto. Please note the following points:

• She wants to stay in the same hotel as Ms. Trudeau.
• She prefers a direct one-way flight, if possible.
• She will need extra luggage capacity.
• She would like a room with a king size bed.

Instructions

Note: This activity is a simulation. You must do the research and gather the necessary information, but do not confirm the reservations. Refer to the activity Planning a Business Trip.

1. Following the same procedures in this activity, prepare a travel itinerary for Ms. Francoeur.
2. Submit all the documents in the itinerary to your teacher.

Technology Used

• Computer
• Internet
• Word processing software (or other Microsoft software)
• Learning platform (Brightspace)

Facilitation Tips

Students appreciate that this activity is a simulation of a real-world task, which allows them to develop transferable skills.

Description

This assignment was created for a course in the Administrative Assistants college program. The assignment involved writing invitation letters in preparation for a professional event. This assignment is formative in nature, as all of the activities involved in preparing for this event scaffold towards the final culminating event. Note that this assignment was created at College Boréal and the resources linked are in French.

Description for Students (Example 1)

Scenario

Preparations for the organization of the professional event are well underway and it is now time to move on to the actual preparation of the professional documents related to the conference. You have been working at Les entreprises Excellence inc. for some time and your supervisor is calling on your expertise and talents. You will thus have the opportunity to showcase your skills by preparing professional-looking documents.

At this point in your administrative assistant career, you have had to prepare several different notices of meetings and invitations. The time has come to proceed with the logistical step of preparing for a professional event. The notice of meeting or invitation should provide all the information needed to ensure the event runs smoothly. You can use the templates for notices or invitation letters that you have already written to accomplish this task.

Instructions

PART 1: DRAFTING OF THE INVITATION (INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT)

Use the following resources to familiarize yourself with the terminology related to the activity:

• Généralités sur l’invitation (How to write an invitation letter)
• Protocole épistolaire (Letter writing protocols)

Consult the following invitation templates:

• Lettre d’invitation Conférence (Conference invitation letter)
• Invitation à un colloque (Symposium invitation)

Write an invitation letter that follows letter writing protocol and contains the following components:

1. Identity (your supervisor’s)
2. Invitation
3. Date
4. Recognizable branding (ex.: logos)
5. Logistical details
6. Invitation program (explains the conference)
7. Call to action (response, description of upcoming registration process, etc.)

Notes to consider:

• Make sure the letter is presented in a logical, sequential and concise manner and is in an accessible format.
• Check the rubric in the Reminders box to make sure you are following all the components of the invitation.
• Proofread your invitation using Antidote software to ensure that it is error-free and meets the standards of correct usage of written language, and to make all necessary corrections.
• Save your work according to the following nomenclature: Name_First Name_Invitation.
• You may include fictitious information for this purpose. However, whenever possible, include information that is real and relevant to your environment, e.g., agency names, hotel name, etc.

PART 2: FEEDBACK (COLLABORATIVE ASSIGNMENT)

Note: Your teacher will assign you a partner for this part.

1. Review the rubric in the Reminders box to familiarize yourself with the evaluation criteria of the invitation letter.
2. Consult your partner to determine which method of communication is best for you both to share information.
3. Share the invitation letter you wrote with your colleague. By doing so, your colleague’s invitation letter will be shared with you.
4. Read the invitation letter written by your colleague carefully.
5. Provide feedback by sharing corrections and areas for improvement in another document based on the criteria in the rubric. Be sure to make your feedback obvious and easy to find.
6. Make sure you are tactful and professional at all times in your interactions and comments.
7. Send the feedback containing corrections and areas for improvement to your colleague using the communication method you have chosen.

PART 3: PREPARATION OF THE FINAL COPY (INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT)

1. Review the comments and suggestions in the feedback your colleague shared with you.
2. Make any changes that you feel are appropriate and that you wish to make to your letter. If you feel that the comments and suggestions made by your colleague should not be applied to your work, be sure to tell your teacher and explain your reasoning. Be sure to make your comments obvious and easy to spot if applicable.
3. Proofread your invitation using Antidote software to ensure that it is error-free and meets the standards of correct usage of written language, and to make any necessary corrections.
4. Submit the following documents to the assignment folder (e.g., Dropbox in LMS)
   1. Your original copy of the assignment
   2. Your final copy
   3. The document containing the feedback you offered to your colleague
   4. The document containing the feedback provided to you

Rubric

Technology Used

• Computer
• Internet
• Word processing software (or other Microsoft software)
• Learning platform (Brightspace)

Facilitation Tips / Student Feedback

The management of the collaborative part must be explained to the students in order to ensure smooth running of the activity.

Students like the fact that they can work and collaborate asynchronously with their course colleagues. They realize that analyzing the work of others allows them to improve their own skills at the same time.

Description

This formative activity leads to the summative activity, which uses the same elements.

Instructions for Students (Example)

Your supervisor asks you to prepare an outline for the manual you are to develop. You are to plan what is to be included in the manual. You prepare an outline by developing an automatic table of contents with the components she has asked you to include. This outline will determine the nomenclature, information structure and format of the manual.

You receive the following email from your supervisor following her meeting with the Administrative Committee (AC).

From: marie.gagnon@entreprisesexcellence.ca

To: suzanne.paul@entreprisesexcellence.ca

Subject: Draft outline of the manual

Hello Suzanne,

As you know, we have been aware for some time that we need to develop a manual for our company’s employees. This procedures manual must be developed in collaboration with the company’s other departments.

I will create a OneDrive folder for us that will contain the files including all the information to include in the guide. Are you familiar with OneDrive or any other cloud system? I would like to present the plan at the next Board meeting, scheduled for next Monday. Can you send me a draft of the plan in the form of a table of contents to review by Monday morning? I am sharing with you the components that need to be in the manual in the attachment.

Thank you,

Marie

Attachment: Elements _manual_Excellence_inc

Instructions

You decide to present an outline to your supervisor that will eventually be used to develop the automatic table of contents for the employee manual. In addition, you feel it is important to familiarize yourself with the use of a storage and collaboration services such as OneDrive, as you realize that your supervisor will use it to share the content to be included in the manual in due course.

1. Review the following resources that deal with storage and collaboration service systems:
   1. Comment utiliser OneDrive (How to use OneDrive)
   2. ONE DRIVE – Son fonctionnement et que faire avec ? (OneDrive – How it works and how to use it)
2. Review the following resources on numbering headings using Word:
   1. Numéroter les titres (Numbering headings)
   2. Améliorez la lisibilité visuelle grâce aux titres et sous-titres (Improve visual readability with titles)
   3. Word : Numérotation automatique des titres (Word: Number your headings)
3. Prepare an outline of the manual that includes the components your supervisor has sent you by completing the following steps:
   1. Organize the elements by creating groups that work well together and follow the same theme.
   2. Classify all elements into headings, subheadings and other levels of styles that respect Word’s procedures

Notes for Students:

• The document created in this step becomes the basis for the employee manual you will develop.
• You will use this same document to add content and apply formatting to the guide.
• Evaluation of this activity will take place when the employee manual is handed over at the end of this module. Page Break

Possible Elements for Inclusion in the Employee Manual

• Title Page
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• New Employee Guide
• Word from the President
• Company Profile
• History
• Objective
• Mission
• Vision
• Values
• Administrative Services
• IT Services
• Finance Department
• Physical and Material Resources
• Health and Safety
• Emergency Measures
• Human Resources Department
• Role
• Bond of Trust and Confidentiality
• Human Resources Services
• Payroll Department
• Training Required by Law
• Employee Benefits and Pension Plan
• Employee Assistance Program
• Accessibility
• Other Services Available
• Cafeteria
• Parking
• Sports Centre
• Policies and Guidelines
• Human Respect and Workplace Violence
• Code of Conduct
• Budget
• Reimbursement of Expenses – Staff Members
• Reimbursement of Mileage
• Reimbursement of Accommodation
• Reimbursement and Meal Allowance
• Procurement Management and Purchasing of Goods – Staff Members
• Procurement procedures
• Bibliography

Rubric: Revising and Handing in the Manual

Technology Used

• Computer
• Internet
• Word processing software (or other Microsoft software)
• Learning platform (Brightspace)

Facilitation Tips

Provide a list of elements that could be part of the table of contents and the manual to the students.

Definition

This assessment was created for a business course at College Boréal and can be used in any course that includes an outcome related to writing a press release for a company as part of marketing/administrative responsibilities and skill-building. The course example used had the following learning outcome: Write a press release using an objective writing style that is respectful of the Associated Press style and the inverted pyramid style of writing.

Description for Students (Example from course)

Context

It has been six months since Erika implemented changes to innovate and modernize the services offered at Excellence Enterprises Inc., and the efforts have paid off. There has been such an increase in the number of companies and individuals that use the services that it was decided Excellence Enterprises Inc. would give back to its clients by hosting a customer appreciation event: A Weekend Winter Carnival.

During a meeting, Erika asks you to create a press release to be published immediately. You recall the information conveyed by Erika during the last meeting:

“A WEEKEND WINTER CARNIVAL,”

This is the first-ever customer appreciation event, and, hopefully, it will become an annual event.

We want to invite our clients and their families to participate in ice sculpture competitions, see our incredible ice palace, enjoy outdoor games, and, if we are able to organize it, we will even have a heated tent with seating. Of course, we will be serving food and beverages as well. Roberta’s team created an interactive app “Excellence Enterprises Inc. FEST” that will be integrated in the festival, so nobody will miss a thing. David and Amahle, of the Language Department, have already agreed to oversee the evening bonfire, so it is sure to be a memorable event. I will be giving everybody more details shortly, including the information needed for our press release.

Instructions

Use your reference sheet and the template you created to write the press release. Make sure the press release respects the following criteria:

• Elements must be presented in the correct order.
• Top must include contact information and date of release
• Title must be specific and clearly explain what the release is about.
• Lead must explain news worthiness (single sentence).
• First paragraph must include the CITY in all caps as well as the Province and date in bold.

Body must:

• Provide information in decreasing levels of importance (inverted pyramid style of writing).
• Be formed of short sentences and short paragraphs.
• Include all the information provided by Erika. It may also include more if you deem it important to add information.
• Quotation must be included.
• About and Contact sections must be inserted as boilerplates (should already be part of the template you created).
• Bottom must include “end” symbols.
• Include the following information in the press release:
• First ever customer appreciation event
• Family-friendly
• Ice sculpture competition and incredible ice palace
• Fun outdoor games for the whole family
• Skating rink
• Heated tents with seating
• Food and beverage booths, including the ever-popular “Canadian beaver tails”
• Interactive App suitable for children and adults alike
• Evening bonfire with music
• Many prizes to be won
• Quotation: Erika asks you to interview a few clients and to include a statement about Excellence Enterprises Inc., or about the desired outcome of the event or about anything that can embellish the press release. Use your imagination to create the quotation.
• Location: Centennial Park
• Date: 3rd weekend of February. Events begin Friday evening at 6:00 p.m. and continue through to Sunday at 6:00 p.m.

Make sure to use a writing style that is:

• Relevant and descriptive
• Clear, concise, and coherent
• Rich and using catchy vocabulary
• In an announcement-style, creative, attention-getting, and upbeat
• Proofread for excellence in spelling, grammar, punctuation, and document formatting.
• Submit the press release to your professor.

Note: Be sure to view the rubric to ensure you have met all the criteria for the press release.

Rubric

The evaluation uses two different rubric formats: one resembles a checklist that evaluates the format of the press release (with only two performance levels) and one is a traditional rubric (with four performance levels) that evaluates the content and writing style of the press release.

Format of Press Release

Content and Style of the Press Release

Facilitation Tips / Student Feedback

Students appreciate real-world tasks that allow them to develop transferable skills and acquire industry-specific knowledge.

Set Previous Contexts (to lead up to the assignment)

Context 1 – class session

As part of Excellence Enterprises Inc.’s activities to innovate and modernize operations, Erika explains that writing press releases will no longer be outsourced to local journalists. She explains that press releases are not only used to make public announcements, but also that a well-written press release can be an outstanding marketing tool for both social and traditional media. For this reason, she has decided that writing press releases will be done in-house and that it becomes the responsibility of the administrative assistant, with the support of the Language Department.

Your entire work team must now gather information to learn more about the typical format guidelines and writing style. Your team has found interesting resources to consult and to learn more on the subject.

Context 2 – activity

Erika would like the staff of Excellence Enterprises Inc. to develop a simple, one-page, point-form type reference sheet that will be used as a guide each time a press release is prepared. She expects the reference sheet to be simple, to briefly outline the elements of a press release as well as to provide hints for writing style. This should very much be like a checklist.

Note: Erika wants the staff to use this guideline reference sheet to write an upcoming press release. She has asked you to study information presented during the last meeting and also in the following resource.

Context – activity

Erika would like the staff members of Excellence Enterprises Inc. to begin using their own press release template, because it is an efficient practice that not only saves time, but also helps to ensure a continuity of the information published. She has asked you to use the information already provided to create a simple template that can be used by all staff. She also asks that you make sure the About and Contact sections, which normally do not change from one press release to another, are completed and incorporated into the template.

Note: Erika expects the staff to use this template to write an upcoming press release.

Context – class session

Erika has made it known that she will be announcing customer appreciation events for which she will want to publish a catchy press release. Since you have been assigned the task of writing this press release, you decide to polish your skills by studying various recent press releases. You also find it helpful to research information online that provides tips and strategies on writing effective press releases.

Description

This assessment builds on course readings and applies them to a real-world context. The assessment was used in a course at College Boréal and is aimed at summarizing the rights of aging persons.

Student Instructions (Course Example)

Scenario – Preparatory Reading

You do more in-depth research on the rights of the aging human in order to prepare for your first staff meeting and increase your knowledge of the human rights of aging people. This research will also allow you to validate your thoughts on the subject.

In order to become more familiar with the subject and to base yourself on facts, you decide to consult the websites and pages below to prepare for the first course session:

• Declarations and Principles of the United Nations (UN)
• Canadians’ Rights
• Human Rights of Seniors in Ontario
• Laws Governing Home Care
• Laws Governing Long-Term Care Homes
• Laws Governing Nursing Homes

Scenario – Activity

Since you joined the Agence Mieux-Vivre, you have done some research and learned about your perceptions of the rights of the aging person. You have had the opportunity to share the results of your research with your supervisor. He congratulates you for having expanded your knowledge by consulting professional and relevant resources and sites. He then asks you to undertake a task where you will summarize the rights of the aging person on global, national and provincial scales.

To accomplish the next activity, use the resources you consulted in the preparatory readings.

Part 1

Using the table Summary of the Aging Person’s Rights, summarize the rights of the aging person on global, national and provincial scales.

Part 2

In another document, describe a situation you have experienced (or a situation you have seen in your readings) where there seems to be a violation of the rights of the aging person.

Referring to what you just read and your new knowledge, explain why you believe the rights of the aging person have been violated. Your assignment must include the following:

• Written in point form
• Description of the situation
• Links between your readings and the highlights of the situation to support your opinion that there has been a violation of the rights of that aging person.

Technology Used

Description

This assessment was used in a course at College Boréal and involved writing a journal / reflection throughout. The activity was aligned to the following learning outcomes: support aging individuals in protecting their rights in accordance with Ontario and Canadian legal concepts; and discuss ethical issues that arise in society and the workplace in order to advocate for the rights of aging people.

Student Instructions (Example from Course)

Scenario

You have reached a very important milestone in your career path! You have obtained another position and you must leave the Agence Mieux-Vivre. You reflect on your personal and professional journey. The time has come to record your thoughts in your journal.

Write a final entry in your journal taking into account the following points:

• Make an entry in your journal concerning one or more significant moments for you.
• Explain your personal and professional career path in relation to this significant moment.
• Describe information you have learned during this course that allowed you to adopt better professional practices as a care provider for aging people.
• Also explain how you plan to use your knowledge and skills in your future professional life

Note:

• Review the rubric’s criteria to ensure that your journal includes all the elements that will be evaluated.
• Return your completed journal to the following drop box.
• Be sure to write an entry in your journal for each of the following activities:
• Activity: Journal
• Activity: Declaration of Rights (Case Scenarios – Part A)
• Activity: Declaration of Rights (Part B)
• Activity: Elder Abuse Awareness
• Course Session 5: Overview of the Organization Chart and of the Local Services Guide
• Activity: Implementation of Resources Available to Aging People
• Discussion: Basic Concepts and Distinction Between Personal and Professional Ethics
• Course Session 6: Ethical and Bioethical Issues
• Activity: Retrospection on the Journal

Rubric

Technology Used

• Computer
• Internet
• Word processing software (or other Microsoft software)
• Learning platform (Brightspace)

Facilitation Tips

Guide students to enable them to meet the requirements of the activity and submit all mandatory journal entries.

Description

This activity simulates a visit to a client’s home and how a health care profession would evaluate it for risk factors.

Student Instructions (Example from Course)

Scenario

You work for Domicile Boréal. As a care provider, you need to ensure that your client’s environment is safe. In this activity, you will analyze the environment of one of your clients who presents several risks that could contribute to an accident. It’s up to you to screen them and determine how you can change their environment to make it safe.

1. In your textbook, read the following sections of Chapter 22 “Safety” (note this course used Sorrentino, S. A., Remmert, L. and Wilk, M. J. (2018). Mosby’s Canadian Textbook and Workbook for the Support Worker (package) (4^th Edition). Elsevier.)
   • Accident Risk Factors
   • Identifying the Client
   • Safety Measures at Home and in the Workplace
   • Preventing Suffocation
   • Preventing Accident with Equipment
   • Preventing Fires
   • Download the document Analysis of a Client’s Environment and do the assignment presented in it.
2. Analysis of a client’s environment

You arrive at your client’s house and when you enter, you are a little shocked by the scene. The Stay Safe poster from the Government of Canada is the image used for this assignment which represents an environment you encountered during your visit.

Analyze the image in order to identify eight (8) risk factors for the client.

1. Indicate the accident risk factors that you have identified
2. For each risk factor, determine how you could eliminate it.

Technology Used

Computer, Word processing software (or other Microsoft software), Learning platform (Brightspace)

Facilitation tips / Student feedback

Students appreciate the activity since it is as close as possible to a real home visit with a client.

It is necessary to ensure that the images used are described well for accessibility reasons, and that they represent objects or situations that simulate the reality which the care provider could be facing.

Description

This assessment provides students in health care related courses with the opportunity to simulate how to identify risk factors for a client during a home visit. The outcomes related to this activity include:

• observing signs in the client and his environment in order to detect risks to his health and/or safety;
• ensuring that the environment cannot cause any risk of falling or other injury to the client (e.g., obstacles, mats, extension wires, liquids or other material on the floor, etc.), and correct as necessary;
• checking the contents of cupboards, the refrigerator, the medicine cabinet, etc. to ensure that they do not contain any harmful elements that might cause a risk to the health and safety of the client, and remove, if necessary;
• providing advice to the client to minimize or eliminate behaviours or any other element that may affect the client’s well-being (e.g., smoking in the presence of oxygen, mixing medications and other substances);
• respecting the client’s will in terms of the organization of his environment and his possessions while minimizing the potential risks to his safety

Instructions for Students (Course Example)

Scenario

You work for Domicile Boréal, a company that provides home care to clients in the community. You arrive at Mr. Shuang’s house for your initial visit. You notice that there are several elements that put your client’s health and safety at risk. While analyzing this case, you will have the opportunity to observe a client’s environment to determine if there are any risks to their health or safety, and to eliminate them, if necessary.

Read the following sections of Chapter 22 “Safety” in your textbook. (Note, this class used Sorrentino, S. A., Remmert, L. and Wilk, M. J. (2018). Mosby’s Canadian Textbook and Workbook for the Support Worker (package) (4^th Edition). Elsevier.

• Introduction
• Accident Risk Factors
• Safety Measures at Home and in the Workplace

Download the document Analysis of Mr. Shuang’s Case and do the assignment presented in it.

• Use your research, readings and lecture notes to analyze the case.

Note: Don’t forget to quote your sources, if any.

Case Analysis

Part 1: Medicine Cabinet

On your first visit to Mr. Shuang’s house, you notice that the medicine cabinet is full. According to Domicile Boréal’s policy, you are responsible, on your initial visit, for checking its contents to ensure that there are no harmful elements that could cause a risk to their health.

Medicine Cabinet check:

1. Determine which elements you need to consider when checking the contents of Mr. Shuang’s medicine cabinet.
2. You notice that one of the bottles in Mr. Shuang’s medicine cabinet says Dextromethorphan, expired 10-09-2018. Determine which actions you will take.
3. You also notice that Mr. Shuang has a half-full bottle of capsules with a name written on the bottle that differs from the medicine that is inside. You know that Mr. Shuang has been widowed for one (1) year and there is no other person living with him. Determine which actions you will take.
4. List other areas that would be important for a care provider to check to ensure that there are no harmful elements that could cause a risk to the client’s health or safety. Explain your reasoning.

Part 2: Living Environment

Here is an image that might represents the environment in which Mr. Shuang lives.

1. Identify five (5) elements in Mr. Shuang’s environment that could jeopardize his safety or cause a risk of falling. Explain your rationale.
2. Determine how you can eliminate the risk of falling while respecting Mr. Shuang’s wishes.
3. Give Mr. Shuang two (2) tips that may help prevent falls and injuries.

Rubric

Part 1: Medicine Cabinet

Part 2: Living Environment

Technology Used

• Computer
• Internet
• Word processing software (or other Microsoft software)
• Learning platform (Brightspace)

Facilitation Tips

It is necessary to ensure that any images used are described accurately and truly represent objects or situations that simulate the reality which the care provider could be facing.

Students appreciate the activity since it is as close as possible to a real home visit with a client.

Cranium

Group Members:

Jevan Banks-Cross, Jenn Hillier, Daniela Rajcevic, Brock University

Objective of the Game:

The objective of Cranium is to be the first team to move clockwise around the board and into the Cranium Central, where a team will attempt its final activity for the win.

Players:

Cranium is not suitable for children 15 and under and must be played with a minimum of 2 players on each team. The game is adapted to be suitable for individuals of all backgrounds, including persons of disabled and able bodies. The board game is specifically designed to be accessible and inclusive for the strengths of all individuals. In this way, the structure of the game promotes exploration and social interaction by cooperating various skill assets such as abstract thinking, creativity, and logical thinking.

Character Card Descriptions:

Cranium is played through the use of 4 character card boxes including: Creative Cat, Data Head, Star Performance, and Word Worm.

• Creative Cat:
  • ○ These blue cards involve creative activities. Such creative activities may require a team member to draw on a piece of paper with eyes opened or closed) while the other team member(s) attempt to guess the word or phrase, similarly to Pictionary. Other options may require one team to utilize the play-dough for the other team(s) to guess the word or phrase being sculpted.
• Data Head:
  • ○ These red cards involve knowledge of data and facts. Such activities may require a team to select the correct answer out of four multiple choice possibilities. Additionally, a team may be presented with a question in which a team must answer outright. Lastly, the third type of card may require a team’s team to evaluate a statement to determine whether it is true or false.
• Star Performance:
  • ○ These green cards involve acting out clues through the utilization of a ‘hint’, similar to charades. This may require a team to act out a scenario or term. Additionally, a team may be asked to perform an identified physical activity in an allotted time frame, or they may go head to head against another team in a race to complete an activity.
• Word Worm:
  • ○ These yellow cards involve a theme around words, spelling, and anagrams. Such activities may require a team to correctly identify the definition of a word out of four possibilities. Additionally, a team may be required to use a vague hint in order to solve a ‘fill-in-the-blank’ term with only some letters already filled in or alternatively they may also be required to use a vague hint to re-arrange letters in an anagram to form the correct word or phrase.

Detailed Game instructions

Game Set-up:

1. Divide yourselves into teams of two or more.
2. Each team will choose a game piece and place it on the purple Planet Cranium labelled ‘START.’
3. Set out the four character card boxes labelled: Creative Cat, Word Worm, Star Performer, and Data Head
4. Set out the die, timer, and tub of Cranium Clay,
5. Provide each team a pad and pencil.
6. Now you’re ready to play!

‘On Your Turn’:

• A card is drawn from the character card box that matches the coloured space your team’s game piece is on.
  • – **On the first turn of every team and also every time a team is on a ‘Planet Cranium’ space, they will be given the opportunity to choose which box a card will be drawn from (eg. Creative Cat, Word Worm, etc).
• Your team will complete the activity described on the card.
• If the card activity is successful, the coloured die is rolled and the game piece is moved to the colour indicated on the die.
  • – ** Each team must stop on every ‘Planet Cranium’ space, even if the roll would otherwise take you past it. As a result, if a team rolls a purple, they can zoom ahead to the next ‘Planet Cranium,’ to which the turn is then over. Play then passes to the team to the left.
• If the card activity is unsuccessful, the team must not roll the die or move a space. You must wait until your next turn and try again. Your turn is now over.

***REMEMBER: In Cranium a player must roll at the END of a turn, after they have successfully completed an activity.

‘Club Cranium’:

• A Club Cranium card pauses the game for an outrageous all-play activity, in which all teams must compete to earn a ‘bonus roll’.
• The first team to shout out the correct answer before the time runs out wins an immediate ‘bonus roll’.
• After Club Cranium is played, the winner of the ‘Club Cranium’ card receives one bonus roll and moves forward. The team whose turn it was when the Club Cranium card was drawn, then proceeds to take their initial turn.
• If a Club Cranium card is drawn while a team is on a ‘Planet Cranium’ space:
  • If a team wins the Club Cranium and it is their first activity while on a Planet Cranium, they must roll and move onto the ‘fast track’.
  • If your team doesn’t win the Club Cranium, and it was your first activity while on a ‘Planet Cranium’ space, don’t worry – a team can still try for the ‘fast track’ on their initial turn.

How to Win:

• When a team enters the Cranium Circle on a roll at the end of a turn, they must move to the name of the character card box that matches the colour on the die.
  • If purple is rolled, the team can choose their starting point on the circle. Now wait your turn.
• Each time a team successfully completes an activity in the Cranium Circle, they must keep the card, move clockwise to the next character name, and wait until their next turn to do any activity from that box.
  • It is important to note that Club Cranium cards count, too. If a team wins a Club Cranium card while in the Cranium Circle, they must keep the card if it’s the one needed. Then, if the card won matches the character you are on, the team must move clockwise to the next character name.
    • If a team is unsuccessful, they must stay put and try again on the next turn.
• Once a team successfully holds one card from each character card box, they can move into Cranium Central.
  • On the following turn, the additional teams can collectively choose the character card box for the final activity.
  • If the respective team is successful, they must try again on the next turn.
  • If the respective team is the first to successfully complete an activity in Cranium Central (Club Cranium cards count, too), congratulations, you’ve won Cranium!

Timer:

• Each team must select a time frame that they believe they will be able to complete the task in (ex. 45 secs)
  • If the prospective team is able to successfully complete the task in the time established prior to the task, they can continue to roll the die and move the game piece accordingly.
  • If the prospective team is unsuccessful in completing the task in the time established prior to the task, they are unable to roll and move.

Analysis

What part of the game was maintained?

The well-rounded categories of the game cards were maintained in the redesign of Cranium. The concept of having a diverse range of categories provides individuals the opportunity to excel at their own strengths, whether that be through hands-on activities or mind-like puzzles. The categorical cards within the game board develop an inclusive environment, which is an important principle not only for the game, but for disability awareness as a whole. Often, board games limit or exclude individuals who may experience delayed cognitive processing or inhibited motor movement, thus perpetuating ableism. The tasks included within each card however, attempt to break this cycle by tapping into and celebrating individual strengths, giving every player the chance to succeed no matter their story.

The rule that the game must be played in teams was also maintained in our design of Cranium. Playing with a minimum of 2 players per team allows each player to ‘pass’ or ‘accept’ a task, depending on their own comfortability or confidence completing the requirements. This again provides every player the opportunity to demonstrate their strengths, as it also caters to the needs of individuals with disabilities. For example, if a player does not feel inclined to participate in a task, they have the ability to request their alternative partner to step up without penalization. Many game boards fail to include individuals with disabilities and thus do not participate or are forced to face vast barriers of participation within the game. As a result, it is common for board games to only pertain to able-bodied individuals – even if not necessarily done intentionally. Therefore, our group believes that by maintaining a team-based board game it may limit the exclusion of people with disabilities due to the adaptive nature of the game.

What part of the games were altered?

The first component our group decided to alter was the theme of playing cards. The need for ongoing education can be achieved by increasing awareness, such as board games like Cranium. We decided to alter the tasks of each card category in order to advocate awareness and knowledge of disability in social, historical, and theoretical contexts. In this way, our group’s version of Cranium constitutes meaningful participation by generating opportunities to transfer learning into everyday experiences. Raising awareness has a crucial role to play in overcoming negative, ill-informed attitudes which may often lead to discrimination and prejudice towards people of disabilties if ignored. Therefore, each task is designed precisely with the motive to encourage players to reflect and test their personal understanding of disability. In order to diminish prevailing stigmas, our redesigned version of Cranium embeds a disability-focused curriculum, so that it is still a competitive and light-hearted game that can be used as an intentional educational tool for ages 15 and up.

The second component our group decided to remove from the original game of Cranium was the allocated 60 second timer. The pre-established time a task must be completed by each team is a discourse of ableism as it creates an unfair disadvantage for individuals who possibly have cognitive or physical impairments. For example, individuals with learning disabilities or neurological disorders such as ASD may require greater time to process or plan a motor skill, and thus additional time would be a necessity to compensate for an individual’s specific needs. For this reason, as a group we decided to readjust the time constraint so that instead each team is given the opportunity to determine how much time they believe it might take for them to successfully complete each task at hand. Doing so would limit any individual from being placed at an automatic disadvantage solely due to time constraint and would establish equity for all.

The third component our group decided to remove from Cranium is the ‘Fast Track’ element of the game board. After analysis, our group was able to conclude that the ‘Fast Track’ instills ableist discourses due to the fact that it may significantly benefit individuals who do not experience intellectual delay-cognitive functioning, developmental delay, or a learning disability. The removal of a ‘Fast Track’ allows each player and team to start at an equal playing field throughout the entirety of the game. Doing so also adapts the initial instructions to be more concise and consistent. Structure and simplicity can greatly aid individuals with learning, processing, and communication challenges, thus we believed it was important to enhance Cranium by removing this barrier of participation.

Game of Life

Group Members:

MacKenzie, Ellie, Jacelyn & Sterling, Brock University

Brainstorming Ideas

• How to Win: whoever has the most life points wins
  • Begin with no life points, some money, no assets
  • Put life points toward any category
• Earn life tokens from scenarios with choices
  • Choices give different amount of life points depending on their appropriateness
    • Ex -Your son is born with Autism.
      • Where do you take him?
        • Doctor (+2)
        • Social group (-1)
        • Specialty clinic(+3)
      • Trivia: right or wrong answer. Right answer gives points
        • Theme of disability theory/awareness

Rules

Starting the game:

• To start, everyone spins the spinner one by one. If you spin an odd number, you have a disability. If you spin an even number, you are an ally of disability. You must start on the path corresponding to these identities.
• The youngest player will go first, and then take turns in a clockwise direction
• At the start of your turn, spin the wheel and move that many spaces.
• The objective of the game is to get through life and cross the finish line with the most life points!
• Everyone needs a piece of paper to track changes in life points.

Playing the game:

• Whenever you reach a fork in the road after an orange stop sign, you must follow either the ally (A) or disability (D) path, again corresponding with the identity you were given at the beginning. The disability paths are always longer to represent ableist design and obstacles faced by people with disabilities.
• At the end of your turn after moving however many spaces, you will have to pull a specific coloured card. With each of these cards, you will either be asked a question or asked to perform an activity. HAVE ANOTHER PLAYER READ YOUR CARD TO YOU. Depending on how you answer a question and whether or not you complete the activities, you will be awarded a certain number of life points which will be indicated on the card (it should be kept secret until after you answer, which is why someone else is reading the card for you). These life points are awarded based on your knowledge of disability studies and ability to apply this knowledge in scenarios.
• If you reach an orange stop sign space, you must stop no matter what you rolled. Stop and pull an orange physical activity card. The card will indicate how many life points you will receive if you complete the activity successfully.
• If at the end of your turn you land on a green space, pull a green trivia card. The answer with a star beside it is the correct answer, you will receive 3 life points for a correct answer, and 0 for an incorrect answer.
• If at the end of your turn you land on pink space, pull a pink scenario card. Each answer has an indicated number of life points beside it that will be received if you chose that answer. Some answers showing an extreme lack of knowledge and respect for disability studies, will result in losing life points you already have (indicated by a negative number).
• If at the end of your turn you land on a yellow space, pull a yellow life card. These cards will either be positive or negative situations which give or take away life points.
• If at the end of your turn you land on a yellow space with a spinner on it, spin again!

Ending the Game:

• The first player to reach the finish (retirement) is awarded 12 life points
• The second player to reach the finish (retirement) is awarded 9 life points
• The third player to reach the finish (retirement) is awarded 6 life points
• The fourth player to reach the finish (retirement) is awarded 3 life points
• If you are playing with more than four players, anyone finishing 5th or later receives 1 life point when they reach the finish
• Count the life points you earned throughout the game including any received for crossing the finish line; the player with the most points wins! 

Scenarios (pink cards)

You have a child with a disability and need to find the best resources for how to care for a person with a disability. Where do you look?

Throughout your life you had multiple encounters with disability, which of the following do you find most inspiring?

1. A boy with learning disabilities scoring a touchdown in football, after two rival teams decide together they will allow this to happen (0)
2. A woman rising from her wheelchair to take a few steps across a stage (+1)
3. Learning that over 100 people with disabilities occupied a government building to demand their civil rights and ultimately got what they wanted (+3)
4. None of the above (+1)

You hear someone be corrected for not using person-first language (i.e., “a person with autism,” “a person with a mobility impairment,” “a person who is blind.”) What do you do?

You see a story about a service animal in the media, What do you do?

You are a person with a disability and someone says “I never think of you as disabled,” in an attempt to compliment you. How does this make you feel?

1. Anticipate what people with disabilities might need without having to ask any questions, and take the initiative to do these things (0)
2. Talk loudly and slowly to be understood by people with all ranges of ability (0)
3. Reflect on the privileges you hold and join in the struggle by following the lead of people with disabilities (+3)
4. Dive in and feel good – there’s so much work to be done that the disability rights movement will welcome you and the important strengths you bring (+1)

It’s disability awareness week at your school and you have volunteered to help out with the organization, what do you focus on?

1. Provide lots of information so everyone can become knowledgeable about disability studies (+3)
2. Making sure to provide good food at the events (+1)
3. Organize on online training course with the chance of winning a free tablet for having the most disability knowledge (+2)
4. Make sure to continue advocating long after disability awareness week is over (+4)

You have a friend who has a speech impairment and sometimes you’re not sure what he is saying. You should:

1. To make things easier, just pretend you understand him (0)
2. Simply ask your friend to repeat himself (+2)
3. Ask your friend to write it down for clarity (+1)

You are having a conversation with a stranger in the library who uses a wheelchair. How do you respectfully converse with her?

1. Speak to her in simple terms  like you would with a child (-5)
2. By crouching on the floor so you can look her in the eyes without having to relocate (-2)
3. Do not look at her when you are speaking to her (0)
4. Find somewhere to sit and chat with her, if possible (+2)

You are beginning your first day as a medical student and someone in your class says that they hope to one day find a cure for disability. How do you respond?

1. “With how far science and medicine have come, I’m sure that is possible!” (0)
2. “That seems hard because there are so many kinds of disability, it would be a long project for sure” (+1)
3. “That is impossible, what does it even mean to cure a disability?” (+2)
4. “The disabled community will thank you one day!” (-1)

Maureen is in your High Profile Political Assassination Tactics & Strategies class. She hands in her accommodation letter. She has accommodations for distraction reduction and additional exam time. However, on exam day, she shows up in class. You assume she is not using her additional exam time. She gets very frustrated when time expires, stating she wanted extra time but not reduced distractions. Do you have to give your student the extra time?

1. Yes, she had the accommodation therefore she should still get it. (-1)
2. Yes, it is my fault for not asking her. (-2)
3. No, she smells like fruitcake. (+1)
4. No, it is her responsibility to make her wishes clear to me prior to the exam. (+2)

You meet a student at the beginning of the year to discuss accommodations. They seem to have trouble focusing and are easily distracting. It reminds you of your bro who has severe autism. You have learned to help your brother through problems. You want to help this student as well. Do you ask the student to disclose their disability so you can provide additional support?

1. No, that is inappropriate. (+1)
2. No, It is a violation of privacy and their rights. (+2)
3. Yes, I am a disability guru and can save them. (-2)
4. Yes, there is nothing wrong with asking. (-1)

A student in your class, Sterling, is constantly cracking every joint in their body. Sterling registered accommodations with you early in the semester, you assume the joint cracking is a side effect of the disability or perhaps the treatment. It is very distracting to you and other students. Do you accommodate this behaviour if it is possibly due to a disability?

1. Yes, who am I to bring up their cracking? (-1)
2. Yes, the students and I can deal with it. (-2)
3. No, he is so annoying and is always on his phone. (+1)
4. No, every student is expected to adhere to the student code of conduct which forbids distracting activity. I will address the behaviour as such. (+2)

Mackinzee has enrolled in TikTokology for 37 weeks. She missed a TON of classes, like a lot. She hands the professor a note at the end of the year. The letter is an accommodation letter stating she has a considerable amount of absences due to disability related reasons and has permission to perform make-up tests and assignments. The professor accepts the letter and tells her they will contact them with the next steps. Did the professor do the right thing by accepting this letter?

1. No, the student should have met with the professor at the beginning of the course. (-1)
2. No, she can fall in a well for all I care. (-2)
3. Yes, it is the professors duty to accept valid accommodation letters from students. (+2)
4. Yes, honestly the system sucks and I’ll give out any handouts possible without losing my tenure. (+1)

Jaycelyn registered for the How To Pull Chicks in a 67’ Mustang lab. She has accommodations for extended time and reduced distractions. This complicates things as the lab exam gives students 4 minutes for each station. As the TA, are you expected to change the format of this exam for this student?

1. Perhaps, if the skill being demonstrated requires a strict time component, for example, cpr or doing a sweet burnout before the tires start to melt, then you should not have to reformat the exam. (+2)
2. Yes, the student is entitled to extra time. (+1)
3. No, I am not reformatting the entire exam, essentially giving every student the accommodation. (-1)
4. Yes, I will do the exam at a later time with the student 1 on 1 with extended time and reduced distractions. (-1)

Ellie enrolled in Backflips as a Personality 101. She requires the note taker accommodation after failing a backflip. The professor has made announcements to acquire one for weeks but no student has volunteered. The professor types up their own notes to each lecture for Ellie. Did the professor have any other options?

1. Yes, the professor could have informed SAS and gotten help solving this issue. Also, this is unfair to other students who do not have access to the teachers notes. (+2)
2. No, there is no other way to provide Ellie her notes. (-2)

Frank Ocean is eligible for double time in his exams. Due to scheduling conflicts, the professor wishes to give him half the exam, at normal time, and the same amount of points. Frank informs the teacher he would rather take the regular exam with the time accommodation. Is a half exam a reasonable accommodation?

1. No, of course not. This guy released blonde. Give him whatever he wants. (+1)
2. No, halving the test and doubling the points is a fundamental change to the exam and is not reasonable. (+2)
3. Yes, it is mathematically equivalent and therefore logistically equivalent. (-2)
4. Yes, there is no other way to handle the scheduling conflict. (-2)

John Bonham has risen from the dead and is teaching Insane Dirt Nasty Drum Triplets and Drum Licks 401. John whips out an old TV and VCR to show the class some live footage of himself that is narrated over. A student in his class is hearing impaired and has an interpreter in the class with them. The clip does not have closed captioning but the professor informs the student they can use the interpreter. Is this an appropriate accommodation?

1. No, it is unreasonable to expect the student to watch the interpreter and film at the same time (+2)
2. No, John should have edited the VHS tape to have closed captioning (+1)
3. Yes, do not question Bonzo (-2)
4. Yes, the point of the interpreter is to be able to interpret (-1)

You get hired on as an accessibility developer for a computer software company and are told to create a fully accessible website. What do you do?

1. Tell your boss that people with disabilities don’t use computers (-2)
2. Provide a Braille output software (+1)
3. Add a speech-to-text/text-to-speech software (+2)
4. Agree that the website is accessible enough for majority of users (-1)

You are volunteering in Maureen’s SNAP program and she is running late. She asks you to start the lesson with activities that work on deceleration and acceleration movements. What do you do?

1. Set up wedge mats/mats on an incline and have students practice rolling up and down the mats (+2)
2. Tell students to get in pairs push one another to understand accelerating movements (-1)
3. Take students outside to a hill and have them practice running uphill and downhill (+1)
4. Ignore Maureen’s request and play dodgeball instead (-2)

Abby, a student in the school to community classroom who is living on the spectrum, experiences moments of lashing out and temper tantrums when she gets frustrated. She gets frustrated that she cannot perform the activity of rocking and rolling. As the instructor, what do you do?

1. Allow Abby to sit out and not perform the activity to avoid having to deal with her tantrums (-1)
2. Force Abby to keep trying and don’t let her give up until she masters rocking and rolling (-2)
3. Modify the task to make it more developmentally appropriate (+2)
4. Give Abby a minute to recuperate away from the other students, and let her try again when she is ready (+1)

Samantha has an IEP and is granted extra time on quizzes, assignments, and exams. She goes to write her final exam and no additional time has been added. She hit the time limit, but did not complete all of the questions. She emails you, the professor, asking for additional time. What do you do?

1. Do not grant her additional time. Samantha should have messaged you before the exam to remind you to add time (-2)
2. Allow her to complete the rest of the questions without a time limit as it was your responsibility to add addition time prior to the exam (+2)
3. Grant her an extra hour to finish the exam (+1)
4. Make Samantha redo the exam from the start with added time (-1)

Karl has a visual impairment and benefits from activities that have bright colours and provide auditory feedback. He wants to be included in a community program that is inclusive to all impairments. As the creator of this program, what resources may be included to make it more inclusive for visual impairments?

1. Vibrant coloured cones, balls, and other equipment (+2)
2. Small balls and targets to increase accuracy (-1)
3. Have Karl sit out on activities that require visual senses (-2)
4. Have targets produce a tone when they are hit (+1)

It is disability awareness month, so your teacher decides to invite a guest speaker to come in to discuss disability and how it has impacted her life. She has been diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy which has impaired her walking abilities, requiring her to use a walker. You teacher wants you to think of a question to ask. What should your question be?

1. Can you take me for a ride on your walker? (-2)
2. Have you ever experienced inaccessibility when it comes to places you can use your walker? (+2)
3. Can your Cerebral Palsy be fixed/cured? (-1)
4. Have you ever been excluded from activities because of Cerebral Palsy? (+1)

You are put into a situation in which someone ascribes an identity to you that does not match with your avowed identities. How do you respond?

1. Scream at them and tell them they have no right to ascribe other’s identities (-2)
2. Go along with it rather than correcting them to avoid embarrassing them and you (-1)
3. Politely correct them as to what your avowed identity (+2)
4. Educate them on the negative impacts of ascribing one’s identity (+1)

A student in your class has ADHD which causes them to fidget constantly, experience difficulty in concentration, present impatient behaviors, and interrupt conversations/activities. What would be the best teaching strategy to enhance learning/participation for this student?

1. Do not provide the student with breaks or time to move around as they may just get more distracted (-1)
2. Provide positive reinforcement when they are concentrating and not interrupting others (+1)
3. Provide this student with an accommodation to complete assignments/tasks/activities in a private area or in smaller groups (+2)
4. Provide many cues (posters, toys, activities, etc.) for the child to engage with when they are not completing the primary task (-2)

You are doing an assessment of your university to determine the most prevalent barriers that limit accessibility. You must make note of the barrier(s) and list one way to effectively remove each barrier. Of the list you made in your notes, which would be the most effective at increasing accessibility?

1. Lack of accessible software on computers; addition of text-to-speech/speech-to-text software (+1)
2. Hallways leading to lecture rooms are poorly lighted; provide a flashlight to every student with a disability (-2)
3. Accessibility button for washroom is broken; provide a door wedge to keep the door open (can be removed when the door needs to be closed (-1)
4. Only one seat in lecture room located at the very front for wheelchair users; replace steps with ramps so everyone has access to all levels (+1)

You are running a physical education class with both able-bodied and disable bodied individuals. Your lesson plan is focused on Volleyball, and you want everyone to have equal opportunities, but two classmates have impairments in gait that need to be considered. What are the best options for creating equality and inclusivity for all?

1. Have everyone stand in a circle with the two students who are in wheelchairs remain seated and perform a “keep up” activity (-1)
2. Have the two students who are impaired set up as targets while the other students attempt to serve the ball over the net and hit the target (-2)
3. Have all students sit on the ground, only able to use their hands to play the ball over the net or to their teammates (+2)
4. If available, have all students use a wheelchair, and compete in a friendly match of volleyball over ground-level nets (+1) 

You have just found out that your best friend has a disability. How do you approach the situation?

1. Ask a bunch of invasive questions (-5)
2. Scream at they didn’t tell you (-5)
3. Acknowledge the fact and treat them with the same respect and dignity (+5)
4. Go around telling everyone you know (-5)

An individual in your PE class is unable to grasp a ball due to lack of grip strength. What activity would you recommend?

1. Velcro toss and catch (Velcro ball and round platforms that attach to hand) (+ 10)
2. Spud (0)
3. Basketball (-3)
4. Spike ball (1)

A student in your class struggles to take notes from the whiteboard. You find that they often miss key points or words throughout the lesson. What accommodations can be made?

1. Provide the class with a fill in the blank sheet that has the notes for the lesson (+10)
2. Yell at him to focus better (-10)
3. Allow for group work so students can compare notes (+10)
4. Give the class the option to type notes rather than write them (+5)

In a work meeting you hear some coworkers talking poorly about an individual that has a service animal. One then stands up and goes to pet and play with the animal. How do you approach the situation?

1. Jump in and explain why it is not okay to pet and play with a service dog while it is on duty (+5)
2. Scream at them to stop talking (+1)
3. Politely jump in and try to ask why they feel it is necessary to say rude things (+2)
4. Tell a higher up so they can hopefully educate their staff (+5)

An individual that is 9 months old shows that they are unable to cross the midline and prop themselves up onto their hands and knees. What does this suggest?

1. The individual is behind in their motor milestone development (+5)
2. They lack core strength (+5)
3. Embedded curriculum would be a great way to help develop these skills (+5)
4. All of the above (+15)

Knowledge (Trivia) (+3 life points for answering correctly) (green cards)

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was mostly:

1. A politically-correct government trying to do the right thing
2. The result of disabled people’s grassroots activism and careful coalition building
3. A boon for greedy, unscrupulous lawyers
4. None of the above

Invisible disabilities are:

Which is more likely to accompany disability?

1. Poverty
2. An unemployment rate more than double that of nondisabled people
3. Low expectations
4. All of the above

 Most blind people:

1. Live in total darkness, having been born that way
2. Are complicated, just like everyone else
3. Have been completely shut out from mainstream technology
4. Are great masseurs because of their heightened sense of touch

Autistic people:

Physical Activities (orange cards)

Objects we need: 1 purple yoga ball (size of a tennis ball but softer), 2 dice, 10 playing cards of random suits, 6 red solo cups, bouncy ball

• Toss the purple ball in the air (as low or as high as you want, safely) and catch it. You get as many life points as times you succeed in a row (maximum 10 times).
• Roll 2 dice, touch your nose as many times as the number you roll and earn 3 life points for completion
• Take the 10 playing cards and sort them by suit, earn 5 life point for completion
• Travel in a circle around the entire group playing this game, earn 8 life points for completion
• Stack the 6 red cups in a triangle with three on the bottom, two in the middle, and one on top (*includes a drawing on the card for clarity*) earn 10 life points for completion
• With the player to your right, pass the purple ball back and forth 5 times while each only using one hand. Both earn 10 points for completion.
• Transfer a coin back and forth from one pocket to another with 1 point award each time you successfully transfer to both pockets (right to left pocket = +1 point). See how many transfers you can get in 30 seconds while standing.
• Using a button up shirt, see how long it takes you to completely button up the shirt while walking. Under 10 seconds is awarded +10 points, 10 to 15 seconds is awarded +5 points, over 15 seconds is awarded +2 points.
• Bounce a tennis ball off the ground 10 times. Player is awarded a point for each successful catch after the ball bounces off the ground. 1 catch = +1 point.
• Roll one die and whatever number it lands on is the number of people you must high-five (or elbow shake) that are not playing the game. (+1 point per high five)
• Starting from a standing position, get to a lying position without using one of your arms. Then get back to a standing position still without using that same arm. Awarded +10 points for completing the task.
• Throw a tennis ball over your head from one hand and catch it with the other 5 times in a row. (+5)
• While sitting on the floor, touch a ball to your toes then lean back and touch the ball to the ground behind your head. (+1 per repetition, up to 5 times)
• While sitting on the floor. Bend your knees at a 90-degree angle with feet still on the floor. Roll a ball from one side to the other as much as you can in 15 seconds. (+5)
• With your legs extended straight. Reach towards your toes as far as you can and hold. (+5)
• Have 5 items on one side of your body. While sitting and using one hand, transport one item at a time to the other side of your body. (+5)
• Starting with a stack of pencils (or any small object) on your left side, reach across the body with the right hand and bring the object to the right side. Do this until all objects make it to the right side and then switch and use the left hand. (+5)
• Start on one foot and jump in a square formation alternating the landing foot
  • ○ Jumping pattern:Forward, right, back (down), left, forward (up),
• Place a marker in front of you and spin it as if it was a bottle. The person that the cap faces has to switch spots with you for one round of the game (+5)
• While sitting in your chair reach down to the floor on your left side and roll a marker under the chair to the right side. Sit up and grab the marker with the right hand and then send it back to the left side (+5)
• With the two USB’s (white and orange) start with one in each hand. At the same time toss them up and across to the other hand. Try your best to catch them both. (+5)

Life Cards (good and bad) (yellow cards)

• You donate a large sum of money to the Canadian Foundation for Physically Disabled Persons (+15)
• You volunteered for Disability Awareness Month and efficiently assisted people with disabilities rather than taking the lead (+5)
• You just had a baby and noticed all the early onset signs of Cerebral Palsy. Your child was diagnosed very early on in life (+10)
• You started a club at Brock University to dedicate time and resources to advocating for students with invisible disabilities (+10)
• You become fluent in sign language (+20)
• You open up a restaurant and provide menus in braille (+15)
• You follow many people with disabilities who advocate on their social media. You gain knowledge from their experiences (+10)
• You take a lot of time to self-reflect on your own internalized ableism and eliminate ableist terminology from your vocabulary (+5)
• You start educating your children about disabilities at a young age. You read them picture books featuring characters with disabilities that promote disability. Great Parenting! (+15)
• You shop from and support local businesses run by people with disabilities in your community (+10)
• You have to remodel your kitchen counters so they are low enough for your daughter who uses a wheelchair (-20)
• You have to pay a contractor to widen the doorway of your house to fit a wheelchair (-30)
• You try to take public transit to your job but the only wheelchair accessible spot was taken, so you have to wait for the next bus which makes you late for work (-5)
• You get separated from your friends at school because they all walk to class up the stairs and you have to take the elevator (-5)
• You want to start working out but can’t fully access The Zone at Brock University (-5)
• People your whole life undermine and dismiss your disability just because they can’t see any physical signs (-10)
• You have a service dog and people everywhere you go do not respect the dog as an extension of you. Strangers disrespect you by trying to pet him and play with him. (-10)
• There is a girl in your class with a disability. You constantly try to do things for her because you think she is incompetent to do them on her own (-20)
• You are at the grocery store and a woman tells you she loves your outfit, she then follows it up by saying “I’ve never seen such a stylish person in a wheelchair before.” She assumes that because of your disability, you cannot have an interest in fashion. (-10)
• You, as a disabled person, tweet something about disability rights that goes viral. But, instead of retweeting your post, fully able-bodied people are quoting it and adding their own captions. They are speaking over you and trying to summarize or explain your feelings and experiences with disability. (-20)
• You organize a protest at city hall for passing a bill that charges people with disabilities 30$ extra for a haircut. (+10)
• You pass KINE 4P02 with an 80. (+5)
• Maureen takes you under her wing to contribute to the disability community. (+20)
• Your child has MS, you bring her to the doctor as soon as possible rather than later in her life. (+20)
• You volunteer with Bethesda. (+10)
• You are elected Prime Minister; you allocate the entire federal budget towards equitable infrastructure. You are assassinated 3 days later. (+20)
• You talk to a person with a disability directly instead of their caretaker. (+5)
• You use the person first terminology. (+5)
• You educate yourself on current disability issues online. (+5)
• You train a person with CP on proper physical exercise. (+10)
• You get a 40 in KINE 4P02. (-5)
• Your child gets bullied for being in a wheelchair. (-5)
• Someone parked in the only accessible parking spot. You have no feet. You must go to sky zone another time. (-10)
• You bully James, a child with Downs Syndrome. You get clocked in the face by his Mom. (-20)
• You are an architect. You design a public building with elevators at the back of the building and stairs at the front. (-15)
• You are a teacher. You have prejudice towards people with disabilities. You pass this prejudice onto your students in the hidden curriculum.
• You are elected town mayor. You decide to abolish accessible parking. (-20)
• You must pay for your own prosthetics because your health insurance won’t cover it. (-10)
• You are given 6 months to live due to a degenerative crippling disease. You spend most of it on forums saying the disease isn’t real. (-30)
• You are Kanye West. You play a game of wheelchair basketball, but you do not use a wheelchair. You drop 106 points. (-10)
• You complete a class presentation on accessibility and receive an 85% (+5)
• You protest against the inaccessibility of the new Zone expansion (+10)
• You attend a virtual seminar about how to avoid stereotypes and derogatory language associated with disability (+10)
• You sign a petition to the Government of Canada for the implementation of Canada Disability Benefit (+15)
• You volunteer with Maureen’s SNAP program (+10)
• You notice your child is presenting signs of autistic behaviour. You talk to your family doctor and enroll in classes to better understand Autism (+15)
• You learn the damaging and discriminatory effects of the medical model, realizing a person’s disability is not the individual’s problem, but rather that of society and the environment (+20)
• Rather than asking for useless gifts for Christmas, you ask for money to be donated to the Independence at Home charity (+15)
• You get hired on as an architect for CORE Architects Inc. to design fully accessible homes (+10)
• You get an excellent reference from your placement supervisor at Big Brothers Big Sisters (+5)
• You define someone by their disability (-15)
• You, as an able-bodied individual, use the only wheelchair accessible bathroom forcing a person using a wheelchair to wait (-10)
• You call Peter, who is living with a mental impairment, “retarded” (-20)
• You refuse to offer your seat on the bus to an elderly woman who clearly has a mobility impairment (-10)
• You steal your grandma’s accessible parking permit so you can park closer to the mall entrance (-5)
• You ask a person if they lost their leg due to a terrible car accident (-5)
• You yell really loud to communicate with Linda because you know she has a hearing impairment (-10)
• You refer to Miranda as “the cripple” when introducing her to your friends because she uses a walker (-20)
• You are required to use the backdoor entrance to a restaurant because the front entrance has stairs and the hallways are far to narrow for your wheelchair (-15)
• You cannot use the bus stop near your house during the winter season because the sidewalks are not maintained and the path has not been cleared (-10)
• You are able to walk into a building and point out inaccessible aspects of the architecture. (+5)
• You take the time to educate yourself on indirect ableism ( +5)
• You educate a peer on person first vocabulary (+5)
• You educate your peers on the importance of attitude towards disability (+10)
• You volunteer for a movement program that helps teach the fundamentals to different individuals (+10)
• You design an accessible activity for individuals who use a mobility device (+15)
• You embed motor milestones into a daily lesson (+15)
• Create an activity with lots of wait time and lines (-10)
• You use someone’s disability against them in an activity (-15)
• You ignore someone due to a disability (-20)
• Make assumptions towards an individual who uses a mobility device (-20)

Scavenger Hunt

Group Members:

Marissa De Lio, Department of Child and Youth Studies, Brock University. Prepared for CHYS 3P30, Dr. Maureen Connolly

Questions

1. In your own words, explain what taken-for-granted ‘rules’ for children’s emotions are. In doing so, provide an example of how adults within your own life have used these rules by discussing a personal experience that you are comfortable with sharing.
2. List Goffman’s four stages that govern adults’ management of embarrassment and explain how each one can be embodied.
3. List what the three stages of embarrassment are (tripartite of embarrassment).
4. Below is an example of an embarrassing childhood experience using the tripartite in its explanation. Identify and number each stage of embarrassment in the story by underlining the sentence that pertains to that stage.

Anna, a ten-year-old girl, and her family are walking towards the door of a restaurant to go eat dinner. When walking up the steps, Anna trips and falls while hitting her elbow against the stair’s stone. She begins to scream and cry in pain. Patrons inside of the restaurant and in the parking lot notice Anna and stop what they are doing to watch the scene unfold. An employee walking into the restaurant for the beginning of her shift notices Anna fall and asks if she needs help and if she is okay. Suddenly two other people from the parking lot come running to help Anna stand up, to which she does and hides her face in her mothers’ jacket in an attempt to escape other’s attention. After Anna’s mother reassured the patrons that Anna was unharmed, they carried on with their activities while Anna and her family entered the restaurant.

5. Fill in the blanks

Adults certainly accept the possibility that children feel anger, but the ___________ , ____________, and ____________ aspects of anger may come as a surprise.

6. Within chapter five, Waksler (1996) provides numerous examples of how adults can be an unintentional source of children’s anger. Identify and discuss two ways in which this may be true.
7. Although adults exhibit their own fears of potential dangers or the unknown, they commonly view fears withheld by children as “childish” or “silly”. In doing so, how do adults deny, minimize, or ignore children’s fears? Explain your answer using evidence from the text.
8. Throughout the chapter, Waksler (1996) repeatedly argues that adults “not only fail to provide solace and support for children but make manageable situations more difficult”. Explain and use an example to describe how this may be so.
9. Explain how an adult’s inability to appreciate children’s schemas can invite adults to minimize or deny the existence of children’s feelings.
10. Fill in the blanks:

__________  ____________ about children’s emotions coupled with ____________ over children make it possible for adults to ____________ children’s emotions without so great a risk of ____________ social encounters as is likely in adult-adult interactions.

Answer Key

1. In your own words, explain what taken-for-granted ‘rules’ for children’s emotions are. In doing so, provide an example of how adults within your own life have used these rules by discussing a personal experience that you are comfortable with sharing.

As described in Waksler (1996), taken-for-granted rules are those that “govern the emotions that child ought and ought not to feel and the objects and events towards which they ought and ought not to feel harm” (p.79).

Answers will vary on students’ definitions, and examples but below is a sample of my own answer.

Taken-for-granted rules are those that guide parental and societal expectations of how children should or should not behave, feel, or express harm towards a particular event, situation, or object at any given time (Waksler, 1996). An example from my childhood that reflects the enactment of taken-for-granted rules occurred when I was six-years-old in a grocery store with my mom. As my birthday is around the Christmas holiday and was only a few weeks away, my mom and I walked in the toy aisle to look for presents we could give to other family members. While observing the new toys, I immediately found one that I really wanted and asked my mom if she could buy it for me as an early birthday present. When she said no, I instantly became upset and started to cry in the store. When my mom saw me crying, she walked over to me and told me that I shouldn’t be upset because I had other toys that I could play with at home and that I should be grateful for the ones I had because other children were not as fortunate as I was. Thereafter, she told me to stop crying and wipe my tears away so we could continue with our shopping venture. In doing so, this story exemplifies an adult’s use of taken-for-granted rules as my mother attempted to govern my feelings towards the toy. More specifically, as she deemed my sadness and crying because of the toy as inappropriate, she regulated my behaviour by telling me to stop crying and that I should not feel upset because I had more toys at home (Waksler, 1996). However, as my mother failed to acknowledge the source of my emotions, she implicitly ignored my perspective, allowing her to minimize and deny the emotional impact of this experience (Waksler, 1996). Therefore, as taken-for-granted rules are those that adults use to govern children’s behaviour based on their own ideologies, my mom utilized them to control my crying and sadness within the store as she deemed my small temper tantrum over a toy as inappropriate.

2. List Goffman’s four stages that govern adults’ management of embarrassment and explain how each one can be embodied. 

Within Waksler (1996), Goffman states that in everyday social interactions adults

1. Strive to conceal their own embarrassment.
2. Expect to receive assistance from others in that concealment.
3. Expect to receive from others who recognize the embarrassment assistance in repairing the situation.
4. May experience the dissolution of an encounter in the face of unrepaired embarrassment. (p.81)

As illustrated within Waksler (1996), Goffman’s first stage when managing embarrassment is an adults’ attempt to conceal their emotions. According to Goffman’s theory, when individuals experience embarrassment, they appear to be physiologically flustered, revealing impressions of inferiority, weakness, and defeat to others (Waksler, 1996, p.82). Due to the negative connotations socially ascribed to feelings of embarrassment, adults attempt to conceal their emotions externally. However, their embodied emotions are often made apparent to others through their gestures, facial expressions, and movements. Specifically, when physiologically flustered and embarrassed, individuals may cover their face with their hands to hide their cheeks’ redness, convey surprised or shocked facial expressions or walk away from the scene. In doing so, despite trying to hide their embarrassment, adults’ external actions may reveal their embodied emotions, allowing others to perceive their current emotional state. Therefore, the concealment of an adults’ embarrassment can be embodied through their physical gestures, facial expressions, and movements after experiencing an embarrassing event.

In Goffman’s second stage of embarrassment, he argues that because adults dislike feeling or appearing embarrassed socially, many will often suppress their emotions by pretending to be unaware of their presence or hide them using physical gestures (Waksler, 1996, p.83). However, when attempting to suppress or conceal their emotions, an adult’s embarrassment often becomes embodied and revealed simultaneously. More specifically, in an attempt to compose themselves, adults may change the conversation or excuse themselves from the scene to alleviate the stress or attention placed upon them. Additionally, adults may bow their heads or focus on a random object in the room to avoid unnecessary eye contact, conversations or to hide their facial expressions from others. In doing so, as adults utilize their physical body and expressions to conceal or suppress their feelings, their embodied emotions of embarrassment unconsciously become revealed to others as their body language singles changes in behaviour and emotion.

During Goffman’s third stage of embarrassment, he argues that when an embarrassing event transpires, both the individual and onlooker experience emotions of shame and guilt (Waksler, 1996, p.84). Specifically, Goffman asserts that due to social standards and the negative connotations associated with embarrassment, the initially embarrassed individuals experience feelings of shame, guilt, and weakness (Waksler, 1996). Coincidingly, the onlooker or the adult who threatened the other person also experiences shame or guilt due to the acknowledgement that he may have destroyed the other’s social image as well as his own (Waksler, 1996, p.84). In doing so, both parties’ embodied emotions may become revealed through their expressive body language and attempts to help one another. Specifically, upon the initial onset of embarrassment, victims may publicize their embodied emotions of shame and guilt by conveying sad, shocked, or surprised facial expressions or using their hands to cover their face to conceal their embarrassment. Additionally, as exemplified within Waksler (1996), victims who cry also reveal their embodied emotions of shame to others as their tears reflect inner sadness, despair, or guilt. Simultaneously, however, as the onlooker recognizes his wrongdoings, their embodied emotions become revealed as he apologizes or assists the other person. More specifically, by acknowledging, admitting to, and apologizing for his mistakes, the adult onlooker expresses his inner sorrow and guiltiness to the victim, exposing his embodied emotions to the victim. As a result, when receiving assistance in repairing an embarrassing situation, both adults’ embodied feelings of shame and guilt become revealed through their expressive body language and attempts to assist the other person.

As illustrated within Waksler (1996), Goffman’s fourth stage of embarrassment involves adults’ failure to conceal their knowledge of another person’s embarrassment (p.85). Similar to Goffman’s first and second stage, when an adult attempts to hide their emotions from others or suppresses them internally, they risk publicizing their embodied emotions through their social behaviour. More specifically, when knowledgeable of another’s embarrassment, adults embodied emotions may become known as they begin to disassociate with others, avoid social interactions or physically remove themselves from situations. As exemplified within Waksler (1996), adults may pretend not to notice others’ feelings; however, the avoidance of adult-child social interactions may expose embodied knowledge to others. Additionally, the adult’s departure from the scene may reveal their embodied emotions as their explicit behaviour becomes suspicious as they avoid public attention (Waksler, 1996). As a result, when recognizing and concealing knowledge of the other’s emotions, adults may unintentionally express their embodied feelings as they suspiciously disassociate with others, avoid social interactions or remove themselves from others, demonstrated through their social behaviours.

3. List what the three stages of embarrassment are (tripartite of embarrassment)

According to Waksler (1996), children’s embarrassment proceeds in three stages.

1. The initial embarrassment.
2. The embarrassment of adults’ attentions, even those apparently motivated by kindness, concern, or sympathy, that violate the rule calling for the pretense of not noticing.
3. The continuing embarrassment occasioned by children’s inability to escape the encounter by departing the scene. (p.86)
4. Below is an example of an embarrassing childhood experience using the tripartite in its explanation. Identify and number each stage of embarrassment in the story by underlining the sentence that pertains to that stage.

Anna, a ten-year-old girl, and her family are walking towards the door of a restaurant to go eat dinner. When walking up the steps, Anna trips and falls while hitting her elbow against the stair’s stone (stage one). She begins to scream and cry in pain. Patrons inside of the restaurant and in the parking lot notice Anna and stop what they are doing to watch the scene unfold. An employee walking into the restaurant for the beginning of her shift notices Anna fall and asks if she needs help and if she is okay (stage two). Suddenly two other people from the parking lot come running to help Anna stand up, to which she does and hides her face in her mothers’ jacket in an attempt to escape other’s attention (stage three). After Anna’s mother reassured the patrons that Anna was unharmed, they carried on with their activities while Anna and her family entered the restaurant.

Stage one, the initial scene of embarrassment, occurs when Anna trips, falls and injures her elbow on the stairs as she recognizes her mistake and tries to recover without gaining others’ attention.

Stage two occurs when the restaurant employee asks Anna if she is injured and needs assistance standing up. Although the employee is being sincere and kind in helping, the attention placed upon Anna reveals that others have acknowledged her mistake, intensifying feelings of embarrassment further.

Stage three occurs as more people approach Anna to ask if she is okay and needs assistance. As Anna’s feelings of embarrassment are prolonged and intensified, she cannot escape the scene and attempts to avoid contact with others by hiding in her mom’s jacket.

5. Fill in the blanks.

“Adults certainly accept the possibility that children feel anger, but the thoroughgoing, enduring, and consequential aspects of anger may come as a surprise” (Waksler, 1996, p.87)

6. Within chapter five, Waksler (1996) provides numerous examples of how adults can be an unintentional source of children’s anger. Identify and discuss two ways in which this may be true.

Answers may vary but below is a sample of my answer to this question.

Although adults acknowledge that children experience feelings of anger, many fail to recognize how they may contribute to, or be a source of, their child’s distress. As exemplified within Waksler (1996), adults can contribute to children’s anger when they laugh at or mock children for their innocent mistakes. More specifically, when an embarrassing event transpires or when children make mistakes, they often feel vulnerable, insecure, or inferior to others. Simultaneously, when adults fail to provide support or assistance and unconsciously reinforce power differential stereotypes by laughing at children’s innocence or lack of knowledge, they may unintentionally contribute to children’s anger (Waksler, 1996). In doing so, as many adults fail to recognize how their actions contribute to their child’s behaviour, their expression of laughter or mockery may unintentionally cause or contribute to their child’s distress.

Another way adults unintentionally contribute to or become the source of children’s anger occurs when adults fail to offer apologies for their wrongdoings but coerce children into apologizing to others for their perceived mistakes (Waksler, 1996). As exemplified within Waksler (1996), adults’ commitment to their understanding of a given situation may be biased or flawed due to misperceptions of the event or extraneous variables. However, when adults recognize and acknowledge their mistakes, many fail to offer apologies and avoid confrontation with others (Waksler, 1996). In doing so, adults’ inability to apologize for their wrongdoings contributes to children’s anger as children deem adult-child power differentials to be unjust and immoral. Additionally, as adults can govern children’s behaviour and often coerce children into apologizing, they may unknowingly contribute or be the source of children’s anger as children may view an apology as unwarranted (Waksler, 1996). Specifically, when children feel as if they were not at fault or have made a mistake, being forced to apologize for something they have been accused of can enhance their distress and perpetuate anger. As a result, adults’ failure to offer apologies when they have made a mistake or coercing children into apologizing when they are not at fault can contribute to or become the source of children’s anger.

7. Although adults exhibit their own fears of potential dangers or the unknown, they commonly view fears withheld by children as ‘childish’ or ‘silly’. In doing so, how do adults deny, minimize, or ignore children’s fears? Explain your answer using evidence from the text.

Throughout childhood, adults may explicitly or implicitly misunderstand, misinterpret, or disagree with children over whether a given situation or object provokes fear (Waksler, 1996). As adults are likely to deem childhood fears, especially those that are unrealistic, as inappropriate, foolish, or immature, many risk denying or ignoring children’s emotions and fears (Waksler, 1996). Exemplified within Waksler’s (1996) chapter five, when children’s fears are solely based on their imagination, such as fearing monsters, many adults perceive these fears as irrelevant or meaningless as they are knowledgeable about their inexistence. However, as children seek out authority figures for alternative explanations, adults’ inability to provide adequate support for children’s fears due to their misperceptions leaves children’s emotions minimized (Waksler, 1996). In doing so, children may maintain their versions of what they believe to be true and construct explanations for parents’ inadequate support, such as ‘my mom doesn’t care’ (Waksler, 1996, p.92). As a result, adults’ inability to understand or acknowledge children’s fears as legitimate enables them to perceive the child’s fears as childish, limiting their ability to provide adequate support and ultimately denying, ignoring, and minimizing children’s emotions and fears.

8. Throughout the chapter, Waksler (1996) repeatedly argues that adults “not only fail to provide solace and support for children but make manageable situations more difficult”. Explain and use an example to describe how this may be so.

Answers may vary on the example utilized, but below is a sample of my own answer.

When children experience an embarrassing moment, they are left feeling vulnerable, defeated, and insecure. However, how adults attempt to repair the situation can make the experience more difficult as adults are likely to use embarrassing tactics to remedy the problem, call public attention to the event or fail to provide children with adequate assistance (Waksler, 1996). More specifically, when discussing bed-wetting as an embarrassing event, Waksler (1996) illustrates that children’s attempts to conceal their embodied emotions of embarrassment become compromised when adults use their embarrassment as a strategy to prevent the situation from reoccurring. As described within Waksler (1996), adults may utilize resources available to them, such as diapers, to further humiliate children in front of their siblings or peers in hopes that they will be too embarrassed to wet the bed again, accomplishing their goal of repairing the situation (p.82). However, in doing so, already embarrassed children experience further humiliation, defeat or inferiority which makes coping with the initial embarrassing experience more challenging. Additionally, when adults explicitly pronounce children’s embarrassment to others, the distress it instills on children enables them to ascribe negative characteristics to their personal qualities while believing them to be true (Waksler, 1996). Serving as an example described within Waksler (1996), when teachers’ pronounce to the class that a student is too short for their classroom’s growing tree, the student may become self-conscious, embarrassed or ashamed of her height in comparison to her peers (p.83). In doing so, the repercussions of having others know about one’s embarrassment, by adults, makes it more difficult for children to deal with manageable situations as children may experience added negative emotions other than embarrassment. Lastly, as adults fail to recognize how they may be a source of children’s embarrassment, they become unable to assist children in concealing their emotions or guiding them out of the situation (Waksler, 1996). More specifically, when adults are unaware of children’s emotions, they fail to recognize when children need assistance and tend to minimize, deny, or dismiss children’s feelings by not focusing on them. In doing so, children are often left managing their own experiences, making the situation more difficult due to their lack of experience or knowledge. As a result, adults may unintentionally make situations more difficult for children to manage as they capitalize on children’s embarrassment to repair the situation, expose children’s embarrassment to others, or fail to provide adequate assistance due to their misperceptions (Waksler, 1996).

9. Explain how an adult’s inability to appreciate children’s schemas can invite adults to minimize or deny the existence of children’s feelings.

Answers may vary; however, a sample answer is provided below.

As adults have the authority to govern children’s emotions towards specific objects, events or situations, their misperceptions or inability to appreciate children’s cognitive schemas may unintentionally minimize or deny the existence of children’s feelings (Waksler, 1996). Illustrated within Waksler (1996), when adults fail to appreciate the value or importance children place upon particular objects, they may unconsciously ignore, minimize, or deny children’s feelings. Serving as an example, when adults are unaware of the symbolic significance children place upon a particular object, such as a toy doll, adults may view their child’s behaviour as immature, overly sensitive, or inappropriate (Walker, 1996). In doing so, many adults fail to provide children with adequate support or tend to their emotional needs, leaving children to manage their emotions alone (Waksler, 1996). As a result, adults’ inability to understand or appreciate children’s cognitive schemas, enables parents to unconsciously minimize, ignore, or deny children’s emotions as they may deem their behaviour as inappropriate or childish and simultaneously provide inadequate support.

10. Fill in the blanks.

“ Inaccurate assumptions about children’s emotions coupled with power over children make it possible for adults to overlook children’s emotions without so great a risk of destroying social encounters as is likely in adult-adult interactions” (Waksler, 1996, p.97)