Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Exploring The Uses Of The Liberal Arts Through Beyoncé’S “Formation”, Christine Marks

Open Educational Resources

I first shared this assignment in LaGuardia’s Spring 2017 mini-seminar Introducing Your Discipline in the First Year Seminar. I developed the assignment drawing on both Beyoncé’s 2016 Super Bowl halftime show and her music video “Formation” to initiate a discussion about how the Liberal Arts may inform our readings of popular culture images and performances. Through an analysis of content and form of Beyoncé’s musical performance and the video, students are invited to reflect on the ways in which a Liberal Arts education can contribute to a deeper understanding of the social issues addressed in the work. In our …

Developing Habits Of Mind For Academic Success, Ellen Quish

Open Educational Resources

The low-stakes assignment Habits of Mind for Academic Success was designed to support First Year Seminar for Liberal Arts: Social Science and Humanities students in developing habits of mind essential for success in college. Using Costa and Kallick’s 16 Habits of Mind (HOMs) as reference, the assignment is staged and starts by prompting students to assess their current use of Habits of Mind and to identify what HOMs would be of value to them as college students. Upon completion of the individual assessment, students are introduced to examples of Habits of Mind in action through a video created for the …

Language Awareness And About Me, David Sibbitt

Open Educational Resources

Objectives of the Assignment:

Showcase students’ skills or interests in languages other than Standard English as part of the About Me statement in the ePortfolio. The assignment addresses many students in a typical FYS classroom at LaGuardia Community College. It encourages:

• Students with a native ability in another language to see it not as a stumbling block to learning but as a resource to develop academically and professionally

• Native English speakers to explore other world languages and cultures, and to consider using their interest professionally

• All students to consider whether they have experience with a dialect or slang, texting language …

Library Treasure Hunt, David Sibbitt

Open Educational Resources

FYS Discipline: Liberal Arts: Social Sciences and Humanities

Objectives of the Assignment:

Introduce students to the Library’s catalog and some of the more useful subscription databases in a practical, hands-on exercise. Included are an introduction to translating database articles, instructions on accessing The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times free of charge, and how to access the databases from home.

Amount of Time to Complete the Assignment:

The assignment is most effective when it follows several previous Library assignments:

• An introduction to the Library’s website in a computer classroom that guides students in exploring the Library’s resources
• A …

Language Awareness And The Library, David Sibbitt

Open Educational Resources

FYS Discipline: Liberal Arts: Social Sciences and Humanities

Objectives of the Assignment:

Introduce students to the Library’s collection of books in languages other than English, to Queens Library and the public library system, and to the Library of Congress call number system for books in the stacks.

Amount of Time to Complete the Assignment:

The assignment is most effective when it follows several previous Library assignments:

• An introduction to the Library’s website in a computer classroom that guides students in exploring the Library’s resources
• A Library Orientation conducted by a librarian
• A Library Treasure Hunt for sources in the card …

Reflection 3 – Finding Your Purpose, Josh Goldblatt

Open Educational Resources

The assignment was used in the Liberal Arts: Social Science and Humanities First Year Seminar (LIF 101).

The main objectives are:

1. Facilitate student self-examination and exploration of how interests, skills and values can connect to academic and professional goals
2. Build student capacity for reflective planning, including breaking out tasks and self-assessment
3. Build student knowledge of academic and career paths
4. Support students with making a decision on proper major
5. Increase engagement with college offices and staff
6. Build writing skills – including essay organization and development

Relevant student Performance Objectives for course:

1. Locate the multiple resources available at LaGuardia and use these …

Co-Curricular Report 1: Roundtable Discussion, Robin Bromley

Open Educational Resources

This assignment is designed for First Year Seminar -- Liberal Arts: Humanities and Social Science majors.

The main course objectives addressed are that students:

• Demonstrate engagement in the life of the college and their use of key academic support services, advisement, and co-curricular organizations and activities critical to meeting those goals.
• Show growing mastery of the writing, reading, and speaking skills, as well as the study and management strategies essential for college success.

The primary purposes of this written and oral report are to encourage students to discover and use the campus resources and co-curricular opportunities critical for their success …

Reading A Scholarly Publication, Silvia L. Lin Hanick

Open Educational Resources

LIF 101, Liberal Arts: Social Science and Humanities

This assignment was designed to reintroduce students to library resources and to give students an opportunity to examine scholarly publications in parts and in detail, without the pressure of using the article in a formal research paper, or having to understand the entire article.

To prepare for this assignment, we started class with a writing exercise to answer, “what makes something scholarly?” All responses were written on the board; together we identified common ideas that came up more than once. I added to their responses with a short lecture about the information …

Who Am I? Degreeworks Edition, Jesse Schwartz

Open Educational Resources

Designed for LIF101: Liberal Arts First Year Seminar, “Who Am I? DegreeWorks Edition” is developed with the intention to help students (and maybe also their professors!) navigate Pathways [a system of general education requirements and transfer guidelines designed to ease student transfer between CUNY colleges] facilitate advising, and understand general degree expectations. By projecting an actual DegreeAudit in class, students better understand academic requirements as well as their academic profile within CUNY.

The entire assignment takes one to two hours of class time, and then a further two to three hours for students to complete on their own. Obviously, as …

Lif101 Final Project: My Guide To Success, Ellen Quish

Open Educational Resources

Overview: This project is an opportunity for LIF101 students to reflect on their first semester at LaGuardia, to review what they’ve learned in the First Year Seminar for the Liberal Arts: Social Science and Humanities, and to create a plan that serves as a resource for their academic and professional success moving forward. My Guide to Success requires students to think carefully about their time at LaGuardia and be intentional in planning their next steps through graduation, and beyond. The paper is worth 15 points out of 100.

Reflection In The First Year Seminar: Moving Beyond The Single Story, Christine Marks

Open Educational Resources

This series of in-class and at home reflective assignments was designed for the Liberal Arts: Social Science and Humanities First Year Seminar. Drawing on Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED talk “The Danger of a Single Story” and the chapter “Citizens of the World” from Martha Nussbaum’s Not for Profit, students begin to develop an understanding of the role of the liberal arts in moving towards a more complex perception of cultural differences across the world. They also reflect on their own biases and experiences during the first semester. Students write the first reflection after discussing the TED talk and the …

Setting Goals Paper, Silvia L. Lin Hanick

Open Educational Resources

This assignment was designed to help students bring together the multiple threads of the First Year Seminar; students contextualize their past, present, and future stories within their personal, academic, and career goals. This assignment asked students to revise the writing they’ve done in past ePortfolio reflections, incorporate outside information from a range of sources, and plan out a realistic path for achieving their goals at LaGuardia and beyond.

Students are prepared for this assignment throughout the semester:

• In week 2, we talk about the value of the personal narrative via the About Me reflection for ePortfolio. Why does your past …

Neighborhood Research Essay, Dominique Zino

Open Educational Resources

The following “Neighborhood Research Paper” assignment has been used in LIF 101 for Social Science and Humanities students, but could be adapted to give students the chance to practice disciplinary thinking in a variety of fields. The main objectives of the assignment are

1. to give students the chance to engage with guided secondary and primary source research by using key resources on campus, especially the LaGuardia and Wagner Archives and the Library;
2. to help students practice fundamental writing and critical thinking skills (summarizing, paraphrasing, quoting, synthesis, analysis);
3. to give students a chance to conduct preliminary ethnographic research (i.e. field notes, …

The Value Of Libraries And Identifying Information Needs [Library], Silvia L. Lin Hanick

Open Educational Resources

This assignment was developed for students in LIF 101 – Liberal Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities who attend a 1-hour library session. The focus of this session and assignment is “information.”

Information possesses several dimensions of value, including as a commodity, as a means of education, as a means to influence, and as a means of negotiating and understanding the world. This session will help students engage with these values, positioning the library as a welcoming and accessible space, librarians as guides and translators of modern information landscapes, and library resources as a way to participate in disciplinary conversations and …