Overall, I was very happy with how the students' genetics projects turned out. Some of them completed it as just another assignment, and some, although their reflections are very positive, seem to be writing what they think I'm looking for.
However, I would say that a good number of students were truly moved by this project, truly stretched their minds and hearts, and learned a great deal about a variety of subjects from presentation formats to the human condition.
The things I would to differently required a "run-through" to see what sort of issues would arise. This post will look at some of the issues I ran into that I would improve for the next group of students:
1. Overuse of unmodified youtube or other online footage.
Of course the best way to show a person's story is to use his/her own words. However, the project was not to find three video clips and play them unmodified for the class within a ppt framework.
What I wanted, and what many students did, was to use this rich video resource to extract poignant or particularly expressive clips or images, use voice over, etc. to embed into a presentation format to create what was clearly the student's own product. However, a few students had insufficient modifications and basically created only the "background" of the presentation, and provided little of their own analysis about the challenges that people with genetic differences and their loved ones face as well as ways of overcoming these challenges. They left that to be covered by the clips they chose, and in most cases relied on implicit understanding of these issues.
Next time, I will include the requirment that the majority of the presentation must be the student's own discussion, and that all video used must include an explicit evaluation (why it is so meaningful, what precisely it shows about challenges and/or accomplishments, etc.) from the presenters.
2. Citations and Copyright Issues
Although students were directed to keep a log of all the sites they visited and to use proper citations, this aspect of the project was not explained clearly enough to them. Some students included only a "sites visited" page without properly documenting which images and videos came from where.
Further, although they are for educational use which is acceptable in Thailand, the students seem to think that youtube videos are public domain which they are not. This is something that I will discuss with my students this year, and improve for next time. Specifically, I will ask them to contact the user who posted the video they want to use and ask permission. This will, I think, also be a good way to make contact with individuals personally affected by genetic differences.
3. Length of presentation.
I wanted to leave the presentation format as open as possible so when students asked me how long the presentations needed to be I responded, "As long as it takes to meet the requirements in the rubric." The result was that some presentations were almost 30 minutes, which is quite a bit longer than what I had imagined - the examples I showed them were 5 and 8 minutes respectively.
I will put an upper limit on presentation length next time, between 10-15 minutes.
Although there is much to improve in these projects, the value of this project has been immense.
However, I would say that a good number of students were truly moved by this project, truly stretched their minds and hearts, and learned a great deal about a variety of subjects from presentation formats to the human condition.
The things I would to differently required a "run-through" to see what sort of issues would arise. This post will look at some of the issues I ran into that I would improve for the next group of students:
1. Overuse of unmodified youtube or other online footage.
Of course the best way to show a person's story is to use his/her own words. However, the project was not to find three video clips and play them unmodified for the class within a ppt framework.
What I wanted, and what many students did, was to use this rich video resource to extract poignant or particularly expressive clips or images, use voice over, etc. to embed into a presentation format to create what was clearly the student's own product. However, a few students had insufficient modifications and basically created only the "background" of the presentation, and provided little of their own analysis about the challenges that people with genetic differences and their loved ones face as well as ways of overcoming these challenges. They left that to be covered by the clips they chose, and in most cases relied on implicit understanding of these issues.
Next time, I will include the requirment that the majority of the presentation must be the student's own discussion, and that all video used must include an explicit evaluation (why it is so meaningful, what precisely it shows about challenges and/or accomplishments, etc.) from the presenters.
2. Citations and Copyright Issues
Although students were directed to keep a log of all the sites they visited and to use proper citations, this aspect of the project was not explained clearly enough to them. Some students included only a "sites visited" page without properly documenting which images and videos came from where.
Further, although they are for educational use which is acceptable in Thailand, the students seem to think that youtube videos are public domain which they are not. This is something that I will discuss with my students this year, and improve for next time. Specifically, I will ask them to contact the user who posted the video they want to use and ask permission. This will, I think, also be a good way to make contact with individuals personally affected by genetic differences.
3. Length of presentation.
I wanted to leave the presentation format as open as possible so when students asked me how long the presentations needed to be I responded, "As long as it takes to meet the requirements in the rubric." The result was that some presentations were almost 30 minutes, which is quite a bit longer than what I had imagined - the examples I showed them were 5 and 8 minutes respectively.
I will put an upper limit on presentation length next time, between 10-15 minutes.
Although there is much to improve in these projects, the value of this project has been immense.
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