Grading/Requirements
Component Parts
- “Standards” Essay 10%
- “Historical Thinking” Essay 10%
- Bibliography 05%
- Multimedia (images) 05%
- Multimedia (propaganda) 05%
- Multimedia (sound) 05%
- Multimedia (Lesson Plans) 05%
- Background Essay (draft) 05%
- Preps (2) 10%
- Participation & Attendance 10%
- Final Project 30% (includes the following elements:
PowerPoint; multimedia; Background Essay; Lesson Plans; Bibliography;
Source Materials; Additional Materials)
Standards Essay
In 4-6 pages, answer the following three questions (with 1-2 pages devoted
to each): If you were teaching about War in US History, what standards
in the Ohio Model Social Studies Standards would you be addressing? What
are the strengths and/or weaknesses of the Ohio standards as they are
currently outlined? Defend your answer? How do the Ohio standards relate
to your undergraduate training at Cleveland State University—i.e.
the blue “checklist”—and what are the strengths and/or
gaps in your training?
Essay on Historical Thinking
In 3-5 pages answer the question: What is historical thinking? How is
it taught? How do historian’s choices about what constitutes the
object of history instruction shape their pedagogical choices? And, finally,
what are the social and political consequences of your viewpoint? Explain/Defend
your answer, with reference to course readings.
Annotated Bibliography
Create an annotated bibliography that contains five books, three essays,
and five primary sources related to the major theme that you will trace,
as it regards war in American history, during the course of the semester.
The source materials should cross social science disciplines and your
annotation should note that boundary crossing. You will use a new scholarly
research tool, Zotero, free on the web, to create your bibliography. This
will allow us to share our work.
Multimedia Annotations: Images, Propaganda, and
Audio
Students will identify at least 5 images, 5 items of propaganda, and 5
audio items for use in their course projects. These items will be properly
cited and annotated for the professor.
Lesson Plan Ideas
Students will develop three teaching ideas around documents. These need
not be complex ideas, but will contain a list of teaching and learning
objectives, a description of activities, and a discussion of how those
activities operate to meet the learning objectives, as well as any additional
documents and/or handouts necessary for the lesson.
Background Essay
In 4-6 pages, trace one of the following thematic approaches to War in
American History and what it reveals about American life, with examination
of at least three conflicts and two centuries: international politics
and American political life, conflict, technology, homefront, etc. This
essay is what historians call a synthetic essay, drawing materials from
the bibliography that you have created, as well as other sources, including
class readings and course discussion.
Prep Assignments & Reading Binder
In addition to daily course readings, several times during the semester,
the instructor will hand out “preparation assignments” that
ask you to study primary source materials as a way to prepare for an upcoming
class. These are due the morning of the class before class. You should
make a photocopy of the prep assignment for yourself to help you engage
in the course discussion.
For nearly all the course reading assignment I will provide,
in advance, on the course website a question or questions for your consideration
as you read. You should print these questions out and record your answers
(legibly) directly onto the handouts. Over the course of the semester,
you should retain these handouts.
As a research practice, I recommend that you keep a “reading
binder” in a three-ring binder. I strongly encourage you to write
down anything else that strikes you as important as you read. Writing
as you read and after you read encourages good analytical skills and careful
reading, as well as promotes a higher level of engagement in class. The
“reading” journal is also where you should compile your completed
papers, your project notes, research materials, and ECR articles. Each
section should be clearly delineated. The journal may be submitted at
the end of the semester as evidence of student engagement.
Occasionally, the instructor will request that you submit
your answers to the reading questions prior to class as a way to monitor
daily attendance; these will be marked and returned within one class period.
Attendance
Attendance of course meetings is mandatory. The instructor will collect
attendance data for each close and will record student attendance in a
data book. This information will be used in calculating the final grade;
points may be added (for perfect attendance) or subtracted, sometimes
significantly (for poor attendance relative to the class average), from
the final grade.
Final Project
The final project consists of a one-week unit on your given topic. That
unit should contain the following elements: a) PowerPoint with 7 slides
to present the topic in a multimedia fashion; b) essay of topic introduction;
c) Lesson Plan; d) bibliography; e) 5-7 primary sources with discussion
questions and plans for using them in the classroom; f) any additional
materials in an appendix.
PowerPoint
Assemble the images and audio into a multimedia PowerPoint that could
be used to teach War in American History. This PowerPoint will be presented
during the last week of class, when students will explain their project
and their approach to teaching war.
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