Preparing your units for Wed, April 14th

Pete and Cheryl met to talk about how to build learning objectives into the units. In the second seminar meeting, we imagined that we would link learning objectives to units as a whole. However, as Pete and Cheryl talked about it, they realized that the learning objectives should be linked to the iterable parts of each unit.

Below is a working draft that links learning objectives (from the white board map that AMS 900 created at our second meeting) to unit meetings. Alongside the learning objectives, we posed questions as if addressing students, in an effort to communicate better what we envision.

We call the form of each unit a "routine" (following Calder) and the iterable segments (e.g., engage, primary, etc.) "unit meetings." Think about how to shape your routine so that each unit meeting targets these learning goals or proposes other goals.

Engage:

• Identify norms - what do we see, hear, understand, etc.?
• Build vocabulary - here are words that you can use (e.g., America, culture, power, difference, etc.)--and that are current in American studies--to think critically and talk about what you see, hear, understand, etc. ?

Primary:

• Identify and distinguish genres - what are we looking at, listening to, reading, etc.?
  
• Develop cultural analytic skills - how do we look, listen, read?
  

Secondary:

• Understand argument - what do others think about the cultural texts examined in this unit?
  
• Discern use of sources - what kinds of evidence do they use to make their argument?

Reflection (Historical consciousness, synthesis, knowledge production. This is a cumulative segment of the routine):

• Find an area of interest - what kinds of cultural material would you be willing to think about critically?
• Identify primary sources - what cultural objects do you want to study?
• Identify secondary sources - what do others think about your area of interest and/or cultural object(s)?
• Reflect on your research - what have you learned? what questions do you still have?
  
• Articulate an informed opinion - what do you think now about the cultural objects that you studied?
  

Plenary session (these are provisional, we are out of steam):

• Culture matters!
• Understand complexity
• Grasp intersectionality
• Problematize and denaturalize culture
• Do AMS!