Types of Assignments
There are several types of assignments in the course. Deadlines for all assignments are on the Schedule and on Canvas. There you will find links to more detailed instructions and rubrics for every assignment. Each assignment also works toward fulfilling specific learning goals in the course:
Foundational Activities
These assignments are baseline assignments required to get started in the course, things like joining our private class blog.
All students will need to complete these assignments to progress in the course
Annotations & Discussion
We will annotate and discuss course readings and videos using the Hypothesis tool each week.
Discussion Leaders: Each week student discussion leaders will post questions as annotations on the readings
Weekly annotations: Students will provide other anotations & respond to discussion leaders’
Labs
Labs are exercises in each unit of the course introducing you to technologies of cultural heritage work. Some of your Lab work will be posted to your personal website, some to the private blog, and some elsewhere.
Personal Website/Blog
Your individual blog on your own website, under your name or a pseudonym. Some of the work in this class will go there. [But wait, you’re thinking: isn’t blogging so 2007? A blog is still a great entryway to writing on the web for a public audience. Software used for blogs is also often used to create websites for cultural heritage or digital humanities projects.]
Critical-Analytical Reflections
A few times a semester, each student will write a post on your personal websites about what you have learned in the course. The reflections will engage with and cite readings, websites, and videos assigned for the course
Project
Required for all graduate students, req for an A for undergraduates. Develop a project about cultural heritage data that involves public or community engagement. Depending on your field, technical skills, and interests it could take a variety of forms.
Foundational for all learning objectives
Learning objectives 1 & 3: identify and articulate relevant questions/issues; communicate & analyze critical questions
Learning objective 4: apply cultural heritage technologies
Learning objective 2: build and maintain a public digital platform
Learning objective 3: communicate and analyze critical questions
Learning objective 5: identify cultural heritage research question, develop and implement plan using technology to research it
Assignment Grading using Specifications Grading
This course uses Specifications Grading. This method of assessment is designed to encourage you to take ownership of your own education. Everything will be assessed as “Excellent”, “Satisfactory” or “Incomplete” based on whether it fulfills the stated assignment goals.
- “Satisfactory” and “Incomplete” do not correspond to “Pass” and “Fail”. Instead, Incomplete translates best to “Not done yet”. You will have the opportunity to revise almost all Incomplete work in the class.
- All assignments will be evaluated using rubrics distributed and discussed in class.
- Each rubric is different and tailored specifically to the assignment to provide opportunity for each learning objective in the course to be addressed.
- I will provide comments on your assignments to help you improve your understanding of the course material.
While each assignment has a different rubric, generally you can expect that:
- Satisfactory evaluations of writing assignments and Hypothesis annotations will involve relevant use of examples from course materials to generate ideas and arguments, clarity of writing, documentation of sources, and meeting other assignment expectations described in the assignment instructions.
- Satisfactory labs and technical assignments will involve applying the technology, describing one’s methods and research questions, documentation of sources/tools/technology, and meeting other assignment expectations described in the assignment instructions.
- Work that meets all expectations of the assignment and that also shows originality or complexity in the context of the course will be evaluated as Excellent. If you receive an Excellent, you will earn one or more Flexibility Tokens (see below).
- An Incomplete typically means that the work does not fulfill the expectations of the assignment in one or more areas (for example: insufficient or irrelevant examples in a writing assignment, sources and quotations not documented, a lab that does not explain or interpret its results, etc.)
- Students have the opportunity to revise Incomplete assignments and resubmit using the Flexibility Token system (below).
If you would like to improve your work using my feedback, you can also use token system (below) in order to try to achieve an Excellent evaluation.
Final Course Grades
The final grade in the course is determined by the level of achievement of the learning objectives in the course. Completing assignments demonstrates that achievement and learning. So the final grade will be based on the assignments completed at a Satisfactory or Excellent level.
The chart below outlines the bundle of assignments completed at the Satisfactory or Excellent level (see chart below) necessary to achieve each letter grade in the course. Students must complete all assignments in the bundle at Satisfactory or higher for that Final Course Grade. If the Satisfactory assignments are “in between” bundles the lower one is the grade.
You will be able to track your progress in the course in the Canvas Gradebook. Every complete assignment (assessed Satisfactory or Excellent) will show a checkmark in the Gradebook. We will also have grade check-ins during the semester.
Learning in this course is a process. Students will have many opportunities to revise and resubmit work using the Flexibility Token System described further below.
| Foundational | Obj. 1: (Discussion Leader) | Obj. 2: (personal website/blog) | Obj. 3(a): (annotations) | Obj. 3(b): (critical-analytical reflections) | Obj. 4: (Labs) | Obj. 5: (Project) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A Masters all learning objectives | All | 3 DL assignments | Functional, complete public website | 12 weeks of Hypothesis annotations | 2 Critical-Analytical Posts | 6 Labs | Complete project (grads & undergrads) |
| B Achieves all learning objectives | All | 2 DL assignment | Functional, complete public website | 11 weeks of Hypothesis annotations | 2 Critical-Analytical Posts | 5 Labs | Complete project (grads) Complete Project proposal (undergrads) |
| C Achieves most learning objectives by EITHER this bundle | All | 1 DL assignment | Functional, complete public website | 9 weeks of Hypothesis annotations | 1 Critical-Analytical Post | 4 Labs | Complete Project proposal (grads & undergrads) |
| OR this bundle | All | Functional, complete website + 4 of the following: a) 2 DL assignment; b) 11 weeks of annotations; c) 2 Critical-analytical reflection posts d) 5 Labs; e) project proposal |
| D Achieves 3 objectives | All | 4 of the following: a) 1 DL; b) functional, complete website; c) 9 weeks of annotations; d) 2 Critical-analytical reflection posts; e) 5 Labs |
Flexibility Token System
I believe that each student deserves flexibility and the opportunity to improve their work, while also being held accountable to the demands of this course. Therefore, each student will begin the semester with four Flexibilty Tokens, which will correlate to opportunities for extensions, revising and resubmitting work, and making up for missed class. There are opportunities to earn more Tokens for even more flexibility through submitting excellent work, attending special events, and completing other designated items on the syllabus. [Special events will be announced to students in advance through Canvas.)
We will keep track of your Flexibility Tokens on Canvas. You will see an “assignment” labeled “Tokens”, which will keep a running count of how many Tokens you have.
Use Flexibility Tokens for Extensions:
On Canvas post a comment in the Token assignment to tell me you plan to take an extension on an assignment before the assignment is due. [“Dr. S, I’m exchanging X number of tokens for Y extension on Z assignment.”] If you have enough Flexibility Tokens (see your Token count on Canvas), assume your extension is APPROVED even if you don’t hear back from me.
1 token= 24 hour extension on Annotations, Lab, Website updates, Project milestones, Critical-Analytical Reflections assignments due dates. Can be used up to three times for 3 days of extensions.
1 token= 12 hour extension on Discussion Leader. Once per DL assignment. Discussion Leader assignments can’t be delayed further.
Drop dead due date for all assignments, including any extensions using the Flexibility Token System, is noon Friday of exam week.
Use Flexibility Tokens for Revising and Resubmitting Work for Re-grading:
| Revise & Resubmit Annotations or Personal Blog/Website update | 1 Token | I will provide a new due date when I release the grade and comments for the assignment on Canvas. Revise your work taking into account the rubric and my comments if I provide them. Resubmit your revisions by the new due date. I will re-evaluate the work and subtract a token. Can be done twice per assignment. |
| Redo a Discussion Leader Assignment | 1 Token | This is a redo not a revision. Message me within 48 hours of receiving your grade for the assignment in Canvas to schedule another DL date to replace this Incomplete. Once per assignment. |
| Revise and resubmit Lab, Project Milestone, Critical-Analytical Reflections | 2 Tokens | I will provide a new due date when I release the grade and comments for the assignment on Canvas. Revise your work taking into account my comments and the rubric, and resubmit your revisions by the new due date. I will re-evaluate the work and subtract 2 tokens. |
Use Flexibility Tokens to Address Missed Work, Make-ups, and Absences
Because this is an online asynchronous course, there are no attendance records. You can do the work from anywhere. There may, however, be weeks it is difficult for you to complete work in the class, for example, due to a serious health situation or a death in the family.
I encourage you to use the Flexibility Token System if you can:
- turn in something and use Tokens to revise later
- or use the Flexibility Token system to request extensions
If the regular Token System for extensions/revisions will not suffice, and you have an emergency, you may also use the token system to address missed work:
| Erase 1 week of missed Annotations | 5 Tokens | Near the end of the semester when you can see how things have gone, you can post a comment in the Tokens assignment in Canvas to tell me you are erasing a week. One week maximum per person. Remember: for an A in the class you need |
| Make up 1 week of missed Annotations | 3 Tokens | At midterm or at the end of the semester, you can take this option. Post a comment in the Tokens assignment in Canvas to tell me what you are doing and message me when you have completed the missed responses. Can be used multiple times but you gotta have the Tokens. |
| Make up a missed Lab | 3 Tokens | At midterm or at the end of the semester, you can take this option. Post a comment in the Tokens assignment in Canvas to tell me what you are doing and submit the Lab as usual. Can be used multiple times but you gotta have the Tokens. |
You do not need to contact me if you have situation that is affecting one assignment or less than a week of class work. USE THE TOKEN SYSTEM. Students do not need to provide detailed health information, doctor’s excuses, etc., to use the Token system.
If you have an emergency in your life that will affect more than a week of class, please contact me to set up a plan.
How to Earn more Flexibility Tokens
There will be multiple opportunities to earn more Flexibility Tokens this semester:
- Complete specific assignments listed on the schedule that say you will earn a Token by completing them on time
- Assignments earning an Excellent evaluation will earn 1 Token each
- Attending lectures or events related to the course and posting on your website or the Private Blog about what you learned and how it connected to the class will earn 1-2 tokens per event. Events will be announced on Canvas. There should be several this semester, and most will be online.