What did you hear in the library this morning? How can you apply what you heard to the work of the course you are re-imagining? What ideas did you get for alternative research essay assignments? Draft a rough prompt incorporating the content of the course you are re-visioning.
The library staff introduced us to a wide variety of resources (including themselves) that we can take advantage of to improve student research and writing. We could have stayed much longer, and it would have been helpful to have a more hands-on approach. I especially liked the idea of RSS for my own research. In the past my students have had varied, often less than enthusiastic, responses to the research seminars led by the librarians at the Richter, with the result being that I integrate a discussion of how to do research into my class on an ad hoc basis. I plan on taking advantage in my summer classes of a number of the resources that the librarians pointed out this morning.
In terms of re-imagining course assignments, I found the San Diego site ("alternative research assignments") more helpful than the UC Berkeley site. I think that I will incorporate an assignment where students look for a recent article on a subject related to 18th century art that we specifically cover in class, and then have them compare the way it's discussed in the essay with the textbook, and perhaps even my lecture. This can certainly be done in a blog form. I think that I will also have the students evaluate a website related to the 18th century; in order to control the assignment, however, I think that I will have to either give them specific websites to look up or give them specific keyword combinations. I'm also considering a research assignment in which they are asked to find a variety of different types of sources--primary and secondary--that could be consulted on this particular topic. In the summer, it seems unrealistic to expect students to do "real" research, but I want them to understand how it's done. I also plan on making my ARH 132 (also summer I) students use an RSS link to the NYT so they can get continual updates on art, which they will then have to discuss in their blogs (set up via Blackboard) in an on-line journal format. It makes sense to have them do this out of class (per Gina's suggestion).
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I know the research session must have covered Richter's incredible 18th century database, Eighteenth Century Collections Online. I've found their Fine Arts subject area tremendously rich: everything from Picturesque beauties of Boswell ... Designed and etched by two capital artists, to A collection of birds and beasts; on thirty-six quarto plates; finely drawn and engraved after life, by Francis Barlow to The youth’s assistant in drawing; containing many curious specimens ... adapted to lead the pupil ... to the drawing of the whole academy figures. Students will rarely have encountered such materials, and especially not texts combining analysis with drawing--I think--and will gain tremendously by seeing how 18th century artists engaged in what might be thought of as proto-PR--they wanted to appeal to both "high" and "low" audiences.
Thanks Gina, for pointing out that database, which they did not mention in the Richter. I will definitely check it out for my class.
Unfortunately, we did not cover databases in our presentation...nor did we get to delve into specific assignments and offer suggestions to the faculty. Due to the time constraints, we wanted to remain closely in line with the Summer Institutes's overall goals.
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