Welcome

Welcome to Creating Identity! While we may think we know who we are with all of our attributes, qualities, and quirks, we may in fact lack the full understanding of why we make the choices we make and how it translates into a unique individual. In this course, you will examine your identity beginning by asking yourself questions such as: What comes to mind when you think of who you are in all of the roles you fill throughout your life? What words describe your perspective of what you see in yourself? What choices would you make in a creative project to present a visual representation of yourself? To answer these questions, you are going to engage in an activity that will allow you to examine your own perceptions and thoughts of the concept of identity. This thought process will be garnered through an assignment that requires students to identify words that they feel best describes their identity. With freedom to choose any words that meet personal descriptions, a unique creation presents a picture of individuality in words with a creative flair.

Syllabus

Course Description –

The concept of putting what we see into words presents a challenge to many people. What we know or think we know exists within the mind where a struggle can exist to bring ideas, thoughts, and perceptions into a format shareable with others. By creating a new perspective of what we see within ourselves, a vision can be born that can promote growth from within. In this course, students will be introduced to visual literacy with an assignment that will focus on the analysis and evaluation of the individual. Students will examine their perception of self identity in an effort to look at who they are in a new way. Emphasis will be placed on using creative thinking to garner new perspectives as students work through a creative assignment where students can demonstrate their understanding of their individuality.

What you will need for this course:

-          A computer with Internet access

-          The ability to navigate the Internet

-          Java plug-in

-          Access to a photo editing program such as Paint, Gimp, or Photoshop

-          Ability to take part in a live chat session (headset optional)

Learning Objectives –

1.                  Analyze personal traits, qualities, and characteristics.

2.                  Choose terms which define personal aspects.

3.                  Design a visual representation of identity.

4.                  Create a Wordle.

5.                  Demonstrate learning through project completion and a written statement.

6.                  Support classmates through constructive feedback.

Course Expectations –

     Student Expectations

     Students are responsible for reading all announcements, emails, and discussions.

     Students are required to participate in all components of the course in a timely manner.

     Course assignments are expected to be turned in on or before the due date.

     Teacher Expectations

     The instructor will attempt to respond to email inquires within 24 hours.

     The instructor will provide timely feedback for assignments and discussions.

     Grades will be available within a week of the assignment due date for on time submissions.

Evaluation –

Evaluation of the project and blog discussions will be conducted through a project and discussion rubric.

            Project Rubric

Design Consideration	20%
Quality of Work	30%
Depth of Reflection	30%
Submission Timeliness	20%

           Discussion Rubric

Formatting	25%
Quality	25%
Quantity	25%
Timeliness	25%

While the collaborative chat will not be graded, it is included as part of an overall assessment of the students learning and progress during this course. The final grade will be fostered through a formative assessment of all components of the projects, in-course discussions, and live chat sessions. The project will constitute seventy-five percent of the grade and the discussions will make up the remaining twenty-five percent.

Assignment

For this assignment, you are going to make a Wordle by choosing words that you feel best represents your identity. This project is designed to provide you with a new perspective of identity presented in a visual representation while at the same using words to foster understanding. Students are required to submit their completed assignment on their Blogger page that they created in the last assignment. Grading for this assignment will be conducted with a rubric that will measure design consideration, quality of work, depth of reflection, and timeliness for project submission.

To complete this assignment, you must create a list of words that describes who you are. You can include anything from traits and qualities to likes and interests. Once you have completed your list, navigate to Wordle.com. When you land on the Wordle home page, click ‘create’ at the top of the page. This will open a new page where you can insert your words either by typing them in or pasting them from another source. When you have entered all of your words in the box and you are happy with your choices, click ‘go’. Your Wordle will appear before you; however, you can make adjustments to the design of your Wordle before submission if you are unhappy with the result. Above your Wordle, you can click on language, font, layout, and color, and play around with the various options provided until you are happy with the final result. When you are finished, click on ‘save to public gallery’ and you will be taken to a new page where you will see your completed Wordle. On this page, press the print screen key on your keyboard. This key is usually found on the top of your keyboard. Pressing this key will create a screen shot of your screen. Open your photo editing program and paste your Wordle into a new image. Edit your Wordle in any way that you find necessary, than save it to your computer as a jpeg. The next step is to upload your Wordle to your blog and write a brief summary discussing your experience creating your Wordle including any new thoughts or perspectives of what identity means to you or how you see your identity. Be sure to respond to at least two other students blog posts providing constructive feedback related to their completed projects and summary. The final step is to take part in the scheduled live chat session to discuss the project.

Assessment

Creating Identity Project Rubric – This rubric measures student effort and learning while working through and completing the assigned project. Consideration of design, quality of work, depth of reflection on the process, and project submission timeliness are the components to measure learning outcomes. Each component will be evaluated, providing a summative grade based on the entirety of the project.

	Novice	Competent	Proficient
Design Consideration	0 (0%) Design concepts are not present.	10 (10%) Some design concepts are present.	20 (20%) Design concepts are apparent in the project.
Quality of Work	0 (0%) Project elements do not relate to the project concept.	15 (15%) Some project elements relate to the project concept.	30 (30%) All project elements relate to the project concept.
Depth of Reflection	0 (0%) Project lacks reflection on the concept.	15 (15%) Some reflection on the concept is evident, but limited.	30 (30%) Project reflects an in-depth understanding of the concept.
Submission Timeliness	0 (0%) Completed project is missing. Discussion posts are missing.	10 (10%) Completed project is received late. Discussion posts are submitted late.	20 (20%) Completed project is received on time. Discussion posts are provided in a timely manner.
Total Points Possible – 100 (100%)

Creating Identity Discussion Rubric – The Creating Identity discussion rubric measures student participation through the examination of four components. Formatting considers the students ability to use proper APA citations, quality focuses on the students contributions to the discussions, quantity examines whether the student completes the minimum number of required posts, and timeliness evaluates when the student posted to the discussion. The culmination of these four components creates a summative assessment, providing a definitive grade for student work in the discussion.

	Novice	Competent	Proficient
Formatting	0 (0%) APA guidelines are not used.	12.5 (12.5%) APA guidelines are used incorrectly.	25 (25%) Proper APA citations are used in all posts and interactions, where applicable.
Quality	0 (0%) Student post is missing or off-subject. Student does not respond to classmate posts.	12.5 (12.5%) Student makes an attempt to take part in the discussion. Student provides a minimal contribution to the discussion.	25 (25%) Student adds new perspectives and ideas to the discussion in a positive and timely manner.
Quantity	0 (0%) Student does not complete the minimum number of required posts.	12.5 (12.5%) Student completes some of the required number of posts.	25 (25%) Student completes their initial post and replies to at least the minimum number of posts.
Timeliness	0 (0%) Student does not reply to the discussion.	12.5 (12.5%) Student discussion posts are late.	25 (25%) Student posts to the discussion in a timely manner.
Total Points Possible – 100 (100%)

In addition, the live chat sessions will be included as a contribution to the overall formative grade that students will receive upon completion of all components of the course. While the chat sessions do not have a rubric or a summative grade associated with them, they will provide me with the opportunity to gauge student learning and understanding of the proposed concept while at the same time allowing students to share any difficulties or challenges they faced while working through the course. In addition, students can use these sessions as an opportunity to seek assistance with any components of the course.