Assignments
Peer Groups
The whole class has been split into 10 peer-groups of 5-6 students in each. Peer group members comment each other's diary entries and give marks and feedback (peer review). You should be able to access only your own peer group's discussion forum for diaries and comments.
Let the course staff know if you don't have access or the right forum is not visible for you.
The peer-groups can be used also in workshops if no other groups are assigned.
The Assignment: Diary & Comments
- Write learning diary during the course (3 entries). Find instructions and deadlines below.
- Every other week write a comment instead of a diary. Mark and give feedback of one of your peer group member's diary (3 entries). Find instructions and deadlines below.
- In the last week of the course write one final diary reflecting through the whole course.
DIARY & COMMENT DEADLINES
- DIARY 1: 4 November 9:00 am
- COMMENT 1: 11 November 9:00 am
- DIARY 2: 18 November 9:00 am
- COMMENT 2: 25 November 9:00 am
- DIARY 3: 2 December 9:00 am
- COMMENT 3: 9 December 9:00 am
- FINAL DIARY: 13 December 16:00 pm
DIARY
Write from the perspective of your own field of study and specify clearly what is your angle to the topic. Write concise, critical, well structured text, max 500 words/3000 characters ("one page").
Start building up your own expertise and find linkages between different thematic areas introduced during the course. If you are joining the SGT Studio course or Interplay of Cultures Studio in the spring term, you can also focus on the country or region where you are travelling to (Mexico, Uganda, Bhutan, Kenya, Tanzania/Zanzibar).
Remember that diary is not summary of the lecture or feedback about the lecturer. Diary, in this case, is also longer, deeper reflection and more structured than a blog. Concentrate on your own learning.
COMMENT
Comment is also a well structured writing, similar to your own diary but this time it is a response to someone else's writing. In addition it is also your feedback on the diary. Comments are about the same length as the diaries.
You can discuss the same topic or link it to the new topics discussed during lectures and workshops. You can also give feedback about the writing itself (structure, meeting the given outlines such length, deadline, personal reflections etc...). In addition mark the diary in scale 1-5 and give feedback as last paragraph of the comment.
Why diary & comments?
- to support learning by guiding your own ideas towards critical thinking and reflection
- to analyze and explain thematic contents of the lecture and dialogues
- to summarize essential elements of a lecture
- to comment, make arguments, question, discuss, reflect, suggest, conclude
- to improve your own understanding of your own profession as part of a multidisciplinary team
MARKS & FEEDBACK
After writing your comment, mark also the diary entry in scale 1-5. Write also short justification / feedback to the writer how to improve his/her writing. Given marks will effect to final course grade.
How to do all this?
Forum for your peer-group should be visible to you here below. Everyone starts one new discussion.
- To make your first diary, "Add a new discussion topic". Give it a good title starting with DIARY 1: then-your-title
- To comment, use "reply" and change the "subject" field by replacing word DIARY into COMMENT
- To make your second or third diary (DIARY 2, DIARY 3) use "reply" in the discussion you started yourself. Change the "subject" field with your new title as instructed.
Make clear titles to each entry whether it's a DIARY or a COMMENT. You will have to change the "subject" field each time you reply. This will make it easier for your peer group to find the right entry to comment.
Give the first comment to the next person in the list under your own name. Second comment goes to the following person down on the list, and third comment to the third person down on the list. If the person has not written his/her diary by the time you start writing your comment, move on to the next person on the list. It's fine to receive several comments and peer-review feedback. Late submissions might not get commented at all.
During the course you are commenting diaries by three different peer group members and you will get comments from at least three different peer group members.
List of names in each peer-group are provided in each discussion forum here below.
Titles in the "subject" field should:
- DIARY 1: Your own new title
- COMMENT 1: The title of the original diary, replace word "diary" with a word "comment"
- DIARY 2: Your own new title
- COMMENT 2: The title of the original diary, replace word "diary" with a word "comment"
- DIARY 3: Your own new title
- COMMENT 3: The title of the original diary, replace word "diary" with a word "comment"
- FINAL DIARY: Your own title
ASSESSMENT:
The quality and your activity in writing diary, comments and given marks will have effect on final grading! The diaries and comments are marked by your peer-group members in scale 1-5. You may use halves and pluses and minuses.
Note that meeting deadlines may raise the final grade by + (0,25).
This course has 80 % attendance requirement. Lower attendance % will effect negatively to final grading! Three sessions can be missed without compensatory assignment. If more than five sessions are missed altogether, course cannot be passed.
Read these instructions first! It helps you to give marks to your peer-group members.
Post in this forum your last diary.
The final diary is a combination of your previous diaries. You can use texts from your original diaries (1, 2 and 3) and create one well structured essay. You can also go deeper in one topic if you like. The idea is to look back, reflect and re-think the core learning from this course. Remember still reflect through your own field of study and/or your case location. Yet again, this is not feedback of the course, concentrate in the topic!
- Write max 1000 words / 6000 characters ("two pages") - pls, do not exceed!
- Give it a good title and subtitles
- Remember references!
You don't have to comment these - but you are welcome to read each others writings!
Submit here only if you have agreed on a compensatory assignment with the course staff in advance.
Check your peer-group here!