8-Week
Undergraduate Course – Literary Theory
Students
in English Program – Prerequisites Required
Objectives:
Identify elements of different literary theories
Apply literary theories to literature studied
throughout this course
Demonstrate the ability
to synthesize ideas in literary form and use literary terms in historical and
theoretical contexts
Analyze literature using
a specific theoretical framework
Collaborate with group
members to construct a cohesive document regarding a literary theory
Rationale for Wiki Project: To foster collaborative learning,
and allow for application of literary theory to required literature.
Assessment: Students will write a reflective essay on
the utilization of a wiki project in relation to literary theory. Facilitator
will grade wikis using criterion for both collaborative effort and accuracy of
wiki produced. Students will complete survey ranking collaborative effort of team members.
Wiki Project: Students will be split into five groups
with approximately 4 team members. The group will be assigned one of the
following literary theories: reader-response, psychoanalytic, Marxist, new
criticism, feminist. Students will be required to provide an overview of
assigned theory, key contributors, and application to literature. 4 media items
will be required – video, recording, interactive. 4 different literature
excerpts (studied during this course) must be provided with the group’s
interpretation using assigned theory.
Timeline:
Week 1- Wiki Survey, Get to Know You Discussion Board,
2 assigned readings
Week 2- Wiki Groups Assigned, 3 assigned readings - Students
must choose one excerpt to analyze using either Gender or Race Context theory –
this will be posted to the Discussion Board
Week 3- Wiki Groups – First Meeting, 2 assigned
readings, Students must choose one excerpt to analyze using Deconstructive
theory – this will be posted to the Discussion Board
Week 4- Wiki Construction – Students must identify 1
reading from anthology – not assigned in the course – to analyze using New
Criticism – this will be posted to the Discussion Board
Week 5-Wiki Construction – No new items assigned, to
allow for students to spend maximum time working together – One synchronous
meeting of each group required this week.
Week 6- Wikis Due – Students must finalize all wiki
construction by end of week. Group members must complete a survey ranking
contribution to wiki project for facilitator reference. 3 readings assigned, Students must choose one excerpt to analyze using Moral Criticism - this will be posted to Discussion Board.
Week 7- Wiki Walk – Students must provide constructive
comments on each of the wiki pages.
Week 8- Wiki Reflection Paper Due – Students will
write a 1-2 page paper reflecting on project..
This project will increase collaborative learning among the students in the course. It will provide real-world application of learning theory to various literature selections. Students will become familiar with wiki technology and the art of embedding media in a constructive manner.
Reference:
West, J. & West, M. (2009). Using wikis for online collaboration. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
This project will increase collaborative learning among the students in the course. It will provide real-world application of learning theory to various literature selections. Students will become familiar with wiki technology and the art of embedding media in a constructive manner.
Reference:
West, J. & West, M. (2009). Using wikis for online collaboration. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Jessica,
ReplyDeleteI really like this idea, especially since I know first-hand it can be to teach theory in literature courses. Not only does this assignment have students engage in hands-on practice in working with the theories, the wikis can serve as a good reference to keep coming back to throughout the rest of the course as you complete other readings to see which theories can apply to those pieces. If you wanted, you could even keep this going throughout the remainder of the semester as you work through new theories (especially since there are more theories than can typically be covered at any one point in a semester...or even course depending on the students) which would allow you to continually reinforce the theories that were covered earlier in the course.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteJessica L,
ReplyDeleteHow do you plan to use the student’s assessments as a means to assess your own objectives for the next wiki group? Will you be adding a rubric so that students will know what to expect and how they will be graded? According to West W. & West J., Constructing rubrics and making them available early in a project assist groups in focusing their task, measure their progress and strive for higher levels of quality (p.40). I will assume that this will be the first time your students will be using wiki. So any guidelines to address their initial hesitations may be helpful.
Other than that, I like the range of topics. Would you be open to different topics if the group asked?
TEVincent
Reference:
West, J. & West, M. (2009). Using wikis for online collaboration. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Hi Jessica,
ReplyDeleteYour plan sounds very interesting. By including the collaborative element to your wiki plan I believe your students would learn to accept the differences among theories and learn to better compare and contrast. Also, I like that you will have your student evaluate one another's contribution. I do this with any group project that I provide to students. I'm always amazed when someone gives themselves a lower grade than their peers.
Anytime I have students give excerpts on a discussion board, I fear someone will provide misinformation that in turn is learned by fellow students. Would you be worried that students may give an incorrect reflection of a theory? If so, what measures would you take to correct it?