Assignments and Project Ideas

18 Teachable Content Project

words on ground reading Passion Led Us Here

Any consumer behaviour course will introduce students to concepts, terms, and vocabulary they haven’t known before. I firmly believe that peer-to-peer learning is one of the most effective “teaching tools” available to us as educators. I have invited my students to create content for this open textbook that will help future students better learn and understand some of the concepts covered in this course. The Teachable Content project provides students with the opportunity to spend more time on what has interested them, provoked deeper thinking, and stirred their curiosity.

The Teachable Content Project

In this assignment, students are asked to create a piece of content that could teach future students about some aspect of this course: the deliverable can be in any format of their choosing; however, I show them how H5P is a great tool for creating content that embodies the spirit of “open” and give them the option to work towards something that can be included in this OER.

This assignment is also designed to widen our perspectives and make space for examples that are under-represented in marketing: this provides students an opportunity to draw from their own lived experiences and draw from marketing examples outside of the Canadian/American dominant cultural narratives.

Approach

  • The project must include a working definition of the concept(s): a thorough explanation, definition, and the use of citations where appropriate.
  • Students should discuss the topic in a way that will be relevant and relatable to other students.
  • Using examples (evidence-based analysis and contextualization) students should discuss how the concept(s) relate to the examples they have selected.
  • Example #1: at least one example from the marketing, consumerism, or advertising world that demonstrates how the concept(s) are contextualized. The example(s) may come from a dominant cultural perspective (e.g., Canadian, American).
  • Example #2: at least one example from the marketing, consumerism, or advertising world that demonstrates how the concept(s) are contextualized. The example(s) must come from a an under- or poorly- represented subculture’s perspective.

Using (Open) Tools

Since some of my students are interested in publishing their work to an OER, this gives us an opportunity to cover important aspects of open, including licensing, the use of images, and H5P. For this reason, it is worth spending a class (or more) covering each of the following.

  1. Learn about Creative Commons licenses and how to share your work.
  2. Learn where to find images that can be used in an OER: Unsplash, Pixabay, and Wikimedia Commons (to name a few).
  3. Add free and reusable icons to your designs from the Noun Project.
  4. Learn more about using H5P to build interactive html content.
  5. Design anything using Canva.

Evaluation

I have always said, “unconventional assignments require unconventional grading” which is why for a project like this I recommend students reflect and self-grade. This works very well if you are also have students create portfolios and engaging in reflective learning.

To guide my students through their reflection and self-grading, I give them some prompts:

  • Describe the teachable content project in your own words and discuss what you believe its purpose is.
  • Summarize the topic (concepts) you selected and why it was something you wanted to explore more deeply.
  • Explain how/why you selected the examples that you did and how you wanted to bring more attention to them – particularly the example you chose from the non-dominant culture perspective.
  • How do you envision future students learning from your work? What objectives do you have and what impact would you like to see on their learning?
  • [If part of a group or team] Itemize your specific contribution(s) to this project and discuss your contribution to the team and to the content itself. Be specific and provide details and examples in this discussion.
  • What regrets do you have? What didn’t this project achieve that you wish it had if you had more time or access to different resources? How can this project be changed to better serve students and their learning journey?

Consent

Students must be fully informed and willing to provide (written) consent if they choose to have their work published. Discuss this with your Teaching and Learning colleagues and institutional copyright & intellectual property rights experts first to ensure this is done properly.

Media Attribution

References

O’Reilly, J. (2019). SSC 1002: Thinking, Reasoning, Relating: Reflection Two.[Assignment Outline]. Sudbury, Canada: Cambrian College.

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