DWRL Lesson Plans - Visualization

Before coming to class, students read a chapter on stasis theory (I assigned a chapter from Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary Students, but any textbook chapter on stasis theory will be adequate). To open class, students discussed the reading, and we reviewed four points of stasis (conjecture, definition, quality, policy) and the common questions that characterize those stasis points.

Next, I had students assemble in small groups (3-4 students per group). Each group created a Mind Map using FreeMind software. I asked each group to create a map with four arms—one for each point of stasis.

Each group then reviewed four articles I provided. I asked each group to record the arguments made by each author, and to map those arguments onto the appropriate stasis, using FreeMind. Two examples of the students' Mind Maps are displayed below:

GARCIA_Mindmap.png

Huerta_MindMap.png

Students then uploaded their Mind Maps to our course workspace (on pbworks.com). As a class, we viewed and compared each group's map. We discussed the similarities and differences between maps, and speculated on how and why these differences can exist.

Before the next lesson, I imported each group's Mind Map, and I combined their Maps into one comprehensive Map:

306_GroupMindMap_Gentrification.jpg

During the next class meeting, we viewed the comprehensive Map as a group. We noted that all authors responded to questions of conjecture (per our example: "Does gentrification exist?") similarly. Referring back to stasis theory, we agreed that no substantive debate was taking place at the conjecture stasis.

We also noted, however, that authors tended to respond to questions of definition ("What is gentrification?") quite differently. The Map above demonstrates this point visually; the definition stasis (mapped in the top left corner) shows that authors tend to make more arguments at this stasis than at others. In the same vein, authors tend to respond to questions of quality (mapped in the bottom right corner) in various ways, depending on what definition they adopt.

Finally, we noted that discussion at the policy stasis (bottom left corner) is sparse, and we hypothesized (drawing on stasis theory) that authors cannot yet speculate on policy because they have not agreed on definition and value questions.

After discussing the comprehensive map, I asked students to use the remainder of class time to create their own Mind Maps for their chosen controversies. This assignment gave students the opportunity to conduct more research in class, and it helped students begin to visualize the field of their controversies. At the end of class, we discussed the relationship of their Mind Maps to their first major essay. I recommended that students use their Mind Maps to think about the landscape of the debate, and to help them draw connections between various viewpoints.

This assignment can be condensed into one class period, if the instructor does not wish to do the preliminary group exercise.

This assignment can also be adapted to traditional classrooms if the instructor provides materials to create physical (pen and paper) Maps.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

Instructors wishing to implement the preliminary group exercise should select 3-4 viewpoint articles on the same topic, and make those articles available to students. Additionally, instructors should familiarize themselves with the FreeMind software. Instructors should also determine how (and where) students should save completed Mind Maps, since most campuse computers will not support FreeMind.

Instructions For Students:

DAY ONE:

1. Assemble in groups of 3-4 students, and create a Mind Map with the topic in the center (gentrification, in our example), and four arms protruding from the center. Each arm should represent one point of stasis.

2. As a group, review the articles provided. As you read, record the various arguments (both thesis and claims) each author makes.

3. Record the arguments in the Mind Map, linking individual arguments with the appropriate stasis. For example, an author who argues that gentrification is a problem in which race is central is making a definitional argument. This argument woud need to be recorded on the "Definition" arm.

DAY TWO:

1. Examine the comprehensive map created by the instructor. Reflect on (and/or discuss) how the map represents the field of the controversy. Based on the Map, how would you describe the controversy?

2. Using the research you have conducted on your own controversy, create a new map that records the various positions in your chosen debate.

Evaluation Suggestions:

Students completed this assignment as part of the Learning Record, but instructors may have their own strategies for evaluation. While the maps do not lend themselves to a quantitative grade, instructors may ask students to compose written reflections on group Maps and individual Maps. These written reflections may be more easily evaluated based on the students understanding of stasis theory.

Notes on Reception, Execution, etc.:

This exercise is successful as a pre-writing exercise in Unit 1. Students are often confused when asked to describe the "field" or the "big picture" of a controversy in Essay 1, but this assignment helps them by representing this "field" or "big picture" visually.

At the end of Unit 1, some students remarked that, in writing Essay 1, they needed only to describe linguistically what they could observe visually on their individual Mind Maps.

This exercise was also successful in introducing stasis theory.

Course Type:

Introductory Writing Course

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Writing Images as a Means to Writing with Images

Bohmann — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 16:08:08 +0000

Author:

Axel Bohmann

Image Credit:

M.C. Escher, Drawing Hands

Brief Assignment Overview:

Students work in the visual medium to explore dimensions of associative image logic they can use in their persuasive written compositions. Ideally, the outcome will be a guiding image which helps arrange and focus their composition.

Type of Assignment:

In-class Exercise

Assignment Length:

Single Class Period

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Invention

Visual Rhetoric

Pedagogical Goals - Writing:

Invention

Pre-Writing

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Multimodal

Remediation

Visualization

Additional Pedagogical Goals:

This assignment is geared towards getting students to think about metaphor, imagery and associative logic in crafting their persuasive compositions. Ideally, the outcome will be a guiding image which helps arrange and focus their composition.

Media Requirements:

Technology-Based Classroom (computers for each student)

Required Materials:

Every student should have access to a computer with Photoshop installed. Ideally, access should extend beyond the alotted classroom time (i.e. there should be an open computer lab available to students), but this is not strictly necessary.

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Late in the Semester

Full Assignment Description:

In my 306 class, one option for the final short writing assignment of the semester is for students to briefly describe a guiding image they can use to make their case in the last major written assignment, a persuasive text arguing a position on a chosen controversy to an audience of their choosing. Ideally, this or a similar written assignment should be completed before conducting the exercise described here. At least, students should come to class with an image in mind that they can explore. Also, especially in a 50-minute class, it will be helpful if students have already had an introduction to Photoshop. Since the product of the assignment is not meant to be presented or published, copyright issues need not absolutely be discussed, but the assignment can definitely be turned into an occasion to discuss copyright, fair use and creative commons.

In the first part of the assignment, students spend time searching the web for digital pictures in line with the image they have selected to use for their writing. For instance, one of my student described the Internet as a nightclub and identified Google as the bouncer. This student would likely enter "bouncer" as a search term. Of course, very different images (actual photos, cartoons, memes with text, different color choices, etc.) will come up. This fact is not a problem but should be seen as a first steps in helping students refine their use of images: it exposes them to different connections and contexts in which their image can be used and may open up new ways of thinking about that image. The amount of choices can be a drawback, as students may feel overwhelmed and unsure about making a decision. Therefore you should give them some time to play around during the search process and also emphasize that this is a process-oriented exercise. It doesn't matter what the final product looks like as long as the exercise opens up new perspectives on image logic for them.

Next, have students import their picture into Photoshop and manipulate it to support the claim they want to make. Again, low-end, trashy-looking experiments are encouraged. Taking the example above, it may start with stuff as simple as imposing the Google logo onto the bouncer's jacket or re-naming the nightclub "www," etc. As students continue image-editing, you should encourage them to explore new dimensions of the image. In addition to the bouncer, students could include a line of people queueing to get in. What do these people look like? Do they look at the bouncer, and he at them? Do they talk to each other? etc.

As students progress, they are likely to run into a dead end where they don't know how to continue, and they will also have technical difficulties with Photoshop. You should definitely make yourself available for questions and also get those students who know Photoshop better than others to help their peers. Towards the end of the class period, or at the beginning of your next class, you can make some room for students to present their images. I would suggest making this voluntary. My experience is that students are quite eager to show their media products.

The exercise should conclude with a written reflection homework in which students describe where they were going with their image before and how working in Photoshop has changed and elaborated their image logic, and how they plan to use their chosen image in their persuasive paper. Alternatively, if you want to put more emphasis on multimedia writing, you can ask students to continue working on their Photoshop project outside of class and turn the product into a graded assignment. Just make sure every student has appropriate access to a computer with Photoshop outside of class.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

You should familiarize yourself with Photoshop enough to answer basic student questions. I don't think it's necessary that you are an expert by any standard, but if you have never worked with the program the exercise might turn into chaos. Also, don't be afraid to ask students to help their classmates (and you) with any questions that might come up.

Depending on the focus of the class, the extent of previous exposure sutdents have had to Photoshop and the time you want to dedicate to the assignment, students' images may comprise a product (and graded assignment) of their own. In that case, you should plan for 2-3 class days dedicated to the project.

Instructions For Students:

Finding Images:

Search the web for picture files of the image(s) you have chosen to work with
Take time to browse through the different search results and notice the different kind of images that come up

How are they different?
What aspects of your chosen image do they highlight?
Do they bring any new aspects to light you might work with?

After about 10 minutes, you should choose one image with which you will work for the rest of the class period

Manipulating Images:

Import you image into Photoshop
Get excited, manipulate:

superimpose/blend in other images
rotate, distort dimensions, duplicate
change colors
Photoshop does allow you to include text, but try to work without it as much as you can

Reflection:

Write a brief (maximum 1 page, double-spaced) reflection essay answering the following questions:

What were the dimensions of your image you highlighted before the Photoshop exercise?
Did working in Photoshop change any of these, or bring them into a different focus? Did you discover new aspects of the image you can utilize for essay 3?
How do you plan to use your image in essay 3? Will it guide your entire discussion, work as an example of one specific aspect of the discussion? Will it work best to appeal to reason, logic, or emotion?

Evaluation Suggestions:

If you do this exercise the way it is outlined above, I would strongly suggest keeping the stakes low and not giving a grade on the Photoshop project itself. You may decide to grade the written reflection, if homework assignments make up part of your class's grades. I think the exercise can work great if you are using the learning record, as it emphasizes process and reflection.

Course Type:

Introductory Writing Course

Course Description:

RHE 306 Rhetoric and Writing: This is an introductory writing class with a mostly freshman student population. The assignment can easily be tweaked to fit any class with a persuasive, inventive writing assignment.

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Creating Visual Models of Rhetorical Concepts with Adobe Illustrator

detweiler — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 11:53:10 +0000

Author:

Eric Detweiler

Image Credit:

adapted from Avital Ronell's Stupidity

Brief Assignment Overview:

I’ve often found that writing about rhetorical concepts and theories only takes students so far. This assignment allows students to create concrete visual representations of concepts and theories in order to approach and think through them in a different manner.

Type of Assignment:

In-class Exercise

Assignment Length:

Single Class Period

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Invention

Visual Rhetoric

Pedagogical Goals - Literature:

Literary Criticism

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Additional Pedagogical Goals:

To help students consider how rhetoric and particular rhetorical concepts function in another medium. A way to move conceptualization, at least momentarily, out of the written word and into a more visual medium designed to complement/supplement/interrupt students implicit or unthought assumptions about rhetorical concepts and theories. Also to familiarize students with the interface of one of Adobe’s increasingly ubiquitous design and production softwares.

Media Requirements:

Adaptable For Use Without Classroom Technology

Required Materials:

Student computers with Adobe Illustrator installed. (Alternatives: more basic image creation programs like Microsoft Paint, or drawing utensils and paper.)

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Mid-Semester

Full Assignment Description:

In the course, I assigned a number of theoretical readings about how irony functions (selections from Soren Kierkegaard, Wayne Booth, and Stanley Fish, among others). The second paper of the semester requires students to apply one of those readings’ theories to a piece of ironic discourse. One student’s paper incorporated and drew heavily on a visual model of irony from Booth’s A Rhetoric of Irony. Having the model at his disposal really seemed to help the student grasp and challenge Booth’s concept of irony as it applied to the assignment at hand. For subsequent iterations of the class, then, I decided to have students mock up their own visual models of irony. I give some advance notice, telling students a class period in advance that they’ll be responsible for creating a Booth-esque model of irony, and ask them to bring a hand-drawn or lo-fi digital mock-up to our next class meeting. I spend little time offering any sort of tutorial on Adobe Illustrator (which I chose for its breadth and relative popularity), as there are a great number of good ones online. Having students search for and locate useful web tutorials can itself be a good sub-lesson. On the day of the actual assignment, I show them where to find the program on their computers and let them have at it for roughly an hour. I mostly circulate, troubleshooting particular issues and questions as they arise. Students are required to turn their models in with their final versions of the paper assignment referenced above—roughly a week after the in-class Illustrator workshop. We revisit these models at the end of the semester as a way of thinking how students’ concept of irony has changed or gotten more complicated as the course has progressed.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

Familiarize yourself with Illustrator (or whatever program you plan to use). You don’t need to know it thoroughly, as the models need not be more than shapes, arrows, and labels. I prefer to over-prepare when it comes to technology, however. Adobe has some tutorials available on their site. Also, notify your students a day in advance, as mentioned above. Learning the software is a useful and substantial challenge, and it’s easier if they’ve done some of the conceptual work of drafting the model in advance. That way they can practice “illustrating” with something concrete.

Instructions For Students:

The day before the assignment: We’ve discussed and applied Booth’s model of irony in class. To help you approach irony in a different medium than writing, you’re going to be responsible for crafting your own visual model of irony. You can use Booth’s as a starting point, but should not just copy it. Try to think of this in relation to your second paper: Even if you’re using Booth as your theorist, in what ways does the text you’re analyzing complicate or twist his model? If you’re using Stanley Fish as your theorist, how might what he sees as the “foundation” of irony differ from what serves as the foundation for Booth’s model. Bring a rough sketch (hand-drawn or computer-generated is fine) with you to our next class meeting. Next time, you’ll be using Adobe Illustrator, which is installed on the lab computers, to flesh out your models. If you are familiar with Illustrator, you can use it to mock up your rough draft. You will have an hour to work on it next time, however, so leave yourself something to do, and potentially be prepared to help out your classmates.

Day of: [after showing students where to locate Illustrator] You have an hour to work on these today. There are plenty of tutorials online, so feel free to search for them, or ask me or one of your classmates who’s familiar with Illustrator, if you need help. Your models are due with your final draft of paper 2. Save them as jpgs, gifs, or pngs and upload them to the appropriate folder on our course wiki [I prefer digital to hard copies in most cases]. If you need additional time, remember that PAR 102 [another computer lab with Illustrator] is available to you. Have at it.

Evaluation Suggestions:

I use The Learning Record, so this assignment isn’t evaluated in and of itself. If you wanted to grade it in isolation, the cogency and aptness of the model is certainly a consideration, as is the facility the student demonstrates with Illustrator. Balancing between those two would depend on your pedagogical purposes. In my case, I let students reflect on their model in conjunction with their papers, thinking about what approaching irony visually added to how they wrote about it and vice versa. I expect students will prefer one over the other to varying degrees for various reasons, and I’d rather put the focus on reflection than on the specific object they create, especially since we return to the models as a point of discussion much later in the course.

Notes on Reception, Execution, etc.:

I’ve been a bit disingenuous in using the past tense above, as I will actually be piloting this assignment in a couple of weeks. Feel free to contact me for after-the-fact details.

Additional Resources:

The Adobe tutorials also linked to above: http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/exchange/index.cfm?l=-1&o=desc&cat=212&event=producthome&s=5&exc=17
Google or another search engine

Course Type:

Intermediate Writing Course

Course Description:

RHE 309K: A writing course focused on stuying and practicing methods of rhetorical analysis within the contexts of disputed issues of academic, political, or cultural significance. My particular course was entitled "Rhetoric of Irony" and looked specifically at the ways irony and its satellite concepts function in political and popular discourse.

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