DWRL Lesson Plans - Axel Bohmann

Video Remixing with Jon Stewart

Bohmann — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 21:51:53 +0000

Author:

Image Credit:

Brief Assignment Overview:

The assignment introduces students to some very basic video editing techniques (cutting clips, detaching audio, inserting new audio) and gets them thinking about how the visual and sound channel in a video composition play together to create rhetorical effect. It's also fun as hell.

Type of Assignment:

In-class Exercise

Assignment Length:

Partial Class Period

Single Class Period

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Multimedia

Multimodal

Remix

Media Requirements:

Technology-Based Classroom (computers for each student)

Required Materials:

Every student needs to be able to access a computer with video editing software (I use iMovie since that is available on DWRL machines, but Mozilla Popcorn Maker is freely available and will work for this assignment too (see Beck Wise's LP post). A pair of headphones for each student is strictly not required, but without them there will be a lot of noise distraction. I just ask my students to bring their own headphones along with them to class and try to have a couple of extra ones available.

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Late in the Semester

Full Assignment Description:

In March, 2104, Jon Stewart took this campaign ad from Kentucky senator Mitch McConnell (R) and developed a number of remixes from it (see for example the segment from the show or just search #mcconnelling). This practice quickly developed into a wide-spread online phenomenon. Apart from being hilarious, it is remarkably simple to do, yet can teach students a good deal about video composition. I developed a standalone exercise out of it that just introduces some basics of video composition, but you could easily fill a whole class period or even two with it (for example, I don't ask my students to analyze the McConnelling videos others have made, since at the point in the semester I'm doing this exercise I mainly want to lower their affective filter/anxiety about doing their own multimedia projects and help them acquire some skills to do so).

The first thing I do is simply show students the segment from the Daily Show, which has several examples of McConnell remixes. Most of my students this semester knew it already (although that's going to be different as the trend fades away), but everybody still enjoys watching it. Towards the end, there is a point when Stewart says "we're calling it #mcconnelling and I think everyone can play" (03:48). This is where I cut in and tell students that now it is their turn to play. To make it interesting, I make a competition out of it: the best McConnelling student video (by popular vote) gets to be handed in in lieu of their remixing assignment due a couple of days later.

I provide written instructions for a) downloading video and music from youtube, b) importing material into the event library in iMovie, c) starting a project in iMovie, and d) detaching audio from video in iMovie. In addition, students have found it helpful if I walked them through the entire process once on the instructor station. Once that is done, they need time (ca 20-25 min.) to get their materials in place and work with them. During this I hover around the classroom and try to answer any questions, help fix issues, etc.

One thing to be aware of is to leave yourself and your students enough time to make sure they can save their project, and save it in the right format (i.e. they want to 'share', not just save the iMovie project). In the trajectory of my class, it makes sense to withhold the finished #mcconnelling remixes from classmates until the next class session, when I use them as a segue into more advanced video editing. But there is no principled reason you should not watch the films as a class right after finishing the exercise.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

The most important thing you want to make sure is that you know your way around the functions in iMovie (or whatever program you choose) that students will be working with. I suppose the easiest way to do this would be to make your own #mcconnelling video. As an added benefit you can then show that to your students and give them another thing to compete with - works quite well in my experience.

Also, be sure to let your students know in advance that they should bring headphones to class. Else it will get distractingly loud.

Instructions For Students:

McConnelling in iMovie

This exercise will get us started on working in iMovie and thinking about remixing sound
and moving images to create new arguments.

If you haven’t seen it yet, watch http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/s4z9il/-mcconnelling

Find the original McConnell spot at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrdTX8m5G98 (or youtube search “McConnell original video”)

Download the video using http://www.clipconverter.cc/

Start iMovie (the little star symbol in your program bar on the Mac side of the computers, or use the search ('magnifying glass') function and type in "iMovie")

It will tell you you can start a new project by dragging and dropping material into “this area” (the project window), but that’s a lie

In fact, you will first need to import that material (File -> Import -> Movies) into the Event Library

Then, select the section you need from the library and drag and drop it into the project window

Select the entire project, right click on it, and choose “Detach Audio”

Now, you can simply delete the original audio

Choose an audio file that will work well with the video (remember you can use www.youtube-mp3.org to grab audio off youtube)

Unlike videos, the audio file will need to be directly dragged and dropped into your project from its location on your file system – don’t ask me why.

Have fun.

Evaluation Suggestions:

I work with the Learning Record (highly recommended), so there is no direct evaluation attached to this project. But even if you use a more traditional grading system, I would refrain from putting a number to this assignment. Since it is in-class work under time pressure and with all sorts of potential software issues built into it, this would seem unfair towards students. The only thing I do in terms of evaluation is let the class pick their favorite remix and give that a reward (in my case, having this work stand in for an otherwise additional remixing exercise).

Notes on Reception, Execution, etc.:

My students generally loved this exercise.It's always fun to make someone else (especially a Kentuckian senator) look stupid, the cognitive load seemed just right so they were learning something new but not overwhelmed by it, and the sense of competition between classmates really spurred them on. The results look/sound great.

One student, however, could not successfully import video into iMovie and I was unable to fix the issue. So this exercise was a little frustrating for her. Some steps to take to prevent this from happening are a) making sure everybody works with the same version of the program that you use to demonstrate the steps, b) checking lab computers for bugs/issues.

Course Type:

Intermediate Writing Course

Conducting interviews - animating a controversy

Bohmann — Tue, 10 Dec 2013 18:49:47 +0000

Author:

Axel Bohmann

Image Credit:

www.audio-luci-store.it

Brief Assignment Overview:

Students are asked to extract key claims and questions from an assigned article and then interview people about these claims and questions. The results can be used to demonstrate the spectrum of possible responses to a controversy, as contextual information when mapping a controversy, or even - with the appropriate strategic presentation - as evidence for a final, persuasive paper.

Type of Assignment:

In-class Exercise

Homework Assignment

Assignment Length:

One-Two Class Periods

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Audience

Invention

Stasis

Pedagogical Goals - Writing:

Research

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Collaboration

Media Requirements:

Adaptable For Use Without Classroom Technology

Required Materials:

Article(s) for generating questions
Audio-visual recording devices will be helpful, but can be done on a questionnaire basis
Media console/projector will be helpful for presenting results

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Useful Anytime

Full Assignment Description:

This assignment is designed for lower level/intermediate rhetoric and writing classrooms. Its aim is to get students to think of the controversies they are working on as ongoing discussions with real life consequences rather than in abstract academic terms. It also introduces them to the concept of doing (light-weight) original research.

Students are assigned an opinion article related to the course topic as homework, from which they extract key claims and develop interview questions. Since this assignment is designed as a group project and students will benefit from a shared base for comparison when results are presented, I would not let each student work on their own articles. But this depends in part on the point in the semester at which the exercise is done. At some point towards the end, at least in my classes, students will have their own, quite specific research interests. By that time it might make sense to divide students into groups according to overlapping interests and let them work more freely. Depending on the technology available to you, it may be important to make sure that each group has at least one member with a mobile phone that can do audiovisual recordings.

For the first 15 minutes of class time, students get together in groups and design an interview questionnaire as they discuss their understanding of the assigned material. They should also talk about how to conduct interviews: will they have one person who will consistently be the interviewee and another one or two who will record, or do they want to switch roles? Finally, they should think about what kind of people they want to interview (only a certain age group, gender, only people from Texas, etc.) depending on the controversy at hand.

Students then get between 30 to 45 minutes to find interviewees and conduct their surveys. You may want to give them an area in which they are allowed to find interviewees if you don't want them wandering off too far. And it may be a good idea to be present in the general area to keep an eye on your different groups.

There will not be enough time to present each group's results in the same class period, but a quick de-briefing is a good idea. Ask students to talk about the questions people had most to say on and the ones for which it was most difficult to elicit a response. Did they identify any general trends in their interviewees' answers?

As a homework assignment, ask each group to condense their material and prepare a quick (2 min.) presentation on it. Depending on when in the semester the exercise is done, the presentations can be used as a springboard to discuss different stakeholders, audiences, or to talk about developing arguments from the interview materials

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

You should identify an area on campus close to your classroom that is busy enough for your students to find plenty of interview partners there. Ideally it should also be an area that you can overlook from a strategic position to follow what your students are doing.

Instructions For Students:

Homework:

Read the article "[...]"
Extract the x main claims the author is making
Develop a catalogue of 4 questions you as a journalist might ask a 'man on the street' who has not read the article in order to find out more about the topic

In class:

Get together in groups of 3
(if instructor cannot provide recording devices, make sure at least one student per group can record with their mobile device; of make this a written survey assignment)
Discuss the article and the questions you have come up with
Decide on a 5-8 question protocol to interview people on campus
You have 15 minutes to do this

In your groups, go to [area on campus you identified]
Interview at least five people about the topic of the article

Be back by [10-15 minutes before class is over]
Prepare to discuss your interviewees' reactions to different questions, their general positions, and any common trends you can identify

Homework:

Sum up you group's findings in a brief (2 min) presentation
You may use snippets of original footage and/or statistical graphs to represent the most important information you obtained

Course Type:

Intermediate Writing Course

Introductory Writing Course

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.

Tags:

Rebuttal Sparring

Bohmann — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 01:05:20 +0000

Author:

Axel Bohmann

Image Credit:

GodWiki

Brief Assignment Overview:

Students pair up to practice rebuttal. Partners present their position on their chosen controversy and have to fend off arguments for other positions that their partner comes up with. Partners change frequently and in quick succession.

Type of Assignment:

In-class Exercise

Assignment Length:

Partial Class Period

Single Class Period

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Pedagogical Goals - Writing:

Invention

Peer Review

Pre-Writing

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Collaboration

Presentations

Additional Pedagogical Goals:

refine students' position in their chosen controversy
become aware of and address potential arguments opposed students' own positions
increase awareness of different audiences
develop effective rebuttal strategies

Media Requirements:

No Classroom Technology Required

Required Materials:

Space (good for a session outdoors)

Writing equipment (digital or oldschool) for reflection.

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Late in the Semester

Full Assignment Description:

Use this lesson plan fairly early in Unit 3 of your RHE 306. Ideally students will have read about and discussed the basics of rebuttal (refutation, counterargument, possibly concession) in a previous session and have started to think about their own position in their chosen controversy. This exercise should both get them to think more carefully about their position and potentially qualify it, as well as raise their awareness for opposing positions, their arguments, and how to rebut them. I have my student continuously do little free writing exercises in which they reflect on their position and this exercise culminates in one of those, too.

This is an exercise that needs a bit of space, so if you are in a computer classroom it might be a good chance for you and your students to see some sunlight for a change. Mine definitely appreciate that. Divide the class up into two groups of equal size. The first forms a circle, facing outwards, and the second an additional circle around that one, so two students always face each other. If there is an uneven number of students I get into one of the circles as well to even it out. Tell them that this is their chance to do 'intellectual sparring,' to practice their punches, jabs, and defense with actual partners to strengthen their essay 3 and presentation performance. There, other positions are implicit and it can be a difficult task to consider all of them and their potential arguments. But the more fully they can be addressed, the better essay 3 is going to be.

Tell students they will have three minutes to do the following:

partners in the outer circle present their controversy and their position with regards to it
partners in the inner circle give an argument for a different position
partners in the outer circle must find a way to rebut/refute/discredit said argument, thus strenghtening their own position

After three minutes, the outer circle moves on clockwise (or counter-clockwise if you wanna be a gangster :) ) and the same routine starts again. Half-way through you should switch roles, having the students in the inner circle present and defend their positions. Alternatively, you can leave a little more time between moving circles and have partners switch roles in that interval. Emphasize to your students that this is an exercise where they should really push each other. Of course, you want them to treat each other with respect but it will not do any good if they give in to each other's points too easily. In general, etiquette has not been a problem in my class so far, so I try to get them to really get at each other's arguments.

How long you keep this exercise going depends a bit on your time constraints and the way the students react to it. My experience has been that they enjoy the dynamic dimension of rapidly moving from partner to partner and also feel more comfortable talking when everybody else is too and they know the instructor is not listening. So I don't seem to have any trouble letting it go on for about 30 minutes. You want to give them a chance to listen and respond to a range of opposing viewpoints, so I would not go much shorter than that. Longer potentially, but there is a danger of repetition and information overload as this is quite an intense exercise for the students.

When you feel everybody has had enough chances to listen and respond to different arguments, bring your students back together and let them take 10-15 minutes to compose a written reflection on the exercise, including the following questions: What were the different positions opposed to your own? Were they associated with any particular stakeholders? Give at least two arguments you heard that run counter to your position. Can you find ways to construct refutations or counterarguments to those arguments? You can assign a written homework to your students where they come up with a mire elaborated version of this reflection, including fully developed rebuttals.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

Before Class:

Very little preparation needed
Make sure students have a good idea of rebuttal in general and a sense of their own position in their chosen controversy prior to doing this exercise
Make sure there is enough space for students to move around comfortably

In Class:

Keep an eye on the time, while also getting a sense for how long it takes students to go through the cycle
Be prepared to 'stand in' as a sparring partner if there is an uneven number of students
total class time taken: 45 - 50 minutes (30-35 circle exercise; 10-15 written reflection)

Instructions For Students:

Circle Exercise:

Students divvy up into 2 groups of equal size
Stand in two circles, facing each other
Students in the outer circle present their controversy and their position with regards to it
Students in the inner circle give an argument for a different position
Students in the outer circle must find a way to rebut/refute/discredit said argument, thus strenghtening their own position
You have three minutes for this; when I give the signal, the outer circle moves on clockwise

Reflection:

Write a brief reflection answering the following questions:

What were the different positions opposed to your own? Were they associated with any particular stakeholders? Give at least two arguments you heard that run counter to your position. Can you find ways to construct refutations or counterarguments to those arguments?

Evaluation Suggestions:

I would not evaluate students on the exercise itself. The written reflection (especially if you assign an elaboration for homework) can certainly be used for feedback, but I would not attach a grade to it. The exercise is designed to allow students to play around and get comfortable with their own position.

Course Type:

Introductory Writing Course

Course Description:

I am teaching RHE 306 with Eli Pariser's The Filter Bubble. The content does not matter for this exercise, though.

Tags:

Refutation and Rebuttal