Teaching and Critical Pedagogy

First Year Seminar
Fall 2007

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The FYS Homepage/Website

I. The Project: Each student is required to complete an end of the semester project for the FYS seminar that connects the course assignments to the learning outcomes for the course. The projects will be displayed at the FYS end-of-semester recognition program in December, date TBD.

For this class, each student will be responsbile for creating his/her own webpage/homepage. Students will be required to post their webpages at http://homepages.wmich.edu/

In short, the goal of the assignment is to create a personal website that not only gives users a glance at FYS students' lives and interests but also could be used as a tool for currecnt freshman and/or future students: a type of 'survival guide', if you will, for freshmen at Western Michigan University.

Among other things, the students' webpage will include information about each student. Each student will be allowed to create a webpage representing his/her own interests, both personally and academically. In addition, the webpage will reflect the students' interest in and understanding if one of the main topics/issues addressed in the Keys to Effective Learning: Developing Powerful Habits of Mind text.

II. Guidelines/Requirements for the Assignment:

A . What makes a quality Web site?

For the purposes of this assignment, some important criteria include:

•  Academically and intellectually sound, including meaningful information, and links
•  Thematically and artistically coordinated using common backgrounds and structures that link your site together graphically and thematically.
•  Interactive, including electronic communities , and other activities for users/students.
•  Attractive and appropriate material for your peers and colleagues.
•  Relevant and marketable: includes a portfolio of your professional work and accomplishments .

B. Structuring the Web site.   

Before you begin, you should plan the structure of your Web site. You might map out the main pages and secondary pages. At the very least, your website should have at least THREE pages, no more than FIVE.

The required pages for this assignment are:

1. A Home Page

The home page needs a title, perhaps setting forward some metaphor or theme that will be repeated in the rest of the site. Your home page should include your name (with a working e-mail link), perhaps an appropriate picture of yourself, and other attractive photographic or visual elements.

Your home page also provides links to the other main pages in your site, including at the very least the “Informative Student Page" and your "Professional Work/Resume" page.

To achieve this, you should create a navigation bar, placed in a consistent location on every page.

2. Informative Student Page

This page should be focused on WMU freshman students and/or students considering coming to WMU. It is to be informative as well as persuasive and reflective. It not only should inform, but give the user a good idea as to why what you talk about is important.

To start: Reflect on chapters discussed in Effective Learning: Developing Powerful Habits of Mind . Next, select themes or key issues from the book – such as how to manage stress; study habits; diversity issues; how to solve problems; how to read and study properly; how to take notes, etc.

Pick ONE ISSUE AND/OR THEME for this page. No more. The goal is to examine your issue thoughtfully. The goal is depth, not superficiality.

While planning, consider your own experience as a freshman at WMU. Perhaps this would help you as you select your theme/issue. Ask yourself: what did I learn this semester that someone else could benefit from knowing?

In addition to the aforementioned, on this page make sure to provide the user a summary of your personal philosophy on ‘surviving the freshman' experience and why you feel your issue seems to be THE one that freshman at WMU should consider the most important.

In the end, this page should serve as a type of ‘survival' guide for people like you: new students at WMU. It should provide a wealth of information, links, resources, etc., that help to illustrate more fully and/or to teach the user about your chosen theme.

NOTE: You MUST cite sources i.e. give attribution. You CANNOT take, 'borrow' or steal someone else's material. Therefore, you MUST - someplace on your webpage - provide a list of all resources/sources of information that you used during the creation of your website.

Fair use guidelines MUST be followed with proper use of citations throughout the Web page!

3 . Professional Page

This page should demonstrate your professionalism. It could ultimately serve as your portfolio, and someday may be helpful when it comes to future employers.

Include your resume on this page, and do not be afraid to make clear your professional and academic accomplishments.

Consider using .pdf format to make your resume more attractive.

C. Getting Started.    

1. Choosing a design program or Web service.

The best way to start your page is simply from a blank screen in one of the Web design programs such as Macromedia Dreamweaver ( download free 30-day trial ), or Microsoft Front Page.  You can also use word processing programs or desktop publishing programs, such as Word or Publisher that will allow you to save your page as an .html document.

Or, you could begin with an existing template and modify it to your own purposes using a Web design program. You can get great free templates at Freelayouts.com . When you borrow a template, be sure to ask permission when necessary, give credit, and link back to the template site.

As a last resort, check out the following commercial sites, which offer free domains and easy-to-use templates: Angelfire , Fortunecity , Homestead , GeoCities . or FreeWebspace . Of course, all of these services will run pop-up and banner adds on your Web site. For a monthly subscription you can publish on sites without ads at Yahoo or Homestead.

2. Resources for Creating Web sites.     

a. Web Design

Jesset.com offers design tips and techniques.
Creating Good Web Sites is an in-depth examination of successful Web design.
Web Pages That Suck is a humorous look at what not to do.

b. Backgrounds and Buttons

Background City , Top100-websites , GRSites , and Free-Backgrounds all offer different backgrounds.
Freebuttons.com has lots of button options.
Gif Works has free resources for 3-D text, animated banners, buttons, etc.
Flaming Text has buttons, arrows, bullets, and other resources.

c. Images

Although it is simple to cut and paste images, commercial images, photographs, and texts may be under copy-write. To be safe, request permission from the owner of the site where you find such an image and create a link to the original page.

Museum sites can be a rich source for classic art works to decorate your page. If you use these images, be sure to follow copyright laws. Try Artchive.com , The Metropolitan Museum of Art , The Modern Art Museum , Barewalls.com .

D. Publishing Your Site to the Web.     

Of course, your final goal is to publish your Web site on the Web.

Be sure to know how your server operates: it may or may not support the page you have designed. Your institution may also provide you with space on their server to publish your pages.

Students at Western Michigan University publish on the WMU homepages  server. For this assignment to count, your website MUST be published on this site by the assigned due date.

E. Assessment/Evaluation.

"Website" Holistic Rubric

An "outstanding, exceptional, extraordinary" grade of "A" for your website requires that the student meets/exceeds the expectations based in part on the following holistic criteria. An "outstanding, exceptional, extraordinary" grade of "A" means that the student meets/exceeds the expectations based in part on the following:

Overall Aesthetics: Has to Do w/Overall Visual Appeal, Navigation & Flow, and Mechanics.

• There are appropriate and thematic graphic elements are used to make visual connections that contribute to the understanding of concepts, ideas and relationships.
• Differences in type size and/or color are used well and consistently; the typography is easy-to-read and point size varies appropriately for headings and text; use of bullets, italics, bold, and indentations enhances readability.
• Consistent format extends page-to-page; te layout uses horizontal and vertical white space appropriately.
• The background, colors and layout are artful and consistent across the website and enhance the readability of the information presented.
• Navigation is seamless, and it is always clear to the user what all the pieces are and how to get to them; all of the menus, navigation links and all internal links and sections of the website connect back to the home page and/or sitemap'; all external links to connecting websites are active and functioning; a sitemap/index is provided to make the site easy-to-access.
• Creativity and original images enhance the content of the Web pages in an innovative way.
• No mechanical problems related to spelling, grammar, etc., noted in all of the pages.
  

Evidence of Critical Thinking/Planning: Has to Do/Relevance of Content to Students.

• Clearly, the student-designer was able to integrate knowledge and apply to information learned in class in an elaborated way.
• The content has a unique main idea/purpose/theme and includes useful educational information for students.
• The content is written clearly and concisely and points readers to high quality, up to date pertinent resources; content as a whole is highly informative and provides essential information to the reader; information is up-to-date and seems to emphasize the freshness of content.
• In short, the website showcases the students' research, data collection, etc., and does promote the user to interact with what is presented; it is more than evident that the student has taken a good deal of time and thought with regard to the material contained on the site; all pages go beyond the obvious, and there clearly is a willingness to go beyond the obvious.
  

A "very good/high pass" grade of "B" means : that the student might meet the requirements, but still lacks in some of the more critical areas reflective of "A" quality work. Generally, there seems to be an attempt to engage and interact with the spirit of the assignment, to meet the key requirements. For example, most of the menus, navigation links and internal links to sections of the website connect back to the home page and/or sitemap; most of the external links to connecting websites are active and functioning. Also, the purpose, theme, or main idea of the website is evident with appropriate educational information for students; the content points readers to quality information resources; the content is informative and provides useful information to the reader. For the most part the student does a pretty good job when it comes to addressing the key criteria of the assignment.

An "adequate/acceptable" grade of "C" means: that the assignment likely meets some of the criteria/requirements, but leaves too many questions regarding the abovementioned. For example, the theme or main idea of the website is vague and does not create a strong sense of purpose or include educational information that students can use; the content points readers to information that does not relate to the purpose or theme of the page; information is incomplete or inaccurate. Perhaps, some of the menus, navigation links and internal links to sections of the website connect back to the home page and/or sitemap, but in other places the links do not connect to preceding pages or to the original index page; some of the external links to connecting websites are not active and functioning. As a whole, more than obvious that just enough was done for this assignment; more often than not, shows little little thought and/or consideration for the assignment.

A "D" grade likely reflects: considerable problems and/or poor quality of work. For example, the text is extremely difficult to read due to inappropriate use of fonts, point size, bullets, italics, bold, and indentations for headings and sub-headings and body text. Also, the website could have significant problems with menus, navigation links and internal links to sections of the website and few or no connections back to the preceding pages or to the original index page. Additionally, there could be prblems with the text - possibly, the text is extremely difficult to read due to inappropriate use of fonts, point size, bullets, italics, bold, and indentations for headings and sub-headings and body text; it may be that formatting tools are under- or over-utilized and decrease the readers' accessibility to the content, etc.; the layout uses horizontal and vertical white space inappropriately and the content appears cluttered; the background, colors and layout make the site unattractive, and it is difficult to read the information presented. In short, the site shows little thought as a whole for the spirit of the assignment.

An "E" reflects : a considerable amount of problems not limited to: The text has many errors in grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling requiring major editing and revision. Moreover, it could be that things simply do not work, there is no one theme, no research - little to no though at all is obvious. The website simply doesn't work, doesn't meet requirements and it is quite obvious that assignment was done ‘at the last minute for a grade: a 'last ditch' attempt to make up for not thinking about/doing the assignment.

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