64 For Instructors: Purpose & Choice in the Remix Project

Note for Instructors: There are three activities within this chapter: a group in-class activity, a discussion post activity, and a reading response activity. These were designed to work for the Remix Project.

In-Class Activity:

Separate students into groups. Students will look over the Profile of a Place: “Old Main Building – TWU” or the instructor’s own student essay example.

Part One:

In your groups read Profile of a Place: “Old Main Building – TWU” together. Remember the Student’s Thesis/Argument/Purpose is:

• “Along with the visually appealing architecture of the Old Main Building, the space has a deep connection to the history of women getting access to higher education. It also gives a sense of hope to the current students traveling through the building and learning more about the difficult access to college-level education women once had, and the building sends a message to future students that we can also complete university and lead into an amazing future.”
• And even though there are multimodal elements present within this essay (the photographs), your remix project is asking you to create a new project/creation beyond a written essay with photos or figures/graphs/charts.

After you read the essay, choose a notetaker for your group discussion. The notetaker will write down or type out the answers to these next questions. In your groups have a discussion that covers these questions with specific examples:

• What would be the best format to utilize when remixing this essay? Provide a list of four good/appropriate formats.
• What would be some not-so-good formats to utilize when remixing this essay? Provide a list of three not-so-good/ill-fitting formats.
• What would be good or appropriate visual choices to make when remixing this essay? Provide a list of four good/appropriate visual choices to make.
• What would be some not-so-good visual choices to utilize when remixing this essay? Provide a list of three ill-fitting formats.
• What would be good or appropriate audio/video choices to make when remixing this essay? Provide a list of four good/appropriate audio/video choices to make.
• What would be not-so-good or inappropriate audio/video choices to make when remixing this essay? Provide a list of three not-so-good/ill-fitting audio/video choices to make.
• What would be good embodied/gestural choices to make when remixing this essay? Provide a list of three good/appropriate embodied/gestural choices to make.
• What would be not-so-good or inappropriate embodied/gestural choices to make when remixing this essay? Provide a list of three not-so-good/ill-fitting embodied/gestural choices to make.

Part Two:

Have each group share their findings with the rest of the class. Everyone but the notetaker must reveal to the class their answers and examples to the above questions.

Grading/Assessment:

Students can be assessed on participation/labor-based guidelines.  You can have them upload their responses via Canvas (it can be their handwritten in-class notes, they can type them up in class or reflect upon them later, or you can have them turn in their work at the end of class). You can grade it as complete/incomplete. You can give it a letter/percentage/point grade depending on your own class grading structure/weights.

Evaluating Remix Projects Discussion Prompt:

This week we read some student-created Remix Projects:

1. 100. Remix: “The Baker Hotel”
2. 101. Remix: “Encapturing Nature”
3. 102. Remix: “Welcome to the Cadillac Ranch”

Discuss and Answer the Following Questions:

Part One:

What did you think of them generally speaking? How did they help you see multimodality in action?

Part Two:

Then choose ONE of the examples and answer EACH of the following questions:

1. How does your chosen example incorporate different multimodal elements and how/why were they effective in communicating information about their topic?
2. What stood out to you in terms of the conversations we have been having about purpose and choice and how to use different modes to communicate meaning?
3. What is your overall evaluation/thoughts of your chosen example?

Discussion Rubric:

General Reading Response Post:

Read this chapter: 18 Multimodality

Then find at least two quotes/sentences or sections you liked or found thought-provoking from that chapter. Copy and paste it into your post below and provide at least a quick sentence on why you think that quote is interesting or helped you learn something or affirmed something you already know.

Many types of comments are acceptable: questions, observations, connections drawn between the text you’re reading and other information you have received in previous classes, how you plan on using this information moving forward, and why you chose that particular line/sentence/idea.  Do not just post the first line or sentence from the excerpts. Show me you read them! Again I am just looking for authentic participation and effort. If you show me that you will get full credit for these types of things. Don’t be afraid of “writing the wrong thing.” At these early stages, discussion and expression of thought and an attempt at analysis and critical thinking are way more important than “correct” answers or “correct” analysis (if there is such a thing when it comes to this sort of thing!). Also, don’t feel like you have to write a whole essay or paragraph. Think of this as more note-taking and free thought association. You can keep your ideas and phrasing conversational.