Can Erbil & Kalpana Seshardi's Multi-Media Essay Project
Updated on November 3, 2023
Can Erbil is a Professor of the Practice in Economics at Boston College.Kalpana Seshardi is Professor of English at Boston College.
What is the context for this course?
“Beyond Price: Markets, Cultures, Values” is a Complex Problems course offered by the Core Renewal Program. The course was jointly designed and jointly taught by Professors Can Erbil (Economics) and Kalpana Seshadri (English). It enrolls 75 first year students, and has three logistical components: the Lecture session led by the two professors, the Lab sessions led by the teaching assistants, and a weekly reflection session led by the professors. Students work through the semester on the final creative assignment during the Lab sessions. The final group assignment is to create a multimedia project that seeks to inform and argue a well-thought-out position on a topic of critical relevance to the subject of the course, namely, the relation between markets and values.
Our course raises a series of questions about the economy, human values, and the power of the market over all aspects of contemporary social, moral, and political life.
Sample questions we explore are: how does the economy shape our lives and our capabilities in ways we don’t always recognize? How do market forces affect our power to choose where we go to school, what career paths to pursue, where we live, and how we live? What are the consequences of global economic inequality? How does the current economic system affect our environment, and the health of the planet? How are these issues represented in literary fiction, and how do economic discourses and vocabularies of the market enter the fabric of our culture through literary and other media? What resources do the humanities—particularly literature and narrative analysis, and the discipline of economics offer for an understanding of human nature and social responsibility, and how can we assess the limits and strengths of their conflicting definitions, ways of conceptualizing problems, and the solutions they offer?
Why did you choose to use a creative assignment?
Our course is structured as an interdisciplinary endeavor to raise critical awareness about the escalating power that economic actions have to shape political, environmental, cultural, moral, and personal aspects of our lives. As our course focuses largely on contemporary life, we designed this assignment to prompt students working in groups to engage critically and creatively with a variety of concrete problems, questions, and situations. Students were encouraged to deploy their understanding of basic economic concepts in researching their topic, while providing narrative analysis of real life or fictional stories of the particular issue in terms of how people are impacted and the consequences it has for our society’s moral values. The goal of the final creative assignment is to promote reflection on what we mean by the ‘pursuit of the good life.’
How did you introduce the assignment to students?
On the first day of class, we described the interdisciplinary nature of the course and explained our expectation that the students will integrate material from both our lectures, reading material, and other shorter assignments and quizzes. We used Canvas to provide more detailed instructions to the students, below:
At the beginning of the semester, students will be divided into small groups (7 students each). Each group will attend the same lab and work on one project with multi-modal components throughout the semester.
The projects will be developed during the lab session with the help of the Teach Assistants (TAs) and each group will present their product twice (mid-semester and end of the semester).
There will be a calendar to guide you through the project and meet expectations. TAs will be available to meet individually with groups during office hours.
Project Overview
Throughout this course, you will be looking at the world through the lens of economics, literature and culture to examine how economic considerations shapes our lives and our capabilities in ways we don’t always recognize.
This project gives you a chance to apply this lens to one focused issue over the course of the semester and to share your discoveries and new found understanding with the rest of the class. Working in a group, you will use the multi-media tools available through Google Sites to develop a thoughtful and educational website that not only provides your audience with the necessary information about the topic, but also presents a clearly thought through perspective for understanding the meaning and importance of the topic. In other words, your project must present a coherent point of view, a narrative that helps your audience make sense of the issues at stake.
The goal is to present a Multi-Media Essay that informs and persuades your audience. Thus, it is important to develop a narrative perspective that is based on research, debate, and analysis. The project should also make a good use of the power of stories and real-life examples to help your audience engage more deeply with the topic.
How did you scaffold the assignment for students?
We created a project calendar for the groups to use to mark a pathway for their research and progress and broke the assignment down into five parts (below)
The suggested topics are charged current issues. It is important that your group include members with diverse opinions, however, it is imperative that each of you be willing to set aside all pre-judgments and strong personal opinions in order to undertake a journey of understanding where the topic is concerned.
Begin by tweaking the topic to suit your own interests by focusing on one small aspect of it. For instance, if you are interested in social media influencers and their impact on society and the economy: create your sample by choosing a particular sector and the target audience in a field such as personal style, music, sports, politics, comedy, etc.. Or you can focus on one or two social media platforms and research how they promote or suppress influencers or information in order to derive specific outcomes. Your research should point out the stakes of these enterprises and offer information and a coherent perspective to aid understanding.
To begin, you must set yourselves a genuinely problematic question, and then seek to know more about it, debate it, discuss it, work through your feelings about it, and then try to arrive at a reasonable compromise on what to believe or advocate on the topic. If some of you still disagree, then include a file that lays out the dissenting opinion.
Choose any one of the topics listed in the document entitled Multi-media project topics and inform us as soon as possible to reserve your choice. If your group has an idea for a new topic, please run the idea by the entire teaching team. Note: ALL TOPICS MUST BE APPROVED BY BOTH INSTRUCTORS.
Establish clear boundaries for your research. Establish selection criteria and identify the key sources. Assemble a list of primary and secondary texts with reading assignments for each group member.
Assemble all necessary facts, data, and concepts that pertain to your topic. This is where the group actively learns and shares information about the topic.
Make a checklist of the variety of media you plan to use and aim for a balance. Have you explored all avenues of the topic?
Analysis
Rhetorical Analysis. Choose two representative articles that throw light on different aspects of the same issue. Annotate the articles with commentary that draws attention not only to the key aspects of the issue, but also offers thoughts and reactions. Your commentary should include observations of the writing style. Please text and highlight the sentences, word choices, and figures of speech to show how they are being used and to what effect.
Economic Analysis of the different perspectives. A brief summary of existing economic research backed up with data and evidence.
Narrative
Stories – a discussion of a story to show how it pertains to the perspective you are developing. This can be either fiction or a true-life story but it must be chosen to expand and deepen your argument. You may include Narrative cinema, short stories, novels, plays, magazine stories, etc. All and any type of narrative may be included.
Case Studies – Real-life examples of the economic consequences of the pro and con positions
Purpose of the Project: Drawing on the key insights your group gained from reading up on the subject matter, exploring the facts and data, and analyzing the surrounding debates, set yourselves a goal for the project. Formulate an argument to present as a “mission statement” (thesis) on the front page of the site. This statement should encapsulate the group’s collective view on the issue. Articulate your argument by laying out what is at stake, and why you hold the view that you presently do. Your argument should aim to persuade.
Site Development: Revise content from the exploration phase of the project to support the goals of the site. Create a site structure that helps viewers.
Media: Curate images, video, and audio, create timelines, use maps, etc. to make your site as persuasive and informative as possible. Everything you include should serve a clear rhetorical purpose and not distract from the goals of the site (more is not better).
Reflective Paragraph: a brief paragraph from each member of the group laying out their personal journey with the issue. Has your opinion changed, has it deepened? Do you now have better and stronger reasons to believe what you do? What did you learn from exploring your topic from different angles? It may be best to keep a journal and note your thoughts on the topic after each group meeting.
Feedback: You will view two projects and provide feedback on how effective you think the site is in helping its audience engaged more deeply with an issue
Group Presentation: You will briefly present your site and summarize your reflections on the process of creating it. Then, you will hear feedback from the two groups assigned to review your project and take questions from the class.
Revision: Before the end of the semester, you can revise your site based on the feedback you received.
How did you assess student work?
We used a rubric to grade student work and asked students to engage in a peer review process. Here’s the information we shared with students about the assessment process.
The first requirement is to be Open Minded and Respectful of others.
We shall be looking for the following virtues to assess the quality of your work.
Courage: how truly urgent is this issue? Have you as a group endeavored to challenge yourselves morally and intellectually?
Depth: is your argument well thought through? Have you researched the topic well enough to know all the objections and counter arguments that could be mounted? Is it well-informed? Are you aware of all the key texts and documents?
Nuance: how refined is your argument? Does it marshal enough detail and creative thinking to make a strong and powerful case?
Breadth: Does the argument make use of a wide variety of available resources including films, images, music, art, cartoons, etc.?
Multimedia Project Grading Rubric
Project is jointly graded by the two professors and the two teaching assistants working in consultation with each other. (75 points total)
Depth of research (40 points total)
Quality of the rhetorical analysis (20 points)
Does the rhetorical analysis cover both sides of the argument? (5 points)
How convincing, readable, interesting are the stories and narratives? (5 points)
Are the case studies relevant to the topic and provide an illuminating perspective? (5 points)
Are the proposed policy recommendations clearly stated and well reasoned? (5 points)
Quality of the economic analysis (20 points)
Does the economic analysis cover both sides of the argument? (5 points)
Does the analysis rely on up-to-date and reputable resources? (5 points)
Are these resources sufficiently backed up by data and empirical evidence? (5 points)
Are the proposed policy recommendations adequate, e.g. alleviate the issue at hand and have a chance of being implemented? (5 points)
Content of the website (20 points total)
Does the mission statement convey the importance of the topic and explicitly articulates the group’s final position on the matter? (5 points)
Has the research been adequately summarized on the website? (5 points)
Does the website curate persuasive and informative media? Are there media that do not clearly relate to the topic? Are you satisfied with the diversity of media used? (5 points)
Does the website convince you of the group’s point of view on the matter? (5 points)
Delivery of the presentation (15 points total)
How successful was the group at engaging the audience’s interest in the topic? (5 points)
How persuasive was the group in defending their policy recommendations? (5 points)
Was the group organized and well spoken? Did they make a seamless presentation without incident? (5 points)
Each student had to provide anonymous feedback on two other groups’ presentations. Students were asked to share their reflections on how effective the site is in helping its audience engage more deeply with an issue.
By assessing each other’s work, students were exposed to diverse perspectives and approaches, which can deepen their understanding of the subject matter and improve critical thinking skills. Peer review also encourages students to consider their audience when writing or presenting, fostering a greater sense of accountability and quality in their work. The process is typically conducted anonymously to ensure unbiased feedback and to create a safe environment where students feel comfortable providing honest critiques without the fear of personal repercussions or damaging relationships. This anonymity can help maintain a focus on the content and quality of the work rather than the identity of the peer, leading to more constructive and objective evaluations.
How did the students do?
The websites that the students created were sophisticated, thoughtful, and deeply informative. The presentations were polished and professional. Since we had made the stakes of the grading process high by including peer reviews in addition to the final assessment by the instructors, the groups worked to hone their presentations by rehearsing with the TAs. Thus, in addition to the research itself, students said they appreciated working on their presentation and public speaking skills.
Beyond Price: Does a holistic education benefit society more than a specialized education?
Living Well: Does a college degree enable a middle-class lifestyle?
Fall 2022 was the third time teaching this course, so we have learned a few lessons on the way. The first time we gave them the option of choosing their own topics, but soon realized that as first year students they have not as yet acquired the discernment to choose appropriately sized research subjects or craft research questions. Thus, giving them a list of topics to choose from was helpful. We also learned to encourage completion at each check point by asking for feedback and giving them constant feedback.
Is there anything else you would like to share?
Some of the student feedback from our course evaluation is below. They do a better job describing their experience than we ever could.
“This course gave me the opportunity to make connections to real world problems and listen to my classmates’ opinions which not only helped me make connections with what we were learning but it made me question my own opinions. This course was very interesting and intrigued me. Making connections with our lectures and real-world examples created an environment that was very interesting.”
“Challenges you to go beyond preconceived notions and explore opinions, views and methods that you may not have otherwise considered. Very engaging teaching style.”
“It incorporated so much of the outside world and tied together so many intricate aspects that were so interesting and engaging, and the group projects really allowed us to practice research in the world around us.”
“It is INCREDIBLY inter–disciplinary. Professor Erbil and Seshadri are highly devoted to their students and seeing them succeed. This was definitely my hardest class by far, but the one I enjoy the most. The professors made sure I really cared about the subject matter.”
“Intellectually stimulating, exposes students to multiple perspectives and experiences.”
