Bryant Avenue Project: Introduction and Exhibit 1 Assignment

For your final three grades (Exhibits 1, 2, and the Final Exam) you will produce a digital exhibit centered on Bryant avenue and the themes of home and education. .

Question this final exam seeks to address:

Using the history and digital tools we’ve covered this semester, can your design a simple digital exhibit that demonstrates a thesis that relates home and education to the history of Minnesota along Bryant Avenue?

Background

We have covered a huge period of MN history. We have also used digital history tools–such as Voyant, Historical Geographic Information Systems (GIS)– to ask different types of questions about the past than are possible using traditional books. Along the way, I’ve asked you to explore some basic concepts in history, such as how can a map tell a story, what can numbers tell us about the past, and what are the limits of social media in addressing history.

Your final exam will take the form of a digital exhibit on WordPress.

Part of creating your final exam will involve creating an outline and bibliography of your sources. This outline and bibliography will be peer reviewed. The entire assignment looks like this.

  1. Exhibits Lesson 1 Assignment: Outline and bibliography for final exhibit. Due May 3rd, 8 p.m., post to the Exhibits Assignment 1 discussion.
  2. Exhibits Lesson 2 Assignment: Complete peer review (through D2L) for one other student. Due May 10th, respond in the Exhibits Assignment 2 discussion. NOTE: This assignment is listed in the Discussion Section of D2L.
  3. Final Exam: Complete your WordPress exhibit: Due May 14th at 8 p.m. NOTE: This is a Tuesday, not our standard Friday due date.

Learning outcomes: at the end of this assignment you will be able to-

  1. Identify four sources (2 primary, 2 secondary) that address an education or home theme common to Bryant ave.
  2. Analyze how your chosen four sources support a thesis of your creation.
  3. Create a thesis that makes an argument for the importance of a historical idea, person, place, event, or object.
  4. Create a Knightlab timeline with three of your sources.
  5. Include sources from four of the modules (time, images, maps, words, numbers, and social media) in your digital exhibit.
  6. Written an extended blog post on our course blog.
  7. Write descriptive text in complete sentences to explain why you’ve chosen your sources.

Assignment requirements

You must complete the history research part of this assignment before you create your outline and bibliography and then build the digital exhibit part of the project.

Exhibits Assignment 1: History Research

More important than anything else in this assignment is your proposed thesis for your exhibit. Finish this sentence: "this exhibits demonstrates that . . . ." If you can finish this sentence, you have a thesis.

To create a thesis, you need a theme, or a topic so you can look for sources. Here’s what you need to create a thesis.

  1. Four historical sources (two primary sources, two secondary sources).
    1. You must include one non-digital source (a physical book or historical object that you viewed in person)
  2. A defined topic that relates all of your sources to one another and to education or home and Bryant ave..
  3. A period of time less than 50 years. Your thesis can connect sources that are up to 50 years apart.
  4. Your sources must address four of our modules: Time (a dated source), Images (a picture), Maps (a GIS map), Words (a voyant analysis of a text), Numbers (statistics about your topic), Social Media (a post about your topic).
  5. All of your sources must pass the PISA (publication, institution, sources, author) credibility test.
  6. You do NOT need more than four sources to earn an "A," and more sources are not better. It’s better to have four great sources rather and eight weak ones.

Outline and Bibliography: Publish to our Discussion Board on D2L

Once you have four sources and a thesis, you can compose the outline for your digital exhibit. Your final exhibit (blog post) will have three sections: a thesis, background information, and supporting points. Your outline will need to look like this:

  1. Thesis
  2. Source 1 (full citation using the Chicago Manual of Style or another format. Make your life easier and use a citation machine if you can.)
  3. Sources 2, 3, 4 with full citations.
  4. Explain in three sentences why you think your sources support your thesis. This is the most important part of the assignment. You must show how your sources support (not relate to) your thesis.

Submit this assignment (Exhibit 1) to the discussion board by Friday at 8 p.m..

Grading Rubric

Student

  1. Identified four sources (2 primary, 2 secondary) that address a common theme and pass the PISA test.
  2. Analyzed how your chosen four sources support a thesis of your creation.
  3. Created a thesis that makes an argument for the importance of a historical idea, person, place, event, or object.
  4. Included sources from four of the modules (time, images, maps, words, numbers, and social media) in your digital exhibit.