Assignments Overview
| Strategy | Master’s Students | Ph.D. Students |
|---|---|---|
| Learn | Labs | Labs |
| Apply | Place Selection Memo Place Background Memo Population Memo Policy Memo |
Paper Proposal Paper Outline Paper Draft |
| Communicate | Final Report | Term Paper |
| Engage | Participation and Engagement | Participation and Engagement |
Learn
On a weekly basis, we’ll incorporate new tools and analytic strategies into our repertoire. We’ll devote time in class to working through lab examples that illustrate how tools work and how to apply them. Labs are designed to be a low-stakes opportunity to learn. We will spend 80 minutes of class time on working collectively on labs. You are expected to devote an additional 2 to 3 hours of effort outside of class on your labs on a weekly basis. Labs are due 7 days after they are introduced - you will complete and submit each lab before you start the next one.
A Pedagogic Note on Labs: The primary goal of labs is to learn how to integrate new tools and approaches to analysis through creative problem-solving. Consequently, you will not recieve feeback on labs unless you request it. You will, however, receive credit for labs submitted. Assignments are where you are expected to demonstrate your mastery of the concepts introduced in labs (see the Apply section below).
There is not necessarily a “correct” answer or approach to our labs. I expect you to bring your prior knowledge and spirit of problem solving to labs. I provide time to work on labs in class, and a suggested time allocation for labs because I understand that problem solving happens at different paces. Labs provide detailed glimpses as tools and strategies, and then ask you to apply them independently. This independent application should help you identify how these techniques may be useful to you as you develop your own applications (see the apply section below). You may at times grow overwhelmed with the detail or types of problems you encounter in labs. That is totally normal. Trust me that you’re learning regardless of whether you breeze through these labs or struggle through early steps.
I simply ask that you apply yourself, reach out to me and each other for assistance, and that you proudly turn in the work you have accomplished after meeting the recommended time allotments for each lab.
Apply
You’ll apply what you’ve learned over the course of the semester to the analysis of a place of your choosing. At the beginning of the semester, you will identify a place, and start to examine the relevant policy issues that motivate your analysis. You will then apply course tools and concepts to your place and will communicate your findings in a series of memos. You are expected to devote approximately 10 hours of effort outside of class to each apply component (Ph.D. students are likely to devote more time to their literature review and drafting).
Communicate
Our ultimate goal is to develop the capacity to communicate our analysis to diverse audiences. You will draw from your place analysis and memos to develop a final policy report in which you communicate your findings to a public audience in a form that is polished and professional.
Engage
Consistent contributions in class, thoughtful engagement with course material, and other achievements may lead to overall adjustments in your course grade.
Ph.D. Students
Doctoral students may elect to either satisfy course requirements laid out for Master’s students or may instead complete a research-oriented term paper that applies neighborhood analysis techniques to a specific research problem.
Doctoral students should speak with me during weeks 1 or 2 if you wish to pursue this option so we can develop an appropriate research proposal, timeline, and outputs.
Assessment
Most of the methods classes you have probably taken have focused on grading you on your skill at reproducing specific outcomes. I take a different approach in this class. While it is possible to measure your reproduction of specific outcomes, what is more important to assess is the process of learning, and an important proxy is the effort you put into that process. In this class, you will contract for a grade based upon your choices regarding your learning process and the amount of effort you want to put in. Here’s some more detail on my thinking:
A unitary assessment of performance in a 500-level class is not likely to serve students well. Each of you has proven time and time again in other classes that you can reproduce certain expected outcomes. The challenge in this class will focus on assessing your effort and learning process as opposed to the reproduction of outcomes.
Implementing a contract-based assessment approach mirrors course goals regarding our understanding and practice around the power of data, particularly with regards to public deliberation, decision-making, and governance. Dealing differently with power around evaluation in our classroom mirrors how we might deal differently with power and power relationships in professional practice.
There is increasing evidence in higher education settings that unitary grading measures tend to hamper individual learning, and have the potential to be biased towards certain types of students. Put simply, obsessing about grades in advanced coursework is counter-productive to advanced learning. This course adheres to the pedagogy that when given more control and ownership over the terms of evaluation, a student is more likely to embrace the challenges presented to them within the classroom, and are more likely to take ownership of their work (see, for instance Elbow and Inoue).
Grade Expectation Summary
Each of you begins the semester with an “A” in the class. You may alter your grade based upon the choices you make regarding the following accountability expectations:
| Grade | Absences | Late | Missed | Ignored |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| B | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| C | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| D | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| F | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
Absences indicate the number of times you are absent from class. Additional excused absences may be allowed due to documented extenuating circumstances.
Late Assignments are assignments submitted after a due date but within 48 hours of the due date.
Missed Assignments are assignments submitted more than 48 hours after the due date.
Ignored Assignments are assignments that are not submitted by the last day of class (excluding your final assignment). Ignored assignments are a more serious breach of contract than missed assignments as they reflect contracted work which you have not completed.
Please note that assessment of these contracted standards are based upon what you do. The contracted grade does assess of the quality of your work. You will reflect upon and will receive direct feedback on the quality of your work as part of the assignment review process. Note that I reserve the right to adjust your grade based upon exceptionally strong or weak engagement within the class. I will provide sufficient feedback over the course of the semester so that your final grade in the class should not be a surprise based upon what you do and how you reflect upon your learning over the course of the semester.