English Composition
Kelsey Ford
Hello, my name is Kelsey Ford and I teach English Composition. For my OFAR action plan I focused on open pedagogy and non-disposable assignments, since those concepts were relatively new to me. I attempted to engage students in a new way by having them create a semester-long research project website related to education, racism, and/or stereotyping. My hope is that students would be excited about creating something that combines both visual and written work in a website form that they can share with others within our classroom and beyond.
Below I have embedded my assignment which I have openly licensed as OER. If you would like to access a version that can be copied, you may do so through this link: English Composition Research Portfolio
Here is a sample of a completed site: Infant Mortality as the Result of Systemic Racism
This project focused around the disparity in infant mortality rates between Black and white women. On the Homepage we see the overall claim for the research project as well as some background on the issue. Each of the subsequent pages develops a particular segment of the research project. On the Why It Matters page there are three evidence-based premises about why this issue is important, on the Attempted Solutions page the student discusses how the current approaches to this issue are falling short, and on the My Solution page the student offers a possible proposal for how to address the issue. Lastly, on the Sources page the student provides her annotated bibliography, a works cited section, and a summary and response essay based on one of her sources. In addition, the About Me section showcases the students interests and her literacy narrative essay from the beginning of the semester. Such a project has allowed students to share their research with the rest of the class, resulting in class discussions about anti-racist issues that the students care about.