16 Assignment: Create an Open Textbook
Anna Andrzejewski; art history professor; and director of graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Below is an example of an open textbook creation project assigned by professor Anna Andrzejewski at University of Wisconsin. While this assignment is specific to Art History, it could easily be adapted to other disciplines and your own classroom learning objectives.
Assignment #2 followed an earlier project in which each student focused on a phase of Frank Lloyd Wright’s career (in time) or a theme in his work in order to build a chapter providing overall context. In this, part two of the assignment, students visited significant local Frank Lloyd Wright architectural landmarks and developed a chapter highlighting each of them.
Group Project Assignment
By Anna Andrzejewski
You have been assigned to work in a group one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s (or his followers’) buildings in Madison. Your “chapter” on your research on this building is the focus of this project. Also, you will want to revise your first group project assignment as well (see below) making suggested revisions offered by the Instructor earlier in the term. Please read this carefully; it contains much of what you need to know (though specific details of formatting – including for references and potentially image credits – will follow at a later date).
Objective of the Group Projects
Our class is collectively working on a “textbook” for future classes and the public on Frank Lloyd Wright’s Madison buildings. The first group assignment (Group Project Assignment #1) was meant as a frame for Wright’s career. Each group was to focus on a “phase” of Wright’s career (in time) or a theme in his work, and the overall “chapter” – produced as a collective product of the class – thus is intended to provide a context for the chapters that follow (Group Project Assignment #2) – each of which deals with a building by Wright (or his followers) in Madison.
Given the goal of this project being a textbook for a generalist audience, this content should be easily producible – meaning, you have a good bit of information from our readings and site visits to write something pretty spiffy. I’m asking you to do a bit of additional research to enrich the chapter on your building and also make revisions to the portion of the first chapter (Group Project Assignment #1). That revision process is explained below.
Since this is a textbook, you also want to produce it in a way that is readable and approachable. You should use shorter sentences and clear and precise language. When appropriate, use images, movies, diagrams, maps to make your points. You can also use tables and callout boxes to amplify key points. This is an opportunity to be creative as well as scholarly! Have fun.
Revisions to Group Project Assignment #1
As noted in the previous guidelines (Group Project Assignment #1), the goal of this was to provide a CONTEXT for your particular building. That can be t