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Pamela Weinzapfel
EDUC W200: Artifact Proposal 3
October 24, 2008
Artifact Proposal
Social Studies
Standards:
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S.1.8. Identify, evaluate and use appropriate reference materials and technology to interpret
information about cultural life in the United States and other world cultures, both in the past
and today. (Geography, History)
S.2.1 Define the key components of a culture, such as knowledge, language and communication,
customs, values, norms, and physical objects. (Geography, History)
S.5.4 Investigate stereotypes of the various United States subcultures, such as “American
Indian,” “American cowboys,” “teenagers,” “Americans,” “gangs” and “hippies,” from a world
perspective. (History)
Goal: What is the standard or learning goal of the lesson? What is the problem
that specifically needs to be addressed?
Mr. Tablish wants his students to understand various cultures from a variety of perspectives,
especially from those individuals that are members of the Islamic culture.
Objective:
Given resources students will research the culture of those of the Islamic faith and also examine
the stereotypes often associated with this culture. The students will then use a type of
discussion board to discuss this culture and the role of stereotyping in America. Students will
be required to post at least five messages per week for three weeks on the discussion board
where they either create the post or reply to another student’s idea. The students will also
need to find, post, and discuss new website sources or newspaper and magazine articles for a
total of three resources provided by each student for each week of the project.
Requirements: What do you need in a resource or tool?
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Grouping:
o Individual project
Time:
o The project will be three weeks long with discussions taking place throughout
the entire three weeks.
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Pamela Weinzapfel
EDUC W200: Artifact Proposal 3
October 24, 2008
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o Each week the students will be given two opportunities to work in the computer
lab for one hour each time (two hours each week at school computer lab).
o Students will be expected to research and respond to messages on the
discussion board at home as well as during class time.
Resources
o Internet access
o Various Newspapers
o Magazines
o Television
o Discussion board
Media
o Television: News channels and how they inadvertently stereotype groups of
people
o Computer
Availability: What resources can you access that might address the problem?
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Communication Tools (Discussion board choices):
o Google Group
o Forum
o Wiki
o Chat rooms
o Skype
o Blogger
Computer Websites:
o http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2004-10/06/article04.shtml
o http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2006-05/2006-05-24-voa33.cfm
o http://www.islamfortoday.com/america11.htm
o http://www.mana-net.org/subpage.php?ID=activism
o http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/religion/2008/04/07/understandingislam.html
o http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chioped1015pageoct15,0,4086456.column (pay careful attention to a presidential
nominee’s quote about a running mate being a “decent family man” instead of
an “Arab.”
Computer search engines:
o Google.com
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Pamela Weinzapfel
EDUC W200: Artifact Proposal 3
October 24, 2008
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Yahoo.com
MSN.com
AOL.com
Google Scholar.com
On the school’s website (or perhaps a college website) the students would be
able to find links to respectable search engines.
 Example: http://www.libraries.iub.edu/
Newspapers and Magazines:
o Search historical newspapers on IUB.edu through the libraries link. Search
“Proquest Historical Newspapers” and then search “Islamic Faith” and “Muslim”
for 9/11/2001 - 12/11/2001
o New York Times
o Washington Post
o Chicago Tribune
o Any local Newspaper
o Newsweek
o Time
Television:
o CNN
o MSNBC
o FOX News
These tools can be accessed while the students have time during class and when they
research at home.
The students already know about how to use the Internet. If they are confused about
how to search for newspaper articles, the teacher could go over this during one of the
computer lab classes. The teacher should explain how to use a discussion board in
order for the class to communicate and share outside of the classroom.
Decide: Which of the tools you identified should be used? How should these
tools be used? (Provide a brief description of the activity)
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The tools that I think would be best for this activity are:
o Discussion Board:
 Google Groups
o Newspapers, Magazines, and Television
 The students should search through different types and then discuss with
the other students the different views of separate sources.
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Pamela Weinzapfel
EDUC W200: Artifact Proposal 3
October 24, 2008
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This will be one of the ways the students gain points for the project (by
finding and discussing sources of their own)
o Search Engine
 Google Scholar.com
 http://www.libraries.iub.edu/ ( or any other link to trusted search
engines)
o Websites:
 http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2006-05/2006-05-24voa33.cfm
 http://www.islamfortoday.com/america11.htm
As of this time there are no existing examples of teacher or student work because this is
the first year for the project.
For my portfolio, however, I will create a Google Group and post some sample messages
on the discussion board that others could respond to if it were a real class discussion. I
would also post some links to interesting websites found through my search engines.
In order to make this project possible I would need to create a Google Group entitled
“Stereotyping in America.”
Some foreseeable problems are that students might not get everything done in the
provided computer lab time. There might be students who do not have access to
computers anywhere else.
Another problem might be that the computers won’t work the way the teacher plans
them to (perhaps the server is down or maybe the Google website will not work
correctly). This could disrupt an entire day of work in the computer lab.
Explain decision: How does the tool you chose address…
a) Effectiveness?
 Using the Google Group discussion would be effective because it is extending the
discussion outside of the classroom. Since this topic is perhaps difficult to
discuss in a normal classroom setting, this project allows students to take the
time to truly comprehend what they are learning and understand their own
beliefs before stating them. Also, this allows even the shyest student to
participate in the discussion. It might take longer to search for resources and
post and respond to other students’ messages but it will allow students to fully
understand how and why people stereotype the Islamic culture. It will also allow
students to search out the truth of this misunderstood culture with the help of
websites and the search engines.
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Pamela Weinzapfel
EDUC W200: Artifact Proposal 3
October 24, 2008
b) Efficiency?
 The tools used in this project are not as efficient as they are effective and
enhancing because, while it might save class time, the time it takes for each
student to research and post messages combined with the time it takes for the
teacher to read all of the posts greatly exceeds any amount of time provided by
in school class time.
c) Enhancement?
 Using Google group and the provided websites, as well as finding new websites
using the provided search engines, is enhancing because these tools are
connecting the students with the world around them. They are able to learn
about the religion and culture of Islam from sources online and other sources
around them that they are influenced by everyday (television and newspaper).
The perspectives of the other students in the class also broaden each individual
student’s view of the world.