Instructional Context
CODE120 is the first of three semesters of Research Teams. In their first semester, students work with one another, their professor, and their community partner to understand the problem facing the community. CODES courses are based systems thinking, and in this course, students work to understand one or more systems that impact the problem and potential solutions to it.
Objectives
- Develop time management strategies, intellectual curiosity, and study habits
- Learn about [research team topic] in the context of your own life, [partners], the St. Louis Region, the U.S., and globally
- Learn how you can draw on multiple disciplines to address a problem
- Learn how to write for different audiences by creating multimedia essays
- Practice collaborative skills to complete a project explaining the problem
- Present work in a poster publicly during a presentation
Syllabus
Assignments
This reading check is an in-class assignment that helps students prepare for discussion, analyze readings, and synthesize information.
This essay asks students to employ systems thinking at multiple levels, first assessing which systems are shaping the problem that their community partner is grappling with, and then exploring how they have been impacted by that system themselves. This process builds connection between students and their research, while also teaching them how their own lived experiences can uniquely shape their identities as researchers and community members.
In this essay, students dive deeper into systems thinking. Their task in this assignment is to produce an analysis of a relevant local system that will inform their community partner’s work. This assignment is also a gentle introduction to group work; while each student writes their own essay, they work with group members to ensure that together, their essays produce a holistic assessment of the local systems at work.
In this culminating project, students work in groups to produce a robust systems analysis for their community partner. Their essay takes the shape of a scrollytelling project, a dynamic form of digital storytelling that incorporates images, data visualizations, video, and maps alongside text. At the end of the semester, they present their systems analysis at a showcase on campus.
