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history

December 14, 2023 by Schoolcraft College

About 20 students spent three days in West Farmington Cemetery in Farmington Hills this fall as a part of their class, becoming more familiar with the layout and documenting those whose remains are buried in the cemetery.

Several Schoolcraft College students got into the spirit of the season earlier this year, spending part of their fall semester working in the cemetery.

Students in Professor Alec Thomson’s HIST 152: 19th Century American History class took their studies out of the classroom and into the final resting place for those who settled in present-day Farmington Hills. About 20 students spent three days in West Farmington Cemetery this fall as a part of their class, becoming more familiar with the layout and documenting those whose remains are buried in the cemetery.

“This is our first term undertaking this type of project, but I think it has gone very well and students appear to be making good connections between these historical events and our commitment to the past,” said Thomson, who teaches political science and history. “Ultimately, we want students to think of studying history as a dynamic exercise that not only provides us with opportunity for reflection but a deeper understanding for mapping our future. The work of the students creates a tangible link between the past and the present.”

A service-learning project, the work the students did fit into developing the research skills of historical study, including, but not limited to, data gathering and analyzing primary sources.

Thomson, who also serves on the Farmington Hills Historic District Commission, said students used a mobile application to map the locations of the graves, as well as to record the information displayed on the headstones. 

The goal is to have this data hosted on a website that will be accessible to the public and allow members of the local community and those around the world to wish to learn more about the people buried in the cemetery. Visitors will be able to search for individual names, veteran status or by date.

The cemetery, located at 12 Mile and Halsted roads in Farmington Hills, was established in 1835 as the Baptist Burying Ground. It contains more than 200 gravesites, with many dating back to the 19th century.

“In class, we discussed how the cemetery started and what the surrounding area used to look like. As someone who loves history, I found it extremely interesting and thought-provoking to see how far the area has come, in what is my opinion, in not a very long time,” said Declan O’Hare, one of the students in Thomson’s class. “I think cemeteries are often thought to be sad places or even off limits, so being able to walk around and gather information from different graves was an eye-opening experience for me. I also took the opportunity to look at the ages of some of the people buried there, some my age, some older, and even younger than me.

“This gave me the chance to put myself in their shoes and draw questions as to what life was like in the time they lived.”

Filed Under: News, Student Spotlight Tagged With: Cemetery, history, Service Learning

September 28, 2023 by Schoolcraft College

The award recognizes the work done to develop HIST 151: Early America – U.S. History for online students.

For nearly two decades, Anthology’s Exemplary Course Program has honored higher education instructors and course designers for excellence in online course design.

Schoolcraft College’s online course development of HIST 151: Early America – U.S. History for online students received a 2023 Exemplary Course Program Award from Anthology, an education technology services company. The Exemplary Course Program Awards applies “key characteristics of high-quality online courses within the framework of Course Design, Interaction and Collaboration, Assessment, and Learner Support” (Anthology, 2023). 

Spearheaded through the design work of Dr. Steven Berg, full-time English and History professor; Jason Kane, Lead Instructional Designer; and Rena Yuzon, Course Manager, the HIST 151 online course, which launched in its new format in the Spring 2022 term, added unique features, expanding and enhancing the Ready to Teach online teaching framework.

“In addition to quality standards we strive for with all of our courses, we embedded an additional layer of content focusing on intrapersonal skills,” said Jason Kane, lead instructional designer for Distance Learning who assisted in the development of the course. “This layer involves tying content in the course more deliberately to soft skills, reading strategies, research strategies, and student autonomy.”

While the previous version of the class was developed well, Kane said, the new version built on that development and pushed the boundaries in hopes of creating scalable strategies applicable to other developments as well.

An award glass in design
The award given for the development of HIST 151: Early America – U.S. History by Anthology’s Exemplary Course Program.

The content is also broken down to encourage a variety of reading strategies, another way to promote student-centered thinking.

“Some content should be read deeply, some can be skimmed, some can be read linearly. The assignments are all tied to strategies that match best with the expected student outcome,” Kane said. “Additionally, research strategies are built throughout the course encouraging students to become active historians.”

The award is just the latest award for Schoolcraft College’s Distance Learning program, which has received other awards for its course development, including two additional Exemplary Course Program Awards in previous years.

Schoolcraft College’s Distance Learning program has provided opportunities for learning off-campus for more than 40 years. Utilizing the latest technology, the college’s course development teams (i.e., a subject matter expert, instructional designer, and course manager) continue to forge innovative instructional approaches in delivering online educational opportunities for all students.

“This award is a collaborative and creative demonstration of the efforts Distance Learning and Schoolcraft online faculty make to continually serve our students through engaging learning experiences,” said Lori Timmis, Dean of Distance Learning. “Finding new, exciting ways to educate students in support of the college’s mission of transformative learning has been our goal since the beginning, and this award exhibits Schoolcraft remains on the cutting edge of quality online education.”

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Distance Learning, history, Schoolcraft College

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