The last class of this spring semester was last week. Students presented their final stories over Zoom for the first time. This was an unusual format for the class as delivery is an important part of this project, but it worked well. Each student delivered a 6-minute story to explain a topic of their choice that is often misunderstood and needs clarification.
Here is a selection of slides from three students’ final visual stories.
Pitbulls: How the once highly admired breed became so misunderstood. The goal of this project is to challenge the stereotype that Pit Bulls are dangerous dogs. The story provides evidence that their aggressive nature may be a myth initiated by the media and later perpetuated by poorly defined legislations. As a solution, this project proposes new legislations to reverse various city and state bans.
Housing insecurity. The goal of this project is to shed light on the severe shortage of affordable, safe housing in the United States. Many of the country’s poor are perpetually housing insecure; they may have to move often or go homeless because of inability to pay rent. Eviction is common, and more often than not families double up in a home with another family because they cannot afford their own housing. This impacts many other aspects of poverty, compounding the struggles of the poor, making it extremely difficult for people to get out of poverty. This project calls policy makers to enact new policies and programs that address the affordable housing shortage , particularly by dramatically increasing the number of people that get help with housing. And to implement large scale housing construction initiatives.
Bookmark the Love Stories. Love appears as a major story arc for young adult novels, especially for those that feature female protagonists. This story proposes that love does not have to be a major theme in a young adult novel. Instead, there is room for young adult novels to focus more on other areas, such as education (particularly in the areas of STEM), friendship, and family.
Design For Understanding 