dj_assignments

Doing Justice

GenEd 0853

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Potential Assignments and Exercises

INTRODUCTION FOR INSTRUCTORS

What follows below is a list of potential assignments that students could do.
All of these have a written component.
Some are designed as stand-alone, do-outside-of-class writing assignments. Some are designed as in-class exercises with follow-up writing.
These are just suggestions. You should feel free to make up your own, or use or not use any combination of these which appear below.
You should feel free to modify any of these in any way you see fit.
The key idea in selecting and/or composing a final set of assignments should be: in what ways do these, as a set, capture key GenEd or U.S. Society goals?

Which assignments students actually were assigned will depend on the size of the course and the particular topics covered.

Each of these assignments can result in a written product.

Title	Comment	Scope of assignment & placement	Link for detailed assignment and grading rubric
On-site observation: two sites: Black and the direction of law	Writing Assignment ok for very large class Students will need 3-4 weeks lead time because of field component	Large Links to SES dimension of Black model Could be due as early as week 3-5 of semester	CLICK HERE
MOVE 2 Using a feature of Black's model: Concept Application Assignment	Writing Assignment ok for very large class	Large This is a major paper in which they apply a key element of Black model Students will need at least 1-2 weeks lead time Could be due in weeks 8-11 of semester, after Black materials have been covered	CLICK HERE
A Movie and Black's Model: Concept Application Assignment	Writing Assignment ok for very large class	Medium Students will need 1-2 weeks lead time	CLICK HERE
Finding Census Data on Jurisdiction with an Example from Hazleton City (PA)	Could be outside writing assignment or in-class exercise ok for very large class; *includes a tech guide to finding census data using Census Finder* used here for Hazleton City, PA; another jurisdiction and another variable could be substituted as needed	Small Links to discussion of native born/foreign born dimension in Black model Exercise and "fill in the blanks" part could be done in class, with written portion due later Introduce the US Census - what it is, how it is done - prior to assigning paper	CLICK HERE
Difficulties surrounding investigations of police excessive force: Applying Black's model to a hypothetical (but realistic in many ways) investigation of alleged police excessive force: Apply and critique Black's model	Writing assignment or outside work with in-class follow-up ok for very large class if students watch the videos outside of class, this could be used either as a short paper assignment, or as a way to get discussion started about difficult policing issues	Placement is in the 8th week; links to materials on police lawlessness (from NCLO&E readings, 1970s police brutality allegations) Requires students get hold of 2 disks from "Homicide: Life on the Streets," 1990s TV series; this may take them a week or two	CLICK HERE
Exploring differences in public opinion about justice using Roper Opinion Poll two-way tables: Information/Quantitative literacy exercise/assignment	In-class work with follow up writing assignment works best if you have a very small class and all can be on the computer at once; alternative is to have hours when instructor or TA staff a drop-in computer lab	Placement in last quarter of class when the Law & Order agenda is being discussed	CLICK HERE
Getting to the Mid-Atlantic Federal Archive and Looking up 1930 Census Records of Police Officers Involved in the 1928 Corruption Probe NOT FINALIZED	extremely time consuming students will resent being required to visit the archive it is best if they first go as a group Archive has Saturday hours once a month; check with the archive; if you use this exercise/assignment be sure to tell students the first week of class that they are going to have to give up a Saturday morning	Only do this if you have a very small class, and you notify them up front about Saturday visit
Examining 1920s Municipal Court Reports on Delinquency processing NOT FINALIZED	in-class exercise works in small groups		CLICK HERE
Mapping 2000 Census Data in Philadelphia to get a closer look at the demographics of the 39th Police District. The link takes you to a PDF file with instructions about SimplyMap, followed by a specific mapping exercise. For an overview of SimplyMap CLICK HERE	In-class work with follow up writing assignment Works best if you have a very small class and all can be on the computer at once Alternative is to have hours when instructor or TA staff a drop-in computer lab	Moderate scope Students need to create account before they start the work, preferably a couple of days beforehand NOTE: there may be limits on Temple's license in terms of the number of concurrent users. Check with Greg McKinney at Paley before you assign.	CLICK HERE