History 17B: U.S. History 1877-Present

Interactive, Infographic, In-progress

Course Description

CSUS Catalog description: Basic historical survey of the growth of urban-industrial American civilization and its rise to World Power, 1877-present. Note: Fulfills state graduation requirement for U.S. History.

This is an online modality of a double section of the lecture course, History 17B. Enrollment is always 120/120. The class is a lower division GE, and it also a course for the major. All class levels can take the course, there are about 10% who are athletes or who are involved in extra-curricular activities for Sac State.

Overview of the Redesign Project

Introduction
I teach a double section of a lower division general education course on U.S. History from 1877 to the present. Although this class is required for history majors, the majority of the 120 students enrolled in the course are non-majors. U.S. History can be taught in a way that is about memorizing facts and regurgitating up those facts for the exam. The material presented this way consists of dates, people, and concepts, rather than the methods in which historians interpret primary sources to expand our understanding of the past. In addition, Eurocentric histories that tell a story of the winners mean that the histories of underrepresented communities are inaccurately told, marginalized and even erased. The last several semesters I taught History 17B online and asynchronous, which can have its challenges and benefits. I endeavored to create assignments that required critical thinking and engagement with U.S. history. My redesign is in the spirit of joy for this history.

I chose to title my redesign “Interactive, Infographic, and In-progress” as I hope to try to create greater engagement via interactive assignments in the form of infographics to engage history content and critiques to reach broader audiences. Lastly, as in everything in education, like redesigns, learning and engagement, my course redesign assignment is still in-progress. I hope to continue to build on it to improve it for future classes.

Mission Statement of History 17B

The mission statement of my class is not only to provide more than content or information to be remembered (that’s what YouTubers and Tiktokers do), but more importantly, to provide a foundation for students to engage critically with the discipline of history (what historians do). As we see the elimination of humanities departments at colleges and universities across the U.S., understanding the importance of a breadth and depth of humanities education is key for our society’s future.

I endeavor to create an environment in my class whereby students can critique and analyze why people during different eras of our country’s history were motivated to act and think the way they did. One strategy to accomplish this is to mirror what historians do as they analyze documents and primary sources. Furthermore, I strive to ensure that diverse communities in the United States are not overlooked as we examine different decades throughout the class.

Before: Motivation for Redesign

The purpose of my CTL course redesign is for students to engage with the discipline of history (1) through writing and (2) with a visual assignment in the form of an infographic. This is the first time I have ever done an assignment such as this.

My redesign consisted of an infographic assignment for the final exam. Rather than only submit an essay for the final assignment, I opted for the students to create an infographic and a short essay reflecting on their process of presenting the historic materials. The students could use any material from the entire course, I did not want to limit it to only the second half of the semester. Furthermore, by giving students the permission to be creative about their final exam, it gave them agency to choose images, select timeline designs, and engage with the material in a way that showcased their knowledge.

Assessment of the Redesign Project

This table shows three examples of the redesigned assignment.
Infographic Assignment	Sample of Student Infographics	Sample of Student Essay

History 17B Fall 2023 Final Exam Infographic Assignment	Example of two different students' infographic assignment (L) timeline, (R) timeline and explanation	Example of a student's essay explaining the infographic.

Techniques Incorporated Into Redesign

After: Assessment of Redesign Project

I assessed this redesign by comparing the quality of the final exams from the previous semester, and the grades of the final exams of students from Spring 2023 (prior to the redesign) and Fall 2023 (when I piloted the redesign assignment). I also reflected on what the students chose for their topics as well as my own process of grading the final exams.

Measurable

I compared the average scores of the final exams from spring semester 2023 (prior to participating in the redesign) and the average scores of the final exams from Fall semester 2023 (when I piloted the redesign assignment). The scores of the final exam from fall 2023 were 5% higher with the average score 87.6% for students who completed the exam. With all students taken in to account (students who did not submit received a zero), a greater number of students did not complete the assignment during fall 2023.

**Spring 2023 vs. Fall 2023 Final Exam Averages**
Spring 2023 final exam average score:	Fall 2023 final exam average score:
75.21% (all students) 83.1%* (includes only students who completed the exam)	73% (all students) 87.6%* (includes only students who completed the exam)

*all students includes everyone in the class, including students who did not complete the assignment and received a score of zero.

Observable

The students could choose from a list of three options and complete the final exam based on the question they selected. The options were as follows:

(1) A discussion on the expansion of American freedoms in the twentieth century.

(2) Analyzing twentieth century wars and the policy goals of those wars.

(3) Discussing political reform movements and change.

Many students selected topics that interested them, and therefore they choice many selected were to discuss question #3, various political reform movements, as they could discuss women’s suffrage, the civil rights movement, and twenty-first century movements. The quality of the student’s work was much better than previous semesters.

Cost Savings for Students

There were no costs involved in this assignment.

Reflection: Challenges and Lessons Learned

"In-Progress"

In future iterations of my redesign, I plan to:

Create more specific assessment rubrics
Incorporate more opportunities to include infographics in assignments earlier in the semester
Scaffold parts of the assignment earlier
Build in the opportunity for peer review
Consider the possibility of having drafts and revisions

Some of the lessons I learned after completing the semester and then meeting with my CTL mentor include the idea of allowing the students to start on the final assignment earlier and give them time to complete a peer review with their classmates in their online discussion groups (each groups has 10 students). I believe that building in steps to scaffold and to complete the assignment will prevent students from submitting lower quality work just prior to the deadline. Doing a peer review will not only serve as an intervention, but also may create a community space where students can work more collaboratively. This would also support my goal to be more interactive, encourage students to get started on the assignment sooner, and hopefully create support so they can resist plagiarizing or using AI to complete the text. In addition, if I taught a smaller class (currently the enrollment is 120 students), I would consider allowing students to submit a draft, provide comments, and allow them to revise the final draft before submitting.

I felt that the final exam for fall 2023 was much easier and more enjoyable to for me to grade. By giving students a chance to reflect on what they included and what they did not include in their 2 page essay submitted along with the infographic gave me a chance to see their train of logic in what they selected. Several students commented that they felt that U.S. history was “interesting” and “fascinating.” In the future, I would like to incorporate using more images in the reflection essay assignments that are assigned earlier on in the semester to help better prepare students for the infographic assignment at the end of the semester.

Faculty Biography

Faculty Biography
	Dr. Lily Anne Welty Tamai is an Assistant Professor of Public History with Specialization in Historically Underrepresented Communities in the U.S. at CSU Sacramento. Her forthcoming book is titled, Military Industrial Intimacy: Mixed-race American Japanese, Eugenics and Transnational Identities. She co-edited Shape Shifters: Journeys across Terrains of Race and Identity (2020), and the special issue of the Journal of Asian American Studies, “Reckoning with the Interdiscipline: The Past, Present, and Future of Asian American Studies”(2022). A former Fulbright fellow and Ford Foundation Fellow, she previously served as the Curator of History at the Japanese American National Museum and on the U.S. Census Bureau National Advisory Committee on Racial, Ethnic, and Other Populations.

**Program Sponsors**
	This work was supported by: Sacramento State Anchor Initiative Sacramento State Academic Affairs - Center for Teaching and Learning