‰Û÷Inquiry Into Saving‰Ûª is an assignment originally designed for MAT117, which is a course for students who have been placed in basic skills mathematics and who can apply a college level course in Algebra and Trigonometry to their program. These students should, ideally, be early in their LaGuardia career, though that is frequently not the case. All, however, are novices of mathematics. The assignment was vetted and revised based on feedback from the Inquiry and Problem Solving in STEM CTL seminar and a charrette not affiliated with the seminar. Revisions addressed connections to the Inquiry and Problem Solving/Written competency/ability pair, as well as general assignment design.
The ‰Û÷Inquiry Into Saving‰Ûª assignment is scaffolded into three parts. The first part is a brief reflection on investment goals; the second requires students to find information about investment options and use a provided formula to calculate how much they would need to invest to meet their goals; the third is a written piece that pulls the first two parts together into a rudimentary investment plan. The assignment draws on calculational topics from early in the semester (eg ‰ÛÒ linear equations), as well as later topics related to exponential functions and modeling. It also addresses effective use of calculators for ‰Û÷complex‰Ûª calculations.
LaGuardia‰Ûªs Core Competencies and Communication Abilities
Main Course Learning Objectives:
The following are addressed by Part 2 (Exploring Options) of the project: Introduce students to the concept of function and its application in modeling (exponential case). Introduce students to exponential functions Enable students to identify and apply appropriate mathematical methods to solve problems in real-world contexts.

Objectives
Part 1: An Introduction to Data Analysis Using Excel To interpret, summarize and present numerical data using the digital tool Microsoft program Excel. To plot numerical data as a graph and determine an equation of a line. In addition, using the appropriate formatting functions to label your graph and creating a best fit line.
Part 2: Lab Report Writing Using LaGCC Institutional Data To communicate your interpretations of research data. This is done writing discussions and conclusions (using scientific language) and is often accompanied by data tables and graphs. To use your Microsoft Excel graphing skills to interpret, inquire and extrapolate meaning data to support your lab report conclusions To structure your written lab report in the format of: Abstract, Introduction, Material, Methods,Results, Discussion/Conclusion and References

Working with a partner from the class, students will choose a topic of interest relevant to the field of neuroscience, explore the relevant literature, write a 5-7 page paper on the topic, and present the results of their research to the class in the form of a 5-10 minute oral presentation.

Using the topic of suicide, students explore the difference between sociological and non-sociological explanations of human behavior. After forming a research question, they gather and analyze evidence to test their question.

This workbook provides discussions, programming assignments, projects, and class exercises revolving around the “Knapsack Problem” (KP), which is widely a recognized model that is taught within a typical Computer Science curriculum. Throughout these discussions, we use KP to introduce or review topics found in courses covering topics in Discrete Mathematics, Mathematical Programming, Data Structures, Algorithms, Computational Complexity, etc. Because of the broad range of subjects discussed, this workbook and the accompanying spreadsheet files might be used as part of some CS capstone experience. Otherwise, we recommend that individual sections be used, as needed, for exercises relevant to a course in the major sequence. Each section, save for the Introduction, is written so that it can be presented independently of any other.

Overview: This project is an opportunity for LIF101 students to reflect on their first semester at LaGuardia, to review what they‰Ûªve learned in the First Year Seminar for the Liberal Arts: Social Science and Humanities, and to create a plan that serves as a resource for their academic and professional success moving forward. My Guide to Success requires students to think carefully about their time at LaGuardia and be intentional in planning their next steps through graduation, and beyond. The paper is worth 15 points out of 100.

This document contains the text associated with a series of computer-based lab exercises to help students apply the concepts usually included in a first course in Statistics. A compressed file has been included that contains a separate folder for each lab. In each folder is an excel spreadsheet file and an editable word document providing the instructions for students to complete the exercise. The exercises are not numbered in the folders, so you can select any subset of these exercises to assign to your students. You are free to modify the instructions in any way you see fit, e.g., to add activities or to articulate the format of the lab-reports that will be completed by the student or the student groups as part of the exercise.

This scaffolded assignment in two parts aims to engage students with the topic of how language and society are related. Framed by the global learning core competency and written ability in its entirety, Part I asks students to focus on their own language/dialect or variety and consider the kinds of attitudes that exist towards students‰Ûª language/dialect. Part II asks students to choose a language /dialect they are not familiar with and research the attitudes that exist about that language/dialect.
LaGuardia‰Ûªs Core Competencies and Communication Abilities
Main Course Learning Objectives:
Explain ways in which language and society are related

Objectives of the Assignment: Showcase students' skills or interests in languages other than Standard English as part of the About Me statement in the ePortfolio. The assignment addresses many students in a typical FYS classroom at LaGuardia Community College. It encourages: Students with a native ability in another language to see it not as a stumbling block to learning but as a resource to develop academically and professionally, native English speakers to explore other world languages and cultures, and to consider using their interest professionally, all students to consider whether they have experience with a dialect or slang, texting language and emojis, professional or technical language, or other specialized vocabulary, and whether this experience is (or should be) part of their emerging identity that they should cultivate In addition, the assignment encourages students to use their own judgment in deciding how to integrate it with the rest of their statement so it increases its overall impact and their own investment in the assignment.

Objectives of the Assignment: Introduce students to the Library's collection of books in languages other than English, to Queens Library and the public library system, and to the Library of Congress call number system for books in the stacks.

This assignment was designed for students in the first year seminar and aligns with the Inquiry and Problem Solving core competency, with a focus on framing the issues (identifies and/or addresses questions problems and/or hypothesis informed by knowledge of context) and evidence gathering (assembles, reviews and synthesizes evidence from diverse sources of relevant knowledge). Both assignments rely on writing and one may include an oral component. In writing, the focus is on Content Development and Organization, as well as Control of Language, Syntax, and Mechanics. LaGuardia's Core Competencies and Communication Abilities
Main Course Learning Objectives: The LMF course for Liberal Arts Math and Science introduces students to the habits of mind of the major, and to relevant on-campus resources. Students are also supposed to plan their academic journey with faculty advisors. Read and contrast the historical perspectives vs the current perspectives about women in STEM. (Women in the early 20th century vs contemporary issues). Data: will be provided (from NSF and other government agencies) about women in STEM workforce and bachelor's and higher-level degree holders. Students must analyze and interpret (critical thinking). Generate appropriate questions. Reflection: be able to develop and defend arguments based on data and readings. Research Summary: Understand and evaluate factors that contributed to the success of Nobel Prize Winners in the early 20th century.

This staged Composition I - ENG 101 assignment in its entirety was completed over the course of approximately six weeks. Students were allowed to revise and re-submit their work along the way and the grade they earned from this module constituted 30% of their final grade for the course.
In addition to being aligned with the integrative learning core competency and written ability, the assignment emphasizes advancing the students‰Ûª abilities to closely read primary and secondary sources, synthesize their understanding of these texts in their writing, and reflect on their work and learning in all the parts outlined below.
While this particular assignment is scaffolded and divided into five parts completed and revised over the course of several weeks, instructors may choose to combine the different parts of this module. Instructors may also choose to grade each part separately or assign a cumulative grade.
By the time the students begin Part I of this module, they will have read Marjane Satrapi‰Ûªs graphic memoir Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return in its entirety and completed a number of low stakes writing assignments, which stemmed from close reading questions and class discussions.
LaGuardia‰Ûªs Core Competencies and Communication Abilities
Main Course Learning Objectives:
1. Enable students to understand that writing is a process involving such strategies as prewriting, drafting, revising, editing and proofreading.
2. Teach students to read and listen critically and analytically, including identifying an argument‰Ûªs major assumptions and assertions and evaluating its supporting evidence.
3. Teach students to write clearly and coherently in varied academic formats (such as formal essays, research papers, and reports) using standard English and appropriate technology to critique and improve one's own and others' texts. Essays will vary in length between 600 and 1500 words. Faculty will enable students to understand audience, voice, and purpose.
4. Guide students to acquire research skills by using appropriate technology, including gathering evaluating, and synthesizing primary and secondary sources. Faculty will teach students to utilize quotation, summation, paraphrase, and citation and to avoid plagiarism.
5. Teach students to support a thesis with well-reason arguments, and communicate persuasively over a variety of contexts, purposes, audiences, and media.
6. Guide students to formulate original ideas and relate them to the ideas of others by employing the conventions of ethical attribution and citation.

This assignment was developed for students in LMF 101- Math and Science who attend a 1-hour library session. This session is aligned with the Inquiry and Problem Solving and Integrative core competencies in terms of exposing students to Searching as Strategic Exploration. Strategy and exploration are the keys to effective research. Students often mistake academic research as similar to Googling. This session will stress the importance of mastering the research process in an academic context. It will encourage students to become familiar with the diverse tools and resources provided by the library. This session will give students a quick outline of the research process. It will stress the importance of identifying information needs, resources and strategies. It will also provide tips and tools for managing the search process and results effectively. LaGuardia's Core Competencies and Communication Abilities Main Course Learning Objectives: Students will be introduced to the concept of library academic resources Students will learn the strengths and weaknesses of different forms of information

This assignment was developed for students in NSF 100 Natural Sciences who attend a 1-hour library session. This session is aligned with the Inquiry and Problem Solving and Integrative core competencies in terms of exposing students to "Searching as Strategic Exploration."Strategy and exploration are the keys to effective research. Students often mistake academic research as similar to Googling. This session will stress the importance of mastering the research process in an academic context. It will encourage students to become familiar with the diverse tools and resources provided by the library. This session will give students a quick outline of the research process. It will stress the importance of identifying information needs, resources and strategies. It will also provide tips and tools for managing the search process and results effectively. LaGuardia's Core Competencies and Communication Abilities Main Course Learning Objectives: Students will be introduced to the concept of library academic resources Students will learn the strengths and weaknesses of different forms of information

FYS Discipline: Liberal Arts: Social Sciences and Humanities
Objectives of the Assignment:
Introduce students to the Library‰Ûªs catalog and some of the more useful subscription databases in a practical, hands-on exercise. Included are an introduction to translating database articles, instructions on accessing The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times free of charge, and how to access the databases from home.
Amount of Time to Complete the Assignment:
The assignment is most effective when it follows several previous Library assignments: An introduction to the Library‰Ûªs website in a computer classroom that guides students in exploring the Library‰Ûªs resources A Library Orientation conducted by a librarian An oral introduction to the catalog, subscription databases, translating articles, and access to The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times
Once these preliminary steps have been taken, the Library Treasure Hunt itself can be done in an hour. Have students work together so they can share, collaborate, and learn from each other.
Percentage of the Final Grade:
This low-stakes assignment is one of about fifteen in-class assignments all of equal worth.

This assignment was used in English 102 Writing through Literature course and was designed to meet LaGuardia‰Ûªs Inquiry and Problem Solving Core Competency and Written Communication Ability. Students were expected to critically reflect on issues-- such as water crisis, migration--addressed in Linda Sue Park‰Ûªs novel A Long Walk to Water (2010) and then explore those issues in a global context, for instance, water crisis in Rajasthan, India, or migration from Central America to USA. Discussions prior to the assignment prepared students to study the literary text, both as an end in itself and as a bridge to other academic disciplines. The learning objectives that the assignment aimed to achieve were:
1) What can literature teach us about how people think, act, dream, and rebel?
2) What are some of the commonalities and differences that can help us to observe as we travel across time and space?
3) In what ways can the text act both as mirror of its own time period and also as a model for literary achievement?
LaGuardia‰Ûªs Core Competencies and Communication Abilities
The assignment was part of English 102 course which almost all students at LaGuardia are required to take before they graduate. The assignment foregrounds process based writing that aims for students to demonstrate a sound analysis of the literary text while also considering cross cultural conversations. The focus was to help students develop critical thinking and writing skills through the study of different genres, in this context, fiction. Students were expected to transfer their knowledge of close reading skills while composing essays that involved integrating texts and data acquired through library research.
This ENG 102 assignment was not part of a CTL seminar or mini-grant and/or assignment development workshop but, as stated above, the core competency and communication ability rubrics attached to this course directly informed the way in which the assignment was designed. The primary purpose of the assignment was to encourage students to synthesize the information from the text in addressing issues that impact humanity, in both local and global spaces. As all the students were non-majors and freshmen, the assignment allowed students to draw connections from their lived experience to use literature to ground and begin writing. It also gave students confidence in appropriating networks of information and communication to connect the literary readings with what is happening both locally and globally. This aligned with the IPS rubric of advancing a claim from the text to comprehend complex issues that would generate sustained life-long learning. The assignment served the purpose of informed conclusions through seeing or responding to the world through writing.
The assignment formed 30% of the final grade of the semester (15% low-stake assignments leading to the final essay + 15% finished essay).

This ENG 102 assignment was developed in the context of CTL sponsored Learning Matters Mini-grant awarded to the English Department. The primary purpose was to assist full-time and part-time faculty in the Department with revising ENG 102 course materials to align with the Inquiry and Problem Solving (IPS) Core Competency and Written Communication Ability. This goal was achieved through several workshops, a programmatic benchmark reading, and a two-phase departmental review process that prepared assignments to be submitted to the Learning Matters Assignment Library. The mini-grant has been invaluable in helping to bring both full-time and adjunct faculty into departmental conversations about composition course requirements and how they align with LaGuardia‰Ûªs core competencies, the role of the competencies in the curriculum review process, and more generally the importance of the competencies and abilities in the college‰Ûªs general education requirements.
English 102 is a required course for almost all LaGuardia students. While most students enroll in the course in their second semester, there are some advanced students who take the course later. It is recommended that Composition I and II be taken in sequence since the latter builds upon skills acquired in the first composition course. Composition II is a process-based writing course. Students further develop the critical thinking, writing, and research skills they acquired in ENG 101. They learn close-reading techniques and study diverse texts in at least three genres (poetry, drama, and fiction). Students are required to write three out-of-class essays and one in class final exam.
This paper assignment allows students to practice the dimensions of the IPS rubric and the writing and research skills they have been learning over the course of the semester in preparation for crafting their final research paper. This is an integral part of the scaffolded research process where students begin to develop an argument about a literary text and it is worth 15% of their final grade. It should take them about two weeks to complete this assignment. The students have the choice to later build this essay into a final research paper by integrating secondary sources, and they prepare for that by crafting an annotated bibliography. The hope is that this process will prepare them for writing and researching essays for all future college courses that require low-stakes and high-stakes writing assignments. It also prepares them for writing and problem solving tasks in professional contexts.
This assignment requires students to practice two of the essential skills required in ENG 102 that align with the IPS rubric‰ÛÓclose reading and critical thinking about a text, and formulating a claim based on a research question about problematized textual elements. In crafting this assignment, we sought to fully integrate the IPS core competency into the course in assignments scaffolded from an earlier point in the semester and to hone in on transferable skills that the students could build into an integrated final research paper. This assignment is unique to my class and the literature and requirements in my syllabus but serves the same purpose and goals as all of the analytical assignments developed by the committee. There are many examples of final assignments available in the Learning Matters Assignment Library database and this provides an example of an intermediary skill-building assignment that addresses the IPS rubric in ENG 102.
LaGuardia‰Ûªs Core Competencies and Communication Abilities

This assignment was developed in the context of CTL sponsored Learning Matters Mini-grant awarded to the English Department. The primary purpose was to assist full-time and part-time faculty in the Department with revising ENG 102 course materials to align with the Inquiry and Problem Solving (IPS) Core Competency and Written ability. This goal was achieved through several workshops, a programmatic benchmark reading, and a departmental review process that prepared assignments to be submitted for the CTL Assignment Library. The assignment underwent a two-phase review process. In the first round, the grant leader, Dr. Anita Baksh, suggested feedback for revision. Then, faculty members revised their assignments and submitted them to Dr. Jacqueline Jones, Director of Composition II, for final review. After receiving a second set of feedback from Dr. Jones, faculty modified assignments again. ENG 102 is fundamentally a composition course rather than an introduction to literature course or a literary studies course. It is part of the required core for most LaGuardia students, which students usually take in their second semester, after completing ENG 101: Composition I, a pre-requisite for the course. Thinking about the dimensions of the IPS rubric in relation to the ENG 102 research paper allows faculty to better understand this idea, and to create assignments that lead students to produce work that demonstrate aspects of the competency and also fulfill the learning outcomes of the class. Assignments that meet the standards of the IPS competency also help students see how they can transfer skills practiced in ENG 102 to other writing and problem solving situations in academic and real world settings. Mini-grant activities helped faculty, especially part-time instructors, better grasp these important concepts. This high stakes assignment was designed to take four weeks, allowing approximately one week for each stage of the process and was counted as 25% of the final grade. Upon reflection, I think that puts too much weight on a genre that many students are trying for the first time, so in the future, I would reduce its weight to 15-20%. Identifying and framing a question is a fundamental challenge for academic writers and journalists, which I felt I had overlooked in the past by giving students questions to write about. For this assignment, I wanted to give students almost a full week to work on this skill and to focus on an issue that might be more meaningful to them than the one I framed for them. However, even with support, this proved very difficult, so in the future, I would ask students to focus on fewer and more specific themes (different kinds of jealousy and their causes, male bonds, insecurity, blinding anger) and brainstorm possible questions together. I also would consider providing critical essays for students, because reading and finding pertinent, accessible articles in Gale Literary Resources absorbs a significant amount of time, which students might spend more productively identifying a critic's argument, analyzing what it is based on, and deciding whether they agree or not, and on what basis. It might be useful to have students analyze critical essays in pairs or trios as well. LaGuardia's Core Competencies and Communication Abilities Learning Objectives A staged literary argument that requires students to submit work at each phase of the writing process, this assignment asks students to review one of the primary course objectives of Composition II, which is to ‰ÛÏdemonstrate an understanding of writing as a process that involves prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading, as our department course description states. It also asks students to develop and support a thesis about one theme or element of a play based on their close reading of the text and selected literary criticism, which addresses the course objective of teaching students to interpret and write critically about drama . . . while applying techniques of close reading. In addition, this assignment reinforces the objective of supporting a thesis with a well-reasoned argument and textual evidence, by having students analyze and summarize how three literary scholars construct professional arguments before explaining why they agree or disagree with these critics in their own essays. This, of course, also addresses the ENG102 goal of having students demonstrate an understanding of research methods, and of teaching them to evaluate, synthesize, and cite primary and secondary sources, while writing critically and analytically about literature. In writing a proposal, gathering and analyzing literary criticism, and developing an argument, students also grapple with the key dimensions of Inquiry and Problem Solving as suggested in the rubric that LaGCC uses. In particular, they work on identifying and addressing a question that matters to them -- the first and often most challenging IPS objective -- by spending almost a week developing their own questions about a play and doing preliminary research about it. They must then draw conclusion about the validity of their thesis and discuss the implications of important ideas in the play in terms of their own lives. Asked to draft and revise a well-organized and fully-developed essay and to provide thoughtful feedback on a classmate's essay, students also develop the key dimensions of Written Communication, working toward developing keener awareness and mastery of content development and organization; the purpose, audience, and genre of the essay that they are writing; and control of language, syntax, punctuation, and grammar.

Covers fundamentals and application of four steps of Problem Solving. Includes a problem solving strategy with a hands-on problems.

Mathematical Inquiry with Loops is a fun activity designed to introduce students in LMF101 (First Year Seminar for Liberal Arts: Math and Science) to mathematical exploration and hypothesis formation via hands-on exploration with paper loops. It should make students understand that the "facts" that make up mathematics, are not arbitrary, but arise from observation and experience. It should also encourage students to view mathematics as a science rooted in exploration and problem solving, rather than an esoteric exercise in symbol manipulation.
This activity is designed to be very low stakes (ungraded) and to take one hour of class time. There are no mathematical pre-requisites beyond counting, and it addresses the Inquiry and Problem Solving competency, as well as the following learning objectives.
Instructional Objectives Introduce students to the foundational knowledge and key concepts of mathematics and science Introduce students to types of problems successfully addressed by mathematics and science, along with the methodology.
Performance Objectives Demonstrate understanding of foundational knowledge in mathematics and science (eg, observation, interpretation, critical thinking, synthesis, analysis, reflection and evaluation). Explain types of research and methods within mathematics and science and the ways these are applied in the disciplines.