This assessment was designed as a way to get students engaged with the course material during COVID (when many students were disengaging), and to assess participation when much of the course was being delivered online. Throughout the semester students are asked to participate in online discussions of the course content. SOSC2190 focuses on the social and cultural aspects of human bodies so in this course students are asked to discuss any material relevant to this topic. Students can post anything of relevance including photos, reflections on their own embodiment, the latest make-up/fashion/body decoration trends, and media items. This task works really well for topics that have a visual component (such as bodies) but could be used in other courses. Political science students could be asked to post about current world events, linguistics students could be asked to post examples of how language is evolving, music students could be asked to post links to pieces of music, medical students could be asked to come up with hypothetical clinical cases for other students to discuss, human movement students could be asked to post examples from sports media, and so on. Over the semester students are asked to keep track of their contributions by taking screenshots of their posts (and the discussion they prompted) as well as their comments on other students' or staff posts. At the end of the semester they are asked to collate this material into one document with an opening summary of their contribution. For example, "I started 5 threads and made 20 posts in these threads. I also commented on other threads 25 times". Course coordinators can set minimum levels of contribution if desired. A bonus of this assessment technique is that students collect current, real-world examples that can be used in future iterations of the course, making the course content a collaboration between staff and students.
