ALCB 431Y: ANALYSIS OF CURRENT EVENTS
Foothill College Course Outline of Record
| Heading | Value |
|---|---|
| Effective Term: | Summer 2022 |
| Units: | 0 |
| Hours: | 2 lecture per week (24 total per quarter) |
| Degree & Credit Status: | Non-Degree-Applicable Non-Credit Course |
| Foothill GE: | Non-GE |
| Transferable: | None |
| Grade Type: | Non-Credit Course (Receives no Grade) |
| Repeatability: | Unlimited Repeatability |
Student Learning Outcomes
- Participating students will show evidence of understanding the basic elements - the what, where, why, and how - of major current events.
- Participating students will demonstrate the ability to express well-informed, coherent, and well-supported opinions on current events.
- The successful student will demonstrate one or more ways to become productively engaged in his or her community and/or in local or national politics.
- The successful student will list, in order of priority, 5-10 or more challenges facing California and/or the United States, then justify his or her ranking.
Description
Intended for civic-minded disabled adults to sharpen memory, critical thinking, and discussion and debate skills, through the study of news stories that impact their everyday lives. Through the lens of life experience and longevity, students analyze current events while reflecting on related past events. The course draws heavily on newspapers, magazines, news clips, cartoons, and the blogosphere to support class discussion.
Course Objectives
The student will be able to:
- Identify current news events and summarize their essential facts.
- Recall details and describe impressions of related past news events.
- Critically compare and contrast current events with past events.
- Analyze and put current and related past events into perspective based on experience and longevity.
Course Content
- Identify current news events and summarize their essential facts
- The instructor will suggest major stories from the current news cycle, compiling a list of headlines that blend important local, national, and world news. Students will be encouraged to propose their own news stories of interest
- The instructor will research major news stories, drawing on and presenting to the class helpful reporting and punditry of interest from newspapers, magazines, news clips, blogs, and other sources
- Students will drill down beneath the headlines to summarize the essential facts associated with each story—its "who, what, why, where, when, and how"
- Recall details and describe impressions of related past news events
- With prompting and support from the instructor, students will summarize the key facts associated with related past events, especially those they lived through
- Students will reflect on their thoughts and feelings about these past events, both then and now
- Critically compare and contrast current events with past events
- Students will note significant historical connections or points of intersection between current news stories and those from the recent or distant past (for example, the current COVID vaccine rollout and the vaccine rollout for Polio)
- Students will share their recollected and current thoughts and feelings about these related past events
- Analyze and put current and related past events into perspective based on experience and longevity
- By examining current events and those from the past, students will fact-check and logic-test the truth claims, opinions, and conclusions of high-profile politicians, newsmakers, pundits, pollsters, and others
- Through the lens of their lived experiences, students will articulate their personal takes on the news, both present and past, drawing on evidence and noting important implications and conclusions
Lab Content
Not applicable.
Special Facilities and/or Equipment
1. When taught on campus: accessible classroom.
2. When taught online/virtual: students and faculty need internet access with Zoom-capable computer, monitor and speakers.
2. When taught online/virtual: students and faculty need internet access with Zoom-capable computer, monitor and speakers.
Method(s) of Evaluation
Methods of Evaluation may include but are not limited to the following:
Progress on Student Educational Contract
Instructor observation of ability to reflect course material
Participation
Method(s) of Instruction
Methods of Instruction may include but are not limited to the following:
Lecture
Representative Text(s) and Other Materials
No course materials.
Types and/or Examples of Required Reading, Writing, and Outside of Class Assignments
Not applicable.
Discipline(s)
Specialized Instruction (Disabled Student Programs and Services): Noncredit