Instructor Insights

Instructor Insights pages are part of the OCW Educator initiative, which seeks to enhance the value of OCW for educators.

Instructor Insights

Below, Jeff Levine describes various aspects of how he teaches 11.438 Economic Development Planning.

OCW: Who took this course in Spring 2020?

Jeff Levine: The spring class was all Masters students from DUSP. In fact, I think they were all second-year students finishing up their degrees and looking for an elective that offered tools for the practice. The students had some background in community and economic development but not as much in the planning tools that public and non-profit agencies might use to advance policy goals. Since it was a small class, we were able to adjust easily to remote learning in March and had a comfortable and informal class structure.

Teaching in a professional degree program, one of my priorities is to help students learn to write for their future work environments.

— Jeff Levine

OCW: In addition to two more traditional papers, you asked your students to compose two of the written assignments in the form of professional memoranda. Why did you decide to structure those assignments that way, and how well did it work?

Jeff Levine: Teaching in a professional degree program, one of my priorities is to help students learn to write for their future work environments. Busy decision-makers don’t have time to read a long theoretical paper on a topic. They may only have the time or interest to read the top page or two of a memo, and they want to quickly know what you want them to do. I asked the students to keep their memos to two pages or less, which can be harder than writing a five-page paper. Generally it worked well, and having multiple opportunities allowed the students to improve their memorandum writing skills.

OCW: How effective have you found grading rubrics to be as a tool for yourself and your students? What successes and/or challenges have you experienced in implementing them?

Jeff Levine: Grading can be a little challenging in a graduate-level class without a lot of quantifiable outcomes. Using rubrics helped me provide a rationale for how and why I was grading material, and that helped me stay focused on the values I brought to evaluating the submissions. Rubrics such as “you make your argument clearly” helped me separate that aspect of the evaluations from others, such as “your argument is supported by the research.” Having said that, there is always a bit of a judgment call as to whether particular students is really utilizing their judgment or just repeating what I told them.

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Assessment

Grade Breakdown

The students' grades were based on the following activities:

The color used on the preceding chart which represents the percentage of the total grade contributed by short assignments. 20% Short assignments, graded on a ✓+, ✓, ✓- scale
The color used on the preceding chart which represents the percentage of the total grade contributed by midterm paper. 25% Midterm paper
The color used on the preceding chart which represents the percentage of the total grade contributed by end-of-semester project. 30% End-of-semester project
The color used on the preceding chart which represents the percentage of the total grade contributed by final presentation. 10% Final presentation
The color used on the preceding chart which represents the percentage of the total grade contributed by in-class participation. 15% In-class participation

Rubrics

Written work was graded in accordance with a rubric provided in the syllabus.

Instructor Insights on Assessment

Instructor Interview

Curriculum Information

Prerequisites

None

Requirements Satisfied

Elective

Offered

Every other spring semester

Student Information

Less than 10 students took this course when it was taught in Spring 2020.

Breakdown by Year

All second-year graduate students

Breakdown by Major

All students in the Master in City Planning program at MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP)

Typical Student Background

The students were all finishing up their degrees and looking for an elective that offered tools for the practice. They had some background in community and economic development but not as much in the planning tools that public and non-profit agencies might use to advance policy goals.

How Student Time Was Spent

During an average week, students were expected to spend 12 hours on the course, roughly divided as follows:

In Class

3 hours per week

Met 2 times per week for 1.5 hours per session; 26 sessions total; mandatory attendance.

 

Out of Class

9 hours per week

Outside of class, students completed assigned readings and worked on written papers and projects.

 

Semester Breakdown

WEEK M T W Th F
1 Class meeting scheduled. No session scheduled. Class meeting scheduled. No session scheduled. No session scheduled.
2 Class meeting scheduled. No session scheduled. Class session scheduled. No session scheduled. No session scheduled.
3 No classes throughout MIT. Class meeting scheduled. Class session scheduled. No session scheduled. No session scheduled.
4 Class meeting scheduled. No session scheduled. Class meeting scheduled. No session scheduled. No session scheduled.
5 Class meeting scheduled. No session scheduled. Class meeting scheduled and assignment due. No session scheduled. No session scheduled.
6 Class meeting scheduled. No session scheduled. Class session scheduled. No session scheduled. No session scheduled.
7 Class meeting scheduled. No session scheduled. Class meeting scheduled and assignment due. No session scheduled. No session scheduled.
8 No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT.
9 Class meeting scheduled. No session scheduled. Class session scheduled. No session scheduled. No session scheduled.
10 Class meeting scheduled. No session scheduled. Guest speaker scheduled and assignment due. No session scheduled. No session scheduled.
11 Class meeting scheduled. No session scheduled. Class meeting scheduled. No session scheduled. No session scheduled.
12 No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT. Class session scheduled. No session scheduled. No session scheduled.
13 Guest speaker scheduled. No session scheduled. Guest speaker scheduled and assignment due. No session scheduled. No session scheduled.
14 Student presentation scheduled. No session scheduled. Student presentation scheduled. No session scheduled. No session scheduled.
15 Student presentation scheduled. No session scheduled. No session scheduled. No session scheduled. No classes throughout MIT.
16 No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT.
Displays the color and pattern used on the preceding table to indicate dates when classes are not held at MIT. No classes throughout MIT
Displays the color used on the preceding table to indicate dates when class meetings are held. Class meeting
Displays the symbol used on the preceding table to indicate dates when assignments are due. Assignment due
Displays the color used on the preceding table to indicate dates when no class session is scheduled. No class session scheduled
Displays the color used on the preceding table to indicate dates when students presentations are held. Student presentations
Displays the color used on the preceding table to indicate dates when guest speaker is scheduled. Guest speaker