What You Need to Do

Robert Downey, Jr. Annoyed, rolling his eyes, with the top text, First Day of Class, and the bottom text, Syllabus, Expectations, Rules . . .
An example image macro meme

Engage creatively with any of these course documents:

Take one important concept or idea from one of the documents and turn it into a meme. Post your meme, following the step-by-step instructions below, and add Likes to several.

How This Activity Connects to the Course

First, understanding the course documents will help you do well in the course. This activity makes the process more interesting.

Second, we’ll spend a lot of time examining how to use visual and textual elements in this course. This activity asks you to represent and communicate a key aspect of our course in a way that’s engaging, memorable, and thought-provoking.

Step-by-Step Instructions

  1. Review the the course documents (the Short Guide, the Course Policies, or the Teamwork & Collaboration Guide) and select an important concept, idea, or policy that you think is crucial for success in this course (for example, the AI policy or the grace period). Be sure to note the page number and the name of the document where you found the concept.
  2. A text meme that says, College be like: You: Hey professor how you doing today? Professor: It’s on the syllabus
    An example text-based meme
    Decide on the kind of meme you want to make. You can make any of the following:
    • An image macro meme (Robert Downey, Jr. Annoyed example above).
    • A text-based meme (It’s on the syllabus example on the right).
  3. Choose the software that you’ll use to create your meme. Here are some suggestions:
    • Use image-editing software (like Adobe Express) or choose an image macro meme creation tool, such as those listed below:
    • Use text-editing software (like Microsoft Word or Notepad) or simply type your text-based meme in the reply.
  4. Create a meme that effectively communicates the concept you’ve chosen. Be sure your meme fits with the Virginia Tech Principles of Community.
  5. Once your meme is complete, add your first post to this Discussion as a reply. Include the following information:
    • The meme you’ve created.
    • An alt attribute for the image or descriptive transcript for your video. See “Making Memes Accessible” for help with alt attributes. If you aren’t using an image, skip this.
    • A statement of the concept you selected. You can copy and paste it from the course document.
    • The page number and document name where you found it, so we can find the original mention if we want to know more.
    • (Optional) Anything else you want to say about the concept or your meme.
  6. Review the memes created by your classmates. Pretend you’re on a social media network, like Instagram, and do the following:
    • Like
      • Add Likes to any that are particularly interesting, fun, or helpful.
      • Don’t Like every one please. Focus on those that seem the best or most entertaining.
    • Comment
      • Add comments to any that you like, just as you would on Instagram. You can respond with another meme as well. Here are some suggestions:
        • Ask questions if something is unclear or you want more information.
        • Make a suggestion on how to improve the meme.
        • Build on someone else’s meme by saying more about the idea.
        • Avoid comments as busywork. None are required.

Assessment

I will mark your participation in this Discussion Complete (or Incomplete) after the end of the Grace Period passes and after I confirm that you have added one post with the meme you designed, and then Liked two or three replies posted by others in your class. Allow me several days to read and mark all your posts.