Childhood Development Assistant Professor and Program Director Pamela Norcross, Ph.D, recently used a video assignment in her CD 220 in Fall 2023. We caught up with Dr. Norcoss to see how it went.
Please describe the Sesame Street Project assignment.
Dr. Norcross: Sesame Street is a familiar TV show that was developed in 1969 to help underprivileged preschoolers have access to educational programming to better prepare them for kindergarten. From the beginning, Sesame Street created purposeful, research based, developmentally appropriate material to help preschool aged children learn about shapes, numbers, colors, emotion regulation, how to be a friend, etc. that would prepare them for being successful kindergartners.
For the class CD 220, students were assigned into teams of 5 to create their own Sesame Street recording. Students learned the background and history of Sesame Street, took a deep dive into each Sesame Street character development, and learned about the purpose and role of each character in the show. Then, as a team, they chose a developmental topic of interest related to preschool learning and development to create their own Sesame Street episode.
Each team needed to create an actual video using Sesame Street characters that they created, with a developmentally accurate script that could be used as a learning tool for preschool children. Each team had to create a formal proposal, justifying that their topic was appropriate for preschool aged children, research their topic, create a script with dialogue appropriate for a preschool audience and accurate Sesame Street characters, and record themselves acting out the script. Students needed to learn about video equipment, filming strategies, and editing software to create a completed Sesame Street clip/episode.
What inspired you to use this assignment?
Dr. Norcross: I decided to do this project because I thought it could be a fun way for an entry level child development course to take a deep dive into learning about preschool development. It also allowed students the opportunity to work together as a team. Fall 2023 was the first semester I implemented this project, and was very nervous about it, but once I got started, it seemed that Sesame Street was a natural fit.
There were many clips I could use in teaching about preschool development throughout my own lectures, and it created a great resource for students to learn about the preschool perspective. I also received support from Paul Keys and Cole Frederick, and that is how I eventually decided to go ahead and try the project out, since there was good campus support, I knew my students could be successful in this project.
What was the outcome of the assignment?
Dr. Norcross: The outcome was very successful. I learned a lot on how to help support students in the process, but overall, students did an amazing job in creating their Sesame Street videos. They were able to be very creative, established skills working as a team, while also learning about preschool development.
I enjoyed working with Paul and Cole, who also helped support students in this project. I also learned a lot about what resources are available on campus that I would not have otherwise known. It was a little scary stepping out of my comfort zone to do this project, but I am glad I did. I am sure each semester will be a little different, and I will learn how to make this project better each time.