Course Mechanics

Summary: Explains course activities, policies, and recommendations.

Contents:

• Grading policy
• Learning activities
• Participation
• Exercises & discussion questions
• Investigations
• Project
• Exams
• Academic honesty
• Deadlines
• Getting help
• Accomodations

Grading policy

I will use the following scheme as a base for weighting grades for individual activities in the final grade:

I do not believe in "grading on a curve"; I would be very pleased if you all earned A's in this course.

Learning activities

This class meets twice per week on Tuesday and Thursday from 2:15 to 4:05 p.m. Although this is nominally a lecture class, don't expect much lecturing from me! 

To help us all prepare for class, you will complete readings and exercises before class. A series of explorations will allow you to practice new skills, while a group project will allow you to apply what you've learned. Finally, you will have the opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge in a midterm and a final exam.

Participation

Because much of our work in this course involves collaboration and discussion, you will be evaluated on your participation.

Students who are present, on time, prepared, and who make positive contributions to discussion or other classwork can expect to earn 90 points (an A-) for their participation grade. I will reward students who  provide significant insights or guide discussion in productive ways with a higher participation score. Students who fail to participate regularly or who participate in counterproductive ways (e.g., by dominating the conversation or making inappropriate comments) can expect to earn a lower score.

One unexcused absence (your "oops" day) will have no effect on your participation score. Missing 2-3 classes will reduce your participation score by 10 points. Missing 5-6 classes will reduce your participation grade by 25 points. Missing 7 or more classes will reduce your participation grade by 50 points. I will take attendance most days.

To have your absence count as excused, you must either (a) ensure that I receive documentation of the circumstances of your absence from Health Services or Student Affairs, or (b) contact me to make suitable arrangements at least a week in advance.  In particular, students on sports teams should provide me with their game schedules as soon as possible.

Because I care about you, if you do miss class unexpectedly, I would appreciate a quick call or email as soon as you are able.  Don't be surprised if I email to make sure you are OK.

When you do miss class, it is your responsibility to talk to a classmate about what you missed and then to see me to discuss any further questions or concerns.

Exercises and discussion questions (a.k.a., preparing for class)

Reading assignments are posted in the weekly schedule. I expect you to complete reading assignments before class.

We have two textbooks, and we will also read a selection of articles. Some days, we will read from multiple sources, and it may be a lot. Be warned.

• Norman's Design of Everyday Things is a classic in the field; it is written in a relatively conversational tone. I've lost track of how many times I've read this book, but I learn something new each time I read it.
• Sharp, Rogers, and Preece's Interaction Design is definitely a textbook. It can be long-winded,and for that I apologize. I'll try to be selective about our readings.
• Articles will be classics in the field, illustrative case studies, or exciting new work. We'll read less from the texts and more articles as the class progresses.

Exercises and discussion questions are also posted in the weekly schedule. You should email me your responses by 11 a.m. before class. I will use your responses to focus our time in class---So, no late work will be accepted. 

Any response showing a reasonable effort will earn 1 point. No response (or a very superficial response) will earn 0 points. You are expected to earn 22 points out of about 24 possible over the course of the semester; additional points will count as extra credit. I may also give extra credit for exceptionally thorough or insightful responses.

Investigations

You will have the opportunity to practice new skills through a series of 7 investigations. Most investigations will include some in-class component as well as well as an artifact (e.g., a poster, prototype, or report) to be completed out of class.

Each assignment will include collaboration guidelines and evaluation criteria.

Project

You will also have the opportunity to apply what you've learned through a group project in which you will evaluate and redesign some component of a web site (e.g., the Grinnell Libraries web site). The project will be conducted in several stages, as detailed in the course schedule.

Exams

You will have opportunities to demonstrate what you have learned through two exams, a midterm and a final. We will discuss the form of these exams as the dates approach.

Because I intend the exams to assess your own individual understanding of the material, collaboration on exams is not permitted. You should not talk to anyone (except me) about take-home exams before they are due. You should not discuss the problems on the exam, nor your answers. You should not give any information about your progress on the exam (e.g., which problems you have completed or which you found difficult), and neither should you ask others about their progress.  If you have any doubt about what is and is not permissible, ask me.

Academic Honesty

I expect you to follow the highest principles of academic honesty. Among other things, this means that any work you turn in should be your own or should have the work of others clearly documented. However, when you explicitly work as part of a group or team, you need not identify the work of each individual (unless I specify otherwise).

You should never give away answers to assignments or examinations. You may, however, work together in developing solutions for most assignments.

When working on examinations, you should not use other students as resources.

Deadlines

Work is due at the stated date and time.  Late exercises and discussion questions will not be accepted because they are used to structure the class discussion. (Also, each exercise is worth only 1 point and you are not required to do all of them.) Other grades will be reduced by one level for each weekday (MTWThF) the work is late.

I do have some flexibility in scheduling meetings outside of class. If a meeting is required as all or part of the assignment, simply email me for an appointment if you are not able to meet on the specified date.

If exceptional circumstances prevent timely submission of your work, you must either (a) contact me to make suitable arrangements when the assignment is handed out, or (b) ensure that I receive documentation of the circumstances from Health Services or Student Affairs.

Deadlines for exercises involving programming will automatically be extended by at least one class period if MathLAN is down for an unscheduled period of 3 or more hours during the two days preceeding the assignment due date.  No such extension will be granted for exercises not involving programming.

Absolute deadline: All work must be turned in by Friday, May 9 at 5 p.m.

Getting help

You can get help from me, either during office hours or by appointment. I really enjoy working with students one-on-one. 

Accomodations

If you have specific physical, psychiatric, or learning disabilities and require accomodations, let me know early in the semester so that we can work together to meet your learning needs. You will also need to provide documentation of your disability to the Academic Advising Office, located on the third floor of the Rosenfield Center (x3702).

Janet Davis (davisjan@cs.grinnell.edu)