Photo by Jesse Orrico

Seminar One: Objectives, Policies, Grading, 2017

The Necessary Stuff

Seminar One is a fun and rigorous class. I endeavor to make it a place where you can develop ideas for the world of design you’re entering. For that to work, I ask that you be here, do the readings, complete your sketchnotes, and be a good contributor and listener.

Readings are on Box (CMU ID required) or are linked from each week: https://cmu.box.com/v/seminarone2017-readings

  • Deepen and broaden your understanding of the concepts and context surrounding interaction design
  • Support and inform your design work in studio and lab courses
  • Attune your sensitivity to values in design
  • Become confident and fluent in discussing design and issues in multiple contexts
  • Develop a critical stance about contemporary technology
  • Read and write analytically and creatively
  • Visualize concepts related to readings

Your grade consists of the following:

  • Sketchnotes and brief writings on Medium for every week of reading: 30%
  • Short paper (750 words/~3 pages): 15%
  • Long paper (3000 words/12 pages): 40%
  • Participation: 15%

For every week of readings, you will sketchnote, post your sketchnotes to Medium, and annotate where necessary so that your post makes sense to me and Manya. Sketchnoting is visual notetaking, a way of diagramming and taking notes. It doesn’t need to be beautiful. You can use a whiteboard, take a picture and post it, you can use pencil and paper. Or you can start your own notebook (physical or digital) of sketchnotes and begin your own sketchnoting practice both here and beyond—certainly encouraged but not required. If you post sketchnotes every week, you will get at least 27 of 30 points. No late responses accepted. Please see the Reading & Writing Resources page for more information on writing on Medium.

This seminar lives and dies on your presence and participation. Show up, be prepared, engage your colleagues’ perspectives with respect, and make this class what you want it to be. Please speak up in class, stay off social media and your phone, participate in small groups, read and comment on your colleagues’ Medium posts, take part in peer review, and be present. Please note that there are no unexcused absences in this class (see Attendance Policy below). I reserve the right to mark down 2% for missing a class and 1% for lateness.

You will be writing a 750-word essay (not a single word longer, no shorter than 700 words) based on an argument, the beginnings of which we will work on today in class. The first draft of your 750-word essay will be due on Wednesday, 9/20, no later than 10 am.

This paper is a critical and rigorous engagement with an interaction or service design issue of your own choosing. MDes students, you may wish to make this your first foray into exploring your thesis topic, and your paper can inform the thesis proposal that you write in 2017. You will complete a proposal for your seminar paper, meet with Molly to discuss, and revise your proposal. Then, you’ll write a first draft of the paper, review 2–3 of your colleagues’ papers and provide feedback, receive feedback from Molly, and then complete a final draft of your paper.

For both the short and long paper, there is no separate scoring of proposal, draft, peer review and final paper, but you must complete all of these tasks to qualify for the full point count. You do not need to make your proposal or your paper public on Medium unless you choose.

You will also each give a very brief final paper presentation in Ignite style, a 5-minute presentation where the slides advance every 20 seconds. This takes practice! It’s fun, fast-paced — and over quickly. (Here’s an example — your professor is Internet famous for an Ignite talk she gave in 2009 on pneumatic tubes and postal services.)

  • Friday, 9/20, 10 am: 750-word paper first draft due
  • Friday, 10/6, 7 pm: 750-word paper final due
  • Saturday, 10/20, 10 am: final paper abstract due
  • Friday, 11/10, 6 pm: First draft of long paper due. Share with 2–3 colleagues for peer review (peer reviews will be assigned to you)
  • Monday, 11/20: Peer review in class
  • Week of 12/4: Ignite presentations (5 minutes) for final papers
  • Monday, 12/11, 9 am: Final paper due

The attendance policy for this course is strict. Be here. There are no unexcused absences. If you need to be absent, you must let me know in advance. Missing or coming late to class will have an impact on your grade. I reserve the right to mark down 2% for missing a class and 1% for lateness.

While we encourage and support professional development through conferences and your search for internships and careers beyond the degree, it is also our expectation that you will balance these opportunities with the commitment you have made to your education here. You are responsible for any and all missed classes and assigned work, including team work.

This semester, you are expected to be here Monday of Thanksgiving week but not on Wednesday. Our last meeting will be the last week of class, so the class should not conflict with end of semester travel.

I’ve published a post on strategies for reading, writing, research, Medium, images, and so on — and will continue to post to it throughout the semester. Please be sure to visit it for more information.

The point of this class is to develop and situate your own ideas in a broader discourse — and in order to do that properly, you need to cite your work. No form of academic dishonesty will be tolerated. When you use words, images, videos — even ideas and thoughts that are not yours and that you do not credit or properly cite, you are guilty of plagiarism.

Do not cut and paste from other sources, even into your own notes, without keeping some system that tells you exactly where your work came from. This includes paraphrasing. We will devote class sessions to plagiarism and steps to avoid it, we will have workshops with the GCC, and we will be using Turnitin, a web-based plagiarism detection program, for the papers that you hand in.

If you are caught plagiarizing, you will receive a zero on the full paper assignment (which includes draft and final versions of your paper) — which is a zero on 40% of your grade. This will result in a failing grade for Seminar One, which means you would need to retake Seminar One next year if you are an MDes student, or have a less-than-passing grade for the class for MPS students.

It is better to ask for more time on a deadline than to plagiarize. If you have any questions, ask.

And a note to remind you to take care of yourself. Do your best to maintain a healthy lifestyle this semester by eating well, exercising, avoiding drugs and alcohol, getting enough sleep and taking some time to relax. This will help you achieve your goals and cope with stress. All of us benefit from support during times of struggle. Depression and anxiety are real and more common than you might think. You are not alone.

There are many helpful resources available on campus and an important part of the grad school experience is learning how to ask for help. Asking for support sooner rather than later is often helpful.

If you feel overwhelmed with the demands of this course, if you feel like you might miss a deadline or that you might need to copy work in order to get things done, contact me right away and we will work out a plan. It is better than plagiarizing or not coming to class.

If you or anyone you know experiences any academic stress, difficult life events, or feelings like anxiety or depression, we strongly encourage you to seek support. Counseling and Psychological Services (CaPS) is here to help: call 412–268–2922 and visit their website at http://www.cmu.edu/counseling/. Consider reaching out to a friend, faculty or family member you trust for help getting connected to the support that can help.

Seminar One: Context and Perspectives for Design in Flux, CMU School of Design, 2017

By Master of Design & Master of Professional Studies Students at Carnegie Mellon

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Molly Wright Steenson

Written by

K&L Gates Associate Professor of Ethics & Computational Technologies @ CMU/School of Design. Author of Architectural Intelligence (MIT Press 2017).

Seminar One: Context and Perspectives for Design in Flux, CMU School of Design, 2017

By Master of Design & Master of Professional Studies Students at Carnegie Mellon

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