Assignments
This page provides an overview of the work that contributes to your final course grade, and connects you to descriptions for those projects and workshops through the links below. (Note that no descriptive detail appears on SVSU Canvas for any of these assignments.) I typically activate assignment pages as we need them, so do not worry if you cannot access all of the descriptions at the beginning of the semester.
Your course grade is computed from the points you earn on 3 projects and 9 workshops. Combined, these assignments total 1400 points.
You can read more about grading and what factors might influence your grade on the Policies page.
Projects
I use the term projects to categorize assignments that are significant undertakings, and that require development and refinement time that may span several weeks of the semester. You will complete 3 projects this semester that collectively contribute 950 possible points to your course grade.
Each project description details several elements of the work, including content and design requirements and submission guidelines. Use the links below to access those descriptions.
- Design Autobiography (DA). 250 points. The DA project results in a narrative essay that explores your history with a design (artifact, experience, system) that has impacted (and perhaps continues to impact) you in significant ways. The DA is challenging because it requires you to examine your relationships with the world through narrative, analysis, and reflection. This project develops over 2 stages.
- Design for a Better World (DBW). 500 points. The DBW project results in an exploratory essay that examines a complex problem and proposes sustainable solutions to it. The DBW is challenging because it requires you to conduct a systematic examination of a problem and its possible solutions. The emphasis on complexity demands that you reach beyond obvious interpretations of the challenges we encounter and of the strategies we might engage to address them. This project develops over 3 stages.
- Design for a Better World Screencast (DBWS). 200 points. The DBWS project results in a 5 minute screencast video that distills the core elements of your DBW project. The DBWS is challenging because it requires you to briefly present a complex project in a dynamic, highly visual medium. The first submission for this project is the final submission.
Workshops
I use the term workshops to categorize assignments that are smaller scale than projects, work that can be completed in the space of a single class session, or within the space of a single class week. The concepts, strategies, and practices examined through workshops build and reinforce your working knowledge for the course. You will complete 9 workshops this semester that collectively contribute 450 possible points to your course grade.
Each workshop description details several elements of the work, including design and discussion requirements, and submission guidelines. Use the links below (when available) to access those descriptions. Descriptions for workshops not linked from this page will appear in the Canvas Discussion forums dedicated to each of those assignments.
- Heuristic Ideation. 50 points. You employ heuristic ideation from Design Thinking to identify 2 potential topics for the Design Autobiography project.
- Design Encounter. 50 points. You record an audio story of an encounter with one of the technologies you identify through the Heuristic Ideation process from workshop 1. You then process a transcript of that story using the Otter transcription service.
- Peer Review. 150 points. You engage in peer reviews of the 3 prototyping stages of course projects.
- Vision Cone. 50 points. You apply the Design Thinking method of Vision Cone to the examination of a complex problem. This assignment supports strategic thinking for the Design for a Better World project.
- Articulation Map. 50 points. You develop a map of the connections that contribute to our cultural context for understanding the same problem you explored during the Vision Cone workshop. This assignment supports strategic thinking for the Design for a Better World project.
- Screencast Design. 50 points. You create a screening document prototype to support the DBW Screencast project.
- Reflection. 50 points. You reflect upon the strategies in which you engaged during your work this semester.