Course Participation
Course participation will occur primarily through class discussions, the course instance of Slack, and commenting on each others’ blog posts (see below).
B-level course participation will consist of attending classes; actively participating in classes; posting the results of technical exercises on Slack; seeking technical support in the #tech-support Slack channel; and commenting on at least 18 blog posts during the semester.
A-level course participation will consist of all of the above, along with actively discussing readings and technical assignments in class and/or Slack; bringing outside readings and knowledge into discussions; working with classmates to problem-solve in the #tech-support Slack channel; and commenting on at least 30 blog posts during the semester.
Blog Posts
For each week in which we complete a required module, students will write blog posts (500-1000 words) reflecting on the previous week’s readings, discussion, and technical assignments. While the content of your blog posts will be individualized to your own course experience, I should be able to read your post and know 1) that you have done the weekly readings and 2) have a sense of how things went in class for you that week.
For each week in which we are working independently on optional modules, students have a choice of chronicling their work in the appropriate Slack channel or writing an optional blog post. to receive credit for completing the module.
These posts will be due every Thursday night.
Students will then have until Sunday night to comment on other students’ blog posts.
Comments should substantively engage with the content of the blog post and be at least 50 words in length.
Course Modules
Modules are listed in the course schedule and marked as required or optional. A module corresponds to ~1 week of work.
Course Projects
Course projects will be done in small teams. If you would like, I will set you up with access to a Basecamp instance to help with your project management (scheduling meetings, tracking to-dos, document sharing, check-ins, etc.) and I may be able to supply Basecamp integrations with other software (e.g. GitHub) on request.
Course projects have 5 elements that are due throughout the semester; the first 4 are group work, the project reflection paper will be your individual thoughts on your experiences during the project.
1. Project Environmental Survey – due 10/5
2. Project Work Plan – due 10/19
3. Project Presentation – due 11/23 or 11/30
4. Final Project – due 12/7 (no class meeting)
5. Project Reflection Paper – due 12/14 at 10:15pm (end of final exam block)
Your final projects will be assessed on a combination of effort, process, and self-reflective writing. In other words: don’t be afraid of breaking things and failing to accomplish a specific technical task as long as you work hard, can explain what you’ve done, and learn something new along the way. See, for example, Quinn Dombrowski, “Whatever Happened to Project Bamboo?” or Shawn Graham, Failing Gloriously and Other Essays.