Assignments
The goal of the assignments in this course is to foster engagement, interaction, and critical reflection on issues at the intersection of culture, technology, and the environment.
Your work for the class will consist of the following components:
- Weekly reading as detailed on our course schedule.
- Weekly posts and comments in the General Discussion page on our course wiki. Each member of the class, including the instructor, is required to make at least one post and one comment on another course member's post per week. Your post must be made by the Friday preceding class, while your comment may be made at any time up to the course meeting. You may post at any length and on any topic related to the course. For example, you may post a link to a related news article or site, take issue with one of the course readings, continue a conversation begun in class, announce campus events related to class, post design ideas, or describe something that happened to you that reminded you of in-class discussions. You will get full credit for any post that demonstrates reflection on course issues.
- Weekly homeworks that prepare for in-class discussion and future writing. Homeworks will generally involve off-line writing and may include on-line components (e.g., putting content on our course wiki). You should print and bring the written portion of your homework to class.
- Two short essays (5-7 pages).
- A final group project. The final project for this course will involve all course members in the development of a museum exhibit exploring issues around the flows of material and information in and out of homes. This project will be done in collaboration with Prof. Stephen Wicker's Sensor Networks group in ECE; its exact content will depend on your interests. This project will include a variety of individual and group assignments and will include a final write-up.
Alterations to these assignments are possible upon approval of the instructor.
Attendance policy
As a seminar, regular attendance and participation is expected and is essential to acquire a full understanding of course content. You may miss up to two classes over the course of the semester for any reason without penalty. Each additional missed class will result in an automatic 5% deduction in your grade. Exceptions will be made in the case of extreme personal emergency (e.g., a car accident); please consult the instructor in such cases to set up an alternative.
Grading formula
Grading standards can be found here.
- On-line and off-line participation: 10%
- Weekly posts and comments: 10%
- Weekly homeworks: 30%
- Short papers: 20%
- Final project: 30%
Academic Integrity
The Cornell Code of Academic Integrity states: "Absolute integrity is expected of every Cornell student in all academic undertakings. . . . A Cornell student's submission of work for academic credit indicates that the work is the student's own. All outside assistance should be acknowledged, and the student's academic position truthfully reported at all times. In addition, Cornell students have a right to expect academic integrity from each of their peers."
Our course includes group and individual assignments. For individual assignments, you are expected to complete the work individually, though high-level discussions of homework with your peers is allowed and encouraged. When you learn specific ideas from these discussions you incorporate into your work, you should give your colleague credit by explicitly citing your peer (e.g. "Jane Smith, personal communication"). Knowledge that is generally known (such as what appears in encyclopedias) does not need to be cited. On-line sources of information should be cited and their validity should be evaluated with special care when not peer-reviewed.
I encourage you to take advantage of these on-line resources to aid you in ensuring academic integrity: