SI410GradingandAssignments

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PaulConway

SI410EthicsandInformationTechnology

Fall2010GradingandAssignments

Grading Overview Seeseparatedocumentsfordetailsonassignmentsandexpectationsforgrading.

• Overallparticipationinclass 15%• EssayonPhilosophyandIT(Personal) 20%• CreateMediaWikiContent(Collaboration) 25% • ReflectiononAvatars/Identity(Personal) 25%• GainingAdvantageScenario(Peer/Team) 15%

Attendanceatallclassesismandatory;theessayisgradedindividuallybeforeandafterrevisions;MediaWikicontributionsareevaluatedcollaboratively;thepersonalreflectionisindividuallygraded;thegamescenarioisgradedbypeersworkinginteams.OverallClassParticipation [15%oftotalgrade]Thesuccessofthisclassoverall,aswellasyourabilitytomasterthematerialandassignments,dependsuponfullparticipationintheclass.Studentsmustattendeveryclasssessionunlessexcusedinadvancebytheinstructor.Studentsmustreadtheassignedreadingspriortoattendingclassandmustbepreparedtorespondtoquestionsfromtheinstructorregardingtherelevanceofthereadingstothetopicathand.Participationalsoencompassesengagementwiththeevaluationofthecourseitself,includingmid‐courseandendofcourseassessments,aswellaspre‐andpost‐testquizzesonattitudestowardethicalissues.Assignmentofparticipationgradesissomewhatsubjective,butyoucanhelpassureyougetcreditforparticipatinginclassbyspeakingupandbyattendingatleastoneofficehoursession.EssayonPhilosophyandInformationTechnology [20%oftotalgrade]Eachstudentwillproduceanindividualessaythataddressesthequestion“AreEthicalNormsDifferentintheOnlineEnvironment?”Withinthisbroadtopic,studentswillidentifyaparticularissuediscussed(evenperipherally)withinthestructureofthecourse.TheessayisanopportunitytomakesomeconnectionsbetweenthesometimesdisparateworldsofITsystemsandethicalnormsthatmaynotbecoveredaswellorasdeeplyinin‐classdiscussions.Theessaywillcombinethreeelements:(1)evaluationandinterpretationofsomeportionoftheassignedreadingsforthecourse,especiallythereadingsfromthefirstthreeweeks;(2)anextensionofthosereadingstoincorporateinformationbeyondthecourse;and(3)personalreflectiononthe

SI410GradingandAssignments

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PaulConway

relevanceofethicalissuestoyourpersonallifeandsocialrelationships.Theoverallessaywillrangefrom2,500to3,000words(ca.10pp.doublespaced),willbeproperlydocumentedwhereappropriate,andwillbefreeoftypographicalandgrammaticalerrors.Essaydocumentationmayconformtoanynumberofpossiblestyles[Chicago,MLA,ACM,etc.],butmustbeconsistentlyandfullypresented.Thefirstelementcanbesatisfiedthroughtheselection,carefulreading,andinsightfulanalysisofatleastfiveoftherequiredcoursereadings.Thesecondelementcanbeaccomplishedeitherthroughtheuseofadditionalpublishedformalliterature(e.g.,scholarlyjournals),thecreativeuseofinformationfromthepopularpress(e.g.,NYTimes,Wired,NewYorker,People,etc.),and/ortheuseofWeb‐baseddocumentationonparticulartechnologiesorapplicationsdiscussedaspartoftheclass.Forthethirdelementoftheassignment,recountingyourpersonalexperienceorinsight,possiblycombinedwithexperienceoffriendsorfamily,willallowyoutotakeadryanalysisfromscholarlyorpossiblydistractedpublicationsandmakethemrelevantorpersonal.Anin‐classwritingworkshopduringweektwowillpresentandmakeuseofseveralalternativemethodsfororganizing,balancing,andstructuringtheinformationthatyouwillmarshalforyouressay.Studentswillsubmitafirstdraftandwillreceivedindividualizedfeedbackonthesubstanceandstyleoftheessay.Opportunitiestodiscusstheessayduringofficehourswillbeencouraged.Studentswillreviseandextendtheiressaysbasedonfeedbackreceivedandwillsubmitafinalversionoftheessaybytheendofthestudybreak.CollaborativeWikiWritingandEditing [25%oftotalgrade]InWikipedia,noexplicitentrypresentlyexistsforthetopic“EthicsandInformationTechnology.”Indeedthevarietyofentriesassociatedwiththegeneraltopicof“Ethics”reflectsomeoftheverybiasestowardtechnologicalissuesthatthiscourseisdesignedtoexplore.ThiswritingexercisewillproduceavarietyofentriesforpossibleinclusioninWikipediaonethicsissuesexploredinthecourse,includingthephilosophicalunderpinningsofcurrentthinkingaboutethicsandIT,aswellasevolvingstandardsassociatedwithgender,violence,identity,andtrust.Thiswritingassignmentisgroupexerciseinwhichstudentsworktogetherandassumevaryingrolesinthewikitrustenvironment,includingauthor,critic,editor,andtrustmonitor.Someofthewritingwilltakeplaceaspartofthein‐classlabassignments,whilesomewillrequireasynchronousengagementoutsideofclass.Studentswillworkinanartificialwikienvironment,poweredbyMediaWiki,whichthesoftwarethatsupportsWikipediaandothercollaborativewebcontent.Studentswillinitiallycreate,editandreedittheentriestoreflectthethemesexploredinthecourse.Otherstudents,workinganonymouslyandopenly,reviseatleasttwoarticlestoimprovethereadability,thecontentvalue,andthevisualappealoftheentries.Anin‐classwritingworkshopwillshowcasevariationsonwritingtechniquesforthewebenvironmentgenerallyandWikipediaspecifically.Afterreceivingspecificfeedback,studentswilleditandre‐edittheentriesthroughoutthecourse,addinginformationandillustrationsgarneredfromreadingsandothersources.Thepurposeformixingupthewritingandeditorialresponsibilitiesistoexploretheimpactofanonymousandidentifiedcollaborativework.Individualgradeswillbeassignedbasedonthequalityandqualityoftheeditorialworkwithinagivenentryandacrossentries.

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ReflectiononAvatars/Identity [25%oftotalgrade]Duringthemoduleonavatarsandidentity,studentswillconstructtwodigitalavatars.Oneoftheavatarsisintendedtobeaself‐portraitofyourvirtualself.Theotheravatarhasanalternative(alter?)identitythatyouspecify.StudentswillutilizespecializedsoftwareprovidedbyEvolverPro.comtoconstructtheavatarsusingspecificinstructionsprovidedseparately.Thewritingassignment,uponwhichmostofthegradefortheexerciseisbased,isawell‐documentedreflection/essayonthechoicesthatyoumakewhenconstructingidentityinanonlineenvironment.Thetraditionalliteratureisrichwithmusingsonthechallengesofself‐portraiture,soitwillbeusefultolocate,readandreflectonsomeoftheseissues.Insightfromwritings,movies,music,multimedia,andothersourcesontheavatarinvirtualenvironmentsislessextensive,butyouareencouragedtogetcreativeinthinkingthroughhowyouthinkaboutidentityandcounter‐identity.Thereflectionwilltaketheformofawrittenessay,submittedindraftformforcommentbytheinstructor,andthenrevisedandresubmittedforgrading.Thereflectionshouldnotexceed3,000wordsinlengthandconformtoanywritingstylethatyouchoose.Includeinyourdocumentscreencapturesthatdisplayyouravatar’sphysicalfeatures.Includeatleastoneviewperavatar,butadditionalviews(profiles,etc.)maybeprovidedtobolsterthediscussioninyourreflection.Anysecondarysourcesthatyouuse(magazinearticles,movies,books,etc.)asinfluencesonyourreflectionshouldbecitedinalistofreferencesincludedattheendofthereflection.Youcanuseanycitationstylethatyouwantaslongasyouareconsistent.Sixtypercentofthegrade(15points)isassignedbasedontheextenttowhichthereflectiondescribesthecharacteristicsofthetwoavatarscreatedinthelabassignments,thedepthofthoughtabouttheissuesofidentityinvirtualenvironments,andthecreativeuseofdocumentationtobolstertheinsights.Fortypercentofthegrade(10points)isassignedbasedonthecreativityandeffortexpendedincreatingtheavatarcharacters.GainingAdvantageScenario [15%oftotalgrade]TheavatarcharacterscreatedinthethirdmodulewillbeimportedintoavirtualenvironmentscreatedforthecourseusingtheUDK’sUnrealEngine3,oneofthemorepopulargamecreationtools.Thecoursewillprovideanopportunitytomanipulateavatarsinagamespaceandtocreate,rearrange,andotherwisemanipulatethespace.Studentsworkinginteamswillcollaboratetoimagineanddocumentascenariothat,iffullydeveloped,wouldchallengeuserstodealwiththeadvantagesandpitfallsofgainingorlosingadvantageinagame.Eachteamofstudentswillconstructascenariothatusestheavatarsandtheenvironmenttotestassumptionsaboutfairandunfairlyacquiredadvantage.Examplesofascenarioinclude,butarecertainlynotlimitedtoscavengerhunts,capturetheflag,hideandseek,searchanddestroymissions,etc.Thepurposeoftheassignmentistopropose/modelandexerciseinavirtual

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environmentinwhichpeoplewhointeractwithintheenvironmentmayormaynotbeonequalfootingforanynumberofreasons–appearance,physicalcapabilities,priorknowledge,strengthinnumbers,etc.Theassignmentpushesstudentstounderstandthedilemmaofunfairadvantageinandoutofvirtualworldsandtothinkofcreativewaystoexploretheimplicationsofthisdilemma.Becauseoftheexperimentalnatureofthisassignment,gradingislimitedto15percentofthetotalgradeforthecourse.Topgradeswillbeassignedcollectivelytoteamsbasedonextentofcreativeengagementwiththecoredilemmaofgainingadvantageandthelevelofeffortexpendedinlearningandmanipulatingthevirtualenvironment.Teamsofstudentswillundertakepeerreviewofthesubmitteddocumentsandprovidefeedbackonthequalityoftheeffort.Peerassessmentwillformthefoundationofthegradefortheassignment;theinstructorwilladjustpeerassessmentstohelpensureequityofjudgmentacrosstheteams.