Design and Society

Winter 2008

Lecture 1

Tim Sheard

Welcome Back!

• You survived the first quarter of your freshman year.

• Congratulations !

• As we did in our first quarter, make the most of your time here at PSU.– Have an open mind.– Get to know people different from yourself.– Push yourself to try new things.– Be filled with goodwill, interpret other’s actions in the

same light.– Have a positive attitude, look for opportunities not

barriers.

What’s Happening this quarter?

• Our study this quarter is broken into Units– Evaluation (1 day)

• reflect on last quarter

– Collapse (3 weeks)– Katrina (1 week)– Sustainable Design (2 weeks)– Lego Robots (3.5 weeks)

What Major projects will we do?

• Group Presentations– Study a society from Collapse, research and prepare a group oral

presentation.

• Debate– Research and Debate a topic from our study of the Katrina Hurricane.

• Term Paper– Write a term paper on the theme "Was Katrina a Modern Day Collapse“– Turn in outline, bibliography, and several drafts. Each will be graded

• Mini Portfolio– Construct an on-line portfolio illustrating your grasp of the UNST goals.

We will learn about web-page design throughout the quarter.

• Robot Project– Design and build a Lego robot to perform a task. First a task I will assign

you, and then a task of your own choosing.

What other work will be graded?

• Attendance• Write short 1-2 page papers• Read lots of articles. Quizzes and

worksheets testing reading comprehension

• Activities to test preparation for class (worksheets, first drafts, material for peer review).

• Class participation

How will I be graded?

25% Class participation, including– Attendance (7%)– Reading Comprehension Activities (quizzes, work-sheets, etc)

(6%)– Class Preparation activities (reading notes, 1st drafts, products

for peer review, etc) (6%)– Class Participation in Discussion and in Mentor Sessions (6%)

75% Assignments and Projects including, but not limited to:– Group Presentation (15%)– Team Debate (15%)– Term Paper (15%)– Robot Project(15%)– Mini Portfolio (15%)

Retrospective 1

• Good things last quarter.– Almost everyone is back!– We developed a class identity– We learned to work in teams– A demonstrated improvement in writing– Some excellent Bridge Designs– Recognized improvement in computer skills

and numeracy– The Daily Record!

Retrospective 2

• Things to be improved from last quarter.– More and better explanation of assignments– More discussion in class– More examples– More time to do things– Better student preparation for class

Some comments about me• Sometimes things were confusing and having the notes was very

helpful• More explanations on assignments• Simpler explanations for class lectures.• More visuals. Allow others to speak more often• The instructor could give us more time to work on group projects • Provide us with more clear instructions in order to complete our

projects• Give homework back quicker, if possible.• Give more physical examples, rather than explain on powerpoint• Explain what he wants on the assignments• Less talking, more hands on

Some comments about Liz• The mentor could work to assist every student in mentor session

individually because it seems that sometimes all the groups or students are not getting the help that they need.

• The mentor could help to relate the class more to the mentor session

• I think she is doing a great job. Keep it up!• Liz is great!• There is nothing i would change about Liz, she is wonderful!• I just want Liz to keep doing what she's doing because it helps

greatly.• She does good job• She's great! yeah!• She should have more activities• Liz shouldn't change.• Her always being there for us was awesome.

Some comments about yourselves

• I can attend class more often and spend more time working on my projects and writing assignments outside of class.

• I could spend more time with reading materials ahead of time.

• I wish I had asked more questions• Working in groups helped me to communicate with other

classmates• I learned how to get along with other schoolmates.• I should have studied more and Put ALOT of time into

everything.

Improving

• Make assignments clearer– Give a grading Rubric along with every

assignment so you know what I expect– Give a study guide for reading assignments

• Break every class into 2 – 3 “units”, at most 1 lecture, some other activity. – More discussions– More working in small groups

• Try to use more hands on activities

Improving Class Preparation

• I agree with the class’s self assessment that students are not always well prepared for class – Take attendance, to ensure people come to

class. Attendance part of grade– Try and post assignments in advance so

students know what’s coming up.– Provide graded activities to encourage

students to come to class prepared.

What else can we do to improve the class?

• Brainstorm and Discussion– What can I do?– What can Liz do?– What can you do?

Rules for brainstorming

1.Postpone and withhold your judgment of ideas

2.Encourage wild and exaggerated ideas

3.Quantity counts at this stage, not quality

4.Build on the ideas put forward by others

5.Every person and every idea has equal worth

• http://www.brainstorming.co.uk/tutorials/brainstormingrules.html

Process for Brain Storming

• One person is the facilitator. She writes ideas on the whiteboard or a piece of paper.

• Participants call out new ideas• The facilitator writes down the ideas, she may

not censor or alter ideas, only record them.• When the flow of new ideas ends, the group as a

whole organizes the ideas.– This is the time for discussion– Several ideas my be the same, only in different words– Ideas may be grouped

Required Textbooks

• Collapse, by Jared Diamond. # ISBN-10: 143036556

• Engineering With LEGO Bricks and ROBOLAB, by Eric L. Wang. 2nd ed 2004. ISBN 0-9723567-9-7

• They Say I Say, by Graff & Birkenstein. ISBN-13: 978-0-393-92409-1.

First Reading Assignment

• Read "Collapse": – Prologue: A Tale of Two Farms – (pp. 1 - 25) – Due 01-09-08

• Read carefully, There will be a quiz on Wednesday.

• There is a study guide, read it first, and then see if you can find the answers in the study guide as you read.

First Writing Assignment

• This assignment is like the first assignment from Fall quarter. – 1-2 pages– Pick a UNST goal that is important to you– Devise 2 strategies you can use.

• Due 1 week from today.• Hand in two hard copies.

– 1 hard copy will be used in an activity in class.• Not having the assignment is not being prepared.

• See the assignment and the grading rubric.

The 4 Freshman Inquiry Goals

Students will acquire skills in the following areas

• Inquiry and Critical Thinking• Communication• Ethics and Social Responsibility• The Diversity of Human Experience

• for ways to measure if these goals have been achieved see: http://www.pdx.edu/unst/goals.html

Class Rules

I expect everyone to participate in class discussions. To facilitate this we will follow these rules.

1. One person speaks at a time– but everyone is expected to speak

2. Honor all opinions3. Respond to ideas, not people4. Silence is Not consent5. No put-downs6. Be present. actively listen and respond

– no texting, email, side conversations etc.

7. No rat holes – As the moderator, I reserve the right to cut off discussion on topics that

deteriorate