IML 346: METHODS IN DIGITAL RESEARCH
Fall, 2017
Thursdays, 4-6:50PM, SCI L106
Professor: Virginia Kuhn, PhD ()Office: SCI 101N Hours: TBD
TA: Triton Mobley () Office: SCI 211 Hours: TBD
Prerequisites: enrollment in the MA+P major or Honors program
Course wiki:
Course Description:
IML346: Methods in Digital Research prepares students for planning and carrying out thesis projects in the MA+P major and the Honors program. Emphasizing rigorous multimedia research and authorship strategies, this course prepares students to undertake large-scale digital projects.
Learning Objectives
+to develop awareness of digital research strategies
+ to sharpen design proficiency through conceiving, prototyping, and testing
+ to pose research questions, define objectives, plot methodology, determine means of results analysis—and clearly express all of these things in a research project proposal
+ to work individually and collectively to create and fabricate within specific parameters and constraints
Texts (provided on course wiki) including:
Universal Principles of Design, Lidwell et al
Critical Terms in Media Studies, Mitchell, Hansen, Eds.
Grading
45% 3 projects @ 15% each
30% 2 @ 15% each a) Keyword summary and b) Tech tutorial overview
15% Peer review
10% Class participation, reading responses.
COURSE POLICIES
Attendance
Don’t miss class. If you must, please email your teaching staff (both Vee + Triton) and get notes from a classmate. This allows us to engage with you intellectually rather than logistically. If you are absent due to illness two (2) or more times during the semester, you will need to provide a note from the Student Health Center or your personal physician. Failure to provide documentation of illness results in an unexcused absence. Unexcused absences negatively impact your grade. Three unexcused absences will automatically drop your grade by 10% with additional penalties for each additional class missed.
Assignments:We are all busy and this makes the schedule extremely important. Course work must be turned in on time. Late assignments will not receive feedback and will lose one half grade (e.g. an A- to a B+, a B becomes a B-). All work is open to revision so it’s better to submit on time than to wait until it’s perfect.
Statement on Fair Use:Fair use is a legal principle that defines certain limitations on the exclusive rights of copyright holders. MAP projects are produced with fair use doctrines in mind using its four pillars: (1) the purpose and character of use, (2) the nature of the copyrighted work, (3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole, and (4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. In general, we regard the reproduction of copyrighted works for the purposes of analysis or critique in this class to be covered by the principle of fair use.
Citation Guidelines:All projects need to include academically appropriate citations in the form of a References section, which covers all sources, in order to receive a passing grade. The References section is either included in the project or as a separate document, as appropriate to your project. We will be following theKAIROSstyle guidefor citation purposes in this class. Kairosuses a modified APA format, whose general guidelines and many specific examples you can find here:
Statement on Academic Integrity:USC seeks to maintain an optimal learning environment. General principles of academic honesty include the concept of respect for the intellectual property of others, the expectation that individual work will be submitted unless otherwise allowed by an instructor, and the obligations both to protect one’s own academic work from misuse by others as well as to avoid using another’s work as one’s own. All students are expected to understand and abide by these principles. Scampus, the Student Guidebook, contains the Student Conduct Code in Section 11.00, while the recommended sanctions are located in Appendix A: Students will be referred to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs and Community Standards for further review, should there be any suspicion of academic dishonesty. The Review process can be found at:
Statement for Students with Disabilities:Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure the letter is delivered to me (or to TA) as early in the semester as possible. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open 8:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Emergency Plan:In the event of an emergency, all attempts will be made to continue MAP courses as usual. If we cannot meet synchronously, we will continue with our asynchronous work. In addition, all course materials are backed up on a secondary site (usually Blackboard) in the event that the primary wiki site should go down.
WEEKLY SCHEDULE:subject to change as necessary to improve the course. Please consult the course wiki for the current schedule and for all readings.This schedule is intentionally kept open to allow for customization to meet the needs of this particular group.
8/24:Course overview and introductions.Discussion of projects and assignments. Enroll in course wiki. For next time, please set a landing page in the wiki and post a brief introduction. Read this brief article: Silicon Valley Engineer Explains the Value of Humanities Education: and post a paragraph on anything you found surprising, frustrating or intriguing.
8/31:Natively digital projects defined and explored. Overview of thesis parameters*.General overview of research methods.Tech tutorials discussed. For next time, read “Speaking with Student: Profiles in Digital Pedagogy,” on course wiki to get a sense of the history of the MAP/IML programs.
9/7:Keywords in Media Studies texts chosen/assigned. Project I Critical Analysis of a Digital Project assigned and discussed.ProPublica on FB censors:
9/14:Fair Use and Copyright. Sources and assets.Schedule updates (based on Keywords). Project work/updates as time permits. Ethnography and interview.Potential Field trip to Special Collections, Doheny.
9/21: Project I duefor in-class presentation (as time permits). Structured peer review assigned. For next time, please readsearch engines reinforce stereotypes (nb: all are image searches so result from labeling): paper on this: and post a brief response.
9/28: Peer review due. Ideation exercises. For next time, find two sources, one conceptual, one formal, that intrigue you and may be give way to a larger project. Project II assigned and discussed.
10/5:Cultural Analytics. For next time, read “Images on the Move: Analytics for a Mixed Methods Approach” in course wiki. Post a brief response per instructions.
10/12: Interactivity, Games. Informal presentation of tech/keywords.
10/19: VR/ARInformal presentation of tech/keywords.
10/26: Project II due. Structured peer review assigned. Embodied Cognition and Architectural Design.
11/2: Project III Prototype + Prospectus assigned and discussed. Research methods cont’d.
11/9: Research methods cont’d. Informal presentation of keywords, tech tutorial.
11/16: Research methods cont’d. Informal presentation of keywords, tech tutorial.
11/23:Thanksgiving break
11/30:Last class, course evaluations, project updates
12/7:4pm Finalproject due—prototype testing.
- Thesis parameters:written 2007; updated 2016
CONCEPTUAL CORE:
+The project’s controlling idea must be apparent and be productively aligned with one or more multimedia genres.
+The project’s efficacy must be unencumbered by technical problems (typically involves having a back-up plan).
+The project must approach the subject matter in a creative or innovative manner.
RESEARCH COMPONENT:
+The project must display evidence of substantive research and thoughtful engagement with its subject matter.
+The project must use a variety of credible sources, which are cited appropriately.
+The project must effectively engage with the primary issue/s of the subject area into which it is intervening.
FORM + CONTENT:
+The project’s structural or formal elements must serve the conceptual core.
+The project’s design decisions must be deliberate, controlled, and defensible.
+The project must achieve significant goals that could not be realized on paper.