Welcome to the Spring 2010 session of Grinnell College's TEC 154,
The Evolution of Technology, which is described briefly
in the official blurb and the
unofficial goals distributed by
faculty who previously taught this course.
My own take on the class is that we will consider the nature and effect
of technology from several perspectives. Rather than simply considering
a history of technology, we will instead reflect on a small number of
technologies, their design, their context, and their impact. To help us
reflect, we will rely on a number of guest lecturers from across campus.
In an attempt to provide up-to-date information, and to spare a few
trees, I am making this as much of a paperless
course as I can.
Hence, materials will be in a course web, available at http://www.cs.grinnell.edu/~rebelsky/Courses/TEC154/2010S/.
Meets: MWF 8:00-8:50, Science 3821 (I drop my children at school right before class, so some classes may start a few minutes late.)
Instructor:
Samuel A. Rebelsky
(rebelsky@grinnell.edu),
Science 3824. Office hours: MTuWF 11:00-11:50. Others may be added.
I also tend to follow an open door policy: Feel
free to stop by when my door is open or to make an appointment for
another time. Check my
schedule
for more details.
This grading system is tentative, and may change.
- Class participation (10%)
- Questions and comments on readings (20%)
- Final paper about a technology not covered in class (20%)
- Edits of classmates' papers (10%)
- Presentations (10%)
- Midterm (20%)
- Final (20%)
- Worst of (midterm, paper, readings) (-10%)
My experience shows that students
who turn in work late learn significantly less than students who turn
material in on time. (I'm not sure about cause and effect.) Hence,
I strongly discourage late assignments. Unless prior arrangements have
been made, assignments are due within five minutes of the start of class.
After that they are considered late. Late assignments are penalized
one letter grade per day late (or fraction thereof).
Extra Credit:
I will often offer 1/2 point of extra credit for attending a particular
talk (e.g., a computer science talk or College convocation) or for
supporting your classmates in their public endeavors (e.g., attending
a concert or a dance recital). Each category is capped at 1.5 points.
You will report on this extra credit at the end of the semester, using
a prepared checklist.
- Norman, Donald A. (2002). The Design of Everyday Things. Basic Books.
- A classic reflection on the way in which things are designed and how those designs affect the way in which we use the things.
- Petroski, Henry (1992). To Engineer is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design. Vintage.
- An engineer's reflections on technology.
- Rebelsky, Samuel (2010). The TEC154 2010S Course Web.
- The hypertext that you are currently reading.
- Teich, Albert H., Ed. (2009). Technology and the Future, 11th ed. Wadsworth.
- A broad range of articles on technology.
We will also rely on a number of articles for each technology.
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