Welcome to the Spring 2014 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/TEC154/2014S/.
Meets: MWF 8:00-8:50, Science 3821.
Instructor:
Samuel A. Rebelsky
(rebelsky@grinnell.edu),
Science 3824.
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%).
- Class Notes (10%).
-
Final paper about a technology not covered in class (15%). You may
work on this paper alone or in a group of size two or three.
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Responses to classmates' work (5%).
E.g., Edits of classmates' papers
and comments on classmates' presentations.
-
Presentation (10%).
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Midterm (15%).
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Final (20%).
-
Worst of (midterm, paper, final, readings) (-5%). That is, whichever
of the major components of your grade is weakest has a lesser impact
on your final grade.
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 after 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 one unit of extra credit for attending a specified
academic event (e.g., a computer science talk or College convocation)
or for supporting your classmates in their public endeavors (e.g.,
attending a concert, dance recital, or sporting event). Each category
is capped at four units of extra credit, which count as one point
toward your final grade. So, if you attend four academic events and
four peer support events, you will receive an additional two points
toward your final grade. For any activity you wish to credit this way,
you must send me a short (one paragraph) note about the activity within
two days of the activity.
-
Norman, Donald A. (2013).
The Design of Everyday Things, Revised Edition.
Basic Books.
-
A (now revised) classic reflection on the way in which things
are designed and how those designs affect the way in which we use
the things.
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Petroski, Henry (1992).
To Engineer is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design.
Vintage.
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An engineer's reflections on technology.
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Rebelsky, Samuel (2014).
The TEC154 2014S Course Web.
-
The hypertext that you are currently reading.
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Teich, Albert H., Ed. (2005).
Technology and the Future, 10th ed.
Wadsworth.
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A broad range of articles on technology. Although this text is now
in its 12th edition, we will rely on the 10th edition because it
contains the primary readings we will use. (I'd prefer that you use
the 10th edition so that we all have the same page numbers.)
We will also read a variety of additional articles, some suggested by
our visitors and some added in forthcoming weeks.
