Syllabus

On the week assignments are due:

Lecture assignments should be submitted by Tuesday midnight (11:59pm), as we will often work with them in lecture and the teaching team needs time to read them.

Lab assignments are typically due at the start of the lab (Wednesday): they should be “physically” present and ready to go!

*TBC: To Be Confirmed

Looking for the 2023 syllabus?

Lecture	Lab
Week 1: January 17, 2024 Topics Introduction and overview. Setting our intentions for the class. What is constructionism? Readings Due Mindstorms (foreword, introduction) (.bib) Assignments Out: Your Personal “Gears” Essay (due Tue 1/23 11:59pm)	Topics Introductions, lab journals, lab norms and safety,  Our relationship with materials. Rethinking Repair (Jackson, 2013)  Assignments Out: Frankenthing (journal deliverables due Tue 1/23 11:59pm)
Week 2: January 24, 2024 Topics Constructionism Discussion of the Gears essays Readings Due A History of Educational Technologies (this is a draft chapter, feel free to comment and suggest improvements on the Google Doc itself!) Mindstorms Ch.1 (.bib) Mindstorms Ch. 5 (.bib) Readings to support your Gears Essay: Evocative objects Introduction, 1-2 chapters of your choosing (.bib) Assignments Due: Your Personal “Gears” Essay (submit a .docx (Word) file to your Slack channel with the teaching team)  Out: Topics of Interest, Powerful Ideas and Microworlds (due Jan 30, 8PM ET)	Topics 2D Design, Laser cutter Assignments Due: Frankenthing Out: Omni Animal
Week 3: January 31, 2024 Topics Piagetian Constructivism, Vygotskyan Constructivism, Papert’s synthesis of Piaget and Vygotsky Readings Due Papert on Piaget (.bib) Constructivism: A Psychological Theory of Learning (.bib) Piaget’s constructivism, Papert’s constructionism: What’s the difference? (.bib) Assignments Due: Topics of Interest, Powerful Ideas and Microworlds (Jan 30, 8PM ET) Out: Praxis reflection	Topics Processing / p5.js, drawing with code Assignments Due: Omni Animal Out: Code Remix
Week 4: February 7, 2024 Topics Experience and equilibration. Working with praxis reflections. Readings Due Problems of Equilibration (.bib) Beyond the individual-social antinomy in discussions of Piaget and Vygotsky (.bib) Assignments Due: Praxis reflection  Out: 3C’s Out: Last Week Tonight	Topics Computation and fabrication.  GoGo Board, Woodshop Assignments Due: Code Remix Out: Rube Goldberg
Week 5: February 14, 2024 Topics Critical Pedagogy Readings Due Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Preface (.bib) Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Ch. 2 (.bib) Optional Critical Pedagogy and Social Theory (.bib) Assignments Due: 3C’s (Part 1) Out: 3C’s (Final)	Topics Rube Goldberg trial.  Digital 3d design, CNC mill Assignments Due: Rube Goldberg (weather delay – postponed to Week 6) Out: Dream Toy (Part 1)
Week 6: February 21, 2024 Topics Critical pedagogy, constructivism, and constructionism Readings Due Travels in Troy with Freire (.bib) Emergent Design and learning environments: Building on indigenous knowledge (.bib) Assignments Due: 3C’s (Final)	Topics Debrief Dream Toy, part 1. User research, prototyping (slides)  Assignments Due: Rube Goldberg Due: Dream Toy (Part 1) Out: Dream Toy (Part 2)
Week 7: February 28, 2024 Topics Overview of Design Methodologies for Learning, Human-Centered Design and Design Thinking Readings Due Cheesemaking Emancipation: A Critical Theory of Cultural Making (.bib) Making is not just about Making: Clay Pottery and Oven-Making in Brazilian Quilombola communities as avenues for identity building and community meaning-making (prepublication copy) “The Village that Learns”: A Learning Journey across Intraventions and Domains over Two Decades in a Rural Thai Community (.bib) (Given the length, focus especially on the “Early Sustainable Water Management Intraventions” as an example of cultural making) Optional The foundations and assumptions of technology-enhanced student-centered learning environments (.bib) Assignments Out:	Topics Silicone casting, Vacuum forming Assignments Due: Dream Toy (Part 2) Out: Dream Toy (Part 3)
Week 8: March 6, 2024 Topics Glassboxing and Blackboxing Readings Due Some reflections on designing construction kits for kids (.bib) The Design of Everyday Things, Ch. 6 excerpt (.bib) Gears of Our Childhood (.bib) Why do we need a new design methodology for learning? (prepublication copy) Assignments Out: Tech in the Wild Out: Final	Topics Learning analytics, MMLA, developing final project ideas. Processing / p5.js, drawing with code 5:00-5:30 Dream toy debrief. If families arrive, a tour of the lab is available. 5:30-6:30 Present dream toys. Families and children invited! Food will be provided. Assignments Due: Dream Toy (Part 3) Out: Final Project sketches
Week 9: March 13, 2024 Topics Discuss final project. Cultural forms, Epistemic Forms and Games. Readings Due Of Black and Glass Boxes: Scaffolding for Doing and Learning (bib) Computationally enhanced toolkits for children: historical review and a framework for future design (bib) Due Due: Tech in the Wild (March 15, 2024) Out: Tech critique	Topics Tools Deep Dive, PEERS collaboration, learner-centered technology design Assignments Due: Final Project Sketches Out: Tools Deep Dive, Final Project Brainstorm v2.0 and refined sketches or low-fidelity prototypes
Week 10: March 27, 2024 Topics Representation, restructuration, media, literacy. Readings Due Epistemic Forms and Games (bib) The role of cultural forms in tangible interaction design (bib) Optional Readings Affordance, conventions, and design (bib) The Design of Everyday Things, Ch. 1 excerpt (bib) Human-Centered Design Considered Harmful To use in class Frog Pond (bib) Assignments Due: Tech critique Out: List fo 5 papers	Topics Past projects demo, final project brainstorming, Tangible user interfaces Assignments Due: Tools Deep Dive, Final Project Brainstorm v2.0 and refined sketches or low-fidelity prototypes Out: Final Project Prototypes 2
Week 11: April 3, 2024 Topics Restructurations and computational literacy Readings Due Restructurations (bib) Changing Minds, Ch. 1 (bib) Assignments Out: Final (Theory & lit review for paper)	Topics PEERS Collaboration Assignments Due: Final Project Prototypes 2 Out: Final Project Protoypes 3
Week 12: April 10, 2024 Topics Academic argumentation workshop; writing workshop. Readings Due Read two of the following papers. Design of a Health Monitoring Toy for Children (bib) Designing ReduCat: Audio-Augmented Paper Drawings Tangible Interface in Educational Intervention for High- Functioning Autistic Children (bib) Of Elephants and Nested Loops: How to Introduce Computing to Youth in Rural India (bib) A conceptual framework to compare two paradigms of Augmented and Mixed Reality experiences. (bib) Audio journaling for self-reflection and assessment among teens in participatory media programs (bib) Co-designing Tablet Computer Applications with Sri Lankan Practitioners to Support Children with ASD (bib) Co-Designing Voice User Interfaces with Teenagers in the Context of Smart Homes (bib) How smart are the smart toys? Children and parents’ agent interaction and intelligence attribution (bib) Assignments Due: Literature review – list of 5 papers	Topics Share latest iteration of project prototypes for internal feedback. Assignments Due: Final Project Protoypes 3
Week 13: April 17, 2024 Topics Design principles and maxims	Topics Prototyping feedback and demo. Discussions on technical milestones.  Assignments Due: Project prototype
Week 14: April 24, 2024 Topics The future of maker education Readings Due Children are not Hackers Making Core Memory: Design Inquiry into Gendered Legacies of Engineering and Craftwork Cheesemaking Emancipation: A Critical Theory of Cultural Making Assignments Due: Literature review	Topics Final project working session, technical milestones Assignments Due: Prototype iteration
Week 15: May 1, 2024 Topics Final presentations	Topics BBA Expo Public showcase of final projects.Assignments Assignments Due: Final (Project)
Week 16: May 6, 2024 Assignments Due: Final Paper (due Mon May 6)	Topics Assignments Due: