Syllabus (2022)

On the week assignments are due, lecture assignments should be submitted by Tuesday night, as we will often work with them in lecture and the teaching team needs time to read them.

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

Looking for the 2020 syllabus?

LectureLab
Week 1: January 19, 2022

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 1/25 7pm)

Topics
Introductions, lab journalslab norms and safety
Our relationship with materials.

Assignments
Out: Frankenthing



Week 2: January 26, 2022

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 Tuesday 1/25 at 7pm: 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


Topics
Processing / p5.js, drawing with code

Assignments
Due Wed 1/26: Frankenthing
Out: Code Remix (due Tue 2/1 by 11:59pm ET)














Week 3: February 2, 2022

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)
Beyond the individual-social antinomy in discussions of
Piaget and Vygotsky (.bib)
Piaget’s constructivism, Papert’s constructionism: What’s the difference? (.bib)

Assignments
Due Tue 2/1: Topics of interest, Powerful Ideas and Microworlds
Out: Praxis reflection

Topics
2D Design, Laser cutter

Assignments
Due Tue 2/1: Code Remix
Out: Omni Animal








Week 4: February 9, 2022

Topics
Experience and equilibration. Working with praxis reflections.

Readings Due
Problems of Equilibration (.bib)

Assignments
Due Tue 2/8 at 11:59pm: Praxis reflection 
Out: 3C’s
Out: Last Week Tonight

Topics
Computation and fabrication. 
GoGo BoardWoodshop

Assignments
Due Tue 2/8: Omni Animal
Out: Rube Goldberg


Week 5: February 16, 2022

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 Tue 2/15: 3C’s (Part 1)
Out: 3C’s (Final)


Topics
Rube Goldberg trial. 
Digital 3d designCNC mill



Assignments
Due Wed 2/16: Rube Goldberg
Out: Dream Toy (Part 1)



Week 6: February 23, 2022

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 Tue 2/22: 3C’s (Final) 
Out: Tech in the Wild (Related to the problem statement)

Topics
Debrief Dream Toy, part 1. User research, prototyping (slidesSilicone castingVacuum forming

Assignments
Due: Dream Toy (Part 1)
Out: Dream Toy (Part 2)



Week 7: March 2, 2022

Topics

Overview of Design Methodologies for Learning, Human-Centered Design and Design Thinking

Readings Due
Some reflections on designing construction kits for kids (.bib)
The Design of Everyday Things, Ch. 6 excerpt (.bib)
Human-Centered Design Considered Harmful (.bib)

Optional
The foundations and assumptions of technology-enhanced student-centered learning environments (.bib)

Topics
Learning analytics, MMLA, developing final project ideas.
Processing / p5.js, drawing with code

Assignments
Due: Dream Toy (Part 2)
Out: Dream Toy (Part 3)



Week 8: March 9, 2022

Topics

Glassboxing and Blackboxing

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)

Assignments
Out: Tech critique (related to the problem statement) 
Out: Final

Topics
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 23, 2022

Topics

Discuss final project. Cultural forms, Epistemic Forms and Games.

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)

Due
Due Tue 3/23: Tech in the Wild 

Topics
Physical computing, final project ArduinoE-Textiles.

Assignments
Due: Final Project Sketches
Out: Tools Deep Dive




Week 10: March 30, 2022

Topics

Representation, restructuration, media, literacy.

Readings Due
Restructurations (bib)
Changing Minds, Ch. 1 (bib)

To use in class
Frog Pond (bib)

Assignments
Due Tue 3/29: Tech critique

Topics
Past projects demo, final project brainstorming


Assignments
Due: Tools Deep Dive
Out: Low-fidelity prototyping (Final Project)





Week 11: April 6, 2022

Topics

Constructionist design of AI for learning, games for learning

Readings Due
Playing and Making Games for Learning: Instructionist and Constructionist Perspectives for Game Studies (bib)
Youth Learning Machine Learning through Building Models of Athletic Moves

Assignments
Out: Final (Theory & lit review for paper)

Topics
AI demo, guest speaker

Assignments
Due: Low-fidelity prototype (Final Project)
Out: Processing II




Week 12: April 13, 2022

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)

Critiques
Present project prototypes to invited panels of outside experts. (Details).

Assignments
Due Wed 4/13: User testing report














Week 13: April 20, 2022

Topics

Design principles and maxims

Assignments
Due Wed 4/20: Literature review – list of 5 papers

Topics
Prototyping feedback and demo. Discussions on technical milestones. 

Assignments
Due Wed 4/20: Project prototype
Week 14: April 27, 2022

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 Wed 4/27: Literature review

Topics
Final project working session, technical milestones

Assignments
Due Wed 4/27: Prototype iteration


Week 15: May 4, 2022

Topics

Final presentations

Assignments
Due Wed 5/4: Final Paper


Topics
BBA Expo Public showcase of final projects.Assignments

Assignments
Due Wed 5/4: Final (Project)