Syllabus

When charting a path through college and beyond, a metacognitive framework can provide scaffolding for intentional reflection. Situated in the Fimbel Maker & Innovation lab, this course will leverage tangible activities to ground discussions on factors and strategies that impact learning. For example, embedding a microcontroller to create motion-sensitive lights in a ballet skirt parallels the cycle of self-regulated learning. No prior experience with electronics or computer science is assumed, and students will work with hands-on tutorials that teach the basics required to develop their own interactive technology projects.

This course will engage you in reflection and discussion around topics from inclusive and effective pedagogy, including: self-efficacy, mindset, self-regulated learning, sense of belonging, active listening, emotional intelligence. To help prompt reflection around how you learn, you will work with tangible projects founded in basic electronic circuits and microcontroller programming.

Schedule

Part 1: Am I in a (dis)comfort zone?

Mindset & Self-Efficacy through Paper Circuits

Part 2: Am I up for the challenge?

Self-Regulated Learning through Circuit Playground

Part 3: Is this for me?

Sense of Belonging through Woodworking

Part 4: Can I adapt?

Cognitive Flexibility & Feedback through new components & Elevator Pitches

Part 5: What could go wrong?

Emotional Intelligence through EmotoBots

Part 6: How can I make it work?

Resilience through a Final Project

Requirements

Because of the hands-on and discussion-based nature of this course, you must attend each meeting time. If health & safety or extenuating circumstances result in your needing to miss some or all of a day, please email me ASAP so we can work something out!

For the first portion of the course, you will have short reflections and approximately weekly tangible projects. You will conclude with a final project of your choosing!

Grading overview

Discussion and reflection (in-class) 10%

Independent reflections (written/spoken) 15%

Small projects (3-4) 45%

Final project 30%

Logistics

You will submit all your work by creating a web site (you can choose any platform, such as a google site or wordpress).

Independent reflections

You will be given a prompt to reflect on how each topic factors into your own learning strategies and journey. After the first week, you can decide whether to engage in the reflection through a written process (2-3 paragraphs) or through a video (1-3 minutes). Your reflections will be graded according to this rubric:

Small projects

Projects are a chance to experience and reflect on your learning process in a tangible way. You will demo your weekly tangible projects in class as well as document them on your web site. Your projects will be graded according to this rubric:

Final project

You will use the resources of the Fimbel Maker & Innovation Lab to complete a tangible interactive tech project. This final project will be graded on:

- (15%) Presentation of a 90-second elevator pitch
- (50%) Design, development and documentation of the project
- (35%) Final demo and reflection

I will use this rubric:

Attendance

As noted before, class attendance is extremely important due to the hands-on nature of the course. You are responsible for material presented in class and should be engaging in discussions. If you miss a class or part of a class, please ask a peer for notes and see me with any subsequent questions on covered material.

Lateness and Resubmission Policy

You can (re)submit work any time up until the last day of finals. That being said, be aware that it can be hard to catch up, and the schedule is there to provide a manageable pace.

Honor code

Mount Holyoke College is a community of students, faculty, staff, and administrators committed to free inquiry and the pursuit of knowledge in the tradition of the liberal arts. The decision to join this academic community requires acceptance of special rights and responsibilities that are essential for its effective functioning and the realization of its mission. All members of the community share the responsibility to uphold the highest standards of academic integrity.

I expect all your work to abide by the MHC Honor Code: “I will honor myself, my fellow students, and Mount Holyoke College by acting responsibly, honestly, and respectfully in both my words and deeds.” Any work that does not will be reported to the Academic Honor Board. For more detail on what constitutes an academic violation of the Honor Code, please see the College Academic Rights and Responsibilities webpage.

Do:

Talk to your peers about the labs, projects and topics
Organize study groups
Consult other books or the internet for inspiration and clarifications
Ask the instructor or TAs to help you find bugs in your code
Acknowledge peers or TAs that you worked with for anything you turn in
Since I expect that you will use the internet heavily for tutorials from the “makerspace” community, you MUST acknowledge any tutorials/resources you consulted or followed for your projects by providing a list of URLs. If you used or adapted code, place a comment at the top with the source of the original code.

Don't

Submit work that isn't yours: it is against the honor code to have somebody else do work for you (including TAs or tutors) or to copy it from somewhere else (including books or the internet).

If you are at all unsure about what is acceptable, just ask!

Accommodations

Disability Services is the office on campus that determines academic accommodations for students with disabilities. If you need official accommodations through Disability Services, you have a right to have these met and kept confidential. Please contact Disability Services, located in Mary Lyon Hall 3rd Floor, at 413-538-2634 or disability-services@mtholyoke.edu. If you are eligible for academic accommodations, you will be provided with an accommodation letter. Once you receive your accommodation letter, I would like to meet with you and discuss these approved accommodations and our class. For more information on who might be eligible for accommodations and the application process please see the Disability Services website (https://www.mtholyoke.edu/disability-services).

Title IX/Responsible Reporter

If you or someone you know has been a victim of discrimination, harassment or violence based on sex or gender and you would like to talk to someone about our resources, please contact the Title IX Coordinator, Shannon Da Silva at titleixofficer@mtholyoke.edu.

As a faculty member, I am a responsible reporter for any information I learn that may be a violation of our Gender-based and Sexual Misconduct Policy. This means that I will need to share this information with our Title IX Coordinator, Shannon Da Silva. This could be anything related to sexual assault, dating violence, stalking or sex or gender-based harassment. If you are experiencing any of these things and you want to talk with someone who is not a responsible reporter, I can help direct you to private and confidential resources on campus (Counseling Service, Health Services, and Alcohol and Drug Awareness Project. These offices have a legal mandate for confidentiality. These offices are not required to turn over identifying information to the Title IX coordinator but may provide anonymous data to the Title IX coordinator for reporting requirements of the Clery Act).

Audio/Visual Recording Policy

To encourage active engagement and academic inquiry in the classroom, as well as to safeguard the privacy of students and faculty, no form of audio or visual recording in the classroom is permitted without explicit permission from the professor/instructor or without a letter from AccessAbility Services, signed by the faculty member, authorizing the recording as an accommodation. Authorized recordings may only be used by a student who has obtained permission and may not be shared or distributed for any reason. Violation of this policy is an infraction of the Mount Holyoke Honor Code and academic regulations and will result in disciplinary action.

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