Inclusive Technology
Designing for Underserved and Marginalized Communities
Winter 2022 CMSC-20370/30370 @ University of Chicago
Designing for Underserved and Marginalized Communities
Winter 2022 CMSC-20370/30370 @ University of Chicago
You can download this syllabus from CANVAS.
The following assignments will be due throughout the quarter:
Group Project (45%)
Individual Assignments (15%)
Midterm (20%)
Reading Responses (15%)
Attendance and Participation (5%)
All assignments are due by the beginning of class on the due date and must be submitted via CANVAS to GRADESCOPE or to GRADESCOPE directly if you prefer. If you have any problems with submission, please email the assignment to the teaching assistants.
Group cooperation and communication skills are essential in working with user experience and software development teams. The group project will bring all components of the course together in a quarter-long project with teams of 3-5 members. Teams will be allowed to pick their own topic with guidance from the instructor. The project will allow students to apply the user-centered design methods discussed in class to inform the design of a working prototype. You can view past projects from this course here (https://computerscience.uchicago.edu/news/article/inclusive-tech/) to see what a project might entail.
Note: During the pandemic, undertaking the group project will be rife with challenges such as communicating with team members in ways that follow COVID-19 guidelines and similarly conducting your research in ways that adhere to safety protocols. Undertaking the project under these circumstances will help you to understand the challenges of conducting user research in a pandemic and post-pandemic and working as a team.
Each assignment will be graded out of the points below and converted to a score out of 45 with the following weightings for the final group project grade:
· GP0 – Project Group Formation – 5 points
· GP1 – Project Proposal - 10 points
· GP2 – User Research Results – 15 points
· GP3 – Design Alternatives and Project Presentation - 20 points
· GP4 – Low Fidelity Prototype and Evaluation - 20 points
· GP5 – Final Prototype and User Evaluation – 20 points
· GP6 – Final Project Video - 10 points
You will complete two graded assignments. Unless specified by the instructor, assignments must be completed independently. Each assignment will be graded out of 50 points and converted to a score out of 15 with the following weightings for the final individual assignments grade:
· IA1 – Introduction and CITI Training – 50 points
· IA2 – Peer Evaluation – 50 points
There will be a midterm. If you complete the required readings, attend class, and complete your assignments in a timely fashion, you will be well prepared for the midterm.
Prior to the class period, you are required to post a short 2 paragraph reading response to the required reading for that class period. If you have done the reading, you should be able to do this very easily. You must complete the assigned reading prior to class so that you can participate fully in online class discussions. To facilitate productive class discussions, you must submit a reading response for the assigned paper to CANVAS by 9 am CDT on the day of each class. Before each class, all reviews will be made visible to other students in the course. You are encouraged to read and discuss each other’s reviews on the relevant Slack channel for that reading response. Reviews should be no longer than half a page (here is a template for the reading response) and consist of two brief paragraphs of prose (not bullet points) in your own words using approximately the structure listed below:
Paragraph 1 (Summary):
[1 pt] What was the goal of this research paper?
[1 pt] What are the main takeaways of the paper?
[1 pt] What are the paper’s key strengths?
[1 pt] What are the paper’s key weaknesses?
[1 pt] What are the paper’s limitations?
Paragraph 2 (Reaction):
[3 pts] What parts of the paper did you find most interesting/thought-provoking?
[2 pts] How could you apply what you learned from this paper to design/create inclusive technology?
CMSC 30370 Students only [2 pts] How you would extend this paper/what future work in this area would you conduct?
Each reading response is worth 10 points for CMSC 20370 students and 12 points for CMSC 30370 students. If you do not submit a reading response, you will receive 0 for that reading response. At the end of the quarter, we will discard your three lowest reading response scores before calculating the reading response grade. Here is a guide on how to read a research paper.
Students are expected to fully participate in all class activities to gain the most benefits from the class. You should come to class prepared to discuss any assigned readings as well as to provide your perspectives on these readings. You will also be expected to participate in group discussions and other in-classroom activities. The effectiveness of the course depends on the quality of your participation and willingness to internalize the skills and concepts covered in the course and efforts to apply them to real-world settings. However, I am also mindful that the pandemic creates many different situations for each student and that situations beyond your control may prevent you from participating in class. If you are having any difficulties, please feel free to discuss alternatives to participation with the instructor.
CMSC 20370 and CMSC 30370
Students enrolled in CMSC 30370 will be expected to respond to an additional question in their reading responses.
The required readings will be posted on the course website as PDF documents. The following books are not required but are recommended for further reading. These books are all available on Amazon.com.
Supplemental: The Design of Everyday Things by Norman, D., Basic Books, Editions from 2013 onwards.
Supplemental: Interaction – Beyond Human Computer by Preece, J., Rogers, Y., and Sharp, H., Wiley, Editions from 2011 onwards.
Supplemental: Research Methods in Human-Computer Interaction, Lazar, J., Feng, J.H., Hochheiser, H., Wiley, 2010.
Supplemental: Geek Heresy: Rescuing Social Change From The Cult Of Technology: Kentaro Toyama. Perseus Books. 2015.
Please be punctual in joining the synchronous lecture call since our time together is limited. Please be aware that we may be recording Zoom calls for the benefit of those who are unable to attend. In a Zoom call, you are allowed to change your virtual background but no offensive background or language will be tolerated. All participants will be muted by default during times when the instructor is speaking but the chat to Everyone will be enabled for discussion and to add questions for the instructors or teaching assistants. When the professor calls on you, you have permission to unmute and add to the discussion. This is to avoid people talking over each other in Zoom. To add to the discussion, you may use the chat feature or “hand-raising” feature in Zoom to be placed in a queue to speak. Depending on class dynamics, we will evolve our etiquette over the quarter. During breakout sessions, you are encouraged to turn on your video to maximize your interactions in a small group setting. If you have any concerns with turning on your video during these times, please discuss it with the instructor.
As the University temporarily transitions to a remote teaching and learning environment, instructors and students have asked for guidance on the recording of course sessions. Instructors have the discretion to record course sessions, except when recording is required to meet the needs of students granted an accommodation by the Office of Student Disability Services. Recordings and transcripts will be made available to students in the relevant course, the instructor, and other necessary University officials. Recordings in which students are personally identifiable will be managed in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). This time-limited policy has been implemented to effectively deliver a remote education while safeguarding privacy and protecting rights in courses and instructional materials. Below is an acknowledgment for students designed to govern the use of any recordings and provide instructors and students with guidance on the use of instructional materials.
By attending course sessions, students acknowledge that:
A. They will not: (i) record, share, or disseminate University of Chicago course sessions, videos,
transcripts, audio, or chats; (ii) retain such materials after the end of the course; or (iii) use such
materials for any purpose other than in connection with participation in the course.
B. They will not share links to University of Chicago course sessions with any persons not
authorized to be in the course session. Sharing course materials with persons authorized to be
in the relevant course is permitted. Syllabi, handouts, slides, and other documents may be
shared at the discretion of the instructor.
C. Course recordings, content, and materials may be covered by copyrights held by the University, the instructor, or third parties. Any unauthorized use of such recordings or course materials may violate such copyrights.
D. Any violation of this policy will be referred to the Area Dean of Students.
The University of Chicago has formal policies related to academic honesty and plagiarism. We abide by these standards in this course. Depending on the severity of the offense, you risk being dismissed altogether from the course. All cases will be referred to the Dean of Students office, which may impose further penalties, including suspension and expulsion. You are permitted to talk to the course staff and to your fellow students about any of the problem sets. Any assistance, though, must be limited to discussion of the problem and sketching general approaches to a solution. Each student must write out his or her own solutions to the problem sets. Consulting another student's solution is prohibited and submitted solutions may not be copied from any source. These and any other form of collaboration on assignments constitute cheating.
No collaboration is permitted on reading responses or the midterm. All work submitted for the project must properly cite ideas and work that are not those of the students in the group. If you have any question about whether some activity would constitute cheating, please feel free to ask. Simply stated, feel free to discuss problems with each other, but do not cheat. It is not worth it, and you will get caught. In addition, we expect all students to treat everyone else in the course with respect, following the norms of proper behavior by members of the University of Chicago community.
If a personal emergency comes up that might impact your work in the class, please let Marshini know so that the course staff can make appropriate arrangements. University environments can sometimes be very overwhelming, and all of us benefit from support during times of struggle. University environments can sometimes be very overwhelming, and all of us benefit from support during times of struggle. This is especially the case in the global pandemic under COVID-19. You are not alone. There are many helpful resources available on campus and an important part of the college experience is learning how to ask for help. Asking for support sooner rather than later is often helpful. If you or anyone you know experiences any academic stress, difficult life events, or feelings like anxiety or depression, we strongly encourage you to seek support. The University of Chicago's counseling services are here to support you. Consider also reaching out to a friend, faculty or family member you trust for help getting connected to the support that can help.
If you or someone you know is feeling suicidal or in danger of self-harm, call someone immediately, day or night:
• Student Counseling Urgent Care: (773)702-9800 or in person.
• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255
We understand that sometimes life events occur and that it is not always possible to meet every deadline. As such, we are willing to accept late assignments according to the following policy:
· You start the term with a grace period "balance" of 96 hours.
· Each assignment will be due at 11:00 a.m. (Chicago Local Time) on the due date.
· For each assignment, every hour late (or fraction thereof) that you turn in the assignment will subtract one hour from your grace-period balance. For example, if you turn in your assignment at 12:02 p.m. on the due date, we will count this as two hours against your grace period.
· If your grace period balance is positive, you can turn in any assignment late without penalty.
· Once your grace period balance reaches zero, you will receive half credit for any assignment that you turn in, but only if you turn it in within one week of the due date. If your grace period balance is zero and you turn in an assignment more than one week late, you will receive no credit for the assignment.
· Excuses with medical documentation are a legitimate exception and will not count against your late period.
· Any other reasons for lateness and including but not limited to interviews, conferences are not considered legitimate excuses and any resulting lateness will count against your grace period.
· This late policy does not apply to reading responses.
Important Note: You must still turn in all assignments to pass the course, even if you receive zero points on an assignment. Turning in all assignments is a necessary condition for passing.
This course has been created using recent research papers published in the domains of interest. You are welcome to reuse, remix, and revise this course but credit for the creator is appreciated.