Assignments
Overview •
Reading Reflections •
Participation •
Assignment 1 •
Assignment 2
Assignment 3 •
Individual Observation Project •
Group Project
E-SUBMIT all assignments
Overview
All assignments are due by noon on the date specified and must be submitted through e-submit.
There are reading reflections for each reading, three short assignments, an individual observation project, and a group project.
| Assignment Name | Due Date | Percent of Grade |
|---|---|---|
| Reading Reflections | Every class - one for each reading | 20% |
| Class Participation: | Every class | 15% |
| Assignment 1: |
Wed, Jan 10 |
2% |
| Assignment 2: | Wed, Jan 24 | 5% |
| Assignment 3: | Wed, Feb 14 | 10% |
| Individual Observation Project: | Mon, Feb 7 | 15% |
| Group Project | Wed, Jan 24 - group members list Wed, Jan 31 - project plan Wed, Feb 21 - progress report Tue, Mar 13 - final report (due at 8pm) Thur, Mar 15 - final presentation |
33% |
Reading Reflections:
Due for each reading by noon of that class day
For each class reading, students are expected to write up a reflection that will help them prepare for the class discussion and exercises. Good reading reflections will result in interesting class discussions - something that we all benefit from. Each reading reflection should be 2-3 paragraphs long (about a half page or so - absolutely no longer than one page) and include your thoughts about the assigned reading. These reflection paragraphs should include your personal reflections on an reactions to the article and indicate that you have read and thought about the article thorougly. The reflections should be an analysis of the article that could include any of the following:
- a comparison of the work to related material such as other readings in this course or any other reading that you happen to be familiar with
- suggestions for how the work could have been improved
- a summary of ways to expand on the work
- a critique of the work that questions its assumptions, or value
- a personal reflection on how the article relates to your own experiences
- questions that this material raises for you
Reading reflections should not be summaries of the articles read. I recommend printing out your reflections and bringing them to class to help remind you of points that you might want to make during the discussion.
Grading: If you turn in a reflection paper on time, you will receive a Ö+, Ö, or Ö- (equivalent to 4.0, 3.0, and 1.8 respectively). If you do not turn in a reading reflection, you will receive a zero for that one. You will be graded based on the quality of your arguments and the clarity of your writing regardless of whether we agree with your reflections. All reading reflections must be submitted by noon on the day that we will be discussing that reading because the point of these reflections is to prepare students for the discussions and exercises in class. However, the reading reflection with the lowest score will be dropped before calculating your grade.
Class Participation:
Research has shown that students learn more when they actively participate in class, rather than merely listening to a lecture. This course is designed to maximize the learning experience by encouraging and requiring active student participation during class. I hope this course will be a fun as well as educational experience for all of us, and part of the fun comes from participating in these class discussions, group exercises, and class presentations. All students are expected to attend class and participate in these activities.
Students may also participate by posting to the course's discussion board using GoPost. This discussion board was created to provide an optional way for students to participate in class, particularly for those who are hesitant to speak up during class. To count towards your participation grade for the class, postings must be made by 11am on the day of class to allow me time to read them and think about how to incorporate them into the upcoming class. The most valuable types of participation are:
- comments or questions that promote discussion
- responses to other students' questions, ideas, or postings
- statements that connect the course readings to your own experiences
- applications of course readings to other issues or other readings
- reference to other related sources of information
Assignment 1:
Assignment DATE DUE: Wed, Jan 10
Describe and analyse a recent event (professionally or personally-related) for which you required information and how you dealt with it. Bring a copy to class. In two pages or less, describe:
- What was the information need?
- What were the situational factors that prompted the information need?
- How did you go about looking for the information you needed?
- Where did you look?
- What did you find in each place?
- What factors affected your information seeking?
- What–if anything—resulted (i.e., whether and how you used it)?
- How did you feel about it (how did it or did it not help)?
Assignment 2:
Assignment DATE DUE: Wed, Jan 24
Reflect on the information behavior situation that you described in Assignment 1:- Describe how that situation relates to the basic concepts that we have discussed in class from the Ellis and Taylor papers.
- Select a model (e.g., ASK, Berry Picking, Sense Making, Small Worlds) that best fits the process you used to address your information need and analyze in detail how that model applies to your situation
- Select a different model and describe how your information behavior would have changed if you had followed this model
Grading Rubric:
| Clarity of writing | 20% |
| Grammatical correctness | 10% |
| Connection to basic concepts from class | 25% |
| Appropriate selection and analysis of best-fit model | 30% |
| Justification of behavior change for other model | 15% |
Assignment 3:
Assignment DATE DUE: Wed, Feb 14
In a 3-4 page paper, compare two models, theories, or methods for studying information behavior. Your comparative critique should demonstrate how well you understand the key concepts, assumptions, contexts, and practical implications of the models, theories, or methods that you choose to compare. It should also demonstrate your ability to analyze, synthesize, evaluate, and critically reflect on the range of ideas presented by them. Feel free to use tables, figures, or bulleted lists to make your points, but also pay close attention to the quality of your writing.
Your assignment will be assessed in terms of:
- clarity of description of key concepts embedded in the chosen models, theories, or methods
- sound comparison of a breadth and depth of the their dimensions
- ability to link them to real life experiences
Individual Observation:
Assignment DATE DUE: Wed, Feb 7
You will conduct an observation of information behavior in a field setting of your choice. The only restriction is that I do not want you to observe others who do the same work that you do (e.g., programmers should not observe other programmers while they program. You should observe at least two different people performing the same kind of information behavior or information interaction.
To ensure that your observation is unobtrusive, try to dress like your participants, etc., so you blend into the setting and fill a natural role.
Try to observe the participants either over an extended period of time (i.e., a couple hours) or during a couple different periods.
Record what you learned about information flow at the setting you chose, and reflect on the observation process in terms of methodological issues.
Specifically, in your field notes:
-
Describe the type of setting, its purpose when you were there and your observer role, diagram the setting’s lay-out, and record who was present and why (to the best of your knowledge).
-
Note what types of information were available and how that information functions within the setting.
-
Where possible, document the types of information that people sought or shared and the sources that they used.
-
Note any barriers to information flow that you observed.
Reflect on how your observations relate to issues, concepts, or models that we have discussed in class and include those reflections in your 3-5 page report.
Turn in your field notes as an appendix to your report.
Grading Rubric: TBD
Group Project:
The group project will be a design project that is based upon a study of information behavior or interaction. You must find a paper that describes a study of information behavior or interaction upon which you want to base your design. You cannot use a paper that is one of the required readings for class. To find potential papers, you can use the library. Good journals or conferences to search are ones that have published papers that we are reading in class or that are on the additional readings e-reserve site. I also suggest trying Google Scholar or Citeseer. You can look for papers that cite one of the papers we read or use one of the papers on the additional readings e-reserve site. The papers that we will read in the second half of class (starting in Week 6) are examples of papers that try to incorporate both an information behavior study and a design or at least recommendations for design.
Don't be afraid to be very creative and enjoy yourselves!
Wed, Jan 24 - group members list
Students select their own group of 4-6 who will work together on this project for the rest of the quarter. Submit the members of your group by the specified deadline by email to the instructor.
Wed, Jan 31 - project plan
Each group must create a project plan that contains the following:
- an area of information behavior or interaction that you want to base your design upon
- a list of two to four potential papers to use as the basis of your design
- a list of tasks with deadlines and who is responsible for each task (can be multiple people)
The instructor will provide feedback on the appropriateness and feasibility of the project plan. If at some point after the project plan was submitted, the work begins to differ significantly from the proposed project plan, the group should submit a revised plan as soon as possible.
Wed, Feb 21 - progress report
Describe your progress so far. At a minimum include:
- the paper(s) that you decided to base your design upon
- the list of original tasks and current status
- a list of remaining tasks with deadlines and who is responsible for each task (can be multiple people)
Tue, Mar 13 - final report (due by 8pm)
Your final report should
- motivate your choice of information interaction study and design topic
- describe and refer to the information interaction study you chose
- describe how this study relates to some of the concepts, models or other papers from class
- motivate your design by connecting to the information interaction study you chose
- detail (through a scenario) how your design would work
- summarize potential limitations
- conclude with a statement of the importance of your design and future directions
I expect the report to be about 5-7 pages worth of single-spaced text, but you are allowed to include as many figure as you like. Thus, the paper you submit could be 15 pages long if at least 8 pages were filled with figures or screenshots and explanations.
One way to organize your report follows:
- Introduction - containing motivation and a preview of what the paper and project is about
- User behavior - containing a summary of the relevant parts of the study you chose or did and a summary of its relationship to class
- Design - containing a summary of your design, the connection between your design and the user behavior study, other justifications for your design decisions, and at least one scenario of use
- Limitations
- Conclusions - including a summary of the key points of the paper, your view of what the important contributions of your design are, and possible future directions
- References
Thur, Mar 15 - final presentation and group participation form
Please prepare a presentation of your project for the class. Presentations will take place during our final exam timeslot. You may demonstrate your “mock-up”, show storyboards, or use other means to help us understand what information problem your design helps to solve and how your design works. You may use the computer, the VCR, whiteboard, and/or transparency projector. You will have 15 minutes to do your presentation.
CHANGE NOTE: You may choose at least two team members to represent you in the presentation, rather than having to include all members. If you are doing a presentation on the computer, email your presentation to me by 8am on the day of the presentation, so I can have everyone's loaded on my computer and ready to go. If you are using a Mac, let me know and I'll schedule the Mac presentations at either the beginning or end. Also, please print out and bring me a copy of your presentation to help me take notes.
Your presentation should
- motivate the design with a brief summary of the information interaction study
- describe how your design connects to the studied information interactions
- walk through a scenario for how your design would work
- conclude with a statement of the importance of your design and future directions
Grading Rubric:
| presentation | 35% | ||
| style | 30% of presentation grade | % of presentation style grade | |
| audience connection | 30% | ||
| appropriate use of text | 35% | ||
| appropriate use of figures | 35% | ||
| content | 70%of presentation grade | % of presentation content grade | |
| organization | 20% | ||
| motivation | 15% | ||
| connection of design to interaction study | 25% | ||
| scenario of use | 25% | ||
| conclusions | 15% | ||
| Paper | 65% | ||
| style | 25% of paper grade | % of paper style grade | |
| error free | 30% | ||
| organization | 30% | ||
| clarity | 40% | ||
| content | 75% of paper grade | % of paper content grade | |
| motivation | 10% | ||
| Appropriateness and description of user interaction study | 25% | ||
| Connection of design to study results | 25% | ||
| quality of design and its usefulness as described in scenario | 20% | ||
| limitations | 5% | ||
| conclusions | 10% | ||
| support materials | 5% |
Group participation forms: Everyone in class must fill out and submit this group participation form by 8am on March 15th.
I reserve the right to adjust an individual's grade higher or lower based on the results of these group participation forms.
Overview •
Schedule •
Assignments
Grading •
Readings •
Writing & Presentation Tips
Last updated: Monday, 05-Mar-2007 13:59:34 PST
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