General grading information for the University of Washington is available at http://www.washington.edu/students/gencat/front/Grading_Sys.html. The iSchool has adopted its own criteria for grading graduate courses.  The grading criteria used by the iSchool for graduate students are available at:  http://www.ischool.washington.edu/courses/grad-grading.htm. The undergraduate grading policy available at: http://depts.washington.edu/grading/practices/guidelin.htm may be used in this class.

 

Students with Disabilities
To request academic accommodations due to a disability, please contact Disabled Student Services: 448 Schmitz, 206-543-8924 (V/TTY). If you have a letter from DSS indicating that you have a disability which requires academic accommodations, please present the letter to me so we can discuss the accommodations you might need in the class.   

Academic accommodations due to disability will not be made unless the student has a letter from DSS specifying the type and nature of accommodations needed.

 

Schedule

March 31 April 7 April 14 April 21 April 28 May 5 May 12 May 19 May 26 June 2

Ethnographic sorcery No Class: CHI Conference Ethnographic sorcery You owe yourself... You owe yourself... You owe yourself... Friction Friction No Class: UW Holiday Friction

Preface, Acknowledgments, through page 38   Pages 38-85 Chapters 1 & 2 Chapters 3 & 4 Chapters 7 & 9 Preface and Introduction Chapter 1   Chapter 7 & Coda; Potluck*; Research & Design Discussion

* NOTE: Because we miss two class meetings – one for the CHI conference and one for a UW holiday, on June 2 we’ll have a “double” session and potluck at Batya’s from 5 – 9 pm.

 

Guidelines for Presenting
The goals of the presentation.  The goals are to summarize and characterize the author's ideas, to highlight points of particular interest, to present an interpretation of difficult passages, to raise questions, to stimulate discussion, and to show how the theory informs on current issues in the fields of information, computer science, and the social sciences. A modest enterprise. 

How to prepare a presentation.  Here's one approach, among many. Read the chapter over once, to get a general idea of it. Read it a second time slowly. During this second reading, underline important points. Write marginal notes. Put question marks along side confusing areas. Jot down questions that come to mind. During the third reading, outline the major ideas page by page (or relevant section by relevant section), as you would present them to an informed audience -- us. Try to work out what sections are important, and concentrate your attention on them. After you have gone all the way through the chapter on this detailed level, reread your outline and write a summary of the main points, the overall issues at stake, and the central questions of interest. Use these ideas to write an introduction, and to provide structure and cohesion to the pages you have outlined. At this point you should have a solid outline on which to base a presentation. Some people also prefer to polish the outline to have it reflect more closely what they will actually say. Either way, you might find it helpful to practice your presentation (especially your introductory remarks) on a pretend audience.

The presentation.  Here's the general idea.  First, set the context of the chapter.  For example, what has preceded the chapter?  What is the author trying to do in the current chapter?  Perhaps describe the central questions or issues that you think we will want to key in on during our session.  Then start at the beginning of the reading and summarize and characterize the first segment -- from one paragraph to as much as, say, 3-4 pages, depending on how you have organized the ideas.  Point to specific sentences and passages that support your interpretation.  This support is essential to substantiate your interpretation.  In some cases, you may be confused on how to understand a section.  If so, no problem: just explain what the passage might mean and why, and where and why you got confused (e.g., do you think the passage contradicts an earlier passage? is the language downright confusing? or what?).  You might want to pose specific questions to the group to help you solve problems of interpretation.

After each of your summaries, group discussion will follow.  First, we as seminar participants should consider whether the interpretation of the summary matches our own.  If not, we need to be prepared to offer alternative passages or sentences that support our own interpretation.  Sometimes our interpretation might come from placing the passage in the context of an earlier passage or chapter.  When the presenter raises a question of interpretation, we need to be prepared to offer an intelligent answer, again based on textual evidence.  (Though keep in mind sometimes passages will remain ambiguous or confusing, and that we might need the full context of the book -- and indeed sometimes the full corpus of the author's work -- to reasonably understand the passage.)  When we are satisfied with our understanding (for the present) with the section under discussion, the presenter moves on to the next section.  And the above process repeats itself. 

Presenters need to be flexible in summarizing and leading discussion.  Sometimes a section is straightforward and/or relatively uninteresting, and the presenter presents a largely uncontested summary.  Other sections can generate intense and long discussions.  Often these discussions are great fun and lead to perceptive understandings.  Sometimes, however, a discussion can get off on a tangent, and the presenter will need to refocus the group to the text at hand.

Sometimes a discussion can ramble too far a field and for too long.  If you sense that happening, might I propose three ways for a presenter to reign in discussion. 

1. The We'll-Be-Discussing-This-Excellent-Point-Later Approach.  Here the presenter is on top of what issues are being taken up later in the chapter (or book), and can tell people that the issue under discussion can be handled better when we get to later material.

2. The Elegant Synthesis Approach.  Here the presenter synthesizes the 7 different positions on the table, shows how they fit within the author’s overarching theory, and – building on the previous approach – explains that this theoretical point will be explicated in later chapters. 

However, if neither approach is possible, then follow this last one:

3. The Brute Force Approach: Stop discussion and tell people we're moving on.  Remember to smile.

 

Guidelines for Preparing for Seminar Participation
Preparation for class participation will likely follow part of the process undergone by the presenter.  For instance, you may want to read the chapter three times.  The first reading might be for the general idea.  The second time for substantive inquiry, underlining important points, writing marginal notes, putting question marks beside confusing areas, and jotting down questions that come to mind.  During the third reading, you may want to start the written preparation.  Graduate students are required to hand in 3 short papers.  These papers can take the form of written preparation for class discussion.

Though I don't have a fixed format in mind, let me highlight several points.  My sense is that simply outlining key words or sentences that the author uses in the course of a chapter will not go very far in helping you understand what the words mean.  So after perhaps quoting an interesting passage, try putting the ideas in your own words.  Or provide a quotation, and then comment on what is making sense and not making sense.  For example, during a previous year one student used a format where she would interrupt the outline and start a new paragraph saying "Memo" -- and then she would be off an running to work out what's important or problematic in the what she had been outlining.  So, again, I have no fixed format, except that you experiment and strive to find some format that helps you engage with the text and be prepared to discuss it in class.

Another option for your paper is to develop two questions or issues that you would like to discuss.  By develop, I mean set the context for the question, perhaps by paraphrasing an issue or working off of a quotation, such that everyone in our class can immediately understand what you are getting at.  The questions can range from broad conceptual issues to specific interpretations of a single passage, or even sentence.  Note that usually when you pose a question of what a particular passage or sentence means, something is at stake on a somewhat larger level; so try to key in on what the larger concern is about.  Frame the questions as if the author was joining us in discussion and you have the opportunity to ask them.  Likely enough, the questions will build on your previous written preparation.

 

Guidelines for Participating in Seminar Discussion
We will need some sensitivity with this issue of participation.  If you don't normally talk in classes, now is the time to change!  Use your written work, and jump into discussions.  Ask your written questions.  If you can't explain passages, at least explain where and why you find the passage perplexing or interesting (or even boring).  On the other hand, if you normally have lots to say, great, except be aware that others may want to talk -- indeed they often do want to talk -- but can't quite bully their way in.  Try to be aware of when this occurs and back off.  Also be aware of the general group dynamic.  For instance, sometimes in the middle of a heated discussion many people will have things to say, so back off a bit; other times, it's dullsville, and the group desperately needs you to make something happen.

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