Final Reflection

In Authentic Learning in the Digital Age: Engaging Students Through Inquiry, Larissa Pahomov writes, “For student reflection to be meaningful, it must be metacognitive, applicable, and shared with others,” and defines metacognitive reflection as taking the process of reflection “to the n ext level because it is concerned not with assessment, but with self-improvement: Could this be better? How? What steps should you take?” (read full article here). In light of this assertion, I would like you to write a metacognitive reflection on the final project. This reflection should address the following questions, with an aim to identify how you could improve your work.

  1. Describe your contributions to the final project in detail. What writing/research/design/management responsibilities did you take on in order to complete this project? How did you complete your individual contributions to the group? What steps did you take? What tools did you use? Did you meet your deadlines (why or why not)?
  2. Did you feel like your contributions had a positive impact on the final project? Did you feel the other group members valued your contributions? Did the reactions of your group members (revisions, suggestions, critiques) help you develop your materials in a constructive way?
  3. How do you feel you worked as a team? How did you facilitate communication and collaboration between the group members? What tools did you use? Can you suggest improvements for this process? What did you learn that would help you in future group work situations?
  4. What did you learn through the process of creating and presenting this project? How did this project help you synthesize and apply the topics we covered throughout the semester? Do you have suggestions to improve this assignment?
  5. And finally, what readings, activities, assignments, and discussions did you find particularly helpful, informative, and engaging in this class this semester? What would you suggest be changed to improve this course next time it is offered?

You may expand or add to these guidelines in any way you wish. This is your opportunity to speak directly to me about what you learned in this course.

This will be submitted as a Google Doc or Word Doc (file name: finalreflection_yoursection_yourlastname for example finalreflection_281ON1_licastro) that you share with me alicastro@stevenson.edu upon completion. For Google Docs, you must invite me as an editor (with privileges to edit, not just read or comment) as amanda.licastro@gmail.com. You will complete this after our final presentations on the day of our scheduled final exam.

Also, please include this statement at the bottom of the document and fill in your name and response:

I ____________ do/ do not give Dr. Amanda Licastro permission to use my final project as an example in scholarly presentations and publications.

Final Project: Virtual Reality and Empathy

For your final project you will use all of the readings and discussions we have had throughout this semester to inspire your own creation: an educational virtual reality experience that evokes empathy. You may draw from your own personal experience, the fiction we have read and watched, and outside research to design a short VR application which is both educational and intended to induce empathy in your audience. You will design this simulation as an entry to the competition being held by Mosaic Learning:

http://www.mosaiclearning.com/

Winner Selection Criteria

  • Learning Outcomes. The extent to which the simulation prototype (1) contains clearly defined academic, technical, and employability learning objectives; (2) spurs change or improvement in the user’s knowledge and skills; and (3) provides data to the user and instructor with respect to progress toward achievement of the learning outcomes.
  • Engagement – User Experience. The extent to which the simulation prototype demonstrates an engaging user experience on par with commercially available entertainment games. This experience should be both educational and evoke empathy.
  • Engagement – User Interface. The extent to which the simulation prototype exhibits a thoughtful user interface design on par with commercially available entertainment games.
  • Commitment. The extent to which the submission: (1) demonstrates the entrant’s evolution and improvement of the concept; and (2) illustrates the entrant’s ability and intention to improve upon and scale the simulation beyond the Challenge timeframe.
  • Implementation Strategy. The extent to which the submission describes a detailed plan for implementation that takes into account potential barriers such as cost and technological constraints, including integration with existing and future technology, and proposes potential solutions to overcome such barriers.

To accomplish this task, the project will be broken down into steps.

  1. Individual pitches: each student will conceptualize and present their idea for a project in 3 minutes. The class will vote on the top 4 projects. (10 points)
  2. Group contracts: in small groups of 3-4, students will outline their plan for this project and assign roles and responsibilities for each student to accomplish. A timeline and due dates will be established. (15 points)
  3. Formal proposals: each group will compose a 3-5 page proposal for their project meeting the criteria of the competition. The proposal will include outside research, citations, and a bibliography. (50 points)
  4. Storyboard: each group will create a demo of the simulation by making script and either storyboard. (25 points)
  5. Final presentation: this is your presentation to Mosaic Learning. You will present all of your research and your prototype using: a short video or simulation using our Richo cameras or InstaVR. You have 15 minutes plus 3 for questions. The final presentations are during the final exam period.

    100 points total

 

Hayes Definition Assignment

Some of the theory we will read in this course contains very technical, specific terminology that must be defined in order to understand the content. To develop a base for our reading and discussion, we will define terms used in How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literature, and Informatics by Katherine Hayles in order to create a crowdsourced index to reference through the semester. Each of you will be assigned one of the following terms. For this assignment you should define this term based on your reading of Hayles and outside information you gather and determine to be relevant in this context. Do not just provide a dictionary definition. Please include hyperlinked citations to any outside information you quote, paraphrase, or summarize.

Write your definition separately in your journal. Then, edit this post and add your definition in the designated area before class time on 10/24. Remember to click publish.

***Please do not edit any entry but the one you were assigned!

Autopoietic  Autopoietic means self-making (Hayles, 1999). Hayles (199) says, “In a sense, autopoiesis turns the cybernetic paradigm inside out. Its central premise-that systems are informationally closed-radically alters the idea of the informational feedback loop, for the loop no longer functions to connect a system to its environment. In the autopoietic view, no information crosses the boundary separating the system from its environment. We do not see a world “out there” that exists apart from us. Rather, we see only what our systemic organization allows us to see.” Essentially, we create the world we see. 

Autopoietic (autopoiesis) is “the property of a living system (such as a bacterial cell or a multicellular organism) that allows it to maintain and renew itself by regulating its composition and conserving its boundaries” (Merriam Webster). They have definite boundaries, but can connect to the outside world.

Celluar Automata  In the journal, How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literature, and Informatics by Katherine Hayles, Hayles defines Cellular automata as, “elementary units [of matter, energy, and spacetime] that can occupy two states: on or off” (Hayles, 11). By defining cellular automata in such a way, Halyes suggests that all things in the universe either is or is not; a strict binary look at the Universe.

Though the definition Hayles provides gives the reader a short sense of what Cellular Automata or Cellular Automaton are, Discrete Mathematics can use Cellular Automata to further describe how the Universe came to be and will cease to be. Cellular Automata is a model for the Universe that gives rules and attempts to explain not only what is on or off, but why it is specifically on or off, how it got turned on or off, and what will happen to it in the future.

Cybernetics Cybernetics describes how humanity deals with and communicates with the electronic technology destined to replace us.
Cyborg  A cyborg is a machine that can achieve human consciousness or be the repository or storage space of human consciousness. Or a humanoid being that is partially organic and partially technological. Cyborgs are often seen as a new and improved form of the human race.
Embodiment
Epistemology In this article, epistemology has to do with knowledge and especially humans knowledge about ourselves when it comes to post human view of life.
Feedback Loop The path by which some of the output originating from a circuit, device of software that than leads back to the input. An example of this is success feeds success.
Homeostasis  This is a gesture or an allusion used to authenticate any new element in the emerging constellation of reflexivity. It can also be defined as the inertial pull on new elements, which limits how radically they potentially could transform a constellation (Hayles, 1999).

In science, this is known as when a cell (or organism) regulates itself to stabilize its health, regardless of the changing outside conditions (Biology Online, 2016).

Ontology Ontology is the study of being in general terms and is a subcategory for metaphysics. It is closely associated with philosophy.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/ontology-metaphysics

Posthumanism Posthumanism is beyond or after humanism. It is the idea that humanity can be altered or eliminated by technology. Posthumanism is unnatural and occurs from humans and technology becoming physically/mentally connected.

Merriam Webster defines humanism as an attitude or way of life centered on a human interests or values. This philosophy rejects supernaturalism and stresses an individual’s dignity and worth and capacity for self-realization through reason.

Reflexivity Reflexivity is the idea that a person’s thoughts and values are represented in their work.  A person’s thoughts and ideas tend to be inherently biased.
Seriation https://archaeologywordsmith.com/lookup.php?terms=seriation

Artifacts that are organized into a sequence according to changes over time.

” Within archaeological anthropology, changes in artifacts are customarily mapped through seriation charts”. (In-Text)

Skeuomorphs  

Teleology  It is the explanation of a phenomena, in this case robots, using the purpose served. It is the analysis and reasoning of a robot’s function, their end goal, etc. A purpose inflicted by humans is extrinsic.  A natural purpose is deemed intrinsic.

“In the posthuman, there are no essential differences or absolute demarcations between bodily existence and computer simulation, cybernetic mechanism and biological organism, robot teleology and human goals” (Hayles 3).

Virtuality

Comparing Cybernetic Bodies

Using the article by Hayles as your guide, write a 5-7 paragraph blog post comparing the representation of cybernetic bodies in Stepford Wives, R.U.R, and Black Mirror. Make sure to pay particular attention to gender and labor roles, going back to the work of Haraway and Davis. This must include direct quotes in MLA format with in text citations.

This is worth 5% of your grade.

These posts will be graded on the following scale:

  • A = An engaging, thought-provoking post that shows attention to detail and comprehension of the text. Grammar and mechanics must be practically perfect (edit carefully!). Direct evidence from the text with a citation must be included.
  • B = An accurate summary and well-composed question that may contain a small, but not catastrophic, misreading or errors in grammar and mechanics.
  • C = A sloppy post that shows little effort and does not include the elements listed above.
  • D = A post that is a day late, or difficult to read, or phrased in a way that students would be unable to respond.
  • F = A post that is a week late, contains numerous errors, and does not contribute to the conversation. Or the post does not exist.

Reverse Outlining

 

Whether you are reading a published text or peer reviewing a paper, reverse outlining can help you process information by distilling the main ideas of a text into short, clear statements. Put simply, when reverse outline the reader tries to summarize each paragraph of a text in two sentences. This process will not only help you analyze the material you are reading, it will also allow you to organize your response. You may use reverse outlining to revise your own work, revise the work of others, or to annotate a text.

Reverse outlining follows a two-step, repeatable process:

  1. In the left-hand margin, write down the topic of each paragraph. Try to use as few words as possible.

When reading, these notes should work as quick references for future study or in-class discussion.

When revising your own work or the work of your peers, these notes should tell you if each paragraph is focused and clear.

  1. In the right-hand margin, write down how the paragraph topic advances the overall argument of the text. Again, be brief.

When reading, these notes allow you to follow the logic of the essay, making it easier for you to analyze or discuss later.

When revising work, these notes should tell you if each paragraph fits in the overall organization of the paper. You may also notice that paragraphs should be shifted after completing this step.

Remember to be brief. You should try to complete each step in 5-10 words. When reading a published text, you should be able to summarize the topic and the manner of support quickly; if you can’t, you should consult a dictionary, an encyclopedia, or other resources to help you understand the content. When reading your own work or the work of a peer, you should consider revising any section that does not have a clear point that is easy to rearticulate.

When reading a potential source, you should consider which points you agree or disagree with and make notes that help you formulate your opinion. However, when reading work with the goal of revision, the objective is to communicate an understanding of the writer’s main ideas, not to critique or correct these points. When reading your own work or the work of a peer, if the paragraph does contain an easily identifiable point, but it does not relate to the thesis or topic of the paper, it may be appropriate to remove this section entirely.

This exercise can be expanded by rewriting/typing your outline with comments or further suggestions, but writing in the margin might be sufficient.

Midterm Assignment

We have the privilege of shaping our midterm essays to fit a real publication. Cyborgology, an academic, peer-edited blog, has agreed to work with our class to contextualize and format this assignment for submission to their publication. This publication takes issues presented in literature and contextualizes their overarching questions by relating the content to relevant political and cultural events. Therefore, you will take the themes we have discussed regarding Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and present them to an educated audience in terms of a current event you consider parallel in some significant way. The goal is to shed light on both the novel and our society by pairing them together.

Using the audience, format, genre, and style of a typical Cyborgology post (see list of examples here) as your model, you will craft a ~2,000-3,000 word blog post that answers the question “What Makes Us Human?” with a particular emphasis on the concept of empathy. In order to address this question you must frame it in terms of the texts we have read. Every paper must use Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep as the primary example, and use at least two of the articles we have read as secondary evidence. You are also welcome to include up to two additional sources from either our course readings or reliable outside sources that you consider essential to make your point. (In other words, you must have a minimum of 3 sources, and a maximum of 5 sources.) All sources must be integrated through summary, paraphrase, or quotation with proper MLA formatting (use OWL at Purdue for guidance).

Please see the Cyborgology submission guidelines for further information. You can and should include hyperlinks to your sources as indicated in this guide. You are also encouraged to use images, videos, or infographics that demonstrate your point (with captions and citations). Also, read this post on writing for a public audience by editor David Banks.

Sample outline: *From Cyborgology editor David Banks*

  1. Introduction to X
  2. Sentence telegraphing at the possibility that X is better understood with Y.
  3. Summary of coverage of X
  4. Why summary is wrong/incomplete/misunderstood by 3rd parties.
  5. Introduction of theory Y
  6. Application of theory Y
  7. Synthesis of X and Y
  8. Prescriptions and conclusions

Two printed copies of your draft in TNR, size 12, double spaced are due on 10/4 in class. Your final essay must be posted to our site under category “midterm” and tag “cyborgology” by 10/9.

Here is the rubric.

What Does Mean To Be Human?

Perhaps the most interesting part of the story so far, is the situation that rose as Rick was analyzing Rachel.  Despite her human backstory programmig, and her very precice responses to the questions, she failed the exam.

The Voight-Kampff test is a way the characters identify a human against an “andy,” or android. But the situation with Rachel proves an interesting point; Even though she was an android, Rick was convinced, through her “backstory” and from the test results, that she was just a human unaccustomed to life on earth. Going down this line of thought, some humans who are unaccustomed to being around others or with mental illnesses, may not past the test. Does this make those who are mentally ill subpar to the “neurotypical” characters? Even in Isidore’s situation, as a “special” individual, he’s still treated as a human. Would he be able to pass the Voight-Kampff test? Or would he fail just like the andys?

 

The overall question I’m asking is this: What makes human intelligence and reactions, purely human? And is a human who doesnt exhibit the “right” response considered subhuman?

Provocation Assignment

Throughout the semester you will notice “provocation” assignments built into our syllabus. They are often broken into groups and correspond to longer readings. Provocations are meant to provide context and support for your student-led discussions in class. In order to complete these assignments you must:

  • Read the assigned text very closely and annotate it thoroughly.
  • Choose one section of the text you found most interesting/problematic/controversial/stimulating and summarize it in 5-7 sentences.
  • If you use a direct quote in this summary you must have an MLA citation.
  • Construct a complex ∫ for your classmates to answer about that section of the text that will spark a lively debate.

On the blog, you will post your provocations BEFORE class time as indicated on the syllabus. ONLY post when your group is listed on the syllabus. Use the category and tag provided by your professor for each post.

These posts will be graded on the following scale:

  • A = An engaging, thought-provoking post that shows attention to detail and comprehension of the text. Grammar and mechanics must be practically perfect (edit carefully!). Direct evidence from the text with a citation must be included.
  • B = An accurate summary and well-composed question that may contain a small, but not catastrophic, misreading or errors in grammar and mechanics.
  • C = A sloppy post that shows little effort and does not include the elements listed above.
  • D = A post that is a day late, or difficult to read, or phrased in a way that students would be unable to respond.
  • F = A post that is a week late, contains numerous errors, and does not contribute to the conversation. Or the post does not exist.

Please create these summaries and questions yourself: DO NOT STEAL OTHER PEOPLES WORK. If I find you have plagiarized these posts you will be reported. If you are struggling please come see me or email me with questions.