1.0 Syllabus - Berkeley-MDes/24f-desinv-202 GitHub Wiki

DESINV 202 - Technology Design Foundations

Fall 2024 Syllabus

Basic Information

Course Information
Course Number DESINV 202
Course Title Technology Design Foundations
Units 4
Format Lecture + Studio
Meeting Times Mondays 5p-7p & Thursdays 5p-7p
Location Jacobs Studio 310

Course Instructors

Instructors:

Course TAs & Supporting Lecturers:

bCourse site: https://bcourses.berkeley.edu/courses/1537533

Course Description

Technology Design Foundations (TDF) introduces foundational design and technology frameworks and builds skill sets essential to the design of products, services, environment, processes, and experiences enabled by emerging technologies. The course follows a design process that includes research, synthesis, concept generation, prototyping and testing, with an emphasis on iteration and refinement through multiple rounds of design critique. Students develop fluency across a range of core technologies, from fabrication to microcontrollers, and how to operationalize these tools within a design context. They engage with a highly technical series of individual and group projects to create a product-service system – leveraging both hardware and digital technologies – that addresses a well-defined need.

Prerequisites

This course is only open to students in the first year of the Master of Design (MDes) program. Besides membership in the incoming cohort of MDes students, there are no other prerequisites.

Overview of Course

This course introduces students to a suite of foundational design, prototyping, communication, and technical skills that are essential to a successful career within the design of emerging technologies. It also introduces students to design thinking and the basic practices of interaction design, following a human-centered design process that includes research, concept generation, prototyping, testing, and refinement. Students will become familiar with design methodologies such as sketching, storyboarding, wireframing, prototyping, etc. It also develops fluency across a range of core technologies and how to operationalize them within a design context. Students must work effectively as individuals and in small teams to design a range of interactive experiences using various technologies.

Learning Objectives

The primary goal of the course is for students to develop a broad understanding of design and development / prototyping phases under the context of emerging technologies and societal impact. The pedagogy of TDF is based on the advancement of team-based design praxis and collective learning. TDF is intended to expose students to the transdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary nature of this design praxis.

Progress toward this goal will be reflected in the ability to:

  • Produce digital and physical prototypes across a range of design subjects across scales including: digital interfaces, interactive systems, and immersive environments.
  • Give form to design ideas through prototyping at a range of fidelities, and using a range of materials and tools, including electronics, to convey specific information about a design idea.
  • Make decisions that build on existing design patterns.
  • Be prepared to work effectively in teams, and have a toolkit of resources to support productive teamwork.
  • Communicate both conceptual and concrete ideas effectively to a variety of stakeholders, using a range of visual and verbal presentation techniques.
  • Interpret content in order to meet the needs of multiple stakeholders.
  • Understand how designers think in order to collaborate on interdisciplinary teams
  • Give and receive feedback in a constructive way during critiques.

Methods of Instruction

The class meets twice each week, for two hours per class meeting, and proceeds through a combination of lecture, workshop, “demo and build” days, studio work, presentation, and critique.

Requirements and Assessments

Student work in this course is motivated by a sequence of foundational projects, outlined below, each of which is built around building competency in an emerging technology relevant to design practice. Each project is approximately 4-weeks in duration, and culminates in the presentation of a designed artifact at a critique. Following this sequence of technology-driven projects, a final design-driven project is conducted in coordination with DESINV 210 - Studio Foundations, and presented at a final exhibit of work at the end of the semester.

Foundational Projects

A series of three foundational projects motivate student learning by building competency in a specific emerging technology. While the specific subject of foundational projects vary from semester-to-semester, there is much in common between them. Each starts with a course lecture that illuminates the motivation of the project, and details the emerging design technology in question including a description of its technical features, its implications for emerging forms of design, and an account of its use in practice. A well-defined project brief is also introduced in this first session that outlines the goals and methods of the project at hand. Following this initial meeting are a series of workshops, “demo and build” days, and studio work days. Across this time, students may work individually or in small groups to reach a sequence of well-defined project milestones. At the close of each project, there is a formal presentation and critique that celebrates student accomplishments, offers detailed feedback for how projects might improve, and facilitates a discussion that situates each project in a larger cultural and technical context. Each project defines its own goals and criteria of evaluation.

Because students bring to bear a range of experiences and skills to this course, for each foundational project individual students will choose the level of challenge that best meets their existing skills and learning goals. Each project articulates three such levels (e.g. “neophyte”, “default”, and “challenging”).

Distinctions between these 3 levels are described in detail here

This differentiation is not determinative of grading outcomes in the course - all students, no matter their incoming skills or experiences, and regardless of the level of challenge they take on in projects, can achieve success.

Across the three projects, each student is required to take at least one project at the highest level of challenge, and no more than one project at the lowest level.

Fall 2024 Schedule of Foundational Project Presentations

Final Project

The final project will emerge based on a group poster exercise, a subsequent elaboration of your chosen idea, and feasibility experiments to get you further towards the finish line of the showcase.

Exams and Quizzes

There are no exams or quizzes in this course.

Evaluation and Grading Procedures

Student grades are evaluated on an absolute scale (not on a curve), with the weighting of course components as follows:

  • 20% Foundational Project 1
  • 20% Foundational Project 2
  • 20% Foundational Project 3
  • 20% Final project
  • 20% Participation (Individual reflection + Progress reports)

To be considered – and due to the abbreviated nature of this course – any grade appeals on the final assignment must be articulated within two days of grade posting.

Participation

Participation is evaluated via Weekly Submissions which consist of Personal Assessments and Progress Reports.

Final Assessment

There is no final exam in this course. Rather, a final assessment of student performance is conducted as an evaluation of student’s growth over the semester as observed by instructors and documented in weekly progress reports and quality of work presented in formal project submissions.

Materials & Resources

Course Learning Tools

Each semester, this course engages with a range of software suites and tools. Below is a basic list which may be modified or expanded upon with each project. See the project descriptions area for more details.

  • Technology Kit. This kit will be provided to each student.
  • Software used in this course can be found here. Not all software is required, and is based on the needs of a given student or group, per project.
  • Personal Computer (Laptop). Bring your laptop to every class.

Required & Optional Texts

There are no required texts for this course. Optional reading can be found here.

Evaluation of the Course

Student feedback on the pace and content of this course are encouraged across the semester. For this, we rely on periodic check-in surveys, which include questions such as:

  • How did you find the pace and workload of this class? Is this class moving too fast or too slow?
  • How have you found the course lectures? Is there anything that was unclear, or that you would like to know more about?
  • How have you found the critique sessions? Is there anything about the way this feedback proceeds that you have concerns about? At the end of the course, we devote a portion of class time for students to complete the on-line course evaluation forms provided by campus.

Policies

A note on laptops during class time. You are going to use your laptop during class time to prototype, develop and communicate your designs. Having said that, you are asked not to be distracted or doing other tasks on your laptops during class discussions, critiques, presentations or collective activities. We ask you to be mindful of your peers and their hard work in the class.

Late and/or Missed Assignments

Unless otherwise stated in the project descriptions area, no late submissions are accepted. If a student is unable to attend a major presentation due to circumstances outside of their control, arrangements for an accommodation must be made with the instructor as far in advance as possible. Exceptions for missing a pinup without prior approval will be made only in rare cases of acute emergencies. Missing a project presentation without an accommodation or exception will result in a failing grade for the course.

Attendance

Two or more unexcused absences from the course without prior communication will result in a failing grade. We trust you to make us aware of any challenges that you are facing in connecting and being present for class. We also ask for your trust that we will make every effort to make reasonable accommodations, and to ‘meet you where you are’.

Participation and Tardiness

Class participation includes arriving on-time and adequately prepared, participating in any class activities, and actively contributing to class discussions. Disruptive behavior and/or repeated non-participation may be regarded as an absence.

Permissible and Impermissible Collaboration

Some projects in this course will call for you to work collaboratively in groups. This might include group assignments, in which a number of students are responsible for together producing some deliverable, as well as informal working groups, in which a number of students participate together in a discussion during class time and are encouraged to work in tandem outside of class. Working effectively in groups is an essential part of professional design practice, the value of which is often understated in educational settings. While group work is evaluated collectively, individual contributions to the group and the overall culture of the class are evaluated individually.

Reviewing lectures and reading materials can be enjoyable and enriching things to do together with one’s fellow students. We recommend this. However, individual projects should be completed independently and materials turned in as homework should be the result of one’s own independent work. Only certain assignments are meant to be done together in a group.

Academic Honesty

You are a member of an academic community at one of the world’s leading research universities. Universities like Berkeley create knowledge that has a lasting impact in the world of ideas and on the lives of others; such knowledge can come from an undergraduate paper as well as the lab of an internationally known professor. One of the most important values of an academic community is the balance between the free flow of ideas and the respect for the intellectual property of others. Researchers don't use one another's research without permission; scholars and students always use proper citations in papers; professors may not circulate or publish student papers without the writer's permission; and students may not circulate or post materials (handouts, exams, syllabi--any class materials) from their classes without the written permission of the instructor.

Any material submitted by you and that bears your name is presumed to be your own original work that has not previously been submitted for credit in another course unless you obtain prior written approval to do so from your instructor. This includes both primary and derivative work; for example, in the case of a 3d modeling assignment - there is an expectation of originality for both the information in a 3d model itself, as well as any drawings that are derived from these 3d models for submission. In all of your assignments, including your homework or drafts of papers, you may use words or ideas written by other individuals in publications, websites, or other sources, but only with proper attribution. This expectation for attribution applies equally to machine-generated text, such as text produced by Chat GPT or similar. If you are not clear about the expectations for completing an assignment or taking a test or examination, be sure to seek clarification from your instructor or GSI beforehand. Finally, you should keep in mind that as a member of the campus community, you are expected to demonstrate integrity in all of your academic endeavors and will be evaluated on your own merits. The consequences of cheating and academic dishonesty—including a formal discipline file, possible loss of future internship, scholarship, or employment opportunities, and denial of admission to graduate school—are simply not worth it.

Climate Statement

In this course, we are committed to an equitable and inclusive educational environment for all. As students, staff, and faculty, we strive to foster a community in which we celebrate our diversity and affirm the dignity of each person by respecting the identities, perspectives, and experiences of those with whom we work. We Intend to support a diversity of perspectives and experiences and respect each others’ identities and backgrounds (including race/ethnicity, nationality, gender identity, socioeconomic class,sexual orientation, language, religion, ability, etc.).

As a member of the UC Berkeley community, we are committed to a safe work environment for all.

To help accomplish this: If you feel like your performance in the class is being impacted by lack of inclusion, please contact the instructors, your advisor, or the departmental Faculty Equity Advisor.

If you feel like your performance in the class is being impacted by experiences outside of class (e.g., family matters, current events), please don’t hesitate to speak with the instructor(s) and/or an MDes Academic Advisor as a resource.

We are all in the process of learning how to respect and include diverse perspectives and identities. Please take care of yourself and those around you as we work through the challenging but important learning process. As a participant in this class, recognize that you can be proactive about making other students feel included and respected.

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

As a part of ensuring an equitable and inclusive educational environment, we are committed to ensuring equal access to those students with disabilities. If you need particular accommodations, please contact the Disabled Students’ Program (DSP) as soon as possible to request accommodations in your courses and then speak with your instructors. We will take every possible step to work out the necessary arrangements. Additional information, including on how to request accommodations for your courses, can be found on the DSP website.

Accommodations & Scheduling Conflicts

We honor and respect the different learning needs of our students, and are committed to ensuring you have the resources you need to succeed in our class. If you need accommodations for any reason (e.g. religious observance, health concerns, insufficient resources, etc.) please discuss with your instructor or academic advisor how to best support you. We will respect your privacy under state and federal laws, and you will not be asked to share more than you are comfortable sharing. The disabled student program is a related resource, listed above.

Please notify us in writing by the end of the first week of the term about any known or potential schedule conflicts (such as religious observances, graduate or medical school interviews, or team activities). We will try our best to help you with making such accommodations, but cannot promise them in all cases.

Disclaimer

Syllabus and schedule are subject to change. Any necessary amendments to the information provided in this syllabus or in any course documents will be announced and posted in a timely manner in class. All amendments will be in force effective the date they are announced and posted.