Syllabus

NYU

Integrated Digital Media • Technology, Culture & Society Department

De Angela L. Duff • deangela.duff@nyu.edu 
Office hours by appointment (https://calendly.com/deangela)  
Office Phone: 646 997 0718 

Prerequisite: None • 3 credit hrs

Gitbook Repository: https://deangela.gitbooks.io/ideation-and-prototyping-tandon-online/content/

Course Management Site: http://bxmc.slack.com

"I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination.

Imagination is more important than knowledge.

Knowledge is limited.

Imagination encircles the world."

~Albert Einstein

Welcome to Ideation & Prototyping!

In this class, the creative process will be investigated in order to generate ideas for art, design, technology, and business endeavors. The course will show how ideation, design research & thinking, and prototyping can inspire, inform, and bring depth to what one ultimately creates. Students will expand their arsenal of design research skills, learn how to think critically about their audience, content, form, and processes, as well as, understand the importance of utilizing more than one research and design strategy.

PROGRAM GOALS

The following Integrated Digital Media program goals are introduced and reinforced within this course. Students will:

  • develop conceptual thinking skills to generate ideas and content in order to solve problems or create opportunities.

  • develop a research and studio practice through inquiry and iteration.

  • develop critical thinking skills that will allow them to analyze and position their work within cultural, historical, aesthetic, economic, and technological contexts.

  • develop collaboration skills to actively and effectively work in a team or group.

COURSE GOALS

To get students to:

  • develop a rigorous, iterative process for looking, questioning, thinking, making, and communicating that challenges assumptions and preconceived ideas

  • use their imagination to create something entirely new & innovative OR to reinvent an old idea into something new

  • introduce students to the many research & design methodologies available to them

  • develop skills of description, research, analysis, visualization, design and critical thinking.

  • improve writing, documentation, and presentation skills

  • facilitate collaboration

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this course students should be able to:

  • to search and spot ideas, and transform these invisible ideas into visible realizations

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Participation is paramount to your success in this course. Be sure to log into NYU Classes and Slack multiple times a week, read all announcements, complete all Active Learning Modules* and assignments on time, and participate in Discussion Forums and Virtual Meetings.

Consult with NYU Tandon Online for further details about Active Learning Modules.

COURSE STRUCTURE

This course is conducted entirely online, which means you do not have to be on campus to complete any portion of it. You will participate in the course using NYU Classes located at https://newclasses.nyu.edu and Slack.

The course will be comprised of lectures, critiques, discussions, readings, screenings, exercises, projects, and a collaborative research paper.

Critiques are the best way to articulate your ideas to others and get immediate feedback. The class analyzes and suggests ways to increase the impact of your project. Take notes when your work is being critiqued and do not edit the responses, whether you agree with them or not. Review your critique notes and reflect upon what was said. Ask yourself how you could combine, transform, or expand what you are doing to make your project better. However, resist the temptation to incorporate all suggestions and comments. Only utilize the ones that work for you and your project.

There will be discrete team and individual exercises and projects that require you to apply the tools, techniques, and methods presented in the lectures, discussions, readings, and other material. These fundamentals are organized according to five phases:

Phase 1: Discovery / Inspiration (internal)

  • Seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, smelling, feeling

  • Collecting, obsessing, hoarding

Phase 1: Discovery / Inspiration: Steal Like An Artist (external)

  • Reappropriating, remixing

Phase 2: Research / Ideation / Brainstorming

  • Asking and listening

  • Visual researching

  • Materials researching

  • User / audience researching and ethnographic researching

  • Systems researching

  • Activity researching

  • Primary researching

  • Scholarly researching

  • Brainstorming, gamestorming, ideation

Phase 3: Design / Sketching / Mapping

  • Visualizing, drawing, sketching

  • Planning and mapping

  • Grouping, clustering, comparing, contrasting

  • Organizing and designing

  • Reorganizing and redesigning

  • Shaping and forming

  • Discerning and revealing

  • Connecting and disconnecting

Phase 4: Prototyping

  • Making, building, creating

  • Rapid prototyping

  • Iterating

  • Selecting and editing

  • Breaking then repeating all of the above

Phase 5: Positioning / Pitching

  • Framing and positioning

  • Storytelling, engaging, communicating, selling

COMMUNICATING WITH THE PROFESSOR OUTSIDE OF CLASS

  • Direct message me on slack re: contact about logistics (when, where, how many?) ONLY

  • Talk to me in person directly after class or set up an appointment about issues and problems. DO NOT direct message long conversations. (If your direct message turns into paragraphs that means you should be talking to me in person not direct messaging me.)

STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Schedule your time (keep a calendar of some sort)

  • Come to class on time and participate (be present and engaged)

  • Study outside of class (ideally with classmate(s)

  • Devote at a minimum 4 to 8 hours per week outside of class, fulfilling homework assignments, reading, and studying concepts covered in class.

  • Consult slack at least once a week for up to date info

  • Complete all assignments by due dates

  • Acquire and read all assigned readings before they are due

  • Action – do your absolute best

  • Strive for continuous improvement

  • Have desire amounting to enthusiasm (to learn, to explore)

  • Have patience, persistence, and discipline

  • Be creative

  • Pay attention to detail & craft

  • Have self-confidence and pride in your work

  • Take risks & be fearless in your projects

  • Have fun!

EVALUATION & GRADING

  • All work assigned will be completed and delivered on the due date, otherwise you will receive a failing grade for that assignment. In other words, late work will not be accepted.

  • Makeup assignments are only available when discussed with and approved by the instructor in advance of the due date.

  • Each student will be judged on the application of the ideas and concepts introduced during the course. Incomplete or unsatisfactory work will receive a failing grade.

Your final grade will be based on a synthesis of quantitative & qualitative rubrics:

Quantitative Grading Overview

Qualitative Grading Overview

  • A Exceptional (Work of exceptional quality; Exceeds Expectations)

  • A- Excellent (Work of high quality)

  • B+ Very Good

  • B Good (Solid work, though not of the highest level)

  • B-

  • C+ (A little above average)

  • C Satisfactory (Average; Satisfies course requirements)

  • C- Below average (but passing)

  • D+ Poor Work (but passing)

  • D Inadequate (Deficient, but passing)

  • F Unacceptable (The performance and/or attendance of the student has failed course requirements.)

Learning Time Rubric

Learning Time Element

Asynchronous* / Synchronous**

Time on Task for Students(Weekly Estimate)

Notes

Lecture

Asynchronous

1 - 1.5 hours

Lectures are delivered in the Active Learning Module format. Self-paced interactive video lectures, low-stakes quiz questions, and other interactive features mean completion time will vary by student.

Live Virtual Meeting for Critique & Discussion

Synchronous

1.5 - 2 hours

A live virtual meeting will be held once a week using the WebEx tool in NYU Classes. This is your opportunity to discuss the readings, Active Learning Module, and other materials from the week with your peers. Some weeks, much of this time will be reserved for structured critique.

Other Discussion & Reflection

Asynchronous

0.5 - 1 hours

Some discussion will take place on a running basis throughout the week, via Slack. See the “Assignments” section for more details.

Reading & Watching

Asynchronous

3 hours

You must review all assigned materials (readings, videos, or other media) before each week’s live virtual meeting. Take notes, and be prepared to discuss the materials.

Exercises, Projects, and Collaborative Research Paper

Asynchronous

3 hours

Each week you will dedicate considerable time to the projects and assignments that will determine the bulk of your grade. This includes the “Future Dystopia/Utopia” project (16%) and “Creative Process Research Paper and Video Documentary” project (28%).

Total Time:

9 - 10.5 hours

*Asynchronous learning is defined as any non-real time student learning, such as recorded lecture, podcast, interactive module, articles, websites, etc. This also includes any student-to-student or faculty-to-student communication that may happen with an asynchronous tool, such as discussion board, chatroom, e-mail, text, etc.</p>

**Synchronous learning is defined as any real-time student-to-student and/or faculty-to-student learning, such as a live webinar session or other video/audio communication service.

Interaction Policy

To succeed in this course, you must be actively engaged with both the material and your peers. You are expected to attend and take an active role in live virtual meetings, structured critique, and other discussions -- and to do so in an appropriate manner. Always use professional language (no "netspeak") in your posts and emails. Please be respectful of your classmates at all times even if you disagree with their ideas.

Course Communication

Slack

Announcements will be posted on Slack in the courses’ main slack channel on a regular basis. You are encouraged to post your questions about the course on the designated slack channel. This is an open forum in which you and your classmates are encouraged to answer each other’s questions. But, if you need to contact me directly, please direct message me on slack. You can expect a response within 24 hours.</

Netiquette

When participating in an online class it is important to interact with your peers in an appropriate manner. Always use professional language in your online communication. Please be respectful of your classmates at all times even if you disagree with their ideas.

REQUIRED SUPPLIES

REQUIRED READINGS

The following list of required readings may be incomplete and is subject to change. Please see the course website for updates.

REQUIRED MEDIA

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

See Appendix

PROJECTS & ASSIGNMENTS

All due dates can be found in the calendar. This is just an overview and description of all the projects for the course. Please name ALL files as firstnameinitiallastname_i&d_sp17_assignmentname (i.e. dduff_i&d_sp17_assignmentname.pdf)

Projects

Assignments

SCHEDULE OVERVIEW GRID

ACADEMIC HONESTY

All work for this class must be your own and specific to this semester. Any work recycled from other classes or from another, non-original source will be rejected with serious implications for the student. Plagiarism, knowingly representing the words or ideas of another as one’s own work in any academic exercise, is absolutely unacceptable. Any student who commits plagiarism must re-do the assignment for a grade no higher than a D. In fact, a D is the highest possible course grade for any student who commits plagiarism. Please use the MLA style for citing and documenting source material.

MOSES CENTER OF DISABILITY

If you are student with a disability who is requesting accommodations, please contact New York University’s Moses Center for Students with Disabilities (CSD) at 212-998-4980 or mosescsd@nyu.edu. You must be registered with CSD to receive accommodations. Information about the Moses Center can be found at www.nyu.edu/csd. The Moses Center is located at 726 Broadway on the 2nd floor.

NTU Tandon of Engineering Policies and Procedures on Academic Misconduct (from the Tandon School of Engineering Student Code of Conduct)

  • Introduction: The School of Engineering encourages academic excellence in an environment that promotes honesty, integrity, and fairness, and students at the School of Engineering are expected to exhibit those qualities in their academic work. It is through the process of submitting their own work and receiving honest feedback on that work that students may progress academically. Any act of academic dishonesty is seen as an attack upon the School and will not be tolerated. Furthermore, those who breach the School’s rules on academic integrity will be sanctioned under this Policy. Students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with the School’s Policy on Academic Misconduct.

  • Definition: Academic dishonesty may include misrepresentation, deception, dishonesty, or any act of falsification committed by a student to influence a grade or other academic evaluation. Academic dishonesty also includes intentionally damaging the academic work of others or assisting other students in acts of dishonesty. Common examples of academically dishonest behavior include, but are not limited to, the following:

    • Cheating: intentionally using or attempting to use unauthorized notes, books, electronic media, or electronic communications in an exam; talking with fellow students or looking at another person’s work during an exam; submitting work prepared in advance for an in-class examination; having someone take an exam for you or taking an exam for someone else; violating other rules governing the administration of examinations.

    • Fabrication: including but not limited to, falsifying experimental data and/or citations.

    • Plagiarism: intentionally or knowingly representing the words or ideas of another as one’s own in any academic exercise; failure to attribute direct quotations, paraphrases, or borrowed facts or information.

    • Unauthorized collaboration: working together on work that was meant to be done individually.

    • Duplicating work: presenting for grading the same work for more than one project or in more than one class, unless express and prior permission has been received from the course instructor(s) or research adviser involved.

    • Forgery: altering any academic document, including, but not limited to, academic records, admissions materials, or medical excuses.

Access the entire School of Engineering Student Code of Conduct here: engineering.nyu.edu/academics/code-of-conduct

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