493 F18 Randall

493

English 493 – Fall 2018

Course	English 493 – Fall 2018
Course title	Writing for Mass Audiences about Technological Impact (Topics in Professional Writing and Communication Design)
Meetings	Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11:30-12:50, ECH 1205
Instructor	Neil Randall
Office and Hours	EC1 1327, x30134, Tuesdays 2:30-4:00
Email	nrandall@uwaterloo.ca (contact by email highly recommended).
Required Texts	[MIT book] Buckland, Michael. Information and Society. 2017. [MIT book] Greengard, Samuel. The Internet of Things. 2015. [MIT book] Jordan, John M. Robots. 2016 [MIT book] Montford, Nick. The Future. 2017. [MIT book] Neff, Gina and Dawn Nafus. Self-Tracking. 2016. [MIT book] Pomerantz, Jeffrey. Metadata. 2015. [MIT book] Shanahan, Murray. The Technological Singularity. 2015. [Website/magazine] Arts Technica – arstechnica.com [Website/magazine] Atlantic, Technology – www.theatlantic.com/technology/ [Website/magazine] BBC, Technology – www.bbc.com/news/technology [Website/magazine] IEEE Technology and Society – technologyandsociety.org [Website/magazine] MIT Technology Review – www.technologyreview.com [Website/magazine] Wired – www.wired.com
Projects with	•  University of Waterloo Global Entrepreneurship and Disruptive Innovation -
External Partners	https://uwaterloo.ca/global-entrepreneurship-disruptive-innovation/ •  Crescendo - https://www.getcrescendo.co/ •  Scotiabank Digital Factory - https://digitalfactory.scotiabank.com/
Assignments (detailed below)	A (40% of grade)—Technological Impact Commentary. Ongoing, due every second Thursday beginning Sept 20. Due dates are therefore Sept 20, Oct 4, Oct 18, Nov 1, Nov 15.
	B (30% of grade)—Special Project with External Partner. Presentation Nov 27, Submission Nov 29.
	C (30% of grade)—Take-home essay. Application of theory/theories of your choice, drawn from rhetorical/communication studies, to the topic, “Articulating Technology”. Topics distributed Nov 27; essays due on LEARN Dec 6

Note: Readings listed here will be supplemented by appropriate articles/sites as material appears 

Schedule Course

Sep 6         Syllabus Introduction: writing to explain technology to mass audiences; Example: Bogost

Sep 11       Definitions of technology; How to analyze technology-impact explanations; Examples: Harari, Gyenes/Mina,

Sep 13       Analysis workshop: Russon; Tufecki; Davis; Larson

Sep 18       Buckland – discussion and analysis

Sept 20      Buckland cont.

Sept 25      No class – instructor away.

Sept 27      Assignment B – partner visits

Oct 2       Montford – discussion and analysis

Oct 4        Montford cont.

Oct 9        No class – Study break

Oct 11      Jordan – discussion and analysis

Oct 16       Jordan cont.

Oct 18      Artificial intelligence – research and discussion

Oct 23       Artificial intelligence – workshop and presentation

Oct 25       Technology and elections – research and discussion

Oct 30       No class – instructor away

Nov 1       BBC Cities – workshop and discussion

Nov 6        Shanahan – discussion and analysis

Nov 8       Shanahan cont.

Nov 13       Cybersecurity and privacy – research and workshop

Nov 15        Neff/Nafus and Pomeranz – discussion and analysis

Nov 20        Neff/Nafus and Pomeranz – workshop and presentation

Nov 22        Greengard – discussion and analysis

Nov 27        Presentations of Assignment B projects

Nov 29       Final discussions

Statements and links to be included on all course outlines

Cross-listed course

Please note that a cross- listed course will count in all respective averages no matter under which rubric it has been taken. For example, a PHIL/PSCI cross-list will count in a Philosophy major average, even if the course was taken under the Political Science rubric.

Academic Integrity and Discipline

Academic Integrity: In order to maintain a culture of academic integrity, members of the University of Waterloo are expected to promote honesty, trust, fairness, respect and responsibility. See the Office of Academic Integrity webpage for more information.

Discipline: A student is expected to know what constitutes academic integrity, to avoid committing academic offences, and to take responsibility for his/her actions. Check the Office of Academic Integrity for more information. A student who is unsure whether an action constitutes an offence, or who needs help in learning how to avoid offences (e.g., plagiarism, cheating) or about “rules” for group work/collaboration should seek guidance from the course professor, academic advisor, or the Undergraduate Associate Dean. When misconduct has been found to have occurred, disciplinary penalties will be imposed under Policy 71 – Student Discipline. For information on categories of offenses and types of penalties, students should refer to Policy 71 - Student Discipline. For typical penalties check Guidelines for the Assessment of Penalties.

Grievances and Appeals

Grievance: A student who believes that a decision affecting some aspect of his/her university life has been unfair or unreasonable may have grounds for initiating a grievance. Read Policy 70 - Student Petitions and Grievances, Section 4. When in doubt, please be certain to contact the department’s administrative assistant who will provide further assistance.

Appeals: A decision made or penalty imposed under Policy 70 - Student Petitions and Grievances (other than a petition) or Policy 71 - Student Discipline may be appealed if there is a ground. A student who believes he/she has a ground for an appeal should refer to Policy 72 - Student Appeals.

Accommodation for Students with Disabilities

Note for students with disabilities: The AccessAbility Services office, located on the first floor of the Needles Hall extension (1401), collaborates with all academic departments to arrange appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities without compromising the academic integrity of the curriculum. If you require academic accommodations to lessen the impact of your disability, please register with the AS office at the beginning of each academic term.

If you are using Turnitin® in your course

Turnitin.com: Text matching software (Turnitin®) will be used to screen assignments in this course. This is being done to verify that use of all material and sources in assignments is documented. Students will be given an option if they do not want to have their assignment screened by Turnitin®. In the first week of the term, details will be provided about arrangements and alternatives for the use of Turnitin® in this course.

Note: students must be given a reasonable option if they do not want to have their assignment screened by Turnitin®. See guidelines for instructors for more information.

Optional statements that may be included on course outlines

Mental Health Support

All of us need a support system. The faculty and staff in Arts encourage students to seek out mental health supports if they are needed.

On Campus

• Counselling Services: counselling.services@uwaterloo.ca / 519-888-4567 ext 32655
• MATES: one-to-one peer support program offered by Federation of Students (FEDS) and Counselling Services
• Health Services Emergency service: located across the creek form Student Life Centre

Off campus, 24/7

• Good2Talk: Free confidential help line for post-secondary students. Phone: 1-866-925-5454
• Grand River Hospital: Emergency care for mental health crisis. Phone: 519-749-433 ext. 6880
• Here 24/7: Mental Health and Crisis Service Team. Phone: 1-844-437-3247
• OK2BME: set of support services for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning
• teens in Waterloo. Phone: 519-884-0000 extension 213

Full details can be found online at the Faculty of ARTS website Download UWaterloo and regional mental health resources (PDF)

Download the WatSafe app to your phone to quickly access mental health support information

Territorial Acknowledgement

We acknowledge that we are living and working on the traditional territory of the Attawandaron (also known as Neutral), Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee peoples. The University of Waterloo is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land promised to the Six Nations that includes 10 kilometres on each side of the Grand River.

For more information about the purpose of territorial acknowledgements, please see the CAUT Guide to Acknowledging Traditional Territory (PDF).

Academic freedom at the University of Waterloo

Policy 33, Ethical Behaviour states, as one of its general principles (Section 1), “The University supports academic freedom for all members of the University community. Academic freedom carries with it the duty to use that freedom in a manner consistent with the scholarly obligation to base teaching and research on an honest and ethical quest for knowledge. In the context of this policy, 'academic freedom' refers to academic activities, including teaching and scholarship, as is articulated in the principles set out in the Memorandum of Agreement between the FAUW and the University of Waterloo, 1998 (Article 6). The academic environment which fosters free debate may from time to time include the presentation or discussion of unpopular opinions or controversial material. Such material shall be dealt with as openly, respectfully and sensitively as possible.” This definition is repeated in Policies 70 and 71, and in the Memorandum of Agreement, Section 6.

Other points about student discipline and academic integrity

• Please see the set of guidelines for how to approach potential discipline cases at the end of this memo.
  • Not every error in citation constitutes a full-fledged case of plagiarism. Be judicious, especially in the case of first year students. Do report all occurrences to the Associate Dean – Undergraduate Students. Please refer to the comments at the end of this memo for detailed guidance, and do not attempt to devise your own remediation without consultation.
• Instructors should make their policies about using Turnitin® clear to students at the beginning of the term. Please review the Turninit® Guidelines for Instructors provided by the Office of Academic Integrity.

Tests and examinations

Look closely at the University Regulations on Assignments, Tests, and Final Exams for the official regulations governing examinations. Especially important to remember:

• The period (typically 2-3 days) between the end of classes and the start of exams is sacrosanct: lectures, tests, and other course activities may not be scheduled during this period.

• A final exam is any test worth more than 25%, and that covers all or most of a term’s course content. A final exam may not be scheduled in the last 5 lecture days of the formal lecture period for the term.

• Courses with final exams may not have other course assignments due during the final examination period.

• Courses without final exams may have an assignment due during the final examination period.

• Instructors are expected to be available for all scheduled final exams for their courses.

• Accommodations for deferred final exams are made only under specific conditions and time restrictions. It is the student’s responsibility to make him/herself available for the entire examination period, and travel plans are not a sufficient reason to have a final exam deferred. Please see the examination regulations, and refer any request with which you are not comfortable to the Associate Dean – Undergraduate Students.

• Any student may review their final exam under supervised access without initiating a formal appeal procedure.

Grades

• The system accepts any number as the course grade; however, any grade from 0 – 32% will be calculated at 32% for the purposes of determining an Arts student’s average(s).

• Public posting of final grades is not permitted.

• The INC (Incomplete) form (online) must be completed if you are planning to submit an INC grade for a student. The form, and instructions on how to use the form, may be found at Registrar Resources for Staff and Faculty website, under academic rules and forms.

• IP (in progress) Grades are for term courses where the final grade will only be entered when an additional required term course has been completed; for example, for an undergraduate thesis project that spans two courses over one academic year. IP may not be used as a substitute for INC. Students with IP on their records are not eligible to graduate.

o The use of the IP grade is normally limited to 400-level courses which are Senior Honours Theses or Senior Seminar courses and which normally require eight months to complete. The grade may be used in other courses only with the prior approval of the Undergraduate Affairs Group of the Arts Faculty.

Group Assignment Checklist

Please read the checklist below following the completion of your group assignment. Once you have verified these points, hand in this signed checklist with your group assignment.

1. All team members have referenced and footnoted all ideas, words or other intellectual property from other sources used in the completion of this assignment.

2. A proper bibliography has been included, which includes acknowledgement of all sources used to complete this assignment.

3. This is the first time that any member of the group has submitted this assignment or essay (either partially or entirely) for academic evaluation.

4. Each member of the group has read the full content of the submission and is assured that the content is free of violations of academic integrity. Group discussions regarding the importance of academic integrity have taken place.

5. Each student has identified his or her individual contribution to the work submitted such that if violations of academic integrity are suspected, then the student primarily responsible for the violations may be identified. Note that in this case the remainder of the team may also be subject to disciplinary action.

Checklist
Course:	_____________________________________________________
Assignment:	_____________________________________________________
Date:	______________________________________________________
Name (print)	Signature	Section Contributed	Section Edited

Policy 71 (Student Discipline): Procedures

Jurisdiction and authority in UW student disciplinary matters are defined in Policy 71: (1) “Authority to deal with matters under this policy rests with the Undergraduate and Graduate Associate Deans.” (2c)”Fairness is fundamental when dealing with students. Students have the right to be informed of policies, procedures or guidelines that may affect their academic progress or their conduct, and have the right to question whether decisions are consistent with those policies, procedures and guidelines.”

When an instructor has reason to believe that an academic offence has occurred, the matter must be reported promptly to the Associate Dean, Undergraduate Students. This allows for checking if there are jurisdictional complications (e.g. the student is from another faculty) or if the student has prior offences. The Associate Dean decides whether an attempt to resolve the case informally (i.e., at the instructor/student level) is appropriate.

Once the Associate Dean has been consulted, there are three levels of handling academic misconduct:

• By the instructor, without the official involvement of the Associate Dean.
• Refer to the Framework for the Assessment of Undergraduate Plagiarism for advice regarding how to consider the quantity and severity of plagiarized material in an assignment. Only cases that clearly fall within 1a or 1b in the Appendix B

chart may be considered for this level of resolution, and only upon consultation with the Associate Dean.

• In such cases, the instructor has clearly determined that:
• • The student demonstrably had no intention to deceive the instructor (e.g. minor verbatim phrases with citation but no quotation marks); and
  • The standard penalty (0 on the assignment) would be too harsh under the circumstances.

• In consultation with the Associate Dean, it is further determined that:
• • There are no jurisdictional complications (e.g. the student is from another faculty);
  • The student has no prior offences;
  • The student would not otherwise benefit from the Academic Integrity workshop¹.
• In this option, the student still gets a 0 on the assignment, but then attends a combined online and in-class workshop the following term that covers all the bases with regards to academic integrity and correct citation practice. In exchange, the student is not placed on disciplinary probation, and the incident is not recorded as a first offence. It’s a centrally-mandated option that is good for students where the apparent inadvertence of a relatively low-level offence is compounded by other factors suggesting that further training is appropriate, and is primarily (though not exclusively) designed for first year students.

• The instructor may impose grade penalties less than those mandated by theguidelines for assessment of penalties in the ordinary way (e.g. as might be imposed for failing to adhere to content, format or structure guidelines).
• The student is not placed on disciplinary probation².

²Being placed on disciplinary probation makes the offence “official”; subsequent offences are treated more severely, and must include suspension as part of the penalty.