There will be 20 quizzes throughout the course of the semester, and each one will be worth one point (meaning that quizzes account for 20% of your final grade).

For each reading assignment, students will complete a quiz on Sakai. Quizzes will remain open until class begins at 1:20, and students may retake a quiz as many times as they'd like until it closes.

There will be no quizzes on lab days.

During the semester, you will complete five lab reports. Each report is worth three points, making lab reports worth 15% of your final grade.

Five different times during the semester, we will meet in the Digital Studies Center for lab sessions. During these sessions, you will work in groups to investigate some digital object or tool. Primarily, these sessions will be self directed. I will be present to answer questions, but your main task during labs is to explore and tinker. This will mean successes and failures - some confusion is inevitable. That's part of the assignment!

These five lab sessions will take place on Wednesdays. On the Friday following the lab session, you will submit a lab report. Lab reports will be submitted on Sakai.

Reports will have three sections:

Part A: Initial questions (no word limit)
List the initial questions you have about the tool or object we are analyzing. You will write these down during the first 10 or 15 minutes of our lab session. The questions should be as specific as possible. In this section, we want to set up an agenda for your group's lab session. What are you most interested in? What do you want to learn?

Part B: Lab Narrative (250 words maximum)
Description of your group's interaction with the object. What did you try? What worked? What didn't work? Why? What strategies did you use to investigate this tool or object? How did your group collaborate?

Part C: Conclusions (250 words maximum)
Describe a potential project that would either use or examine this object/tool. We've discussed looking AT and THROUGH technology this semester, and your Part C can take either approach. You might describe a project that would use this tool/object in some way to answer a question--this would involve looking THROUGH the tool or object and using it toward some end.. Alternately, you might describe a project that would attempt to analyze or examine this tool or object--this would involve looking AT the tool or object and examining it. Your proposed project could take a number of forms. Here's a list of possibilities, but this list is not exhaustive: a historical analysis, a "remix" of this tool or object that changes its functionality, an analysis of its design, a proposed redesign of, a research paper about the creator(s) of this tool or object, etc.

Either way, you should take this section to describe the potential project you have in mind. Remember that you don't have to actually complete the project. You only need to describe it. In these 250 words, you should begin to describe what the proposed project is, how you would approach such a project, and what you think it might accomplish.

Each lab report is worth three points. Here are the grade criteria I will use when evaluating lab reports. If your report falls in between these descriptions, your grade will reflect that. For instance, if you fall between the description of a "3" and a "2" you will receive a grade of 2.5

3/3
The lab report offers a detailed and extensive list of initial questions that go beyond surface level concerns, demonstrating that the student is thinking carefully about how to best explore and understand the tool or object. The lab narrative provides a detailed account of the group's activities, describing the collaborative and exploratory strategies used by the group. The conclusions section demonstrates careful thinking about a potential project and shows an understanding of what the affordances and constraints of tool or object in question. This lab report is carefully written, mostly free of grammatical errors, and observes the word limits described above.

2/3
The lab report offers a partial list of questions that is moderately detailed. There is some evidence that the student has considered the best ways to explore this tool or object. The lab narrative offers a general description of the group's activities. The conclusions section begins to describe a potential project, though that project is not fully articulated and may not demonstrate an understanding of the object's affordances and constraints. The report may have benefited from more revision to attend to the clarity of writing, has grammatical errors, and/or may not observe the word limits.

1/3
The lab report offers few questions and the questions it does offer are too general. There is little or no evidence that the student has carefully considered what they want to learn about the tool or object. The lab narrative is incomplete or too general and does not fully account for the group's activities. The conclusions section does not offer enough detail and does not demonstrate an understanding of the tool/object's affordances and constraints. The report may have significant issues with clarity and grammatical errors, which prevent the reader from understanding the content of the report. The lab report does not observe word limits.

Twice during the semester, you will attend Digital Studies events and provide a brief report on that event. I will provide a list of eligible events, but if you find something that's not on the list and would like to attend, you can ask for approval. Each Digital Studies Event Report is worth 5 points, making these reports worth 10% of your final grade.

Your Digital Studies Event Report will have two sections.

Part A: Summary of the Event (200 words maximum)
In this section, you will summarize what happened at the event. You should be as detailed as possible, given the word limit. You should explain who presented, what they presented, and any other pertinent details about the event. Your summary should make it clear that you were present and engaged throughout the entire event, and you should take detailed notes.

Part B: Define and Explain at Term or Concept (400 words maximum)
In this section, you will choose a term or concept discussed during the event and then define and explain that concept. This term or concept may be new to you, though this is not a requirement. Defining this concept may require you to do some external research, though you will need to keep the word limit in mind - 400 words is not very much space. This section should be carefully written and revised, so that you can take complete advantage of your limited space. Any sources should be cited, using MLA format (the bibliography does not count toward the word limit).

The midterm exam will take place February 29, and it will cover all material in readings, lectures, and labs. It is worth 20% of your grade.

During class sessions, students will write questions, and some of the exam material will be drawn from these student-authored questions. The best way to prepare for the exam is to do the readings, take notes on the readings, attend lectures, take notes on the lectures, attend labs, and submit lab reports.

The midterm exam will take place May 9, and it will cover all material in readings, lectures, and labs throughout the entirety of the course. It is worth 20% of your grade.

During class sessions, students will write questions, and as with the midterm some of the exam material will be drawn from these student-authored questions. The best way to prepare for the exam is to do the readings, take notes on the readings, attend lectures, take notes on the lectures, attend labs, and submit lab reports.

Once during the semester, you can earn two extra credit points by attending a Digital Studies Center event. This means that you can earn two percentage points toward your final grade.

Unlike the events that require you to write a report, the extra credit opportunity only requires that you attend the event, check in with me to prove that you were there, and stay for the duration of the event.