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Instructor: Dr. So-Yeon Yoon
E-mail: sy492@cornell.edu
Class time: 1:00pm-5:00pm
Course Description & Objectives
This course is intended to immerse the student in the act and art of academic communication. To that end, it is based not only on reading or gathering information about shared topics but also on a series of small/large group and individually assigned presentations. Each is an act intended to engage and inform the student as to a particular aspect or quality of academic communication.
In addition to the information exchange, the student is expected to learn important lessons about good storytelling -- how to start, organize and finish a story for various academic communication contexts.
At the beginning of every class, a topic from research areas of design/environmental analysis will be discussed and an assignment(s) will be provided. Each assignment will have a specific purpose behind it to advance knowledge and academic communication skill building, and one assignment will (eventually) build on the next. It is not intended that the student know in advance.
The purpose of this is threefold: 1) review and understand theories and empirical research in the given topic from environmental analysis, design and user experience in the fields of environmental psychology, environment and behavior, affective engineering, and human-computer interaction;
2) to develop effective presentation and discussion skills for international scholarly meetings; and 3) to develop the ability to generate visual/verbal communication materials.
The major objectives of this course are to provide the opportunities for the students to be able to build advanced communication skills in diverse academic settings with chosen topics, to generate researchable questions and frameworks aiming for scholarly presentations and publications in some of important research areas around design and environmental analysis.
Evaluation
Student work is evaluated based on the following criteria:
You can learn from critical response to the work of others, and for this reason you are required to be in attendance at each class and pay careful attention to and participate in presentations and critiques. Your participation in the discussion is welcomed and encouraged, but it is incumbent on you to volunteer your thoughts. Do not wait to be called on.
Students will be required to complete all assignments, and participate in class discussion/reviews.
Grading
Project (70%)
Active Participation (10%)
Attendance (20%)
The grading scale is shown below:
A+ 96-100 |
A 93-95 |
A- 90-92 |
Excellent |
B+ 87-89 |
B 83-86 |
B- 80-82 |
Above Average |
C+ 77-79 |
C 73-76 |
C- 70-73 |
Average |
D+ 67-69 |
D 63-66 |
D- 60-63 |
Below Average |
F 59 and below Failure |
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Attendance
Attendance and active participation is mandatory. A student is required to be present through the entire duration of the class. Not to mention absences, coming late to class or leaving early without justifiable excuses will significantly affect the grade.
Special Needs
If you have special needs as addressed by the Americans with Disabilities Act and need any test of course materials provided in an alternative format, notify your instructor immediately. Reasonable effort will be made to accommodate your special needs. If you need accommodations because of a disability, if you have emergency medical information to share with me, or if you need special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please inform me immediately. Please see me privately after class.
Plagiarism Policy
A student who presents and submits as his or her own work a written/visual material, content, which is taken in whole or in part from another person’s efforts without proper acknowledgement is guilty of plagiarism. Proper citations for borrowed visual or written work are required (refer to APA guidelines).
While students are always encouraged to ‘research’ each project and assignment as thoroughly as time permits, ‘borrowing’ in part or in whole a published design of another and passing it off as your own constitutes plagiarism. Each assignment is an opportunity for original expression, a means of discovering who YOU are.
Multicultural Ground Rules for the course