Accountable Computer Systems
Evaluation Criteria and Grading
- Classroom discussion and facilitation – 20%
- Individual OP-eds – 20%
- Interdisciplinary project – 60% (report 30%, presentation 15%, video 15%)
Classroom discussion and facilitation – 20%
Each week, we will spend part of our class discussing assigned reading material for that week. For selected classes, small teams of 2 or 3 students will be discussion leaders (leaders will be identified in Week 2). Discussion leads will have two responsibilities:
- Before class. Prepare 2-3 discussion questions related to the topic of the day and to the assigned readings for that week. Send the list of questions to all class members (including the instructors) by 4.00 pm two days before class so that your classmates can reflect on the questions and come to class with prepared responses.
- During the synchronous class. Offer a total of ∼50 minutes of activities. This should include a brief introduction (5-10 minutes) to the topic of the day, including the rationale for the discussion questions mentioned above, followed by 30-45 minutes of discussion or activities. Students must demonstrate the ability to (1) explain both the background and current context of class topics, in depth and (2) design a creative and engaging “game plan” for the class discussion.
We expect that all class members will read all required readings and actively participate in class discussions and activities. The grade for this assessment component will be assigned both on the ability to lead a discussion and participation throughout the term.
Individual OP-ed – 20%
At the end of Weeks 8 and 11, students will submit Op-Eds (∼600 – 800 words) based on a topic covered in one of the previous week’s classes. Other classmates will review these submissions before grading to encourage interaction between different viewpoints.
Interdisciplinary project – 60%
Inter-disciplinary groups of four students will explore and address a concrete challenge. Students will examine the technical, societal, and legal aspects and propose ways of addressing those challenges. Students will have the opportunity to meet different stakeholders during the Ideation Workshop in week 3 and discuss real challenges they might explore. At the end of week 3, students will submit a proposal that will be both peer-reviewed and discussed with the instructors (10% of course grade). They will work on this project for the duration of the course. They will prepare a presentation (15% of the course grade), designed for the stakeholders present at the ideation workshop, to be presented at the closing workshop on Week 13. Each group will also prepare a video (15% of the course grade) for a general audience to be published on the course website. Finally, students will write a report (∼4,000 words, not including figures/tables/charts and references). The report must be accessible to an interdisciplinary academic audience. Careful consideration must be given to the target audience of the different project outcomes.
