Course Syllabus

This survey course sets the stage for the study, design, and development of information technology for the good of people, organizations, and society. This includes ideas on what information is in relation to data, knowledge and wisdom; where information comes from; how people create, categorize, store, find, filter, interpret, manipulate, and use information; and how information, systems and technology can be powerful, at times beneficial and at times harmful. The course positions these topics not as neutral technical activities, but as socio-technical ones rich with human values. The course engages how information systems both reflect and embed, and can counter historical and structural forms of oppression and exclusion, especially in relation to race, gender, and ability.

By the end of the course, you will:

1. Have a foundational understanding of what constitutes information.
2. Understand relationships among data, information, knowledge and wisdom.
3. Understand the role of culture in our construction of information and knowledge.
4. Understand computing technologies (broadly construed) as information technologies.
5. Understand that information systems are fundamentally socio-technical systems which are shaped by and then shape important human experience and human values.
6. Understand basic methods for designing information technologies, including research, ideation, and prototyping.
7. Apply basic analytic, conceptual, and empirical methods to understand information and information systems.
8. Understand how information systems can reflect, embed, and counter historical and structural forms of oppression and exclusion, especially in relation to race, gender, and ability.
9. Understand careers in information, information systems, and information technology.

🚨 This is a redesign

For those that don't know me, I've been teaching this course for several years in a particular way, and it has generally been pretty well received. However, I often notice ways that a course can be better and in some quarters, I try a radical redesign that I hope will offer students a better experience while also improving their learning. That's what I'm doing this quarter. This means:

• I don't know if this course is going to be good!
• We might have to change some things as we go.
• You're a partner in shaping what changes; I can only improve things if I know what's not working.

I'm excited to work with you to make this a great learning experience! And if it's a terrible one, thanks for going on this adventure with me as we search for better ways to teach. Whatever happens, my goal is your learning, enlightenment, and growth.

🧑🏻‍🏫 What will I do?

You will think, analyze, design, write, and communicate! And you'll do it critically, creatively, and reflectively, about information and the systems we build around it. That is our only goal for the quarter.

To help you learn to think about information, you will:

• Read two chapters per week, one before each lecture.
• You may want to/need to read other things, or listen to podcasts. I'm not into enforcing this though; you should follow your curiosity and read things relevant to what you're writing about.
• Create two kinds of documents:
  • Analyses, which deconstruct some information system and offer some opinion or judgement about it, building upon readings and other resources. These might be essays, videos, comics, or other media.
  • Designs, which propose some new or revised information system that you believe would better reflect your values, and builds upon readings and other resources. These might be documents, videos, comics, or other media.
  • Evaluate your peer's submissions of the above. (Your latest submission won't be assessed until you do).
• Come to lecture twice a week. Each day, we will:
  • Overview (20 min). I'll lecture for a bit and share a video or two, helping all of us get shared context about the topic for the day.
  • Q&A (20 min). You'll offer anonymous questions, and the TA's and I will offer non-anonymous answers. Some answers will be deeply informed by our expertise, others will be hot takes.
  • Break (10 min). Stand, get water, make a friend.
  • Modeling (10 min). My co-teacher Rotem or I will share some writing we've done about the topic for the day, demonstrating the kind of argumentation and design writing that we want you to practice.
  • Discussion (30 min). You'll meet in small groups of ~8 to discuss the days big ideas and your plans for analyses and design. (See below for more details on the discussion format).
• Come to lab once a week. These will be co-constructed, meaning that what happens in them will be shaped by you and the TA, to ensure that the activities best support your analysis and design work, your learning preferences, your sensory needs, and other criteria you might imagine. The high level goal for them is an opportunity to give and receive kind, constructive, and thoughtful feedback, but how that happens is flexible.

A key part of this design is that your grade is based the mean of your best analysis and best design proposal, and so you may write multiple before you get the grade you want. (More on that in the grading section below).

 

📚 What resources will you need?

We will use one free online-only textbook: Foundations of Information., by Amy J. Ko. (Yes, that's me). This book represents one perspective on information among many, but I have worked with many iSchool faculty to ensure that the book reflects our broader expertise and perspectives. I wrote the book for a broad audience, and host it online to make it easier to access and read. The book is always evolving; send me feedback if you have it and suggestions for resources.

 

✋🏻 How will discussions work?

The last portion of every lecture period will be small group discussions in small groups of ~4. These will be primarily facilitated by you or a classmate. The goal of these discussions is to help clarify the day's concepts, but also help you develop ideas for analyses and design proposals (e.g, things to read, ideas to think about, arguments to write about, design ideas to flesh out).

Discussions will proceed like this:

1. Everyone who has not yet facilitated a group raises their hand, and one of those students volunteers to facilitate. If everyone has facilitated, than anyone can volunteer. The facilitator introduces themselves, including names, optional pronouns, and their interests in information and technology, and their interests outside of that.
2. Everyone else introduces themselves, using the same format as the faciliator.
3. The facilitator opens discussion about the big ideas discussed in the day's lecture, probing into the questions, opinions, and thoughts that the group has. The facilitator's job is to help 1) identify themes in what students are surfacing, 2) opportunities for analyses and designs, and 3) to ensure that no one student dominates the discussion, is interrupted, and that everyone is respected. These prompts might help advance the discussion:
   1. Did any of today’s main concepts surprise anyone?
   2. Does anyone have any specific thoughts on today’s lecture, or examples?
   3. Of the examples that were given in the lecture, which one(s) do you think you meet the most in your day to day lives?
   4. What is one information system that was mentioned in class today that you are curious about? Can you think of any other information systems that are similar to it that you know a lot about (this could be a good place to start thinking about writing topics!)
   5. What are some of the issues you’ve noticed within this information system?
   6. Who does this system benefit? Who does this system harm?
   7. What would need to be changed in order to minimize the risks this system presents? Is it something that needs to be designed differently, or a larger aspect you can analyze?
4. All other students during this portion should contribute to the discussion, and look for ideas to write analyses or design proposals about. The best discussions often have discussants build off each other to further evolve a point of view; if someone has a thought but does not get to say it before the conversation moves on, encourage them to write it down, and bring it up later when it is either relevant again.
5. When there are 10 minutes remaining, the facilitator will go around the group one more time, asking each student to share what they're thinking about analyzing or designing for their next submission, and how the day's big ideas might have changed their plans.
6. After the discussion, the class will come back together and TAs will report out on the themes they heard.

During discussions, TAs will be around the classroom and in online breakouts, doing the following:

• They'll ensure you have a facilitator for your group.
• They will rotate between groups to make sure they are on task, listening and challenging each other.
• They will take notes about what they notice so they can report out to the broader group about the key things that surfaced. These notes may include:
  • Did you notice an interesting turn the discussion took?
  • Did you see an example of a specific topic that solidified the idea in people’s minds? Or an exciting ‘aha!’ moment?
  • Did you talk about valuable resources that you believe may help the rest of the class with their writing/analysis projects?
• They will identify (if they can!) struggles with analyzing, designing, and writing, and ensure Amy offers guidance after the discussion

💯 How will you be assessed?

For what it's worth, I am a grading abolitionist. That means that I don't believe we ever should have started trying to quantify student knowledge or using these measures to decide who gets access to resources or opportunities.

I do, however, believe strongly the value of feedback as crucial resource for learning. And so I've designed this class to maximize feedback and minimize attention on grades.

Here's the process for the whole quarter:

• Carefully read the two analysis and design assignment descriptions and see examples.
• Expect to create an analysis or design proposal about once every week or two. These words may come in many forms, including plain essays, diagrams, videos, or whatever else you're comfortable crafting.
• You can submit up to four analyses and four design proposals at any time throughout the quarter before 5:30 pm on the Friday before finals week. This is the only deadline in the class; there are no extensions or credit for late submissions, so do not miss it. TAs will assign peer reviews weekly after Thursdays at 5:30 pm, so consider that an informal weekly deadline. TAs aren't obligated to do any more work on peer reviews until the following Thursday once they've started. Miss the Thursday due date at your own risk.
• Before a submission is assessed, you will need to provide peer reviews on two other students submissions. See our peer review guide for requirements and tips on how to conduct yours.
• After that, your TA will provide detailed feedback on your submission and a grade for it on a 0-4 scale. They'll attempt to provide that assessment within 1 week of submission.
• You may not revise and resubmit a submission. Every submission must be new. You may, however, get feedback from as many peers as you like before you submit, to gauge your progress.
• Your final grade point for the class is the average of your highest analysis and design submission, plus your extra credit, rounded to the nearest tenth of a grade point. Here are some examples of how that might play out:
  • You get four analysis scores (2.5, 3.7, 3.8, 3.9) and four design scores (2.0, 2.4, 3.2, 3.3). The average of the two max scores is (3.9 + 3.3) ÷ 2 = 3.6. This is a case of a student submitting almost every week, improving their scores each time, and eventually ending up with a pretty solid grade point.
  • You get one analysis score (4.0) and one design score (4.0). The average of the two max scores is (4.0 + 4.0) ÷ 2 = 4.0. This is a student who probably worked incredibly hard on polishing two submissions, taking the risk that they would do well.
  • You do not submit an analysis essay but submit many design essays (3.3, 3.8, 3.9, 3.9). The average of the two max scores is (0 + 3.9) ÷ 2 = 2.0.
  • You submit some ChatGPT generated mediocre writing and get a (2.4) analysis score and (2.2) design score. The average of the two max scores is (2.4 + 2.2) ÷ 2 = 2.3. Congratulations, ChatGPT earned you a mediocre grade and you didn't have to learn anything!

This assessment scheme has some implications for your time:

• Submit early. The sooner you submit your first of each kind, the sooner you can learning about our expectations possible. The longer you wait, the less time you have to learn and try again.
• Get feedback. Because you can't revise and resubmit an essay, it's in your best interest to get as much feedback from peers as possible prior to submitting. Come to class, discuss ideas, get feedback in lab, come to my office hours. The only way to succeed in this course is to truly engage in the ideas, in writing, and revising.
• Strategize. If you happen to be really good at analyzing and designing information systems already, and you get 4.0 on your first tries, that's great; you've already demonstrated that you know the material, so you can chill, help peers, focus on other learning. This is by design; I want your grade to reflect the quality of your critical and creative thinking, not how much time or effort you put it. (Though I expect time and effort will be necessary for most).

I don't know if this grading system is going to work well, but I'm excited to find out with you. To me, success means that you're focused on the ideas, learning to think and write critically, actively discussing the ideas in the class with me, the TAs, and each other, and you leave fascinated by the big ideas and questions of our time about information.

Peer Reviews

See our peer review guide for requirements and guidelines.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Q. Can I submit multiple analysis and design reports in a week?
  • A. You can submit as many submissions as you like, whenever you want. The weekly Thursday 5 pm deadline is when TAs will assign peer reviews and start grading submissions by students who have completed their peer reviews.
• Q. Can I write about the same topic in an analysis and design?
  • A. You can write about the same topic as many times as you like. You just can't submit a revision of a previous submission for credit. Each submission must be new.
• Q. What if peer review feedback is bad and I want to revise?
  • A. The point of labs (and this whole quarter in general) is for you to get feedback before you submit. Submit when you're confident you're submission is good. Peer review is to give you exposure to others' writing, to practice giving constructive feedback, and to ensure TAs are grading from multiple perspectives, not just their own.
• Q. What if my peer reviewers take a long time to review?
  • A. We will grade as soon as you have completed your peer reviews. That means your grade might be based on fewer than three reviews. TAs will try to wait for peer reviews before they grade so they aren't the sole perspective, but they will not wait more than a week.
• Q. Why isn't peer review before submission?
  • A. You can get as much peer review as you like before you submit. That's what labs are for. There's nothing stopping you from using other resources to get feedback too, such as office hours, writing centers, friends and family.
• Q. Is my topic about information?
  • A. It depends on what you're writing about within that topic. Writing about how you like cats isn't really about information, nor is it an analysis or design of information system. But writing about how people express their love of cats online is very much an analysis of an information system.
• Q. What citation format should I use?
  • A. I don't care. All that matters is that we can find your source. Choose whatever format makes you happy.
• Q. Can I send you or my TA my draft for feedback?
  
  • A. We will provide feedback synchronously during lecture studio time and labs. TAs are not obligated to provide feedback outside of class, aside from grading.

📝 W Credit

Are you looking for "additional writing" credit to meet degree requirements? INFO 200 is by default not a W-course — not all of the INFO 200 instructors require intensive writing — but this course definitely is a writing intensive course, based on the W course criteria.

• To earn W credit for this course, all you need to do is submit 5 or more analysis/design submissions. This is just to ensure that you've done sufficient writing to meet the W credit criteria. You do not need to request it, or notify anyone. We can count to 5 :)

This is a 5-credit course so you'd earn 5 W credits.

💯 Extra Credit

Maybe you aren't happy with your grade near the end of the quarter, but don't have time or opportunity to submit another assignment, or would rather do something else than make another submission. I've devised three ways for your to get extra credit. You can do any combination of them, including all three, for a total of 0.6 extra grade points.

Option 1: Present

This extra credit route exercises your public speaking skills.

• Prepare a five minute speech based on one of your writings (or something new if you like). It can be a reading of one of the essays or proposals you wrote, a presentation with slides, a Socratic argumentative dialog, a video, or any other format you like. All it must do is creatively community an argument or design proposal.
• Give your speech/presentation/video/whatever on one of the two last days of class in week 10 of the schedule, or in lab. These days are reserved solely for extra credit speeches, and as a way to celebrate your thinking throughout the quarter. You can sign up for lecture slots on the sign up sheet, or coordinate with your TA to present in your lab.
• You can work on these with other students. You will all receive the same extra credit.
• Receive the love, praise, and adoration of your teachers and classmates after you're done!

If you do this, we'll add 0.2 to your final grade point. These are pass/fail; all good faith efforts to creatively communicate an analytical argument or design idea will receive full credit.

Option 2: Critique

This extra credit route exercises your writing and social skills:

• Connect with a classmate during studio or lab and follow the peer review guide to offer each other formative feedback on a submission.
• Take a selfie with the person you swapped with, and submit it to Canvas, with a summary of the feedback you received and how it influenced your writing.

You can do this up to 4 times; each time will add 0.05 to your final grade point in the class, for a maximum of 0.2.

Option 3: Focus

This extra credit route exercises your self-regulation skills:

• Attend lecture in person (on time, no later than 5 minutes late), and at the beginning of class, come to the front and trade all of your internet-connected devices for pen and paper until studio time. Sign next to your name on the class roster.
• When studio begins, you may come to retrieve your devices.
• By 5pm Friday before finals week, submit a reflection on your experience of being without your devices. What did you notice about yourself over time? Did your feelings about your devices change? What did it feel like to be disconnected from the internet? This reflection is complete/incomplete, and not graded on a rubric. As long as reflects, it gets credit.

You can do this every lecture; each time you do, you will add 0.02 to your final grade point in the class, for a maximum of 0.2 in the last five weeks of class.

📜 What do I expect of you?

Throughout all of the experiences above, I expect you to:

• Come prepared
  • Read the required reading before the class in which we discuss it
  • Come ready to share ideas and get feedback on writing
• Have humility about each others' different positions, power, and privilege
  • Do proactively fix inclusion issues or report them to a TA or instructor
  • Don't assume everyone has the same resources or rights as you
• Respect everyone's identities and lived experiences
  • Do respect names, pronouns, and pronunciations
  • Don't make assumptions about who someone is or what they believe
• Be responsive to your instructors and each other
  • Respond to emails and other messages within a few days
  • Never ghost a collaborator unless someone's behavior is harassment 
• Credit other people for their work
  • Do give explicit credit for any images, video, or other content you reuse or generate with tools
  • Don't copy other people's writing or content and present it as your own
• Prioritize learning over grades
  • Do ask questions and pursue curiosities
  • Don't obsess over points and GPAs

And I expect everyone in class to help assert these expectations — you, your TAs, and of course myself.

Finally, a special note about generative AI (e.g., large language models and other data-driven content synthesis tools). I view these tools as tools, and ones that are not particularly good at writing, illustration, or other content generation. They create a convincing illusion of intelligence to be sure, but by no means to they generate novel, meaningful, credible insight about the world. You may use them to generate the essays required in this course, and if you do, you must credit the tools and the billions of people who created the writing on which they were trained. However, my prediction is that the writing it generates will not be particularly good, or meet this course's highest standards, and so relying on them to do your thinking means not learning, and settling for mediocre thinking. My recommendation is therefore that you only consider very narrow uses of them for things like 1) spell checking, 2) first drafts of translations if you are an English learner, and 3) superficial feedback on your writing. At best, however, these uses will be supplementary to your mind and skills, because believe it or not, you are smarter than a predictive model of the public internet's hot takes.

🐈‍⬛ Who is Boomy?

Boomy is my cat; her name is short for Boomer, as in, "Okay boomer", because she is old, grumpy, and dismissive of structural changes in opportunity and equity that have made younger generations' lives less tenable.