Day 8: (Mon Sep 23) Child as Scientist

Notes for 2019-09-23. See also the Fall 2019 Calendar.

Agenda

  1. Administrative

    • Please note: on Wednesday we will meet directly at the Children’s School, MMC-17. Please meet at the south lobby, one floor down from the rotunda entrance. Please be prompt, we will enter the secure school area precisely at 9:30AM.


  2. Assignments

    • Due today: Demo 3: The Conversation.

    • Due today: read Investigating Rocks and Sand.

    • Due Mon Sep 30: Re-implement demo 3 electronics using the CKS-1 Arduino Uno Shield. Revise software in response to critique.

      1. You’ll need to solder some portion of the connectors on the shield board, including all the ‘headers and core components’, some number of inputs, and possibly the DC motor section. See CKS-1 Arduino Uno Shield for a guide.

      2. You’ll need to crimp connector pins onto the motor and switch wires.

      3. You’ll need to choose some unresolved attribute of behavior which can be improved strictly in code.

    • Due Mon Sep 30: Children’s School Observation Notes.

    • Due Mon Sep 30: Project Ideation. Write a list of 50 project ideas. Be sure to bring them printed on single sheet of paper to pass around during an in-class exercise.

  3. In-class

    • Looking ahead at the Fall 2019 Calendar.

      1. Demo 4 will be due in two weeks on Oct 7.

      2. Demo 4 will be shown on Friday Oct 11 at the Children’s School.

    • Demo 3 review. This time we’ll play out an exercise in critique.

      1. Each pair will allow another pair to explore their conversation devices. Here is your chance to let your inner child speak. Then the pairs swap roles.

      2. The authors will then demo and explain their conversation devices to their counterparties.

      3. During the checkoff review, the authors will operate the devices, but the counterparty pair will explain and defend the work. If something comes up which wasn’t originally discussed, the counterparty pair will improvise a reasonable answer based on their own judgement and imagination.

      4. As before:

        1. Responders, please start with simply describing what you see in the work.

        2. The proxy authors will then pose an specific, unresolved question which would help further development.

        3. The responders will then ask neutral questions which may help reveal the work.

      5. The authors will have a chance to clarify their intentions at the end.

      6. The following prompt questions may help spark your inquiries:

        1. What is the language of the conversation?

        2. How does the physical form of the communication create symbolic meaning?

        3. How does the temporal flow of the gestures expose a grammar?

        4. In what ways does the behavior express or simulate intelligence?