Due at 10:10 a.m. on Monday, January 24th

1. Read the syllabus

10 points

The syllabus captures lots of important information. Please read the whole thing from head to toe before our Monday class so that we’re all on the same page. A link to the webpage version of the syllabus is available under the “reference” header on the left navigation bar; if you prefer a PDF (which makes for slightly prettier reading), that’s available here.

I’ll give a little oral quiz at the start of class Monday on some points addressed in the syllabus. I’m going to call on people at random. If I get the sense that people haven’t read it, we’ll need to use class time Monday to go over policy stuff, which I’d love not to have to do. So: please read it!

2. Prepare to share a past project from this class

5 points

This is the ninth semester that I’ve been teaching this class, so there are eight semesters’ worth of prior student work to check out to get a sense of the sorts of projects people have made.

Please take a look at some (or all, if you’re feeling motivated/bored) of the prior semesters’ student work, and find a particular Project 2: Assistive Device for Yourself or Final Project: Assistive Device for a Client that you’d like to share with the class. Find one that’s especially interesting, effective, surprising, intriguing, or for any reason you’re drawn to. (Not sure where to look for prior semesters’ pages? In the navigation column on the left ← click on “Previous Semesters.”)

In class on Monday, we’ll go around the room and you’ll have ~30 seconds to talk about that project and why you wanted to share it. Your job isn’t to advocate for it per se—just introduce it to the room and then we can briefly discuss it.

You don’t need to submit anything for this; just be prepared to identify your project of interest when I call on you on Monday.

3. Sign up for the Smart Maker NSF study (optional)

As you may recall from today’s visitor Marti Louw, and from this section of the syllabus, this semester we’re conducting some research on improving student documentation and physical computing learning. If you choose to contribute, you will be helping us create better and richer materials for student learning, aaaaaaand as an added bonus, prticipants will get a $25 gift certificate at the conclusion of the semester. To sign up for the study, please fill out this short-and-sweet form.

4. Complete some asynchronous learning on the Arduino board and electronics

15 points

Please complete the first two modules of asynchronous learning via Canvas; they are called “Arduino Board” and “Electronics.” In total, these sum to about an hour and a half of lectures. Feel free to speed them up or slow them down as you’re watching them.

The first series of lectures will talk about the physical Arduino board, and many of its features. While I hope to get these boards actually into your hands (if you’re able to pick them up), it’s not necessary to have a board to understand and follow along with the lectures.

The second series of lectures cover some important elementary ideas behind electronics, including how we can draw schematics to represent circuits and the basic mathematics that describe electrical flow in a circuit. (Starting on Monday, we’ll learn how to put these ideas into action, but for now, it’s just going to be some stage-setting theory.)

As you’re watching, take notes and be sure to actually try to figure things out as I ask you to in the videos! If you just sit and watch as drool comes out of the corner of your mouth, odds are you’re not going to emerge from the hour of video much wiser.

Finally, please post at least one question to the Asynchronous homework questions forum on Canvas—and more are welcome. If you truly have no questions at all as you go through the asynchronous videos, then make a question up and post that instead.