IML 346: Methods of Digital Research
Units: 2.0
Spring 2016—Thursdays 14:00-15:50
Location: SCIL 106
Instructor: Kiki Benzon
Office: SCI 101C
Office Hours: by appointment
Contact Info: kbenzon@cinema.usc.edu
Course Description
This course provides a context for students to enhance their awareness of digital research strategies and develop a project proposal that will form the basis for a future research undertaking. In the first part of the course, we will consider scholarly research as it is practiced across the disciplines, and explore the ways in which digital technologies have reshaped and expanded these practices. Drawn primarily from digital humanities scholarship, assigned readings will inform our analysis of media- rich and multimodal research that employs information visualization, augmented reality, interactivity, or other techniques in order to acquire, distribute, or analyze data. Exposure to an array of digital research projects will assist the student in selecting a topic for her or his research project. In the second part of the course, students will proceed through the stages of project development, from defining a research question and plotting a research methodology to designing prototypes and writing a comprehensive project proposal.
Learning Objectives
-!increase understanding of the functions and protocols of academic research
-!engage with academic and cultural debates in the digital humanities
-!develop awareness of digital research strategies
-!broaden knowledge of important and innovative projects that employ digital research strategies -!sharpen design proficiency through conceiving, prototyping, and testing the project’s digital framework
-pose research questions, define objectives, plot methodology, determine means of results analysis–
and clearly express all of these things in a research project proposal
Required Readings and Supplementary Materials
All required reading will be made available to students through the MA+P Wiki.
Required Readings and Supplementary Materials
All required reading will be made available to students through the course website, iml346.com.
Assessment of Assignments
In the first part of the course, lectures and discussions on various digital research strategies—visualization, design fiction, interactive narrative, etc.—will direct students to potential subjects for their digital research project analysis (15%); students will describe and assess a project of interest to them, commenting on the appropriateness of the research strategy in light of the project’s subject and objectives. From these theoretical and design inquiries, students will begin to investigate individual areas of research for the MA+P majors thesis project, and assemble their ideas in a multimedia research montage (10%).
In the second part of the course, we will undertake two design projects, which will challenge students (individually and in groups) to conceive, design, and mock-up or prototype a device, object, artwork or interaction that fulfills a brief or responds to a set of prompts. For the first challenge The Film From the Future, students will develop a short video (15%) (a narrative, advertisement, documentary, or similar work) that reflects some aspect of an imagined future; these videos will be posted on the course website and screened/critiqued in class. The second challenge requires students to design, prototype, and pitch an impact game (15%) that addresses a social or political issue; students will submit a pitch deck.
The final part of the course is dedicated to further developing the thesis project. Building on the investigations launched in the multimedia research montage, students will deepen their research into an area of interest, determine a core concept or research question, and develop a viable and defensible methodology that will address their question or concept. Deliverables for this phase of the course are a thesis deck (15%), which will be screened and submitted on the last day of class, and a research proposal (15%), which will outline the project’s objectives, describe its cultural and technical context, delineate its methodology, and defend the proposed design.
Participation (15%) is an important component of this course, as students will benefit from peer feedback and learn how to incorporate suggestions into successive iterations of their design projects. Through peer critique, students will gain experience scrutinizing and commenting on each other’s work in thoughtful and constructive ways. The participation grade will be based on the student’s level of engagement in peer presentations and class discussion. For each class missed without medical documentation, 2% will be deducted from the participation grade.
| Assignment | % of Grade |
| Digital Research Project Analysis | 15 |
| The Film From the Future Video | 15 |
| Impact Game and Pitch | 15 |
| Multimedia Research Montage | 10 |
| Thesis Deck | 15 |
| Thesis Project Proposal | 15 |
| Participation / Attendance | 15 |
| TOTAL | 100 |
Assignment Submission Policy
Written assignments should be submitted electronically as a PDF.
Additional Policies
Assignments submitted after the deadline will be subject to a one letter-grade penalty per day late. Attendance is mandatory; if you are absent for a medical reason, please provide a doctor’s note to avoid a 2% deduction from your participation grade. This deduction will also be applied if you arrive late to or depart early from class. Laptops, phones, and tablets must be used exclusively for course work. Please do not send or receive text messages or phone calls during class. Your participation grade will be hit hard if you spend class time lingering on Facebook, gambling online, challenging your Tetris high score, etc., etc.
Course Schedule: A Weekly Breakdown
Week 1: January 11
| Topics | introduction to the course |
Week 2: January 18
| Topics | sketch, wireframe, prototype |
| Activities | wallet design challenge |
Week 3: January 25
| Topics | media-rich art and design research |
Week 4: February 1
| Topics | media-rich art and design research |
Week 5: February 8
| Topics | thesis project development, ideation, methods |
| reading | Dietrich, Craig. “After the Document Model for Scholarly Communication: Some Considerations for Authoring with Rich Media.” Digital Studies /La champ numerique. 2.3. (2012). |
| Deliverable | digital research project analysis due (15%) |
Week 6: February 15
| Topics | thesis project development, core questions |
| Activities | fourth-yeat thesis panel paired/group discussion for thesis ideas |
Week 7: February 22 (class in computer laboratory SCIL 104)
| Topic | collecting and organizing research materials |
| Activity | collecting and assembling thesis research materials |
Week 8: March 1
| Topics | design fiction |
| Readings | Dunne, Anthony & Fiona Raby. “A Map of Unreality.” Speculative Everything: Design, Fiction, and Social Dreaming. Cambridge: MIT, 2013. 11-32. |
| Activity | The Film From the Future |
| Deliverable | multimedia research montage due (10%) |
Week 9: March 8
| Topic | TFFF |
| Activity | screen TFFF videos |
| Deliverable | post TFFF video (15%) |
Week 10: March 15
Spring Break – No Class
Week 11: March 22
| Topic | impact games |
| reading | Bogost, Ian. “The Rhetoric of Video Games.” The Ecology of Games: Connecting Youth, Games, and Learning. Edited by Katie Salen. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2008. 117–140. |
| Activity | develop games / guest facilitators |
Week 12: March 29
| Topic | impact games |
| Activity | work in groups / guest facilitators |
Week 13: April 5
| Topics | game pitches |
| Deliverable | impact game pitch (15%) |
Week 14: April 12
| Topic | thesis project |
| Activity | thesis project ideation / sketch / wireframe |
Week 15: April 19
| Topic | thesis project |
| Activity | thesis project development |
Week 16: April 26
| Topic | thesis project |
| Deliverable | screen and submit thesis decks (15%) |
Finals Week
| Deliverable | submit thesis project proposal (15%) |
Fair Use and Citation Guidelines
Fair use is a legal principle that defines certain limitations on the exclusive rights of copyright holders. MAP seeks to apply a reasonable working definition of fair use that will enable students and instructors to develop multimedia projects without seeking authorization for non-commercial, educational uses. Four factors should be considered when determining whether a use is fair: (1) the purpose and character of use, (2) the nature of the copyrighted work, (3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole, and (4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. In general, we regard the reproduction of copyrighted works for the purposes of analysis or critique in this class to be covered by the principle of fair use.
All projects will need to include academically appropriate citations in the form of a References section, which covers all sources, in order to receive a passing grade. The References area is either included in the project or as a separate document, as appropriate to your project. We will be following the KAIROS style guide for citation purposes in this class [http:/www.technorhetoric.net/styleguide.html]. Kairos uses a modified APA format, whose general guidelines and many specific examples you can find here: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
Academic Integrity
USC seeks to maintain an optimal learning environment. General principles of academic honesty include the concept of respect for the intellectual property of others, the expectation that individual work will be submitted unless otherwise allowed by an instructor, and the obligations both to protect one’s own academic work from misuse by others as well as to avoid using another’s work as one’s own. All students are expected to understand and abide by these principles. Scampus, the Student Guidebook, contains the Student Conduct Code in Section 11.00, while the recommended sanctions are located in Appendix A: http://scampus.usc.edu/. Students will be referred to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs and Community Standards for further review, should there be any suspicion of academic dishonesty. The Review process can be found at: http://www.usc.edu/studentaffairs/SJACS/.
Statement for Students with Disabilities
Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure the letter is delivered to me (or to TA) as early in the semester as possible. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open 8:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Emergency Plan
In the event of an emergency, all attempts will be made to continue MAP courses as usual. If we cannot meet synchronously, we will continue with our asynchronous work. In addition, all course materials are backed up on a secondary site (usually Blackboard) in the event that the primary wiki site should go down.