Working in Delta Lab
Generally the way this works is that we invite people to come to our lab meetings (Monday 1-2; Wednesday 2-3; in Ford 2.320) so you can see what is going on, if you like us, if we like you, etc. After you have been around for a while and get a sense of what the lab does, we’ll talk about what kinds of projects you’d be interested in working on, what your skills are, and what you’re interested in learning. Then we put you on a project with a graduate student coach who is usually leads the project and will advise you as well.
Our undergrads are working on a pretty wide variety of projects from design, to user research, to coding, to academic research, so there are a lot of possibilities, especially on the Digital Loft project. Some students will so independent studies and others are just doing it for fun/for experience. We also have a few work study positions, mostly for testing.
Applying to LS department
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Design of learning environments
LS 429
This course focuses on designing instruction using the human-centered design process and methods from cognitive science, interaction design and lesson study. In the first part of the course, we'll conduct task analyses and student interviews to understand the knowledge, skills and dispositions learners must acquire and the learning challenges they face. Next we'll use basic interaction design methods like brainstorming, personas, scenarios and diagrams to generate and sketch possible instructional solutions. The later part of the course will focus on prototyping a lesson and lesson observation (testing). The final task will be to design a research plan for testing a learning principle used in the design.
By the end of the course you will be able to use human-centered design to create effective learning environments, to use research to inform design, and to develop research questions based on design.
Digital design for social change
SESP Special topics
To change organizations and societies, citizens must persuade others to take action, and for Millennials, this means mastering new digital literacies. In this course you will learn how to use interactive media to develop policy messages that educate and persuade. Specifically, you will learn fundamental skills and concepts for: (1) analyzing policy texts, (2) conducting human-centered, iterative design and (3) programming interactive media including flash, html, and if time allows, the social web (such as Facebook and Twitter).
This year, your client will be high school citizen journalists in Chicago's immigrant communities. Your design challenge will be to create interactive digital products that help these journalists increase their audience's understanding of policy issues. Using a policy topic of your choosing (such as money in politics, immigration policy, global warming, etc.) possible projects might include:
1.A compelling and persuasive interactive presentation that provides greater depth on the policy issue (appearing alongside journalists' video profiles)
2.A mobile or social web application (for iphone or facebook) that helps citizen journalists to reach a larger audience or increase interaction with their current audience
3.On-line curriculum for teaching student journalists to report on policy
There are no prerequisites for the course. To tailor this syllabus of this special topics class to students’ interests and needs, enrollment will be limited. If you have questions about the course, please email the instructor.