Digital Media and Information in Society/Syllabus/



Instructor Contact Information
Professor Steve Schneider

e: steve@sunypoly.edu

o: Donovan Hall 2143B

c: ‪315.520.8861‬

Course Meetings

 * Section 01H: Mondays, Wednesdays 9:20am - 10:30am. Kunsela A-133
 * Section 02H: Mondays, Wednesdays 10:40am - 11:50am. Kunsela A-133

Course Description
An introduction to the impact of mass and digital media on American society. Through study of communication theory and a comparison of broadcast to digital media, and creation of original digital media projects, students will explore the relevance of the emerging information technologies within various disciplines and their own lives. Meets General Education Humanities requirement.

Additional contact information for student issues or grievances about the instructor

 * Department Chair: Professor Ryan Lizardi (lizardr@sunypoly.edu)
 * College of Arts &amp; Sciences Dean: Dean Carlie Phipps (phippsc@sunypoly.edu)

Learning Goals
Broad statements describing overall desired learning outcomes

Understand and Analyze (Digital) Media and Information

 * Comprehend the history, forms, and impacts of (digital) media and information
 * Evaluate the relationship between people, information and technology in historical context
 * Apply theoretical frameworks and scholarly traditions in communications and media studies to explorations about information and technology.

Develop and Apply Exploration and Research Skills

 * Use ChatGPT as a collaborative tool to generate ideas, perform research, and refine writing.
 * Use digital libraries to identify, review, and apply knowledge from relevant scholarly sources.
 * Engage with Wikipedia, understanding the rules, guidelines, and ethics of contributing to Wikipedia, and utilizing Wikipedia for research, writing, communication, and learning citation skills.

Engage in Collaborative Knowledge Creation

 * Create and share knowledge about the future of digital information on Wikipedia.
 * Create and share collaborative conversations applying theoretical frameworks to course topics.
 * Share reflections on the advantages, limitations, and ethical considerations of using AI like ChatGPT and digital libraries in research.
 * Share reflections on the impact of engagement with public knowledge platforms like Wikipedia in digital media and society.

Learning Objectives
Specific statements outlining what learners should achieve

Apply Theoretical Frameworks

 * Use relevant theoretical frameworks to explore course topics

Contribute to Wikipedia

 * Identify and/or select Wikipedia articles related to the themes of the course and assess their current quality
 * Create or enhance these articles according to Wikipedia's editorial standards

Use language models to explore topics

 * Collaborate with ChatGPT to generate exploratory conversations on class topics
 * Summarize, reflect on and share these collaborations

Use ChatGPT and Digital Libraries for Research

 * Employ AI tools like ChatGPT for idea generation, research, and refining writing
 * Utilize digital libraries tools effectively to identify and review resources.

Student Outcomes
Measurable results reflecting learnerns knowledge or skills acquired

Evidence of applying theoretical frameworks

 * Portfolio of journal entries applying theoretical frameworks to class topics and reflecting on the experience of collaborating with a language model.

Evidence of enhancing Wikipedia content

 * Provide evidence by completing project of enhancing Wikipedia content, demonstrating ability to assess quality and improve articles according to Wikipedia's editorial standards.

Evidence of proficiency in using ChatGPT for ideation and exploration

 * Share collaborative conversations with ChatGPT about course topics.

Evidence of understanding Wikipedia's community, guidelines, and citation practices

 * Provide evidence, through Wikiedu assignments, of understanding of Wikipedia's structure, dynamics, rules, ethical guidelines, and citation practices.

Philosophy

 * 1) This class is designed to allow flexibility for students to select learning activities they believe will best allow them to accomplish the learning objectives.
 * 2) There are a limited set of learning activities that all students must complete in order to pass the class with a grade of C- or better.
 * 3) Completing additional learning activities provide a path to earn grades ranging from a C to an A+.
 * 4) Each type of learning activity earns students a specified number of points when completed.
 * 5) All learning activities completed by students receive full credit upon submission.
 * 6) All assignments are due on a specified date. Assignments submitted on or before the due date receive an on-time point. Assignments submitted late do not receive this point. Students are required to certify assignments that are submitted on-time.

Implementation
The table below identifies the types of learning activities and the points earned for completion of each activity of that type.

Students who engage in the minimum activities required will earn 100 points:

Students who engage in addition activities can earn up to 216 points:

Grades will be dependent on the number of points earned, as well as completion of all minimum activities:

Academic Integrity

 * The SUNY Poly Academic Integrity policy (https://www.sunypoly.edu/sites/default/files/studentLife/Student-Handbook.pdf, pp. 47-52) provides some guidance for our course with respect to academic integrity.
 * Article III - Summary of Academic Integrity Policy states that &quot;a student's name or other unique identifier on any course exercises ... is taken as assurance that the exercise is the product of the student's own thoughts ... except as indicated by quotation marks, citations, references and footnotes.&quot; In our assignments, evidence of collaboration with ChatGPT by linking to the ChatGPT conversation is required.
 * Article IV - Prohibited Behavior states that plagiarism is &quot;Any piece of work that has been presented as the individual creation of the student is assumed to involve no assistance from any other person.&quot; In our assignments, this will extent to assistance from a language model, and thus work that has been collaboratively produced with a language model must include a link to the ChatGPT conversaqtion.
 * Article IV - Prohibited Behavior - Section 7 provides examples of other prohibited behavior. In our class, an additional prohibited behavior is falsely certifying attendance in a class, falsely certifying on-time submission of an assignment, or falsely certifying submission of an assignment.
 * Article V - Adjudication of Charges states that &quot;The faculty member must make a judgement of whether the student’s action is an error of learning, an error of judgement, or an action of willful intention. In the event of errors of learning or judgement, the faculty member must follow the guidelines for the assignments or course, wherein the corrective actions and/or pedagogical responses must be stated for such errors. In the event of the latter two, the faculty member shall assess an appropriate penalty.&quot;
 * To that end, a student making an initial false certification will be considered to have committed an error of judgement. Second false certifications will be considered actions of willful intention, and will receive a penalty of 12 points deducted from their semester grade. Additional acts of false certification will be considered actions of willful intention, and will receive a penalty of 117 points deducted from their semester grade (resulting, by definition, in an F grade).
 * Upon discovery of any act of false certification, the professor will, within two weeks, communicate the nature of the intended penalty to the student by official University email, create a written record of the incident, including the evidence, the assessed penalty and whether the reason why the incident is believed to be an error in judgment worthy of penalty or willful misconduct, and report the to the Provost of the alleged offense and after notification has been made to the student.

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

 * In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, SUNY Polytechnic Institute is committed to ensuring comprehensive educational access and accommodations for all registered students seeking access to meet course requirements and fully participate in programs and activities.
 * Students with documented disabilities or medical conditions are encouraged to request these services by registering with the Office of Student Accessibility Services.
 * Please request accommodations early in the semester, or as soon as you become registered with the Office of Student Accessibility Services, so that we have adequate time to arrange your approved academic accommodation/s.
 * Once Accessibility Services creates your accommodation plan, it is your responsibility to provide me a copy of the accommodation plan. If you experience any access barriers in this course, such as with printed content, graphics, online materials, etc., reach out to me or Accessibility Services right away.

For information related to these services or to schedule an appointment, please contact the Office of Student Accessibility Services using the information provided below.

Office of Student Accessibility Services

e: SAS@sunypoly.edu

p: 315.792.7170

o: Cayan Library L113