This page lists the schedule of topics, readings, and assignment due dates for the course. This schedule will be updated throughout the semester: any changes will be announced in class and on the course website.
For class meetings where a reading is listed, make sure you have done the reading before you come to class. Also note that there are suggestions regarding when to start some of the readings.
The agendas for each day will include some notes about the day’s topic and activity, and may also include discussion questions. Please read each agenda before you come to class. Keep in mind that the agenda will usually include things you need to do to prepare for the day’s activity: these will be indicated with the following “get ready” graphic:
It is very important that you do all of the “get ready” tasks before you come to class!
In the readings, LP is the textbook (Learning Processing). For other readings, see list below.
Topic codes:
- SC Success curriculum
- VA Visual art
- MU Music
- DH Digital humanities
- PS Science
- PH Physical computing
| Date | Topic | Activity | Agenda | Due | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wed, Aug 29 | SC | First day | Day 1 | Assignment 0 | — |
| Mon, Sep 3 | Labor day, no class | ||||
| Wed, Sep 5 | SC | Discussion: expectations for college Team project intro |
Day 2 | — | NYTEd30Jul15, Lahey15 |
| Mon, Sep 10 | VA | Lab 1: Drawing with Processing | Day 3 | — | Start Noll67 LP, Chapters 1–2 |
| Wed, Sep 12 | VA | Lab 2: Repetition | Day 4 | — | — |
| Mon, Sep 17 | VA | Lab 3: Animation | Day 5 | A2 (project proposal) | — |
| Wed, Sep 19 | VA | Lab 4: Generative Art | Day 6 | A3 outline | LP, Chapters 3–4 ShiffmanNOCCh8 Bailey2018Artnome |
| Mon, Sep 24 | VA | Computers and art discussion | Day 7 | — | Noll67 |
| Wed, Sep 26 | MU | Lab 5: Drum and bass | Day 8 | A3 draft | Start IAMUSDocumentary, Guardian1Jul12, and 0musicPlaylist |
| Mon, Oct 1 | MU | Lab 6: Melodies | Day 9 | — | — |
| Wed, Oct 3 | MU | Lab 7: Sample playback | Day 10 | A3 essay, code (due by Friday) | — |
| Mon, Oct 8 | Class canceled | — | — | ||
| Wed, Oct 10 | MU | Computers and music discussion | Day 11 | — | IAMUSDocumentary, Guardian1Jul12, and 0musicPlaylist |
| Mon, Oct 15 | Fall vacation, no class | — | — | — | |
| Wed, Oct 17 | SC | Ready, set, registration! | — | A4 draft | — |
| Mon, Oct 22 | PS | Lab 8: Outbreak | Day 12 | — | — |
| Wed, Oct 24 | DH | Lab 9: N-grams | Day 14 | A4 essay, code (due by Friday) | — |
| Mon, Oct 29 | PH | Lab 10: Physical Computing with Scratch - Day 1 | Day 15 | — | — |
| Wed, Oct 31 | PH | Ubiquitous and Pervasive Computing Discussion | Day 16 | A5 bibliography (due by Friday) | Weiser91 |
| Mon, Nov 5 | PH | Lab 10: Physical Computing with Scratch - Day 2 | — | — | — |
| Wed, Nov 7 | PH | Wearable Computing Discussion and Team Building | Day 18 | — | Starner2001a, Starner2001b, SignAloud News Release, and SignAloud Gloves Demo |
| Mon, Nov 12 | PH | Lab 11: Designing Children’s Toys with Scratch | — | ||
| Wed, Nov 14 | PH | Lab 12: Connecting Arduino and Processing | — | A5 outline (due by Friday) | — |
| Mon, Nov 19 | PH | Lab 13: Computing Machines that are Finite | — | — | — |
| Wed, Nov 21 | Thanksgiving vacaction, no class | — | — | — | |
| Mon, Nov 26 | PH | Project Milestone 1 demo | — | — | — |
| Wed, Nov 28 | PH | Work on Project | — | A5 draft (due by Friday) | — |
| Mon, Dec 3 | PH | Project Milestone 2 demo on Project | — | — | — |
| Wed, Dec 5 | PH | Work on Project | — | A5 peer evals | — |
| Mon, Dec 10 | PH | Project Milestone 3 demo | — | A5 essay (due by Wednesday) | — |
| Mon, Dec 17 | PH | Final Presentation and Demos | — | — | — |
Readings/Videos/Media:
- NYTEd30Jul15: Advice for New Students From Those Who Know (Older Students), New York Times, July 30th, 2015
- Lahey15: Jessica Lahey, When Success Leads to Failure, The Atlantic, August 11th, 2015
- Noll67: A. Michael Noll, The digital computer as a creative medium, IEEE Spectrum, Volume 4, Issue 10, Oct 1967 (Note that you will need to download this article from campus)
- ShiffmanNOCCh8: Daniel Shiffman, The Nature of Code, Chapter 8
- Bailey2018Artnome: Jason Bailey, Generative Art Finds Its Prodigy, Artnome, September 9th, 2018
- IAMUSDocumentary: IAMUS / MELOMICS documentary
- Guardian1Jul12: Iamus, classical music’s computer composer, live from Malaga, Philip Ball, in The Guardian, July 1st, 2012
- 0musicPlaylist: 0music
- NYTArts17Nov10: Digital Keys for Unlocking the Humanities’ Riches, New York Times, Nov 17th, 2010
- MichelAidenTEDJul2011: What we learned from 5 million books, TEDxBoston 2011
- Weiser91: The Computer for the 21st Century, Scientific American. 1991
- Starner2001a: The Challenges of Wearable Computing: Part 1. IEEE Micro. Volume 21. Issue 4. 2001.
- Starner2001b: The Challenges of Wearable Computing: Part 2. IEEE Micro. Volume 21. Issue 4. 2001.
- SignAloudNews: SignAloud News Release
- SignAloudDemo: SignAloud Gloves Demo
