There are four parts to your research project, which will serve as the final project for the class. The first two parts are due in Week 11, and the last parts are due in exam week.
We’ve looked at ethical issues, epistemological questions, research skills, and creative approaches to arts and humanities questions this semester. The research project asks you to integrate all these skills and knowledge from this semester into a project that applies class concepts to a community that you want to impact.
For this project, you’ll research how technological change is likely to affect a community you are part of or want to become part of, and analyze the ethical and social implications of these technological changes, including the likely effects on marginalized communities. You should address at least two of the following in your project: machine learning, surveillance and privacy (can include workplace surveillance), predictive analytics or “Big Data,” or algorithmic bias. The “community” you focus on can be any of the following:
A career field that you want to go into (mechanical engineers, physical therapists, historians, lawyers, etc.)
A community related to an interest or hobby of yours (people who knit, soccer fans, BTS fans, fans of the show Cobra Kai, people who play the violin, people who play videogames), or a community united by a shared goal or cause (people who encourage students to vote, people who want to advocate for public libraries)
A physical location that is also a community (MSU campus, the Lansing area, your hometown).
Make sure to choose a community that you know well or that you hope to be part of in the future.
DUE APRIL 27
The first half of the assignment is due on April 27 here. This part of the assignment will be shared on D2L so that your classmates have the chance to offer feedback on your project. Put all parts of this assignment in ONE attached file. Include:
An annotated bibliography with four sources that are highly relevant to the requirements of the assignment. An annotated bibliography is a bibliography where each source is followed by a paragraph that summarizes and analyzes the source; it’s a way to show different sources as part of a larger conversation about a topic. See Week 10 materials for how to write an effective annotated bibliography, and make sure to demonstrate that you can find sources that are highly relevant to the goals of the project, and evaluate, summarize, and analyze these sources.
Write an Ethics and Technology Worksheet that analyzes the social, equity, and ethical implications of the technological changes you researched. This is not a worksheet that you have to “fill out,” but rather a document (minimum 2-pages single space) that you write that answers all of the following:
What community are you examining?
Based on your sources, what are the main ways technology will affect this community in the next few years or decades? Make sure to address at least two of the following: machine learning, surveillance and privacy (can include workplace surveillance), predictive analytics or “Big Data,” or algorithmic bias.
Based on your research, articulate at least TWO specific ethical or equity concerns related to these technological shifts (for example, something being inconvenient is not necessarily an ethical issue). Be clear about who might be harmed and why this issue is likely to be important based on your knowledge of course materials or conversations about technology and society. For at least one of these issues, consider how some groups might be affected differently than others based on who is usually centered or has more power or is more visible (for example, you might consider race, gender, socioeconomic status, nation, region/location, age, technological access or skill, disability, health, or other types of identities or communities related to what we’ve studied this semester)
What is one big takeaway about these ethics or equity issues related to technology that you think your community should be more aware of? (You probably want to focus on this takeaway for the Creative Communication)
What are you planning to do for your Creative Communication due during exam week? Do you have any questions for your classmates that would help you in this project? (This last question is not graded – it’s just so you can get feedback from peers that might help with your work!)
DUE MAY 3
These last parts of the research project are due in exam week on Tuesday, May 3; submit here.
1. Craft a “Creative Communication” that would be appropriate for a real-world audience that raises awareness of the ethical/equity/social issues you researched and analyzed in the first half of the project. This might be a video, an infographic, a song, a knitting or craft project, a painting, etc. if it’s a video or audio file, you can post on Flipgrid and send me a link. Your intended audience should be in the community (career field, town, etc.) that you focused on in the first half of the project. Make sure to engage with an idea or concept in your Ethics and Technology Worksheet that you want to communicate to other people. Feel free to be fun and creative!
2. Write a “Next Steps Memo” (200 words minimum) that answers all of the following:
In crafting your Creative Communication for your audience, what were the most important decisions you made? Why did you make them?
Who in real life could you share your Creative Communication with to make an impact on the community you chose? Why would they be a good choice? (For a career field, you could look at a professional organization, for example)
Grading rubric for this assignment (the entire research project will be graded as one assignment):
The assignment selects, analyzes, and uses sources effectively: 30 points
The Ethics and Technology worksheet effectively analyzes relevant issues and demonstrates strong understanding of course concepts: 30 points
The Creative Communication and Next Steps Memo substantively engage with issues related to technology and ethics or equity in a way that would effectively communicate with the intended audience: 40 points
Extra credit for especially creative projects: up to 10 points
Last Completed Projects
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