Sports, Technology, and Learning

Sports, Technology and Learning will examine the apparent alignment and discrepancies among these three areas. Students will read conference and journal papers, watch sports-related movies, critique existing sports-related technologies and prototype their own technologies. The course also plans to include guest speakers from other universities, industry and sports teams and more.
In addition to in-class discussions and student reflections, students will complete a course project. The course projects can take on many different forms. Some possible project areas include creating a custom wearable device, using data mining to model or predict sports-related behaviors or actions, or designing a curriculum to engage student-athletes in consequential learning experiences. Projects can be completed in groups or individually. Some elements of the course will involve students using different computer programming tools. However, no prior experience with programming is required. Current and former student-athletes are strongly encouraged to enroll.

Advanced Multimodal Interfaces and Analysis Research

This class is intended for students who have completed a previous class involving multimodal analytics or multimodal interfaces, and who wish to build their final projects into publishable research. Accordingly, students are expected to do one of the following:

1. Make significant advancements on a multimodal interface and conduct user studies
2. Use an existing platform to collect a larger sample of data, and perform multimodal analyses with that data.
3. Use an existing data set to explore additional multimodal analytic techniques that answer one or more research questions that are relevant to their field.
4. A select group of students may initiate a new project, or join an existing project team.

This is a hands-on project course. All students will be heavily involved in developing data analysis and/or interface development skills. Additionally, students will be expected to submit their work to one or more conferences, workshops or journals before the conclusion of the course.

Inclusive Making

Excitement for the Maker Movement continues to grow. Part of this growth stems from the idea that Making provides a means for democratization of fabrication and invention. While this is true, in part, the practices and people that are typically included under this brand are limited. In particular, issues of diversity, equity and inclusivity are seldom at the forefront of the design and implementation of Makerspaces, the tools used or the artifacts created. Hence, the purpose of this course is to bring issues of diversity, equity and inclusivity to the forefront. In particular, the course will push students to:

1. critically explore Making as a practice that promotes democratization.
2. develop interfaces that allow a broader population of students to participate in digital fabrication.
3. co-design artifacts that positively impact accessibility and inclusivity.

The course will include guest speakers, laboratory portions and a final project that encourages students to develop publishable scholarship and/or functional prototypes, as they work in interdisciplinary teams.

Computing and Socioeconomic Mobility

This project-based class will explore opportunities to utilize computer science in the service of advancing social and/or economic mobility. Students will work in teams to:

1. design experiences that allow people who are homeless or living in poverty to design and interact with technology
2. create technologies that address one or more needs of someone who is homeless or an organization that serves the homeless
3. develop computational models (and experiences) that can be used educate people about the levers that impact homeless.

Interactive Media and Technology for Learning

This is a hands-on project course. All students will design and implement interactive technologies for supporting learning. Students will be expected to do computer programming as part of this class. During this course, students will get a hands-on introduction to designing novel interfaces with multimodal sensor technology. Each week students will explore a specific modality or theory, and complete one or more activities that will challenge them to utilize that theory or modality. In order to support a strong introduction to both theory and practice, every week will include one class session involving hands-on work, and another that uses a seminar style to discuss theory and closely examine the assigned Readings. Students will be expected to use insights and ideas presented in the class in a collaborative final project.

Multimodal Learning Analytics

Multimodal (learning) Analytics will introduce students to a different analytic techniques and modalities for studying human learning in face to face learning environments. Students will spend the first few weeks designing an education research study that leverages pertinent theories from the learning sciences. Students will then run their study and collect data from several modalities. Finally students will analyze that data and articulate their findings in the form of a research paper. During the course students will encounter several data collection and analysis tools including: Rapid Miner, Tableau, Xbox Kinect, Raspberry Pi, LIWC and more. There are no prerequisites for this course but students will be required to do some computer programming.
This is a hands-on project course. All students will design and implement at least one study and also work with digital technologies.For this reason you will be expected to do computer programming. However, all projects can be completed in teams. Hence, it is not essential that all students come with prior knowledge in computer programming. Additionally, a portion of class and office hours will be devoted to helping students gain familiarity in basic computer programmingas needed.