What do I do?
For each class, you're asked to read or watch a pre-class material about a topic. Materials include research papers, news articles, opinion pieces, and video clips. For each class, you are assigned one of the two roles: writer or reader If you're a presenter, you do not have to do anything.
Why do this?
No research or innovation is possible without building on previous work. At the same time, we need to critically assess them, so that we understand their scope and method correctly when trying to apply theory, methodology, and techniques to our own projects.
Writer Instructions
We expect your response to be
about three paragraphs long, in plain text only. In the critique:
- Summarize main ideas and discuss why they matter.
- What have you learned? What did you like about the material?
- Any methodological / logical / technical issues? How would you improve the work?
How do I submit?
Submit your plain text response to KLMS for each reading response. It is due 10am the day before class , which would be Monday morning (for Tuesday class) or Wednesday morning (for Thursday class). This is to ensure that student presenters, readers, and the instructor have time to go through the submitted responses before class.
How is it going to be graded?
Each response will be graded by the course staff, in three levels:
- Check Plus: contains exceptionally deep insights and thoughtful reflections
- Check: overall nicely done
- Check Minus: missing critical components, repeating the paper content
You will get a 0 if nothing is submitted for that date. (Note: Unlike last semester, there is
no removal of the lowest scores in the final grading.)
Examples We Like
Example 1
Example 2
Reader Instructions
If you're a reader for a class, you need to read two of your fellow students' reading responses and give constructive comments. We ask you to follow the "I like, I wish, What if" format for your comment. For "I like", say what was a strong point about the response. For "I wish", say what could improve in the response. For "What if", give a concrete suggestion for improvement. Note that simple reactions like "+1" do not count. This means you will also need to read the material carefully. Attempts at commenting without reading the source material will inevitably lead to poor quality comments.
How do I know which ones to comment on?
Once writers' responses are in, we will announce a link to a Google doc with your assigned responses by noon on Monday (for Tuesday class) and Wednesday (for Thursday class). Inside a Google doc for each day, you can search for your student ID and there should be two matches. Leave your "I like, I wish, What if" for those two responses. If a response is empty (meaning the student writer did not submit), you can add a response to any response of your choice.
How is it going to be graded?
As long as you leave comments for two reading responses you're assigned to, you'll get full credit.
Group Assignment
Up-to-date assignment information can be found in
the reading group assignment sheet.
For a Tue class:
- Writer: Submit your reading response in KLMS by Monday 10am.
- Reader: Comment on the assigned reading responses in Google Doc by Tuesday 2:30pm.
For a Thu class:
- Writer: Submit your reading response in KLMS by Wednesday 10am.
- Reader: Comment on the assigned reading responses in Google Doc by Thursday 2:30pm.
Late Policy
No late submissions are allowed for the reading responses.