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Dr. Anthony Cocciolo Pratt Institute, School of Information and Library Science 144 W. 14th St., Room 604D New York, NY 10011-7301 Phone: 212-647-7702

Subject to change based on student interests. Please refer to the LMS for updates: http://lms.pratt.edu

Email: acocciol@pratt.edu URL: http://www.thinkingprojects.org _____________________________________________________________________________________

Spring 2011 ~ LIS 697-03 ~ Social Media

Class Hours: Wednesdays 6:30-8:50pm Office Hours: Wednesdays 1:00-3:00p, Thursdays 5:006:00pm, and by appointment Credits: 3 Prerequisites: None Location: PMC 602

Bulletin Description:
This course explores the theoretical and practical aspects of Social Media as it relates to the information professions. Students consider social media in historical and contextualized terms, learn to design new and make use of existing social media, and consider how to enhance libraries using social media.

Detailed Description:
The rise of the networked information environment, currently highlighted by such descriptors as Social Media and Web 2.0, and popularized by such web properties as Facebook and Twitter, will continue to profoundly influence the ways in which humans share information. Such technologies support the use, production, and circulation of knowledge in a peer-to-peer networked arrangement. This arrangement shares some aspects with other forms of communications but is most remarkable in its discontinuity from these earlier forms (for example, the hierarchical communication structure widely used in our lifetimes). This new structural arrangement, which will undoubtedly persist alongside other arrangements, has implications for information organizations and professionals, and goes far beyond, should my library be Twittering? Rather, the question this course will be guided by is: how might information organizations and professionals leverage the networked information environment to advance longstanding professional values, such as a commitment to democracy, community building, and individual efficacy and fulfillment. In effort to advance these values, students will engage in a collaborative design project that attempts to take advantage of this new arrangement.

Course Goals:
Learn how human shape, and get shaped by, information and communications technologies (ICTs). Consider how social media may be like (or unlike) technologies that have profoundly shaped human psycho-social reality, such as writing, printing, and telecommunications. Become familiar with the discourses on and uses of social media, such as blogs, microblogs, wikis, podcasts and online social networks.

Become familiar with the digital infrastructure and design approaches that undergird social media. Understand how social media creates new challenges and opportunities, especially with respect to organizations, information organization and psycho-social dimensions. Become familiar with the notion of a network, how it can me analyzed, and its relationship to social media. Understand what social media means for libraries and how social media can be used to advance the mission of libraries. Work collaboratively to design a project that uses social media concepts to advance an important social issue. The courses highest goal is for students to design a project that they feel passionate about and have the urge to continue developing after the course concludes.

Student Learning Objectives:

Ability to imagine and design new programs, tools, or services within information contexts that make use of social media (both social media principles as well as specific applications). Ability to think of new technologies and their potentials in historical and contextualized terms. Comfortable with technical as well as theoretical aspects (e.g., social, political, organizational) related to social media. Exhibit willingness to experiment with new technologies within information contexts, and to use reason and judgment to ascertain their utility and impact potential.

Course Schedule and Readings

Textbook and Readings The textbook for the course is: Aaker, J. & Smith, A. (2010). The Dragonfly Effect: Quick, Effective, and Powerful Ways To Use Social Media to Drive Social Change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. You can purchase this text at the Barnes and Noble Textbook Store on 18th St. and Fifth Ave, or through online retailers such as Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Dragonfly-Effect-Effective-PowerfulSocial/dp/0470614153). 8/31 Introduction - Overview of Syllabus and Design Project - Assign weekly presenters of class readings and Discovery/Analysis Presentations - Post a photo of yourself and fill-out your profile on the LMS 9/7 The Dialectic of Technology and Human Agency: Historical Perspectives Ong, W. J. (1982/2002). Writing Restructures Consciousness. In Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word (pp. 77-114). London: Routledge. Retrieved from course e-reserves. BBC Documentary, The Virtual Revolution (2010). Watch Programme 1, Chapter 1-5: http://www.bbc.co.uk/virtualrevolution/3dexplorer_start.shtml Further Reading: Deibert, R. J. (1995). Introduction. In Parchment, Printing, and Hypermedia: Communication in World Order Transformation. New York: Columbia University Press. Retrieved from course e-reserves.

Marcuse, H. (1964). The New Forms of Control. In One Dimensional Man: studies in the ideology of advanced industrial society. New York: Routledge. Retrieved from http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/marcuse/works/one-dimensional-man/ch01.htm Reflection Questions: This weeks readings discuss the role of communications technology in shaping individuals social and psychological realities. Ong (1982/2002) discusses the movement of humanity from oral cultures (societies with no knowledge of writing) to literate cultures. He argues that Writing and print and the computer are all ways of technologizing the word, and that Technologies are not mere exterior aids but also interior transformations of consciousness (p. 79; p. 81). Are you convinced by his arguments (e.g., Platos dislike of writing is similar to the widespread dislike of computers)? Do you think Internet-based communication is a change agent like writing was to ancient civilizations? 9/14 Our Current Wave of Socio-technical Change: Opportunities and Impediments Benkler, Y. (2007). Chapter 1: Introduction: A Moment of Opportunity and Challenge. In The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom. Cambridge: MIT Press. Retrieved from http://yupnet.org/benkler/archives/8 PBS Frontline Digital Nation (2010): Watch Chapters 1-3: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/view/ Further Reading: Lanier, J. (2010). The serfdom of crowds. Harpers Magazine (February 2010). Retrieved from course ereserves. Castells, M. (2009). Opening; Communication in the Digital Age. In Communication Power (pp. 1-9; 5471) . New York: Oxford University Press. Retrieved from course e-reserves. Reflection Questions: This weeks readings discuss social and technical transformations that go to the very foundations of how liberal markets and liberal democracies have coevoled for almost two centuries (Benkler, 2007, para. 1). Benkler describes how a series of changes in the technologies, economic organization, and social practices of production in this environment has created new opportunities for how we make and exchange information, knowledge, and culture (para. 2). What does Benkler think these transformations mean for individuals and society? 9/21 Creating a Context and Worldview for Social Media in Libraries [Read pages 15-43]. Lankes, R. D. (2011). The Atlas of New Librarianship. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Retrieved from course e-reserves. PBS Frontline Digital Nation (2010): Watch Chapters 4-6: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/view/ Further Reading: [Read the full text]. Lankes, R. D. (2011). The Atlas of New Librarianship. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Available at the Pratt Manhattan Library. Watch Video: David Lankes on New Librarianship. (2010). http://quartz.syr.edu/rdlankes/blog/?p=986

Jenkins, H., Clinton K., Purushotma, R., Robinson, A.J., & Weigel, M. (2006). Confronting the challenges of participatory culture: Media education for the 21st century. Chicago, IL: The MacArthur Foundation. Retrieved April 24, 2007, from http://digitallearning.macfound.org/atf/cf/%7B7E45C7E0-A3E0-4B89-AC9CE807E1B0AE4E%7D/JENKINS_WHITE_PAPER.PDF Reflection Questions: Lankes (2011) offers his ideas on refocusing and recalibrating the work of librarians. He believes the mission of librarians is to Improve Society through Facilitating Knowledge Creation in their Communities. Contrast with the quote from the NYTimes about the New York Public Library: Libraries have had the same function for 5,000 years, Mr. LeClerc explained, as storehouses of exceptionally important written documents. The New York Public Librarys fundamental responsibility to acquire materials, keep them and let people look at them, he said, remains the same. 9/28 Youth, Social Media and Learning Ito, M. et al. (2010). Introduction. In Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out: Kids Living and Learning with New Media (pp. 1-28). Cambridge: MIT Press. Retrieved from course e-reserves. Horst, H.A., Herr-Stephenson, B. & Robinson, L. (2010). Media Ecologies. In M. Ito et al. (Eds.), Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out: Kids Living and Learning with New Media (pp. 29-78). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Retrieved from course e-reserves. PBS Frontline Digital Nation (2010): Watch Chapters 7-9: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/view/ Further Reading: Barab, S. A. Gresalfi, M. & Ingram-Goble, A. (2010). Transformational Play: Using Games to Position Person, Content, and Context. Educational Researcher, 39(7), 525-536. Retrieved from course ereserves. Cocciolo, A., Mineo, C. & Meier, E. (2010). Using Online Social Networks to Build Healthy Communities: A Design-based Research Investigation. ED-MEDIA 2010-World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia & Telecommunications, Toronto, Canada. Retrieved from course e-reserves. Shuler, C. (2009). Pockets of Potential: Using Mobile Technologies to Promote Childrens Learning. New York: Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop. Retrieved from http://joanganzcooneycenter.org/pdf/pockets_of_potential.pdf Lifelong Kindergarten: http://llk.media.mit.edu/ Reflection Questions: Ito et. al (2010) seem to be in the process of developing a new way of talking about media in the lives of kids, one that both places social media in the forefront and diverges from earlier discourses centered on television (e.g., media saturation, media effects, transfer of behaviors and language, etc.). What are the authors analytical frames for understanding how kids interact with new media and what do you think the implications may be? 10/5 Online Social Networks

boyd, d. (2010). Friendship. In M. Ito et al. (Eds.), Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out: Kids Living and Learning with New Media (pp. 79-115). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Retrieved from course e-reserves. Illouz, E. (2007). Romantic Webs. In Cold Intimacies: The Making of Emotional Capitalism (pp. 74-114). Cambridge, UK: Polity. Retrieved from course e-reserves. BBC Documentary, The Virtual Revolution (2010). Watch Programme 1, Chapter 6-9: http://www.bbc.co.uk/virtualrevolution/3dexplorer_start.shtml Further Reading: boyd, d. (forthcoming). White Flight in Networked Publics? How Race and Class Shaped American Teen Engagement with MySpace and Facebook. In Digital Race Anthology (L. Nakamura & P. ChowWhite, eds.). Routledge. Retrieved from http://www.danah.org/papers/2009/WhiteFlightDraft3.pdf Reflection Questions: This weeks readings discuss online social networks, which are one of the most visible and widely-used forms of social media. These readings highlight how design decisions can have psycho-social repercussions. For example, boyd (2010) discusses how a new feature added to MySpace required youth to undergo negotiations that led to battle scars (p. 104). Similarly, Illouz (2007) describes how online dating creates a sense of cynicism, disappointment, and hyper-rationality, thereby negating the purpose of such a service. Do you agree with their arguments? Have you found any design decisions in social media that require painful negotiations, either as an immediate product (e.g., boyds example) or perceived byproduct (e.g., Illouzs example) of interaction with such a design? What are the ethical components that designers should be considering? For example, should MySpace designers be concerned that they are creating features that require millions of young people to develop battle scars (p. 106)? 10/12 Identity and Presentation of the Self You may be interested in attending the MobilityShifts Conference (Oct. 10-16) at the New School http://mobilityshifts.org/. The conference will focus on mobile learning applications. I will be presenting October 12, 4:30pm-6:30pm. Class will start late at 7:00pm to accommodate this presentation. Turkle, S. (1995). Aspects of the Self. In Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet (pp. 177209). New York: Touchstone. Retrieved from course e-reserves. Turkle, S. (2011). Growing Up Tethered; No Need to Call. In Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other (pp. 171-209). New York: Basic Books. Retrieved from course e-reserves. BBC Documentary, The Virtual Revolution (2010). Watch Programme 1, Chapter 10-13: http://www.bbc.co.uk/virtualrevolution/3dexplorer_start.shtml Reflection Questions: Turkle (1995) discusses the psychological issues raised by the use of some of the earliest forms of social media (MUDs) over fifteen years ago. She asks a number of questions, including: What will computermediated communication do to our commitment to other people? Will it satisfy our needs for connection and social participation, or will it further undermine fragile relationships? [] The Internet has become a significant social laboratory for experimenting with the constructions and reconstructions of self that characterize postmodern life. In its virtual reality, we self-fashion and self-create. What kinds of personae do we make? What relation do these have to what we have traditionally thought of as the whole person? (p. 78; p. 180). How would (or did) she respond 16 years later to some of these questions?

10/19 Designing for Sociability Cocciolo, A. (2010). Can Web 2.0 Enhance Community Participation in an Institutional Repository? The case of PocketKnowledge at Teachers College, Columbia University. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 36(4), 304-312. Retrieved from course e-reserves. Crumlish, C. & Malone, E. (2009). Social to the Core. In Designing Social Interfaces. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reily. Retrieved from course e-reserves. Crumlish, C. & Malone, E. (2009). We Are Here! We Are Here! We Are Here! In Designing Social Interfaces. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reily. Retrieved from course e-reserves. BBC Documentary, The Virtual Revolution (2010). Watch Programme 2, Chapter 1-4: http://www.bbc.co.uk/virtualrevolution/3dexplorer_start.shtml Further Reading: OReilly, T. (2005). What is Web 2.0: Design patterns and business models for the next generation of software. OReilly Network. Retrieved January 30, 2007, from http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html Reflection Questions: This weeks readings discuss approaches to designing the web for sociability. What are some of these approaches? Which ones do you think work better? Use personal experience to illustrate your point. What do you think the implications are of social web design for libraries (academic, public, archives, other related setting)? 10/26 Reaching out with Social Media: Focusing and Grabbing Attention Design Project Proposal Due.

[Read xiii to page 71]. Aaker, J. & Smith, A. (2010). The Dragonfly Effect: Quick, Effective, and Powerful Ways To Use Social Media to Drive Social Change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. BBC Documentary, The Virtual Revolution (2010). Watch Programme 2, Chapter 5-9: http://www.bbc.co.uk/virtualrevolution/3dexplorer_start.shtml

Reflection Questions: See the LMS. 11/2 Reaching out with Social Media: Engaging and Taking Action [Read 73 to page 163]. Aaker, J. & Smith, A. (2010). The Dragonfly Effect: Quick, Effective, and Powerful Ways To Use Social Media to Drive Social Change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Reflection Questions: See the LMS.

11/9 Reaching out with Social Media: Alternative Perspectives Li, C. & Bernoff, J. (2008). Why the Groundswelland why now?; Jujitsu and the technologies of Groundswell. In Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies (pp. 337). Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business Press. Retrieved from course e-reserves. Li, C. & Bernoff, J. (2008). Talking with the Groundswell. In Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies (pp. 99-127). Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business Press. Retrieved from course e-reserves. Solomon, L. (2011). Understanding Social Capital; Strategies for Social Media Success. In Doing Social Media So It Matters: A Librarians Guide (pp. 19-41). Chicago, IL: American Library Association. Retrieved from course e-reserves. Further Reading: Gillin, P. (2007). The Origins of Social Media; From Chaos, Structure. In The New Influencers: A Marketers Guide to the New Social Media (pp. 1-28). Sanger, CA: Quill Driver Books. Retrieved from course e-reserves. Reflection Questions: See the LMS. 11/16 Social Media and the Public Good Waller, V. (2009). The relationship between public libraries and Google: Too much information. First Monday, 14(9). Retrieved from http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2477/2279 Friesen, N. (2010). Education and the social Web: Connective learning and the commercial imperative. First Monday, 15(12). Retrieved from http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3149/2718 Reflection Questions: Waller (2009) and Friesen (2010) argue that commercial social media providers, such as Google and Facebook, are unable to advance a public or educational good because of their reliance on advertising, making them more akin to commercial television than a public library or university. Do you agree with their arguments? Why or why not? 11/23 No Class; Thanksgiving Holiday 11/30 Network Analysis and Measures [Read Pages 9-28; and skim through any other sections that may interest you]. Easley, D. & Kleinberg, J. (2010). Networks, Crowds, and Markets: Reasoning about a Highly Connected World. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from course e-reserves. [Note: Read Introduction and Summary, and scan the sections in between] Hanneman, R A. & Riddle, M. (2005). Centraily and Power. In Introduction to social network methods. Riverside, CA: University of California, Riverside. Retrieved from http://www.faculty.ucr.edu/~hanneman/nettext/C10_Centrality.html Further Reading:

Monge, P.R., & Contractor, N. (1988). Communication networks: Measurement techniques. In C.H. Tardy (Ed.), A handbook for the study of human communication (pp. 107-138). Norwood, NJ: Ablex. Retrieved from course e-reserves. Burke, M., Marlow, C. & Lento, C. (2010). Social Network Activity and Social Well-Being. CHI 2010, Atlanta, Georgia. Retrieved from course e-reserves. Barabsi, A. (2002). Six Degrees of Separation. In Linked: How Everything is Connected to Everything Else and What It Means for Business, Science, and Everyday Life (pp. 25-40). New York: Plume. Retrieved from course e-reserves. Watts, D. (2003). The Connected Age. In Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age (pp. 19-42). New York: W. W. Norton. Retrieved from course e-reserves. Reflection Questions: Social relationships can come in the form of strong ties (family, close friends, etc.) and weak ties (people you kind of know but dont communicate with daily). Hanneman (2005) observes that ones power is a function of social relationships. This is no more clearly evident than in social networking websites such as LinkedIn, which use social relationships as a medium for diffusing power-enhancing opportunities (e.g., job opportunities). Have you ever experienced a situation where you felt like your opportunity was influenced by your position within a particular social or informational network? Explain. One could argue that libraries have tried to give patrons power by embedding them in an informational network (or the A node in the Star network). Is it working? 12/7 Information Organization and Access in the Global Networked Environment Shirky, C. (2006). Ontology is Overrated: Categories, Links, and Tags. Retrieved from http://www.shirky.com/writings/ontology_overrated.html Weinberger, D. (2007). Prologue: Information in Space; Introduction: The New Order of Order. In Everything is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder (pp. 1-23). New York: Times Books. Available from course e-reserves. Further Reading: Lvy, P. Introduction. In Collective Intelligence: Mankinds Merging World in Cyberspace (R. Bononno, Trans.) (pp. 1-19). Cambridge, MA: Perseus Books. Retrieved from course e-reserves. Reflection Questions: The authors of this weeks readings discuss emerging ways of organizing information. Weinberger (2007) argues that everything is miscellaneous and Shirky (2006) argues that there is no shelf. Which of these ideas do you (or do not) gravitate to? What do you think the future of information organization will look like? 12/14 Design Project Presentations

Course Requirements
Students course grades will be determined by performance on the following activities: 1. Class Participation (20%) 2. Weekly Responses (25%) 11 responses required over the course of the semester

3. Discovery/Analysis Presentation (15%) 4. Design Project (40%) 4a. Proposal (2-5 pages) (10%) due October 26, 2011 4b. Design Document (15-20 pages) (20%) - due December 14, last day of class 4c. Presentation (10%) present on December 14, last day of class

Class Participation
Students are expected to be prepared and to contribute to class discussions each week with scholarly analyses and insights. In addition, each week one student or a team of two students will present their understanding of the readings to the class. This is an opportunity to consolidate your (or your teams) understanding on a topic, to present your perspective, to make novel connections to other domains, and to relate the readings to real-world experience. Presenters may use the essential questions posed (available on Moodle) to guide their presentations, or may choose their own direction in discussing the readings. Presenters should be prepared to make around a 10-15-minute presentation, and conclude with some questions or issues they would like to discuss more thoroughly. The schedule of presenters will be decided on the first day of class.

Weekly Responses
Each week, students are expected to write at least two paragraphs that reflect on the readings. Reflections can be in response to the essential questions posted on Moodle. Students responses should be posed on Moodle by noon (at the latest) on the day of class (late responses will receive a reduced grade). Please do not bring in a hard-copy or email unless Moodle is unavailable. The purpose of these responses is to allow students the opportunity to reflect on the readings and share their reflections with the other members of the class. Students are encouraged to read the responses by their fellow classmates (this is, however, not a requirement). Based on interests, students may choose two weeks NOT to do a weekly response. This means by the end of the semester, each student should have posted 11 responses. Please note that the instructor will refer to these responses during class discussion and may ask students to further clarify or expand on their response.

Discovery/Analysis Presentation
Each student will make a 10 minute presentation of a social media (or related technology) that he/she discovered that he/she thinks is interesting (something you find innovative, relevant, educational, fun; something you despise). Impress the class with your finding and its analysis! What does this project imply for: individuals, society-at-large, libraries, higher education, business, communications, learning, entertainment, etc. What would any of the authors we have read think of this technology? Try to find something that you find genuinely interesting and not obvious. Examples includes mobile applications, applications used in other social networking applications, or some innovative combinations. Please make sure that during your presentation you can show us the technology that you have discovered (e.g., Powerpoint, handout, etc.). Also, include a 2-page write-up of your discovery and analysis, where you incorporate the readings into your analysis (or other outside readings you can find), and turn-in on the day of your presentation (in hard copy).

Design Project
Overview The primary assignment for the course is to participate in a team that will draw on the research and literature to design a social media application that fulfills a positive social purpose (e.g., educational, inspirational, develops community, promotes health and wellness, promotes cross-cultural understanding,

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among others). Groups should use this opportunity to be innovative and think creatively and critically about social media (What is social media? What is it good at? What is it not good at? Why do we need this?). Groups should aim to design a project that could be picked-up by an outside agency (a library, university, venture-capitalist, foundation, technology company, non-profit, think-thank, etc.) and fully implemented using your groups design materials as a guide. In order to ensure innovativeness, teams should consider the work being done by outside agencies and ask: does our project have something to offer that these projects dont? Why is our project innovative? Examples of exemplary projects will be provided in class The class will be divided into design groups with around four members. Time will be provided in class for groups to meet; however, meeting out of class time may be required. Each group will be expected to deliver a project proposal, a project design document, a small-scale build-out, and a presentation on the last day of class. Details on these aspects are below: Proposal The Proposal should be 2-5 pages and outline the idea for your project. The proposal should be considered a less fully-fleshed-out version of the project design document (see below). The instructor will provide feedback on the proposal that you can use in further refining your project. Design Document The project design document should be 15-20 pages (this page count can include figures, but not references or other appendices). This document should take the form of a traditional document (hence, it should not be a Powerpoint or in a presentation form). The design document should address: a) What is the purpose of your project? 1) Why do we need it? 2) What are the positive social benefits of this application? 3) What educational or learning goals will motivate this effort, if any? 4) What populations of users (if any) will be served? 5) What type of community (if any) will be fostered by this effort? 6) What role (if any) will librarians play in this project? 7) What will be the size of this effort? 8) What resources will be required? 9) How will the project be assessed? b) What are the features and functions of the project? Please be specific. c) Include one or more prototypes of the project. These prototypes can come generated electronically (Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Powerpoint, OmniGraffle, etc.) or by-hand (drawings on paper, etc.). These prototypes should strive to be more than sketches; they should be visibly assembled with care. i) Screen shots (if applicable): What would a user see when interacting with this system? What elements make up the user interface (if any)? ii) Diagrams: Illustrations that convey flows or networks of interaction. iii) Visualizations: How would you convey the designs social and/or human interactions? Be creative. d) Implementation: What do you think would be involved to make this design a reality? Provide estimations.

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e) What does the literature and research on social media offer in thinking about this project? Presentation Each group will get 20 minutes to present, and a 10 minute question and answer period. Each group should: a) Make it fun and educational! Be creative! We have all been subject to ill-prepared or low-energy presentations- avoid it! b) Discuss the goals, why your project is needed, and what makes your project innovative. c) Provide a way of demonstrating your prototypes to the class. These may include electronic illustrations (Powerpoint), an interactive simulation, or large paper/drawing presentations. You may also want to consider handouts for the class.

Assessment and Evaluation

1. All assignments must completed in order to receive a passing grade in the course 2. Assignments must be turned in during class in hard copy (except for the weekly responses which should be completed on the LMS). Late assignments will receive a reduced grade 4. Late papers will receive a grade but no comments 5. Pratt policy: Students with extensive absences (three or more for any reason) will be required to drop the course.

Pratts grading scale:

Superior work: Very good work: Marginally satisfactory: Failed: A 4.0 (96-100) A- 3.7 (90-95) B+ 3.3 (87-89) B 3.0 (83-86) B-2.7 (80-82) C+ 2.3 (77-79) C 2.0 F 0.0 (0-69)

Policies
All Institute-wide policies are listed in the Bulletin under Community Standards, which include policies on attendance, academic integrity, plagiarism, computer, and network use. Students who require special accommodations for disabilities must obtain clearance from the Office of Disability Services at the beginning of the semester. They should contact Mai McDonald, Disability Services Coordinator, in the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs, Main Building, Lower Level: 718-636-3711.