Syllabus

Course Info:

Course Title & Number: Senior Thesis: Research and Innovation, IMM 499-03

Professor: Mark Thompson
Office Address: Art and Multimedia 312
Email Addressthompsom@tcnj.edu
Office Hours: Wednesdays, 11:00am-1:30pm or by appointment

Class Meets: Wednesdays, 8:00 – 10:50
Room: AIMM 222, AIMM 125 (group meeting)

Course Description:

This course is the second of two courses in the IMM thesis sequence. Students will continue developing their Capstone projects iteratively, with regular presentations of their progress. Additionally, students will work together to produce the Senior Show at the end of April. Students will serve on committees and report their progress regularly to the rest of the class.

Course Materials:

Additional Materials

Course Requirements:

  • Weekly Project Scrums
  • Weekly Show Committee Scrums
  • Midterm Presentation
  • Senior Show Presentation
  • Project Wrap Up

Course Purpose & Learning Goals:

In this course students will:

  • Develop a thorough understanding of the history of their chosen area of development, including major innovations, pioneers and leaders in the field, and influences from other areas of technology and culture.
  • Gain an understanding of innovation — the conditions that lead to new and better ideas, the processes by which those ideas often develop, and approaches to innovation as practiced by some of the pioneering figures in media and technology.
  • Forecast the future of their chosen area of development, based on the history of the area and an analysis of recent trends.
  • Propose and advocate for a project that breaks new ground in their area and also serves as a crowning project in their college portfolio.
  • Design and implement proofs-of-concept to test various creative and technical strategies for successfully developing their project in the second semester of the sequence, and revising their project proposal to reflect the results of these tests.

Course Schedule:

January 27 –  Intros & Syllabus

February 3 – Project Setup

February 10 – Iteration 1

February 17 – Iteration 2

February 24 – Iteration 3

March 2 – Iteration 4, Group Presentations

March 9 – Iteration 5, Group Presentations

March 16 – Spring Break

March 23 – Iteration 6

March 30 – Iteration 7

April 6 – Iteration 8

April 13 – Iteration 9

April 20 – Iteration 10

April 26 – Iteration 11

April 29 – Senior Show

May 4 – Project Wrap Up

May 9 – Project Wrap Up Presentation

Grading:

Grades will be determined according to the following formula:

  • 25% Show Presentation – elevator pitch & setup
  • 25% Midterm Presentation
  • 20% Weekly Project Scrum – feature advancement, reflection, comments & status report
  • 10% Weekly Scrum Show
  • 20% Project Wrap Up (in-class presentation of project page)

Note: Details of how each of the above will be scored will be provided at the time of assignment.

TCNJ Policies:

The College of New Jersey Policy Prohibiting Discrimination in the Workplace/Educational Environment governs the college’s commitment to and expectations of having an environment that respects the diversity of all members of the campus community. The link to this policy is: http://policies.tcnj.edu/policies/digest.php?docId=9122. Under this policy, forms of discrimination or harassment based upon specific protected categories are prohibited and will not be tolerated.  If you wish to report a concern, please contact Kerri Thompson Tillett, Chief Diversity Officer, at 771-3139, or via email at thompsok@tcnj.edu.