Essays and Handouts

This page collects a number of my unpublished works--especially handouts and essays I wrote for student use.

Essays

New Media Theory Primer (PDF). A document written for students with the intent of making new media theory more accessible. Provides a 3-step strategy for mastery of the theory, a strategy that should work for most works of theory, not just new media theory.

Structuralism for Informatics (Word .doc). Structuralism is a systematic interpretive methodology originally derived from linguistics and extended to numerous other fields. Its strength is that it enables a systematic and quasi-scientific analysis of cultural works that are complex and difficult to interpret objectively, such as literature, anthropological practices, and new media applications. Note that this document is incomplete and I don't know whether I will ever get around to completing it.

Ontological Design Cheat Sheet (Word .doc). My interpretation of what is meant by "ontological design" as it is practiced by philosophers of design today. This cheat sheet, as its name implies, does not constitute a thoughtful analysis or interpretation, so much as an attempt to provide an accessible way of understanding the domain at a basic level.

Handouts

Essay Exam Taking Tips (PDF). This document summarizes some universal strategies for taking essay exams. Topics include general strategies, common grading criteria (i.e., what the professor is usually looking for), and study/preparation strategies. This document also includes a brief section laying out the structure of an essay argument (defining and providing examples of thesis, supporting arguments, and conclusion).

Essay Exam Grading Criteria (Word .doc). This is a document I put together for graduate student/associate instructors to use as a guide for grading essay exams.

A Rapid Prototyping Design Process (PDF). This document is a practical guide to approaching a design problem, broken down into the following steps: learning about the problem, user research, task analysis, information architecture, and sketch prototyping. For legal reasons, it is only available to registered I502 students via Oncourse.

Précis Template and Instructions (PDF). A study aid for undergraduate students, graduate students, and researchers alike. Provides a structured way to capture the salient elements of a given reading. Intended for preparing for class reading assignments, completing literature reviews, and building knowledge bases for research teams.