INF STD 30
Internet and Society
Description: Lecture, five hours. Designed for undergraduate students. Examination of information technology in society, including Internet, World Wide Web, search engines (e.g., Google, Yahoo, Lycos), retrieval systems, electronic publishing, and distribution of media, including newspapers, books, and music. Exploration of many of these technologies, social, cultural, and political context in which they exist, and how social relationships are changing. Letter grading.
Units: 5.0
Units: 5.0
1 of 1
AD
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2019 - This class is poorly structured. She has an overall structure in that she splits up the class in 3 eras, but in terms of her lectures, there is no structure. She just has written notes she reads off of (she never even finishes everything she writes down because of all the tangents). But then, she will create obscure "select all that apply" questions that recall on stuff she barely talked about/didn't talk about for the quizzes. She barely spends time reviewing the readings (btw there are way too many, dense, and overly theoretical). TA (Jonathan) grades unfairly. The reflections are supposed to be engaging assignments, but he just picks them apart for no reason. Too subjective. I have been doing really well on quizzes due to luck (solid As), but I got a bad grade on the first reflection (super short maybe 4 paragraphs total for two different prompts). Took this class hoping it would fulfill a GE and also be something interesting to learn but I regret it. Not an easy GE compared to others. At least with the other classes that may have more material you will know what to study and how to do well in the class. This class is all subjectivity and luck. Class is not worth the GPA drop. Interesting subject though, too bad the professor and TA screwed it up for everyone
Fall 2019 - This class is poorly structured. She has an overall structure in that she splits up the class in 3 eras, but in terms of her lectures, there is no structure. She just has written notes she reads off of (she never even finishes everything she writes down because of all the tangents). But then, she will create obscure "select all that apply" questions that recall on stuff she barely talked about/didn't talk about for the quizzes. She barely spends time reviewing the readings (btw there are way too many, dense, and overly theoretical). TA (Jonathan) grades unfairly. The reflections are supposed to be engaging assignments, but he just picks them apart for no reason. Too subjective. I have been doing really well on quizzes due to luck (solid As), but I got a bad grade on the first reflection (super short maybe 4 paragraphs total for two different prompts). Took this class hoping it would fulfill a GE and also be something interesting to learn but I regret it. Not an easy GE compared to others. At least with the other classes that may have more material you will know what to study and how to do well in the class. This class is all subjectivity and luck. Class is not worth the GPA drop. Interesting subject though, too bad the professor and TA screwed it up for everyone
Most Helpful Review
Summer 2016 - Took this class as a GE during summer. Overall it covered a range of interesting topics regarding computers and humanities, e.g. social media and human rights, artificial intelligence, big data, crowd sourcing, etc. Readings were assigned each class (usually some online articles and occasionally journal articles), but are manageable. Everyone was also responsible for writing blog posts (usually 100-200 words in length) twice every week. No midterms or finals, only 2~3 projects, some class presentations and a final project which was a short analytical paper about a specific social media. The topics are engaging and closely related to lives, so are the projects (one of them is recording one's "data footprint" - was actually surprising to see so many personal data leaked during daily activities). The professor was nice and willing to help. Considered minoring in digital humanities.
Summer 2016 - Took this class as a GE during summer. Overall it covered a range of interesting topics regarding computers and humanities, e.g. social media and human rights, artificial intelligence, big data, crowd sourcing, etc. Readings were assigned each class (usually some online articles and occasionally journal articles), but are manageable. Everyone was also responsible for writing blog posts (usually 100-200 words in length) twice every week. No midterms or finals, only 2~3 projects, some class presentations and a final project which was a short analytical paper about a specific social media. The topics are engaging and closely related to lives, so are the projects (one of them is recording one's "data footprint" - was actually surprising to see so many personal data leaked during daily activities). The professor was nice and willing to help. Considered minoring in digital humanities.
AD
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2020 - Shawn is a very understanding, accommodating, thorough professor. During week 1, we had an assignment due, but most of the class didn't know we had an assignment, so he extended the deadline. We had 2 group projects (each worth 25% of total grade) in this class, and some people said that the instructions/expectations weren't very clear, so he made an additional document laying out explicit expectations & a grading rubric so students knew what was "A" level work & what was "B" level work. He often asks for feedback because he wants to be a better professor & provide a better learning experience. He harps on the importance of having a non-judgmental, open-minded learning community, so everyone feels comfortable sharing. He's very open to discussing your grade with you, and explaining to students why they received the grade they did. Grading is very straightforward and clear to students. We had 3 quizzes (each worth 10% of total grade) that basically assess whether you understand the main ideas from the readings, and can put those main ideas in your own words. If you put an answer down, but it's not completely correct, he often gives students partial credit for trying, which is very nice of him. He offered 3 points of extra credit over the course of the quarter, which equated to about a 1.33% grade boost. Lectures are not recorded & full attendance/participation during lecture is expected. He does break out rooms & expects students to engage with one another. The TA for this class when I took it was Brian & he was an awesome, chill, laid-back, interesting, engaging TA. Overall, this class was super interesting and not very hard imo, the only thing you really need to do to get a good grade is understand the main ideas from the readings (I didn't read all the readings thoroughly, I often skimmed just to get the main idea), participate in class, and be able to work in a group/delegate/work with peers.
Fall 2020 - Shawn is a very understanding, accommodating, thorough professor. During week 1, we had an assignment due, but most of the class didn't know we had an assignment, so he extended the deadline. We had 2 group projects (each worth 25% of total grade) in this class, and some people said that the instructions/expectations weren't very clear, so he made an additional document laying out explicit expectations & a grading rubric so students knew what was "A" level work & what was "B" level work. He often asks for feedback because he wants to be a better professor & provide a better learning experience. He harps on the importance of having a non-judgmental, open-minded learning community, so everyone feels comfortable sharing. He's very open to discussing your grade with you, and explaining to students why they received the grade they did. Grading is very straightforward and clear to students. We had 3 quizzes (each worth 10% of total grade) that basically assess whether you understand the main ideas from the readings, and can put those main ideas in your own words. If you put an answer down, but it's not completely correct, he often gives students partial credit for trying, which is very nice of him. He offered 3 points of extra credit over the course of the quarter, which equated to about a 1.33% grade boost. Lectures are not recorded & full attendance/participation during lecture is expected. He does break out rooms & expects students to engage with one another. The TA for this class when I took it was Brian & he was an awesome, chill, laid-back, interesting, engaging TA. Overall, this class was super interesting and not very hard imo, the only thing you really need to do to get a good grade is understand the main ideas from the readings (I didn't read all the readings thoroughly, I often skimmed just to get the main idea), participate in class, and be able to work in a group/delegate/work with peers.
1 of 1
