Course Description

Gamification incorporates game mechanics into non-game contexts, to make them more fun and engaging. This technique is currently being used in a wide range of applications, including commerce, marketing, education, health, and government. Students will learn how gamification works, and how to apply it to their own areas of interest.

Course Goals

Goals for all Freshman Seminars are to ...

• Improve critical thinking by developing evaluative, problem-solving, and expressive skills.
• Enhance group communication skills through discussions, small-group work, presentations or debates.
• Develop intellectual curiosity and better understand the role of a student in an academic community.

In addition, at the conclusion of this seminar it is expected that students will be able to ...

• Understand the principles of gamification.
• Determine how gamification can be used to motivate people in one's own field.
• Develop a simple game using AppInventor.

Course Requirements

The First-Year Seminar (102) is a 1-credit course for which students will receive a grade between A-F. Your grade will be based on the following criteria:

1. Class Attendance & Participation: Students are expected to attend all of the class sessions for the First-Year Seminar, and participate in all classroom activities. Missing more than 2 classes will have an impact on your final grade for the course.
    
2. Reading Assignments: Most weeks you will be asked to read an article or watch a video before the next class. Associated with each article or video is a question that you are to consider. You are expected to write (on paper) a short response to the question and bring it to the class. The questions and assignments will be discussed in class, and your written answers will be collected. Reading assignments, questions, and other assignments are listed in the table below.
    
3. Term Project: Over the course of the semester, you will be developing an app that gamifies somethning that is important to you. Assignments related to this project will be presented in class, and at the 102 Seminar Showcase, at scheduled times (see below).
   

Classroom Expectations and Information

In addition, you should be aware of the following:

• Classroom Environment: As members of the seminar, you are expected to read, discuss, and think critically about seminar topics and your responses to them. This does not mean that you are not supposed to disagree or have emotional reactions to the material, but you should also be willing to engage those reactions - and your classmates - in respectful and thoughtful ways. As a class community we should always be mindful of different people’s experiences. If at any time you have concerns about the material or class discussions, please speak to me.

• Laptops, smartphones, tablets: Electronic devices should only be used during class for class purposes (e.g. taking notes, research, Blackboard, eTextbook, etc). Facebook, email, texting, or accessing other forms of media that are not part of the seminar should wait until after class.

• Blackboard and Email: Students are expected to check their Stony Brook email account and log into Blackboard regularly for important course information from their instructor and Undergraduate College Advisors.

• Instructor email and appointments: I am accessible via email and will try to respond to your emails as soon as I can. However, I may not check email continuously throughout the day so please do not wait until the last minute to email concerns or questions – typically any question that requires a more complicated response or thoughtful conversation should be asked in person/during office hours (e.g. grading concerns; further explanation of readings, etc). When sending emails, please include the class/section in the subject line and your full name somewhere in the body of the email. Students are encouraged to visit office hours or make an appointment with me.

• Americans with Disabilities Act: If you have a physical, psychological, medical or learning disability that may impact your course work, please contact Disability Support Services, located at ECC (Educational Communications Center) Building, Room 128 (631) 632-6748.  They will determine with you what accommodations, if any, are necessary and appropriate.  All information and documentation is confidential.

• Academic Integrity: Each student must pursue his or her academic goals honestly and be held personally accountable for all submitted work. Representing another person's work as your own is always wrong. Faculty are required to report any suspected instances of academic dishonesty to the Academic Judiciary.  Faculty in the Health Sciences Center (School of Health Technology & Management, Nursing, Social Welfare, and Dental Medicine) and School of Medicine are required to follow their school-specific procedures.  For more comprehensive information on academic integrity, including categories of academic dishonesty, please refer to the academic judiciary website at http://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/academic_integrity/index.html

• Critical Incident Management:Stony Brook University expects students to respect the rights, privileges, and property of other people. Faculty are required to report to the Office of University Community Standards any disruptive behavior that interrupts their ability to teach, compromises the safety of the learning environment, or inhibits students' ability to learn.  Faculty in the HSC Schools and the School of Medicine are required to follow their school-specific procedures.

• Course Evaluation: Each semester Stony Brook University asks students to provide feedback on their courses and instructors through an online course evaluation system. The course evaluation results are used by the individual faculty, department chairs and deans to help the faculty enhance their teaching skills and are used as part of the personnel decision for faculty promotion and tenure. No individually identifiable data are ever reported back to the university or instructor. Students who have completed previous evaluations can view all faculty ratings at: https://classie-evals.stonybrook.edu/

• Academic Success and Tutoring Center (ASTC): The ASTC provides free academic support services for all undergraduate students, including one-on-one tutoring, small group tutoring, academic success coaching, and public speaking seminars. Learn more about these services and additional campus resources at www.stonybrook.edu/tutoring.
   
• UGC Events and Programs: Getting involved and participating in campus life is an essential part of being a successful college student. As part of your 101 seminar, attending events and submitting reflection papers about those events was/is part of required course assignments. Although you will not have the same event requirements and assignments in this 102 seminar, you are expected to continue participating in events offered by your Undergraduate College as part of your Undergraduate College affiliation. (For students who are part of University Scholars, attendance at Scholars programs continues to be a requirement in Spring 2016.)

Schedule

Every week, you will be expected to do an assignment. The assignment should be brought to class on the day listed. It will be discussed in class, which will count as part of your participation grade. Responses to reading assignments will be collected at the end of class. See the Assignments for further details.