The great 2019 MAS111: Introduction to Research in Media Arts and Sciences scavenger hunt

Fridays, 3-5pm, E15-341

V. Michael Bove, Jr., E15-490, x3-0334, vmb (at) media (dot) mit (dot) edu

This syllabus will be updated from time to time throughout the term so please check back regularly!

Grading Information: This class is graded P/D/F. To pass, at minimum you must attend (and participate in) 2/3 or more of the class sessions, and do the final presentation.

8 February: Research

A brief overview of the semester
What is research, and what kind do we do at the Media Lab?
How to design an experiment
How and why to keep a lab notebook
Resource: Instructions on keeping a lab notebook (from Course 2)
Article: Going Paperless
Assignment for next class: Find a popular-press article or blog discussion of some science or engineering result or design achievement, and also find the researchers'/designers' own write-up of the results. In your opinion, did the press understand and correctly report the most significant aspects of the work? Write one page explaining your thoughts.

15 February: IP

Understanding intellectual property, copyright, patents (Kate Darling)
Assignment for next class: Patent search -- find a patent that is relevant to your research and write a brief summary of it. For extra fun, find a seemingly silly, useless, or inexplicable patent and share it with class next week.
Handout: Kate Darling's IP Presentation
Handout: Example patent
The Patented Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich: Food as Intellectual Property
Resource: Patents Research Guide (MIT Libraries)
Resource: US Patent and Trademark Office General Information Concerning Patents
Resource: US Patent Database
Resource: PAIR: Patent Application Information Retrieval
Resource: Google Patent Search
Resource: World Intellectual Property Organization
Resource: About Creative Commons
Resource: choosealicense.com

22 February: Resources: There's a whole world out there beyond Google!

What do you do when you get stuck?
What kinds of resources exist and how to find them
Why a librarian might become your best friend
Assignment for next class: Literature search -- find a new reference/informational resource/paper (that you didn't have already) related to your project and write a brief summary of it. Also tell how you found it.
Resources (MIT):MIT Libraries (in particular check out the "Search" tab)
Resources (external):IEEE Xplore, ACM Digital Library, Google Scholar, DBLP, Zotero, Britney Spears' Guide to Semiconductor Physics

1 March: What's "peer review," anyway? And what about non-peer-reviewed publications (like the Web)?

How to read/write a research paper
Kinds of conferences and journals
CFP's and review processes
Open-access publishing
Assignment for next class: Conference search -- find out from your UROP supervisor or colleagues which conference or meeting is a typical place for research like that done by your group to be presented. Look up the conference on-line and write a brief summary of it.
Resource: IEEE Conference Search
Resource: ACM Conference Calendar
Resource: (example of a new publication model) PubPub
Resource: Are there alternatives to peer review?
Resource: Peer review: Troubled from the start
Resource: Scientific Utopia II. Restructuring Incentives and Practices to Promote Truth Over Publishability
Resource: NASA document on how to do technical presentations
Resource: How to review a technical paper

8 March: Ethics in research

Research involving human subjects (Dr. Leigh Firn, Chair of COUHES)
Resource: MIT COUHES Web site
Assignment for next class: Find out about a human-subjects study (on the MIT campus or some other local institution). Who is doing it, what is the topic and what is being done to the subjects, what (if any) compensation is offered?
Resource: Guidelines for UROP at MIT
Resource: IEEE Code of Ethics
Resource: ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct
Resource: AIGA Standards of Professional Practice for Designers
Resource: The Online Ethics Center for Engineering and Science

15 March: Hands-on team activity

Teams design a human-subjects study and present for group discussion
Assignment for next class: Find a research study whose hypothesis or conclusion is surprising or counterintuitive, like this one on the DNA similarity of spouses, and this one on how the placebo effect works even when the recipient knows it's a placebo. Write a brief summary and consider why someone would think to do such an experiment.

22 March: Staying safe

Health and safety considerations and regulations (MIT Environment, Health and Safety)
Resource: MIT Office of Sustainability
Handouts: EHS presentations on EHS Overview, Safety awareness, Chemical Safety, Environmental Awareness
Resource: Sample SDS
Assignment for next class: 1) Find a news article about a safety or environmental incident related to research, and summarize it. Was there an unsafe practice? 2) Please pick your favorite chemical (!) or one used in your lab, find a Safety Data Sheet on the Web, and write a brief summary of any health or safety concerns.

29 March: NO CLASS (Spring Break)

5 April: The Fine Art of the Demo

How to demo panel discussion

12 April: How to Present Your Work

How to make slides and do an oral presentation
Generic PowerPoint Presentation for MAS111
Presentation Lessons from Comedians
How to Escape the PowerPoint Prison, IEEE Spectrum, April 2017

19 April

Practice student presentations -- student critiques

26 April

Practice student presentations (second half) -- student critiques

3 May

Final presentations (revised)

10 May

Final presentations (revised)