DIGM 4399: Senior Thesis

Course Syllabus subject to change with notice DIGM 4399: Senior Thesis Spring 2016 Professors: Lab Managers: Section Details: Dr. Jerry Waite, Professor Monika Zarzycka, Professor Jean Pierce Mr. Harold Halliday (hhallida@central.uh.edu) Mr. Can Le (chle3@central.uh.edu) Mr. Mike Dawson (mjdawson@central.uh.edu) Section 25644, Wednesday 8:30 am 11:30 am Dr. Jerry Waite Room 342 T-2 (Main Campus); Brazos 369C (Sugar Land) 713-743-4089 jwaite@uh.edu Office Hours: Sugar Land: M, TH noon 5:00 pm or by appointment; Main Campus: T 7:30 8:00 am; T 2:30 4:30 pm Section 25642, Wednesday 4:00 pm 7:00 pm Professor Monika Zarzycka Room Brazos 368B (Sugar Land) 713-743-4077 mzarzycka@uh.edu Office hours: Sugar Land: W, F noon 4:00 pm or by appointment Section 45643, Friday 8:30 am 11:30 am Professor Jean Pierce Room 392 T-2 (Main Campus); Brazos 367A (Sugar Land) 713-743-1114 jpierce@uh.edu Office hours: Main Campus M, W 4:00-6:00 or by appointment; Sugar Land F 4:00-6:00 Program Web Site: Course Location: Open Lab: http://www.uh.edu/tech/digitalmedia/ George 320, Sugar Land www.uh.edu/tech/digitalmedia/students/current-students/#schedule Course Description: Directed research project. Prerequisite: DIGM 2351, 3351, 3354, and 4372. Credit: 3 semester hours Page 1

Course Goals: This course is the culmination of the Digital Media major s research project begun and continued in previous courses. It also includes the program s senior show. Students completing the course will describe, demonstrate, compare, analyze, integrate, and critique Digital Media concepts related to: 1. carrying out the method portion of a digital media-related research project; 2. analyzing the results of a digital media-related research project; 3. documenting research utilizing APA style while adhering to the publication requirements of the Visual Communications Journal (VCJ); 4. presenting research findings through websites, oral presentations, and posters; and 5. presenting and explaining technological processes through participation in the annual senior show. Required textbooks: Suggested textbooks: Kang, Karen. (2013). Branding Pays: The Five-Step System to Reinvent Your Personal Brand. BrandingPays Media. ISBN-13: 978-0988437500 American Psychological Association. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association 6th Edition. ISBN 9781433805615 Lester, J. Writing Research Papers: A Complete Guide (14th Edition). ISBN 978-0205059331 Important Information: Extra credit: Class Attendance: As a student of the University of Houston, information available at www.uh.edu/ provost/stu/stu_syllabsuppl will be critical to you in insuring that your academic pursuits meet with success and that you encounter the fewest financial and academic difficulties possible. Please take a few moments to review each of the areas, and become familiar with the resources detailed on the website with regard to the UH Academic Honesty Policy, the UH Academic Calendar, Students with Disabilities, and Religious Holy Day FAQs. Overall course extra credit may be earned through participation in the University of Houston chapter of the Graphic Communications Education Association (GCEAUH). Students who join GCEAUH and attend a minimum of three association meetings may earn a maximum of three points extra credit on their final grades. Active GCEAUH officers may earn up to five points of extra credit on their final grades. Attendance at all class sessions is expected. There will be a grade penalty for all absences. In other words, there is no such thing as an excused absence. Be on time for class! Tardies (defined as arriving after attendance has been taken) count as 1/2 an absence. You may only accumulate three total absences fulldays or tardies. You may be dropped after the fourth absence. Look at it this way: there is no way to make up any lecture or lab that you miss. Notes from friends Page 2

or textbook readings are no substitute for actually being present in class when your professor explains a concept or process. Here s another thought: you and the taxpayers of the State of Texas are paying your professor to be present in the DIGM 4399 class. Why pay money for something you don t take? Another notion: attending class is like attending a concert. If you show up late, or don t show up at all, you ll miss the concert. The band is not going to play the show again for you! Neither will your professor teach the topic again. Consultant: Career Counselor: Assignments: Your Writing Center Consultant is an integral part of your senior thesis team. This individual, along with your professor and another person chosen by your professor, will form your thesis committee and will evaluate your work. It is important that your Consultant attend your oral presentation. So, it would be wise for you to discuss the best day for your presentation with your consultant before you schedule it with your professor. Cristal Pradia, the College of Technology s Career Counselor, will be on the Sugar Land campus to meet with you individually on Wednesdays (morning and afternoon) and Fridays (morning). These counseling sessions will begin after February 15, 2016. (Contact info: 713-743-4100; email: cwpradia@uh.edu) Final Research Paper You are to conduct the research method you devised in previous classes. You will also write a paper that meets APA style requirements and the publication guidelines of the Visual Communications Journal (see examples at gceaonline.org/ publications/visual-communications-journal). Papers are due to your professor on the day of your oral presentation. This will give time to make final edits before the Visual Communication Journal s deadline. Papers must be submitted to the Journal s editor by the last day of the semester (May 13th). Papers must contain the following sections: Abstract Introduction Brief Literature Review Method Results Conclusions and recommendations References Appendices Portfolio Overview Portfolio Website/Senior Show As a part of the overall assessment of the Digital Media program, you are required to display your portfolios of work from all Digital Media courses. The annual DIGM senior portfolio/show will be carried out in five phases: Portfolio Step 1 Due: 2/15/2016 First, you will prepare and upload your portfolio website to the DIGM web server. Your portfolio website, which you began in DIGM 2351 (Web Page 3

Design), must be up-to-date and include content from every Digital Media course you have taken (including an overview of your research). You may add content from other courses at your own discretion. There is a new Digital Media website server. The steps to upload your site have changed (see www.uh.edu/tech/digitalmedia/program/instructional-materials). Do: show off your personality, your critical thinking skills, your technical skills, your range of skills, and your experience. market and brand yourself using your logo and style guide (typefaces and colors). use captions and descriptions. consider the user (aka potential employer). view other students projects at www.uh.edu/tech/digitalmedia/showcase/ explore (not all sites are good sites). sweat the details. proofread thoroughly. test the website with friends and family...do they know what you re talking about? test your site s load times (tools.pingdom.com). open your site s URL and test it before 2/1/16 (ex. http://cot-digm-web. cougarnet.uh.edu/~yourcougarnetid). submit your excellent work to the student showcase. make certain you have a UH Content Release Form on file with Mike Dawson. This form is available on http://sites.tech.uh.edu/digitalmedia/form/. Do not: use WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, or any other Content Management System (CMS). host video on our server. You must link from YouTube. use sites like wix.com or squarespace.com. use templates. be too informal. Portfolio Step 2 Due: 2/15/2016 Second, you must send an email to mjdawson@central.uh.edu and your professor that includes the following: 1. Your first and last name 2. A jpeg banner image that measures 900 pixels wide by 250 pixels high. It cannot be larger than 150 kb. This image should exemplify you and your abilities. 3. An elevator pitch between 150 200 words that describes who you are and what you know. This is your first introduction to a potential employer. 4. Your portfolio site s URL (ex. http://cot-digm-web.cougarnet. uh.edu/~yourcougarnetid) Judges/potential employers have been known to skip students surveys if they do not give a good first impression. Page 4

Portfolio Step 3 Portfolio Step 4 Oral Presentation Third, DIGM staff will upload your banner image, written introduction, and your portfolio link to Survey Monkey. Digital media industry leaders will be sent the URL for your survey and will judge your portfolio and work s: 1. creativity when applying graphic technologies. 2. use of technology. 3. written description. 4. employability and hire-ability. These industry leaders will also be asked whether they would consider interviewing you and provide an overall ranking of your portfolio. Fourth, based upon overall rankings of student portfolios, DIGM faculty will select the top 10 students to attend the annual Graphic Excellence Awards Gala (April 13, 2016 at the Doubletree Hotel Greenway Plaza). Students selected to attend this event will be given a place to display their work, talk with attendees, network, and, hopefully, earn job interviews. Due: 04/04/16 or 04/13/16 Students are required to give an oral presentation, supported by a PowerPoint or Keynote slideshow and a poster, which must cover: 1. a one-minute pitch that quickly describes your project and findings to your audience; 2. any challenges you had during the conduct of your research; then, 3. the problem statement; 4. highlights from the literature review; 5. methodology; and 6. results. Do: use visuals we are graphics people! give an organized presentation. leverage your skills. time and practice your presentation. know your material! maintain good eye contact with your audience. Do Not: interrupt other students. arrive late or plan to leave early. dress casually. wait until the last minute to prepare. talk to your poster or to your slides. turn your back to your audience. Presentations will be attended by students enrolled in the class, invited faculty/ staff, and your Writing Center Consultant. You have 10-15 minutes for your presentation. Up to five additional minutes may be allotted for questions. Projects will be presented on the Sugar Land Campus during the week of April 4 or April 18. Your professor, your Writing Center Consultant, and an additional member chosen by your professor will grade the presentations. Be sure to confirm Page 5

the availability of your Consultant before you schedule your presentation. Each evaluator will submit an evaluation and the three scores will be averaged. Those who present during the week of April 4 will receive early-bird grade consideration. When evaluating student presentations, the evaluators will grade based on the following criteria: An A presentation gets the point across attractively and makes good use of presentation techniques. A B presentation not only gets the idea across, but is attractive. A C presentation gets the point across accurately. A D presentation fails to communicate the idea effectively or contains fatal errors. Poster Due: 04/04/16 or 04/13/16 You will create and print a poster (see examples in the labs) that illustrates the research problem, method, and results in an attractive and graphically pleasing way. Do: use your poster during your presentation. Use it during your one-minute pitch to quickly describe your project and findings to your audience and to draw in your listeners. use a size of 40 in 36 in. visit www.uh.edu/honors/undergraduate-research/uh-research/research-poster/ for PowerPoint templates and examples of how to design your poster (maybe remove this entirely). closely follow the UH branding standards at www.uh.edu/policies/graphicstandards/style-guidelines. use the UH logo properly. thoroughly proofread your poster. get approval from your Writing Center Consultant. print a small proof to check your work. ask Mr. Halliday to print your poster by 1. emailing him to let him know you are submitting your poster art. 2. submitting a flattened, print-optimized PDF to his dropbox (hhallida > DropBox). 3. Scheduling a delivery and print date. 4. Allowing one week for printing. Do Not: email the poster to Mr. Halliday because it will be too big. ask Mr. Halliday to print more than one poste r you only get one. expect the poster to be printed in less than three days. use low resolution images. Personal Branding: Due: 03/18/16 Capture video of yourself presenting your elevator pitch, mentioned in the Portfolio Step 2 section above. Follow the guidelines and examples in the Branding Pays: The Five-Step System to Reinvent Your Personal Brand text. Page 6

Do: restrict your pitch to no longer than one minute. behave and dress professionally. show your personality. be creative. look into the camera (your audience). rehearse...shoot several cuts if necessary. review your video after each cut and then improve your work. pay attention to verbal and non-verbal communication. post the final version of your pitch on YouTube (your own channel) so you can share it with potential employers, link it to your social media feeds, and mention it in your resume. create a custom thumbnail for YouTube using your personal brand guide and the guidelines required by YouTube. Do not: dress provocatively. use filler sounds, such as you know, like, um and so forth. exceed one minute. speak too quickly or in a monotone voice. sound like a canned speech. be a robot. Grading: Item Percent of grade Attendance/preparedness/professionalism at meetings... 10% Final paper... 30% Portfolio Website... 30% Oral presentation... 15% Poster... 10% Personal Branding... 5% Percent/letter grades: A...94-100 A-...90-93 B+...87-89 B... 84-86 B-... 80-83 C+... 77-79 C... 74-76 C-... 70-73 D+...67-69 D... 64-66 D-... 60-63 Grade expectations: Due date policy: Adds/drops: Incompletes: Your professor expects students in the course to be capable and motivated professionals. No such student should be content with a grade less than B. Please provide the attention, motivation and effort necessary to reach this grade expectation. Late work is yesterday s news. In keeping with this idea, assignments must be turned in as scheduled. Please refer to the University s Undergraduate Catalog and the Schedule of Classes for the appropriate add/drop dates and procedures. Those procedures must be followed to the letter. An incomplete grade will only be issued if the student is maintaining an Page 7

acceptable level of achievement and cannot, due to some factor beyond the control of the student, complete one or more major assignment. If a student wishes an incomplete grade, s/he must explain the situation to your professor in advance and make specific arrangements to make up missing work no later than one year after the incomplete is issued. Americans with Disabilities Act: Check List Any student who may be in need of additional help under the ADA guidelines should contact your professor ASAP. Check Item Date School begins Week of Jan 19 Electronic portfolio updated 2/15 Electronic portfolio on Showcase 2/15 Submit 900 x 250 pixel banner image 2/15 150 200 word elevator speech 2/15 Begin meetings with Writing Center Week of Mar 7 Elevator Pitch Video 3/18 First round of presentations Week of April 4 April 4th presentations Graphic Excellence Awards April 13, 2016 Second round of presentations April 18th presentations Week of April 20 Page 8

Digital Media Senior Thesis Flowchart Goal Thesis Chapter Course Professor To explore the digital media industry as a Pre- thesis preparation DIGM 2350 Zarzycka whole To dig deeply into the area of digital media Pre- thesis preparation DIGM 2352 Charleville in which you wish to specialize Problem Statement Chapter 1 DIGM 3351 Waite Introduction. Cite using APA. o You need some supporting sources, but don t be as extensive as in the Literature Review section FALL What problem are you trying to solve? o Ask your (research) question clearly and obviously as a question. Why is it a problem (issue)? o Why is it important (to you)? o Why should the reader want to read about what you learned? It needs to be measurable (test- able). Define terms Literature Review What do other credible people or institutions have to say about your question? Write about their research Don t provide your own opinion Chapter 2 Depends on your area of emphasis: DIGM 3252 DIGM 3374 DIGM 3356 Depends on your area of emphasis: Waite Zarzycka Snyder Cite at least 10 sources using correct APA style. SPRING o Wikis are not credible sources Method You need to be able to answer your research question (goes back to the Problem Statement) through measurement and/or testing. Given what you learned in the Literature Review, what are you going to do to add to the knowledge base? Write a step- by- step workflow. Chapter 3 DIGM 4372 FALL Waite Results and Conclusions Do your method. What happened? What does it mean? FINAL PAPER Visual Communications Journal Requirements Max 10 pages excluding References, tables, illustrations, and photos Chapters 4-5 Abstract 1. Statement of Problem 2. Concise Lit Review 3. Method 4. Results 5. Conclusions 6. Recommendations for further study DIGM 4399 SPRING DIGM 4399 SPRING Waite Zarzycka Pierce Snyder Waite Zarzycka Pierce Snyder Page 9