Engagement Points

A portion of your grade in this class is determined by your engagement with course concepts in contexts beyond the core assignments and project sequence. We track this through a system we call Engagement Points.

How do Engagement Points work?

Throughout the quarter, there will be various opportunities to earn Engagement Points by completing certain tasks or actively participating in in-class activities in a meaningful way. There are generally not deadlines or specific schedules for these tasks; rather, you must take the initiative to complete these tasks throughout the quarter.

During final grade calculation, the last 0.25/4.0 of your grade in the course comes from the number of Engagement Points you have accrued across the quarter. Accumulating eight or more points gives you this full +0.25. If you have fewer than eight points, you will have (POINTS/8) * 0.25 added to your final grade in the class.

How do I get Engagement Points?

This list may be expanded through the quarter as new opportunities become available. Many of these can be done more than once.

  • Strong In-Class Engagement. Consistent active participation during lecture (speaking up, asking questions, etc.) can earn you up to two Engagement Points across the quarter.
  • Consistently responding to class participation threads. This can earn you up to one engagement point across the quarter.
  • Discussing Outside Experiences. Make a post on Ed sharing an example of how you have brought principles from this course into other contexts. For instance, you might describe something you did to improve accessibility in a course you TA, or you could discuss a particularly inaccessible scenario you encountered and reflect on the social justice implications of that situation. You will gain one Engagement Point for each of these posts, and can do this as many times as you like throughout the quarter.
  • Exceptional Submission. When submitting an individual assignment, if you go significantly beyond the requirements of the assignment and show deeper engagement with the course content, you can be awarded an Engagement Point.
  • Reflecting on your own Student Presentation. Watch the recording of your presentation and share a reflection on the range of AT discussed, some of the ATs you find most interesting, some of your overall thoughts about the technologies you’ve seen, etc. Respond to this thread with your reflection: AT Around Us discussion Ed Post.
  • Accessible Presentation. Watch a presentation, on any topic (your own is fine). Then respond to the Accessible Presentation Ed Post with the following:
    • List the accessible presenting principles you think are relevant to the presentation. Some examples include: Introduce and describe yourself; Speak slowly and clearly; Read entire quotes; Verbally describe images and videos; Repeat questions for clarity;- Make slides available 24 hours ahead; Finish on time; Avoid ableist language; Face the audience; Use understandable terms; avoid slang and colloquialisms; Provide a link to a presentation (e.g. your presentation in class, a TEDx talk, or anything else you find interesting to watch or presented);
    • Reflect on which of the principles you think you succeeded or failed to meet
  • Current Events Reflection. Find a news article or other post about current events that is relevant to the topics discussed in this course. Summarize the article and reflect on it in this thread: Current Events Engagement Ed Post. You may do this twice throughout the quarter, earning one point each time.
  • Attend a talk. Attend a disability related talk and write a brief reflection on how what you learned relates to at least one competency in this class. Even better if you share it here BEFORE going so others in the class know about it, then share back what you learned. Share the talk ahead of time if possible, and then respond to this thread with your reflection: Attend a disability related talk
  • Provide thoughtful feedback to help us improve the class. Engagement in the class design is another important way of engaging. Thoughtful feedback about the class design, and especially a willingness to engage in conversation about this, is not only welcomed but also counts towards engagement. Thanks to all who have provided this!

Finally, we have an engagement post just for letting us know if we missed something. Feel free to reach out to us.

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