TU Wien:Sociology of Technology VU (Steinhardt)
This is the newer, english version of TU Wien:Techniksoziologie und Technikpsychologie VU (Steinhardt). The content and format are largely the same, though.
Daten[Bearbeiten | Quelltext bearbeiten]
| Vortragende | Gerald Steinhardt |
|---|---|
| ECTS | 3 |
| Sprache | English |
| Links | tiss:187329 |
Inhalt[Bearbeiten | Quelltext bearbeiten]
The history of the railway, cars and computers and the interaction of society with them, i.e. the symbolic meaning they get assigned in different cultures, and how the various ways of using them shape people's perception and means of interaction with their environment, the structuring function. E.g. the railway has been used and thus in turn shaped culture around it differently in the USA and Europe.
The course's content has partial overlap with Prof. Steinhardt's other courses, i.e. TU Wien:Communication and Media Theories VU (Steinhardt) and TU Wien:Gesellschaftswissenschaftliche Grundlagen der Informatik VU (Steinhardt). If you've done these before, you'll recognize the occasional example and discussion point.
Ablauf[Bearbeiten | Quelltext bearbeiten]
Presence is mandatory. There's a signature list going around during every lecture.
During most lecture's there will be in-class group-exercises. You'll get a set of questions to discuss in a group of four and need to hand in your group's discussion (roughly a page of handwriting). These count as bonus points to the grade. There's a class-wide discussion of the same questions afterwards and these exercise are usually a lead-in to lecture the topic the questions are about, as a way to incite critical reflection.
Over the semester you'll get three (portfolio-)exercises, each consisting of some reading material and a set of questions to discuss in relation to the text. For some you might need to do additional literature reseearch. The submissions need to be 750-900 words in length. These portfolio-exercises usually also prepare oneself for the in-class discussions.
At the end of the semester there's a written test.
Benötigte/Empfehlenswerte Vorkenntnisse[Bearbeiten | Quelltext bearbeiten]
None per se. It helps to have done literature research and writing-intensive courses before.
Vortrag[Bearbeiten | Quelltext bearbeiten]
Interesting and very interactive / inviting to discussion.
If you've only attended TU Wien:Gesellschaftswissenschaftliche Grundlagen der Informatik VU (Steinhardt) before, you'll notice that Prof. Steinhardt works significantly better with smaller groups. If you've done TU Wien:Communication and Media Theories VU (Steinhardt), you'll know what to expect.
Übungen[Bearbeiten | Quelltext bearbeiten]
See "Ablauf".
Prüfung, Benotung[Bearbeiten | Quelltext bearbeiten]
Written exam with multiple choice as well as free text answers on the portfolio-exercise reading material as well as the lecture content. Be careful with the wording of some of the multiple choice questions (e.g. double negatives).
Both for the portfolio-exercises as well as the free text answers in the exam-parts, there seems to be a checklist of discussion points to bring up, that are used for grading. In this regard comprehensibility of arguments is also of importance.
The grading is rather strict in it's points-basedness and sometimes can feel a bit arbitrary, probably stemming from the hidden checklists. You won't get express feedback on the portfolio-exercises in TUWEL (e.g. what was missing), though there's inspection-dates where one might learn more.
Dauer der Zeugnisausstellung[Bearbeiten | Quelltext bearbeiten]
noch offen
Zeitaufwand[Bearbeiten | Quelltext bearbeiten]
Relatively high for a 3 ECTS course, especially if one researches extra literature for the portfolio exercises.
If you're doing this course as a soft-skill, you'll notice that it's a lot more effort than other soft-skills.
Unterlagen[Bearbeiten | Quelltext bearbeiten]
You'll get handouts during most lectures. Digital versions of those, as well as the reading material for the portfolio exercises should be in TUWEL.
Also check out the attachments here.
Tipps[Bearbeiten | Quelltext bearbeiten]
- go to (almost) all lectures
- take notes (some exam questions are based on things that barely show up in the slides)
Verbesserungsvorschläge / Kritik[Bearbeiten | Quelltext bearbeiten]
noch offen