Winter Quarter 2024

          
Perspectives in Assistive Technology
ENGR110/210

          

David L. Jaffe, MS
Lathrop Library Classroom 282
Tuesdays & Thursdays from 4:30 to 5:50pm PST

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Comments about the Course - 2024 End-of-Term Evaluation Form


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Comments about the Classroom

Classroom was good, but the time was a bit late in the day

Good

The classroom is very spacious and is more interactive when speakers are invited to our class. All of the screens are helpful for all the visuals presented to us. The time slot is great.

I like this location. a little hard to hear sometimes though.

The classroom is ideal for presenters who came in due to the vast amount of TVs.

I like the classroom. I like that there are a lot of TVs so no matter where you sit you can see the presentation. The time slot is fine, and I like that it didn't clash with any other class despite being a little late.

The classroom is great! Tons of space and screens.

I think the class was great, but the timing was a bit tough since it was so late in the day so it's after a long day of classes. In the other hand the timing can be considered to be good since it's less likely to clash with other classes which is wonderful.

Good spacing, places for groups to meet. A bit late in the day, but does not conflict with other classes.

Comfortable and accessible location.

I thought the classroom was good and it made it easy to sit with the team to converse before and after class. I also liked that there were screens on every wall.

It's good! The only weird part is the pillars that block the speakers.

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Comments about the Course Website and Week in Review

The weekly reviews were very helpful, and I enjoyed all the assistive technology articles.

Yes, the course website is very useful and always pertinent to the upcoming assignments.

Most of it was pretty useful! Especially nice how Dave let us know exactly which videos were most important (when making up classes).

Yes, they showcased everything we went over. I also liked the notifications you sent when we missed class.

The emails were good reminders of upcoming deadlines.

Yes: sometimes the website was a little difficult to navigate but I understand why there is a website instead of a Canvas page so it's okay.

Yes - The weekly email had good reminders for deadlines which I appreciated!

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Comments about the Team Project Workload

It totally depends on your project and how much time you are willing to invest in it. For some it may be 3 units but honestly, I think it is 4. A lot of time is spent outside of class times to carry out the project.

Course load was appropriate

Appropriate amount of work

Pretty good as a three-unit course

It is a good 3-unit course

I think the class is a perfect 3-unit class.

I think 3 credits is appropriate depending on the scope of the project. I found myself working on this course in a capacity that more closely aligns with a 4-unit course, but I can see how (on average) this is a 3-unit commitment for most.

It felt about right! I definitely spent more time working on my project toward the end of the quarter, but that's pretty standard with project classes.

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Comments about the Pace of the Course and Assignments

good

Great

A little slow at first but definitely picks up towards the end.

good pacing

good and built upon itself

I enjoyed the pace.

Good pacing to have two big projects but mostly self-guided.

I think 10 weeks is always going to feel fast paced, but the course balances progress with appropriate timelines well.

Great way to keep us on track - the weekly updates in particular.

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Comments about the Number of Lectures (12), Field Trips (1), Assistive Technology Faire (1), Film Screening (1), and Variety of Lecture Topics.

Field trip was a highlight. Most of the lectures were very interesting. Loved the technology and I didn't enjoy the film screening as much.

Pretty good.

I think that they were fairly interesting!

I really enjoyed the student lectures. The field trip was also fun.

I think it was a great variety although through a jaded lens I would love more screening since I love films but other than that the variety of the course was amazing.

More field trips! But a good variety of different class activities .

Lecture topics had lot of variety and built new perspectives in AT

The film screening was well intentioned but tough to follow because of internet lagging; the faire was really informative; I loved the field trip! All the speakers were great and I learned from many different perspectives.

I would LOVE more field trips/tours!

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Replies to: "What aspects of the course did you particularly like or dislike? How could the course be further enhanced for next year?"

Hearing from people that have actually made a difference in the world and created assertive technologies.

I like how you set the course up and talk about different disabilities including schizophrenia, ADHD, etc. some that are less commonly talked about.

I really enjoyed all the guest lectures.

I really enjoyed the lecture where multiple speakers came in.

I loved that the projects were team projects so we could learn and figure things out together. I also really appreciated how we could makeup for missed lectures while still encouraging us to attend as many lectures in person as possible.

I liked the diversity of speakers, especially hearing about their different perspectives and connections to assistive technology.

Liked the variety of lectures and how different assistive devices are helping people with different disabilities especially the prosthetic arm like exoskeleton, and BCI.

I liked all the speakers! Especially when they shared about their life experiences in addition to technologies. It could be nice to have a shorter intro at the beginning of each class and get straight to the guest speaker.

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Replies to: "(Students who worked on projects only) Please provide an overall objective assessment of your course and project performance and efforts on these activities: relationship with your community partner (number and quality of meetings), efforts to understand the problem, number and quality of prototypes, functionality of final prototype, contribution to fabrication and testing activities, contribution to mid-term and end-of-term reports, contribution to mid-term and end-of-term presentations, and other considerations."

Project was great.

Good relationship with liaison!

The overall experience on this project was great. The team was on the same page about expectations and contributions. Our project partner was always helpful and supportive.

Really enjoyed my community partner and how communicative and supportive they were. We were able to meet in person two times and over zoom a couple more. The course instructor and assistant were great, and I am very happy with our final prototype. I think I definitely contributed to the midterm and final presentations as well as the prototypes.

I loved working with my team and our project partner. I wish we could have spent more time on it but i plan on continuing as independent study. A lot of times you get what you put into it! The project partner's family were all so encouraging and helpful to us! Thank you to them.

We met frequently with our project suggestors. They were incredibly nice but gave very little feedback that helped us improve our design. We later found this was because they were worried to hurt our feelings. It would have been better to have this feedback throughout the quarter to make improvements on our project.

Quite a lot of meetings with team members and our partner organization and it was great to get to know them over the quarter and work with them and learn with them. Also met quite a bit with course assistant and he was super helpful with refining and guiding our project as well.

We had a strong relationship with our community partner, we met almost once a week and they came to class often. The interactions with the teaching team were kind and informative. Our team worked very well together and communicated well about expectations and our capabilities.

Our team met with our community partner three times and communicated every week sharing updates, photos, and ideas. She was very communicative and helpful throughout the course.

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Comments on Guest Lecture Presentations

I really enjoyed hearing lectures from people who had some type of connection to Stanford. It felt really personal. The engineering technology was also amazing to learn about as I had no idea what is out there.

It was a great experience, certainly broaden my horizons in Assistive technology. Hearing to the guest lectures was so much fun every week and I looked forward to attending every lecture. Some of the favorites include Project Suggestors presentation, panel discussion with students and faculty with disability, BCI and third-arm project and, also beneficial designs. Interacting with the guest speakers and with their assistive devices felt great. The faire was also super fun. Project presentations and demonstrations were awesome.

I really liked the Panel of Stanford Students and Faculty with Disabilities! I've seen the students around campus before, and it was super cool to hear them speak about their experience. I also really liked the Assistive Technology Faire because I learned anything can be an assistive technology, even a tote bag. I loved Ralf Hotchkiss' presentation! I really love the idea that we can create useful tools with whatever materials are available. Awesome human creativity!

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Replies to: "Please comment on the contribution of your team members to the project."

Everyone was involved.

They were great!

I think different people contributed more in different times, but one student who was in my team was definitely a main contributor.

We all contributed equally I genuinely feel. we all came from different school backgrounds and we all brought something valuable. some of us knew how to machine while others how to sew. we then compiled all of our skills and worked together beautifully .

One of my team members focused on the prototyping and fabrication since she was more experienced in sewing, and the other team member did not really contribute that much.

My team worked really hard this quarter!

Each person worked on some part of the project whether it was cutting the foam, painting.

Every team member helped out in the best way they could. Everyone contributed significant time, energy, and ideas to the project, and we all listened to each other's ideas.

My team mate was enthusiastic, always available to work, and contributed to design decisions, dispensing iterations, assembly, and incorporating our project suggestor's feedback.

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Replies to: "If you took another project course this quarter (such as ME210), please comment on your workload and ability to contribute as a team member in both course projects and provide advice to future students who wish to enroll in this and another project course."

It's doable to be in multiple project classes. I'd suggest working on this project with people you know.

I was enrolled in 3 other project classes which was a little too much but is very possible. Just be aware of your schedules and stay ahead of the work to avoid sleepless nights.

Was hard to balance other project classes like 104 with this but it can be done.

Really take into consideration what you are making, who you are working with, and if you will be able to actually make time for it. be honest with yourself.

Definitely try not to take too many project courses while taking this class.

I was able to manage my time with all of my projects.

Quite difficult given 170B and BIOE284.

It was good to be able to schedule our own objectives without arbitrary deadlines. I was in two other project classes, so it was a bit difficult to juggle everyone's schedules.

It was a heavy quarter, but it wasn't surprising, and I was committed and prepared to support my different project teams!

I took BIOE44 and 123. There's definitely more I wanted to do with all the projects, but I'm proud of what all my teams have accomplished so far! I think I was able to contribute at least my fair share to all my project work. It was a little hard to schedule time to be in the textile makerspace, Room 36, and the UTL when they were open or when office hours were happening. There's still room for more on all my projects though, so I would probably advise two but not three project classes in one quarter (or just better time management than me!)

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Replies to: "Provide additional instructor-related comments."

Thank you for everything, this has been one of my best courses as an ME major at Stanford!

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Replies to: "Please share any additional comments, suggestions, and observations about the course, its content, and your experiences."

Thank you, Dave for all your help and thought you put into the course.

I feel like this course - or aspects of this course - should be required for MEs. Our project courses are always motivated by a grade from the instructor rather than the feedback and reward of creating something useful and meaningful for someone else. ENGR110 added a level of humanity and compassion that was missing from my engineering experience here so far.

I was expecting to learn more fabrication/machine shop skills from this course but getting better at sewing has been really cool and also helpful! It was awesome getting to help a real person :)

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Updated 05/06/2024

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