DESMA 28: Introduction to Interactivity
UCLA Department of Design | Media Arts

Assistant Professor Casey Reas
TA John Houck

Time: Monday & Wednesday 14:00–16:50
Location: Kinross South S122

Content

This course is an introduction to the concepts and principles of interactivity. In addition to discussing ideas related to interactivity, the class focuses on developing the skills required for creating interactive work, therefore participants will work toward developing their computer programming skills. The concepts and skills taught in the class will enhance each participant’s ability to excel in future UCLA classes about the Internet, animation, interactive media, and game design.

Assignments

There is five problem sets and three projects. In addition, there will be weekly reading assignments supported by discussions in class. There will be three essays assigned and also weekly readings from Programming Media, a work-in-progress text by Casey Reas & Ben Fry. The readings for each week will be distributed each week.

Evaluation

The grading is based on the weekly problem sets (50%), projects (30%), and on the participant’s comments, feedback, and active participation during the class meetings (10%). PSs will be evaluated on how well they demonstrate an understanding of the material, their originality, and aesthetic qualities. Projects will be evaluated based on their originality, aesthetic qualities, and conceptual sophistication. Feedback will be primarily qualitative but numeric scores will also be given for each PS. If assignments are turned in late, points will be taken off each day so that a zero will be received if one week late. More than two absences without the Professor or TA’s prior approval will lower the participants final grade by one unit (i.e. an A will become an B). With each additional unexcused absence, the grade will drop an additional unit. All problems sets and projects must be completed to pass the course. In addition, participants must attend at least three D|MA sponsored lectures during the quarter.

The grade breakdown follows:
10% Participation
50% Problem Sets
30% Projects