Module 0: Getting Started

Logistics

NOTE

  • This topic has several assignments associated with it!  

How does this class work? 

  • If you somehow got to this page without doing the quick online course tour, make sure you complete that.
  • As mentioned in the welcome, we are sharing this material with people around the world who are interested in Responsible AI for the Earth Sciences.  The way class will work is that your readings and assignments are all on this set of webpages and discussions will happen in class.

How does grading work?  What topics are we covering?  

  • The syllabus has all of this information!  Please read it.  Note it is always available in the Important Links module so you can refer back to it at any time.

What is a grading declaration?

  • You should have noticed in the syllabus that I listed something called a grading declaration. These are drawn from a philosophy called Ungrading (you do NOT need to purchase or read the book, I’m just linking to it in case you want to learn more than you do from the quick reading below. If you really like the idea, there is an crowd-sourced open-access book on Ungrading also!). While we are not doing full ungrading this semester, we do use many of the approaches to improve your learning experience. For example, rubrics are an ungrading technique where you know exactly what points are assigned for what and you choose how many you want to achieve. They are also useful for grading transparency! We will also make use of something called grading declarations.
  • Complete your first declaration (called “Module 0: Syllabus and Grading Declarations“)

Code of Conduct

  • Read the code of conduct
  • Complete the code of conduct “Module 0: Code of conduct quiz” (this is not really a quiz, just agreeing to follow the code of conduct)

Grades and Communication

  • Canvas will store all grades/points and links to all assignments.
  • Canvas does not have a great discussion board nor does it enable team communication for your projects etc.  So we will use slack to manage all discussions and DMs.
    • Slack will be our main mode of communication!  Make sure you join (link in the grading declaration at the end of this page).
    • And make sure you keep up with slack – don’t stop reading partway through the semester!  ALL announcements will go to slack!
    • Set up your account in slack via the link in canvas. Make sure you use the name you wish to be called but please don’t use your online or gaming nickname (e.g. I need to know who you are, not “AINerd4”). The name needs to be identifiable somehow with your canvas name.
    • After you setup your account, introduce yourself in the introductions channel. Answer the following questions:
      • Who are you?
      • Why did you enroll in this course and what do you hope to get out of it?
    • Make sure you learn (or know) how to use emojis as well as threads. 
    • Complete the slack grading declaration on canvas (called “Module 0: Slack introductions“)

Bug hunting

  • No class is perfect! For each module, there will be extra credit points for the first to find bugs where bugs can include broken or wrong links or anything on the webpages or quizzes.
    • Note, I want to fix typos and spelling errors but they don’t count for individual points per error.  Instead, they will count as a point for every 5 such spelling error or typo. 
    • To earn the extra credit, you must:
      • Be the first to report report the bug to the #bug-reports channel
      • Have the bug be verified by Dr McGovern (e.g. if you report a broken link and it isn’t broken, it isn’t a bug)

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