Abstract: Throughout history, civilization is punctuated by social dilemmas. Many of these dilemmas have even persisted into present day. In this project, students choose a societal dilemma to examine, research it’s implications throughout history and the present day, then designs and fabricate an Arduino-based digital interface to interact with a user around that dilemma. The user must manipulate interface by answering questions, pressing buttons, or by some other means – their input eventually culminating in a decision on how their biases reflect on a particular societal outcome. Each interface includes an integrated infographic that provides a quantitative evaluation the dilemma throughout time.
Humanities Context:
ElectriCity-States is a distillation of this semester’s study of the Greeks, Romans, Mayans, Easter Islanders, etc. – comparing some of these struggles to struggles in “our world”. Students wrote a well-sourced and critiqued research paper and discussed content in structured conversations like Socratic Seminar. Students also designed quantitative infographics in Adobe Illustrator.
Engineering & Physics Work:
Students studied and applied their knowledge of electricity, electric circuits, and electrical engineering, to design and fabricate complex embedded systems. Students then developed their programming skills while programming their interfaces using Arduinos. Students also designed their physical interfaces and fabricated them out of wood and acrylic.
Community/Industry Involvement:
- Programmers from industry assisted in-classroom on a regular basis.
- Oracle provided funding as part of our participation in their outreach program.
Related Media:
A quick glance at the final install:
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