Podcast Assignment
Table of contents
Timeline
All due dates are 11:59pm PT on the day listed.
| Assignment Component | Podcast 1 | Podcast 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Due: Group matching form | Tue 09/17 | TBD |
| Assigned: Groups | Fri 09/20 | TBD |
| Due: Podcast 1 | Tue 10/08 | Tue 11/19 |
| Assigned: Peer Reviews | Fri 10/11 | Fri 11/22 |
| Due: Peer Reviews | Fri 10/18 | Tue 12/03 |
Assignment Description
Pick a topic, a related piece of media, and a CS195 classmate (or two). Talk about the topic a bit (this defines “a podcast”). Peer review others’ podcasts.
Podcast Details
One of the learning goals of this course is to share and engage your opinions about the social implications of computing technology, particularly with others. Since most of you will engage with these implications through spoken conversation, we’re hoping that this will be a better simulation of what you will do in practice—as opposed to a written essay.
You will record a 7-10 minute audio file of you talking with one or two other people in the course, then peer review two other podcasts. This does not have to be an Audible/Spotify-level production, but the audio quality should be clear enough such that an automatic captioner would reasonably be able to pick up on most words. We share some resources for recording audio at the end of this assignment.
The goal of this assignment is a conversation between classmates. You do not need to submit a written script (beyond any automatic transcription; see below). However, both you and your partner should speak roughly an equal amount of time, and there shouldn’t be too many extra-long pauses (e.g., 5-10 seconds of pausing every once in a while is fine, but a longer amount of silence is not). Heuristically, aim for the amount of speaking you see in a podcast or internet stream. With these two things in mind (no script required, but conversation should keep both parties engaged), if you need it, we encourage you to outline some thoughts ahead of time. You may need to do several recordings!
Project Group Formation
Groups are 2-3 students total (that is, you and 1-2 other students).
- Podcast 1: Submit the CS 195 Group Matching Google Form
to register your group and/or provide preferences for random group assignment.
- If you have a group in mind, please provide their emails through this sheet. If you do not have a group in mind, please submit this form and we will try to assign you to a group that matches your group work preferences.
- Please submit the above form on time. The form counts as one of the required surveys in this course.
- If you do not submit the form on time, you will be randomly assigned a group.
- After the form closes, we will email each group and include student contact emails. Please let us know if you do not receive your group assignment within a week of filling out the form.
- Podcast 2: You will have an option to switch groups. Details TBD.
Topic Choice and Required Media
Topic choices:
- Podcast 1: From Week 02: Free Speech up to and including Week 07: Government Surveillance. You must pick a topic related to what we will have covered in lecture.
- Podcast 2: From Week 08: Generative AI up to and including Week 13: Memes, Misinformation, and Information Literacy. Or, you can choose your own topic, so long as it is related to the themes of this class.
As part of your discussion, cite or discuss one external news article, tweet, video from Tiktok/YouTube/etc., academic paper, or other relevant form of media that is outside of the ones discussed or shared in class. You can include multiple of these if that’s what you want to talk about, but just one is required for submission.
Both the topic and the title/author of your external media piece should be stated at the beginning of the podcast. If you are choosing your own topic, we encourage you to find a succinct, 2-5 word phrase for the topic, before you dive in. If the media is not titled (e.g., a tweet), you should say as much of it as needed for a listener to look up the tweet (e.g., read the short tweet aloud).
Peer Review
As part of the grading process for this course, each person will anonymously submit two (2) peer reviews per podcast. Each peer review consists of the following:
(1) Submit the grading rubric for the peer submission.
(2) Post a text comment on the peer submission.
- Post a question, quote and discuss, or comment on your classmates’ podcast. See the QQCR guidelines.
- Submit this as a text comment in the peer review assignment you are assigned to.
- Just like for QQCRs, you should be civil in your responses. Your classmates have worked hard on this assignment, and they will read your comments! One rule of thumb for constructive commenting: Instead of “I don’t like/I disagree,” say “I like” and “I wish…”
- See the syllabus for our Community Guidelines.
Grading and Rubric
Since this is a pair assignment, if all goes well your assignment will receive four anonymous peer reviews. Each person therefore will have to submit two peer reviews (see “Peer Review” above).
A passing grade on a podcast is such that all rubric categories are marked “Satisfactory” by all peer reviewers.
| Category | 1 point | 0 points |
|---|---|---|
| Uploaded file is a text file (.vtt, .txt, PDF, word doc, etc.) or an audio file that contains the group conversation. | Satisfactory | File is a video file / File is not the conversation file. |
| Conversation topic is pertinent to one (or more) of the specified lectures. | Satisfactory | Conversation is not pertinent to class. |
| The conversation cites or discusses the uploaded piece of media (news article, tweet, video from Tiktok/YouTube/etc., academic paper) in a relevant manner. | Satisfactory | Conversation neither cites nor discusses a new piece of media outside of class resources. |
| The topic and media citation are stated at the beginning of the podcast, or clearly enough at some point in the conversation. | Satisfactory | Unclear/unsatisfactory |
| Conversation does not have particularly long pauses (e.g., longer than 15 seconds) and is within the time limit. | Satisfactory | Conversation includes an extra-long pause / contains so many pauses such that it cannot be considered satisfying the 7-10 minute requirement / Time limit is 7-10 minutes or thereabouts. |
| Conversation feels relatively balanced, i.e., it flows back and forth. | Satisfactory | One person is dominating the speaking time / One person takes the first half, then the other person takes the second half (or split three-wise). |
Instructional staff will spot-review some podcasts and will explicitly re-review any submissions that do not achieve “Satisfactory” in all rubric items. We encourage you to grade honestly so that we can give groups appropriate feedback on future submissions.
Submission
Podcast Submission
Submit your podcast via bCourses.
- Only one person from each group will need to submit to bCourses.
- [ updated 9/30 ] Podcast 1: Assignment Portal; Group assignments. We will only resolve import errors, not last-minute group switches.
- You must announce your topic and the media you are citing at the beginning of your podcast. This will greatly facilitate peer and staff grading.
- Check your filenames: Remember that peer reviewers can see your filename. Please rename your file if you would prefer anonymity.
- Alternate transcript submissions: If you prefer to submit a text transcript of your conversation for peer grading; details on how to use Zoom recordings for auto-transcript are at the bottom of the assignment page. Please note that you will need to ALSO email the audio file to our course staff email at cs195@berkeley.edu before the assignment deadline.
- Extensions: We only accept short extension requests, made 12 hours before the submission deadline. Please read our full extension policy on the syllabus page.
- Media sharing: While you are not required to read out any URL as part of your conversation, we recommend putting your media link through a URL shortener (e.g., TinyURL) and reading that out. That will help peer reviewers more easily access the media piece for quicker review.
Peer Review Submission
Submit all assigned peer reviews via the bCourses assignment portal.
- Fill out the grading rubric for the submission.
- Add your comment directly to the submission.
See this Canvas post for guidance on how to submit peer reviews.
Audio Resources
The easiest way to make an audio file AND an automatically generated transcript is to record your conversation via Zoom.
- Start a Zoom; you and your partner do not need to both sign on, but if you are in the same room then both of you should be in front of the microphone.
- Click the “Record to the Cloud” or “Record to my Computer” and start your conversation.
- After you finish, click “End Meeting” or “Stop Recording.”
- After you end the meeting, if you selected “Record to my Computer” then your files will be available locally. If you selected “Record to the Cloud” you will need to wait for Zoom to email you a link to download your files.
- Upon viewing the files, you will see an .mp4 video file, .m4a audio file, a .vtt text transcript file. You can upload either the .m4a audio file or the .vtt text file (do not upload .mp4 or any video files).
- If you choose to upload the .vtt text transcript file, you must also separately email your group’s audio file to the course staff. See the “Submission” details above for the correct email subject heading.