Missing attendance lists found

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I don't know if anyone still reads this blog. But if there is, for your information I can now tell you that I found the missing attendance lists from the first two weeks of the course. I had put them in a pile of paper that belonged to my other course, that I gave in parallel with this course.

It feels pretty futile to go through the lists retroactively to see if/who should have had to do an extra assignment. So, I have no use for them any longer and it wouldn't make a difference anyway as the final grades have been reported and can't be changed.

Still, a mystery that I was thinking about quite some "back then" has been solved.
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Home exam graded & reported + comment on question 3

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I have reported all grades for all students in the course to the KTH administrators. It usually takes a few days for this info to go through KTH's administrative system and enter LADOK - but it's on it's way.

You produced a huge number of pages (that's the drawback of home exams) and it has unfortunately taken me a long time to read and grade them all. There is one remarkable thing I really do have to comment on in regards to your exams though and that is question 3A ("How many energy slaves does it take to run your TV for 8 hours?").

A substantial number of students have mixed up the units Watts (W) and Watt-hours (Wh or kWh). That's basically like mixing up speed (km/h) and distance (km).

The figures you have heard in the course (or that can find on the web) is that an energy slave can generate somewhere between 75-100 W. If you have a TV that consumes 75-100 W you will thus need one energy slave biking constantly for 8 hours to run your TV for 8 hours. If your TV consumes 150-200 W you'll need 2 energy slaves (and so on).

In real life, you might have to take into consideration that not all slave-generated energy can be perfectly transformed into electricity, that a slave might not be able to bike for 8 hours straight since he/she needs to rest now and then (and eat - which is a matter of energy too). But let's skip those complications for now.

A surprisingly large number of students have instead counted like this:
- My TV uses 100 W
- I will watch it for 8 hours - that's 800 Wh
- An energy slave generates 100 W
- 800/100 = 8 and I thus need 8 slaves to run my TV.

Some of you have even written 800 Wh (or 0.8 kWh) on one line and then on the next line changed the unit by unproblematically transforming those 800 Wh into 800 W so as to better align it with the measure of how much energy a slave can generate - despite the fact that these are two totally different units of measure.

The result is a "category mistake". It is equivalent to saying that if I drive my car at the speed of 100 km/h for 8 hours, the resulting speed will be 800 km/h. That's naturally not the case. The distance you will have driven after 8 hours is 800 km but and that's of course very different from the previous erraneous statement about "the resulting speed".
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Home exam grading info

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Grading of the home exam depends on several different factors (for example if/how course literature is used in an appropriate and relevant way).

Points will furthermore be handed out depending on learning objectives that have been achieved according to Bloom's taxonomy (the further down in the list below, the better).

1, 2 - Remembering and Understanding:

Remember previously learned information and demonstrating an understanding of the facts.

Verbs that appropriately describes your answers on this level are: naming, outlining, selecting, giving examples, summarizing.

3- Applying:

Apply knowledge to actual situations.

Verbs that appropriately describes your answers on this level are; illustrating interpreting, relating, demonstrating, applying.

3 - Analyzing:

Break down objects or ideas into simpler parts and find evidence to support generalizations.

Verbs that appropriately describes your answers on this level are; comparing, contrasting, criticizing, infering, differentiating.

5 - Evaluating: 

Make and defend judgments based on internal evidence or external criteria.

Verbs that appropriately describes your answers on this level are; assess, argue, justify, contrast, value, defend.

6 - Creating:

Compile component ideas into a new whole or propose alternative solutions.

Verbs that appropriately describes your answers on this level are; construct, synthesize, combine, develop, create.

Other factors that are taken into account in relation to grading are:

- Content (most important)

- Language (not unimportant, but less important - unless it is difficult to understand your answers)

- Typographic/graphic form (not so important - unless it is difficult to read your paper)

Content: The content should be adapted to the scope of the text (please don't exceed the limitations set on the length of your answer(s)). Clearly indicate delimitations ["gjorda avgränsningar"]. Complex reasoning should be explained and put into context. Sources that you make use of in your answers should be in the list of references at the end of the exam. You should show that you have understood and can utilize basic theories and concepts concerning sustainability, or better yet, that you show that you understand how these theories and concepts are interrelated, or better yet, that you can carry out abstract reasoning about theories and concepts concerning sustainability

Language: Your answers should be written in English or Swedish and be well formulated, correct and proofread before you hand them in. Your answers should furthermore be coherent and logical. Terminology and technical terms should briefly be explained where needed. Use terms and concept in a uniform and unambiguous manner and stick to the point you are trying to make (avoid verbiage). Be reasoning and reflective, evaluate and discuss sources you make use of. 

Typographic/graphic form: The text should be easily accessible, clear, correct and follow typographic conventions. 

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Åhman lecture + readings

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At two students request, I hunted down Henrik Åhman's lecture slides from Oct 7 as well as two articles (suggested readings on social sustainability).

The slides are available in Bilda (Documents/Lectures) and so are the articles (Documents/Articles).

If you have any questions or comments about the home exam that you think are of general interest to the class, please post them here, in the form of a comment to this blog post. I will keep my eyes open for your comments and answer them in the form of a new comment here.
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Home exam is available in Bilda

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The home exam is now available in Bilda (DM2573 Sust-MT-13/Documents).

I was told Bilda was to be shut down between 15-18 today, but it seems to be up and running.

The deadline is a week from now - see further information about the home exam in the home exam itself.

Finally, good luck!

/Daniel & Elina
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Instructions for seminar 5 (Thu Oct 17)

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Seminar 5 will be held:

- For group A on Thursday October 17 at 10-12 in Q36

- For group B on Thursday October 17 at 10-12 in Q36 

NOTE: Both group A and B will be in the same seminar room!

- For group C on Thursday October 17 at 13-15 in B24

- For group D on Thursday October 17 at 13-15 in B24 

NOTE: Both group C and D will be in the same seminar room!

/Daniel

Instructions

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This is the last seminar. We want to talk about the future. You have heard the panelists' discussions on Oct 14, and their views of the future.

We want you to prepare for the seminar by writing a position paper based on the panelists' discussions and/or the course literature. The theme of the position paper is: "What is your image(s) of the future?". If you want to, you can also reflect upon if or how this image have changed during the course.

Please submit your seminar question though this Google form. NOTE: The deadline is 16 hours before the first seminar groups will meet, i.e. Wednesday October 16 at 18.15. Write/paste your "position paper" directly into the Google form. 

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Position paper instructions:

- Your paper should be between 200-600 words long. Make sure that you in some way refer to and make use of (some of) the lecture/seminar course materials in your paper. It is not the job of the teachers to in detail query and make sure that you have prepared for the seminar - it is your job to convince us that you have.

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Information about the home exam

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The home exam will be made available in Bilda on Thursday October 17, right after the last seminars (i.e. sometime between 15-16). You will have one week to complete the home exam and upload it to Bilda.

Since you might be tempted to stay home and work on the home exam on Friday October 18 instead of attending the very last lecture, we have decided to award one bonus point to everyone who shows up on that occasion! That occasion will consist of a summary/wrap-up of the course and will be followed by a "gripe session" - a live interactive course evaluation of sorts.
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