Syllabus for the Spring 2025 version of IAT-499Graduation Project
Your lecturer
The Spring 2025 teaching team is:
Andrew Hawryshkewich (lecturer)
- On-campus office: Room 2816, Podium 2, SFU Surrey
- Virtual office: Linked through Canvas
- Email: ac.ufs@h_werdna
- Website: https://andrewh.ca/teaches
Email and conduct rules
Please make sure to follow our email and conduct rules when emailing or chatting with your instructors or fellow students.
Email rules
Please allow up to 2 business days for responses though we will typically reply much sooner. We may be able to answer questions about software or code via email or course chat depending on the complexity. We do not provide design critique via email or course chat. Please arrange a meeting or attend office hours for design critique or complex software or code questions.
To make our responses faster, please include the following in your email:
- Your full name.
- The course number (IAT-499).
- Your lab number.
- A clear question.
Conduct rules
We will be offering an online chat service for students to make use of as part of the course. Sign-up for the service is available through the course Canvas site.
Please treat our online interactions the same way you would in-person interactions. As a teaching team we are dedicated to providing a harassment-free experience for everyone in this class, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, or religion. Harassment of any form is not tolerated. Sexual language and imagery is not appropriate in this class.
If you have concerns with anyone's conduct either in-person or online, please direct message or email Andrew. If you do not feel comfortable reaching out to Andrew, please contact SIAT's advisors.
SFU's complete student conduct policy is available online.
You (the student) is feeling ill
Please stay home. No doctor's note is needed for short term (5-day) absences from class. To keep up with course materials:
- Contact your instructor to arrange an alternative time to receive feedback.
- Check-in on the course chat to pose follow-up questions on the lecture or labs as needed.
If you will be missing class for more than a week or will be missing a major deadline please email Andrew to discuss accommodations.
If Andrew is ill
You can expect a notification on Canvas and course chat by 10am on the day of the lecture. Information on how content or materials will be offered will be included in the announcement.
Lectures
IAT-499 lectures are held:
- Wednesdays, -
- SRYC 3170, in-person
- Lecturer: Andrew Hawryshkewich (ac.ufs@h_werdna)
IAT-499Graduation Project course description
Students will complete a project of significant size and scope that allows them to bring together skills and knowledge learned across a variety of courses in SIAT. They will produce a design, media, or interactive system artifact that is of a high caliber ("portfolio" quality) along with a detailed report of the project activities completed throughout the term, the methods or processes used, the knowledge learned, and a description of the final outcomes. Projects will be presented publicly at an end-of-the-term graduation showcase.
Learning outcomes
Learning outcomes expected for students of the course:
- Plan and manage a large scale project that moves from an idea's conception to completed artifact, installation or research outcome.
- Apply and follow a detailed project plan iteratively to complete a large scale project.
- Create, analyze, and evaluate a large project iteratively throughout its undertaking.
- Apply a range of alternative design processes or methodologies (coming from critical design, speculative design, narrative environmnts, discursive design, design futures etc.).
- Document a large-scale project at all stages so it can be understood by collaborators, industry contacts, and the general public.
Course materials
All course materials are available through SFU Canvas. Most course materials are also available on the instructor's website.
Projects and assessments
Below is an overview of course projects and assessments for IAT-499.
Projects
- Midterm portfolio (40%)
- Final showcase (60%)
Participation
Regular attendance and engagement with peers in-class is expected as part of this course. While you are not all working in the same domain or towards the same outcome, you are part of the same class and can support one another by other means.
Workload
This course is worth six units. This means you can expect to spend 12-18 hours per week on coursework — for example readings, projects, etc. — including time in class.
Please remember that other six-unit courses share a similar workload. No one course should take time away from your other courses. If you find this course is requiring work above 18 hours per week please email Andrew.
Grading
Graded items in this course will usually make use of a rubric to define grading criteria. While we try to make the rubric and criteria clear and understandable, please make sure to bring up any questions you may have about the rubric before a project comes due.
When submitting projects please pay attention to the plagiarism policy.
Late submissions
There are no late penalties in this course, but there is a final deadline for course materials to be submitted to receive a grade for the term.
Plagiarism
Please note that according to SFU policy 4.1.2, the following constitutes plagiarism:
- Submitting or presenting the work of another person, including artistic imagery, as that of the student without full and appropriate accreditation;
- Copying all or part of an essay or other assignment from an author or other person, including a tutor or student mentor, and presenting the material as the student's original work;
- Failing to acknowledge the phrases, sentences or ideas of the author of published and unpublished material that is incorporated into an essay or other assignment.
Plagiarism will result in a grade reduction or school disciplinary action at the instructor's discretion. In this course a zero will be applied to the complete grade of a project that plagiarizes. For further reference and clarification, please see SFU's academic honesty policy or ask Andrew for clarification.
Undeclared use of AI tools will be considered plagiarism in this course. Please cite AI tool use to avoid your project being flagged for plagiarism.
Concerns with grades
Any concerns with grades or grading should be brought up with Andrew. Please email Andrew to start a grade review. Reconsideration of grades may result in a grade being raised, lowered, or remining unchanged.
Concerns should be emailed to Andrew within 10 days of the release of the grade as described in SFU's policy on Grading and the Reconsideration of Grades (T20.01 section 2.4).
Grading scale
All the grades in this course tally to 100% to make it easier to track progress through the term.
This course uses the SIAT standard grading scale for final letter grades:
| Letter grade | Percentage range |
|---|---|
| A+ | 95% to 100% |
| A | 90% to 95% |
| A- | 85% to 90% |
| B+ | 80% to 85% |
| B | 75% to 80% |
| B- | 70% to 75% |
| C+ | 65% to 70% |
| C | 60% to 65% |
| C- | 55% to 60% |
| D | 50% to 55% |
| F | 0% to 50% |