Schedule — Fall 2026
- Meets: Monday / Wednesday / Friday
- First class: Monday, August 31, 2026
- Last class: Friday, December 11, 2026
📌 This is a planning skeleton. Every date is fixed; topics are placeholders (
_TBD_) until the reading list and use-case sequence are set.
How a Week Works
This will be our pacing after the first few weeks.
| Day | Role | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Concept | Unpack the mechanics behind the week's prep reading — the logic of the machine. What is this system? What can it do? What can't it? |
| Wednesday | Case | Take a real deployment through the DTPA framework: Data → Tools → Practices → Actions. Evidence-driven, from primary and secondary sources. |
| Friday | Studio | Team work on the design project. Peer review, milestone progress, applying STS resources and ethical frameworks to your own proposal. |
Every class day: an exit ticket for credit — a short in-class response that closes the day and seeds Friday’s studio and the weekly reflection.
Every week: a prep “reading” to complete before Monday, and a weekly reflection posted to the D2L discussion board with peer responses.
We put “reading” in quotes because we anticipate some of the preparatory material will be videos or podcast episodes.
Recurring deadlines
| What | When | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Prep reading | Before Monday’s class | — |
| Exit ticket | End of each class meeting | In class |
| Reflection post | Sunday, 11:59 PM | D2L discussion |
| Peer responses (2) | Tuesday, 11:59 PM | D2L discussion |
Project Milestones
Teams design a solution with AI, grounded in DTPA, evidence, STS resources, and ethical frameworks (e.g. the EU AI Act risk tiers).
| Milestone | Due | Week |
|---|---|---|
| Teams formed | Fri, Sep 18 | 3 |
| Project Plan I — problem, stakeholders, initial DTPA scoping | Fri, Oct 2 | 5 |
| Project Plan II — evidence base, STS framing, ethical risk analysis | Fri, Nov 6 | 10 |
| Project Plan III — full draft solution + critique response | Fri, Dec 4 | 14 |
| Showcase presentations | Mon Dec 7 & Wed Dec 9 | 15 |
| Final deliverable | Fri, Dec 11 | 15 |
Unit Arc
Following the chronological inquiry in the learning goals:
| Unit | Weeks | Question |
|---|---|---|
| I | 1–5 | Where have we been? Foundations, mechanics, and the history that produced these systems |
| II | 6–10 | Where are we now? Contemporary deployments, domain by domain |
| III | 11–15 | Where are we going? Futures, governance, and your own proposals |
Unit boundaries are a first draft — move them as the topic sequence firms up.
Week by Week
Week 1 · Aug 31 – Sep 4
Unit I — Where have we been?
Prep reading: TBD — course framing, no reading due before day one
| Day | Date | Role | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| M | Aug 31 | Introduction to CMSE 101 | Discuss Course Syllabus; Answer Questions |
| W | Sep 2 | Concept | Data Collection and Encoding |
| F | Sep 4 | Case (Data Focus) | Census of Populations; W.E.B Dubois |
Due: Exit ticket ×3 · Reflection 1 (Sun Sep 6) · Responses (Tue Sep 8)
Week 2 · Sep 7 – 11
Unit I
Prep reading (before Wed): TBD
| Day | Date | Role | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| M | — | 🚫 No class — Labor Day, University closed | |
| W | Sep 9 | Concept | Neural Networks & Image Recognition |
| F | Sep 11 | Case (Tools Focus) | Mail Systems; Facial Recognition |
Due: Exit ticket ×2 · Reflection 2 (Sun Sep 13) · Responses (Tue Sep 15)
Week 3 · Sep 14 – 18
Unit I
Prep reading (before Mon): TBD
| Day | Date | Role | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| M | Sep 14 | Concept | Transformers & LLMs |
| W | Sep 16 | Case (Practice Focus) | Generative AI for writing code |
| F | Sep 18 | Studio | Team formation · Project Overview |
Due: Exit ticket ×3 · Teams formed (Fri Sep 18) · Reflection 3 (Sun Sep 20) · Responses (Tue Sep 22)
Week 4 · Sep 21 – 25
Unit I
Prep reading (before Mon): TBD
| Day | Date | Role | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| M | Sep 21 | Concept | TBD |
| W | Sep 23 | Case | TBD |
| F | Sep 25 | Studio | Plan I workshop |
Due: Exit ticket ×3 · Reflection 4 (Sun Sep 27) · Responses (Tue Sep 29)
Week 5 · Sep 28 – Oct 2
Unit I
Prep reading (before Mon): TBD
| Day | Date | Role | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| M | Sep 28 | Concept | TBD |
| W | Sep 30 | Case | TBD |
| F | Oct 2 | Studio | Plan I due · peer review |
Due: Exit ticket ×3 · 🎯 Project Plan I (Fri Oct 2) · Reflection 5 (Sun Oct 4) · Responses (Tue Oct 6)
Week 6 · Oct 5 – 9
Unit II — Where are we now?
Prep reading (before Mon): TBD
| Day | Date | Role | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| M | Oct 5 | Concept | TBD |
| W | Oct 7 | Case | TBD |
| F | Oct 9 | Studio | TBD |
Due: Exit ticket ×3 · Reflection 6 (Sun Oct 11) · Responses (Tue Oct 13)
Week 7 · Oct 12 – 16
Unit II
Prep reading (before Mon): TBD
| Day | Date | Role | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| M | Oct 12 | Concept | TBD |
| W | Oct 14 | Case | TBD |
| F | Oct 16 | Studio | TBD |
Due: Exit ticket ×3 · Reflection 7 (Sun Oct 18) · Responses (Tue Oct 20)
Week 8 · Oct 19 – 23
Unit II
Prep reading (before Mon): TBD
| Day | Date | Role | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| M | Oct 19 | Concept | TBD |
| W | Oct 21 | Case | TBD |
| F | Oct 23 | Studio | TBD |
Due: Exit ticket ×3 · Reflection 8 (Sun Oct 25) · Responses (Tue Oct 27)
Week 9 · Oct 26 – 30
Unit II
Prep reading (before Wed): TBD
| Day | Date | Role | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| M | — | 🚫 No class — Fall Break (Mon Oct 26 – Tue Oct 27) | |
| W | Oct 28 | Concept + Case | TBD |
| F | Oct 30 | Studio | Plan II workshop |
Due: Exit ticket ×2 · Reflection 9 (Sun Nov 1) · Responses (Tue Nov 3)
Week 10 · Nov 2 – 6
Unit II
Prep reading (before Mon): TBD
| Day | Date | Role | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| M | Nov 2 | Concept | TBD |
| W | Nov 4 | Case | TBD |
| F | Nov 6 | Studio | Plan II due · peer review |
Due: Exit ticket ×3 · 🎯 Project Plan II (Fri Nov 6) · Reflection 10 (Sun Nov 8) · Responses (Tue Nov 10)
Week 11 · Nov 9 – 13
Unit III — Where are we going?
Prep reading (before Mon): TBD
| Day | Date | Role | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| M | Nov 9 | Concept | TBD |
| W | Nov 11 | Case | TBD |
| F | Nov 13 | Studio | TBD |
Due: Exit ticket ×3 · Reflection 11 (Sun Nov 15) · Responses (Tue Nov 17)
Week 12 · Nov 16 – 20
Unit III
Prep reading (before Mon): TBD
| Day | Date | Role | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| M | Nov 16 | Concept | TBD |
| W | Nov 18 | Case | TBD |
| F | Nov 20 | Studio | TBD |
Due: Exit ticket ×3 · Reflection 12 (Sun Nov 22) · Responses (Tue Nov 24)
Week 13 · Nov 23 – 27
Unit III — short week
Prep reading (before Mon): TBD — keep light
| Day | Date | Role | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| M | Nov 23 | Concept | TBD |
| W | Nov 25 | Studio | Low-stakes work session — day before Thanksgiving, expect thin attendance |
| F | — | 🚫 No class — University closed |
Due: Exit ticket ×2 · No reflection this week (holiday)
Week 14 · Nov 30 – Dec 4
Unit III
Prep reading (before Mon): TBD
| Day | Date | Role | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| M | Nov 30 | Concept | TBD |
| W | Dec 2 | Case | TBD |
| F | Dec 4 | Studio | Plan III due · final critique round |
Due: Exit ticket ×3 · 🎯 Project Plan III (Fri Dec 4) · Reflection 13 (Sun Dec 6) · Responses (Tue Dec 8)
Week 15 · Dec 7 – 11
Unit III — Showcase
Prep reading: none — prepare your presentation
| Day | Date | Role | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| M | Dec 7 | Showcase | Team presentations, round 1 |
| W | Dec 9 | Showcase | Team presentations, round 2 |
| F | Dec 11 | Synthesis | Course synthesis · metacognitive wrap-up |
Due: Exit ticket ×3 · 🎯 Final deliverable (Fri Dec 11)
Calendar Notes
No-class days (3 meetings lost from 45):
| Date | Reason |
|---|---|
| Mon, Sep 7 | Holiday — University closed |
| Mon, Oct 26 | Fall Break (Oct 26–27) |
| Fri, Nov 27 | Holiday — University closed |
Weeks that lose their Monday (2 and 9) compress Concept + Case into Wednesday and keep Friday studio intact, so project rhythm never breaks.
Week 13 loses Friday, so studio moves to Wednesday Nov 25.
Still To Decide
- Prep reading for each week
- Which of the 28 use cases anchor each Wednesday — 12 Case days + 2 compressed = ~14 slots for 11 domains
- Which cross-cutting themes get named Concept days
- Whether the ethical frameworks unit (EU AI Act risk tiers, etc.) is its own week or threaded through
- Exit ticket mechanism — paper, D2L quiz, or form
- Grading weights: exit tickets / reflections / three project plans / final deliverable
- Reflection drop policy (drop lowest 1–2 of 13?)
- Late/makeup policy for exit tickets
Note: Dates are fixed against the MSU Fall 2026 calendar. Topics may shift. D2L is authoritative for deadlines.