Introduction to technology and policy

Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 1.5 hours / session

Recitations: 1 session / week for the first six weeks, 1 hour / session

ESD.10 explores perspectives in the policy process - agenda setting, problem definition, framing the terms of debate, formulation and analysis of options, implementation and evaluation of policy outcomes using frameworks including economics and markets, law, and business and management. Methods include cost/benefit analysis, stakeholder analysis, and systems thinking. Exercises include developing skills to work on the interface between technology and societal issues; writing policy memos; keeping a policy principles journal; and case studies. Group projects illustrate issues involving multiple stakeholders with different value structures, high levels of uncertainty, multiple levels of complexity, and value trade-offs that are characteristic of engineering systems. Emphasis is placed on critical thinking, team building and group dynamics, and management of multiple actors and leadership.

After taking ESD.10, students should be able to:

There will be three individual written homework assignments, two group-based homework assignments, a policy principles journal, a team-based term project, and extensive reading and in-class discussions. Students will also attend and participate in six required discussion recitations in the first half of the semester.

All homework should be submitted in two ways: (1) electronically to the course website by the start of the class or the time specified on the due date, and (2) in hard copy that should be brought to class on the due date or submitted at another place if specified on the syllabus.

It is expected that assignments will be submitted on the due date and at the time noted in the course schedule (when no time is specified, assignment s are due at the beginning of class). The teaching team is well aware of the multiple time demands on students. In the case of unusual circumstance or unavoidable conflicts, please contact a member of the teaching team to discuss the details and explore alternatives. We are more receptive to hearing about issues well before the assignment is actually due.

Grading will be on an absolute scale and not "on a curve." That means that in principle, everyone in the class can earn an 'A' if they perform at an 'A' level. However, historically this has not been the case, with some portion of the class earning a 'B' or below. All assignments (with the exception of recitation deliverables, which will be graded on a pass/fail metric) will be graded on a letter basis according to the MIT definition of grades:

Plusses and minuses will be used in conjunction with the letters in grading all work. The final grade will include plusses and minuses.

ESD.10 is primarily a discussion-based experience, and it is through active listening, contemplation and participation in these discussions that much of your learning will take place. Thus, attendance is mandatory at both class and recitation, and students are expected to come to class and recitation having read the assigned reading beforehand, done any required assignments, and prepared to discuss the material and their assignment. Bring the books and reading to class each week, as they will be referred to in discussion, and come prepared to participate in discussion. Students should also come to class each week having read a national newspaper (from any country) and be prepared to discuss technology and policy related items in the news from time to time.

There will be three individual homework assignments, and two group-based homework assignments. Answers to these should be coherent, well-written and follow the page length guidelines issued with the assignment (font must be Times, 12 point). They may also include a visual component. On the day an assignment is due ("Assignment X due in class "), come to class prepared to discuss your answer to the assignment, and contribute your work to the class discussion. A hardcopy of homework assignments should be brought to class on the day they are due.

A principle is a guideline or "rule of thumb" that is nearly universally applicable. Principles can be either prescriptive (they tell you how to do something) or descriptive (they describe a situation). Over the course of the semester, you will create the first entries in your own personal journal of policy principles that you will reference throughout the course of your career. Begin by writing down principles you observe or discern from the readings, guest lecturers and class discussions. The deliverable for this assignment is to pick 8-10 principles you have uncovered during the semester. For each principle, come up with a shorthand name for it, state the principle in no more than 1-2 sentences, and then elaborate on it further in a short paragraph. In the elaboration, you may wish to explain the principle in more detail if needed, give an example of it, say where or how you discovered this principle, what/who inspired it, what situations it would be most useful for, etc. - whatever would be most helpful to you in remembering all the richness that is embodied in the principle. Some of these principles (2-3) will be due mid-semester, and the remaining portion (6-8) will be due at the end of the semester, as indicated in the syllabus.

There will be a team-based term project for the course - a group project conceived and conducted by small assigned groups of students (4-5 each). Each student is expected to contribute meaningfully to the project. Project grades will be based both on individual (40%) and collective (60%) performance. Term projects will be presented in class and to the ESD community at the end of the semester, and will also be written up in final papers. More information will be provided in a separate handout.

There is one required text for this course:

Stone, Deborah. Policy Paradox: The Art of Political Decision Making. New York, NY: W.W. Norton, 2001. ISBN: 0393976254.

Other readings are listed on the readings page.

During the first half of the term, a small-group recitation session happens at the end of each week.

The calendar below provides information on the course's lecture (L) and recitations (R) sessions.

Self assessment due

Term Project: NRC contact list due; NRC emails due three days before SES #L4

Final project reports due one day after SES #L25

Term project: project team evaluations due one day after SES #L25

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