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  "content": "---\ntitle: \"code/creativity/culture curriculum design workshop\"\ndescription: \"A hands-on workshop where participants spin code/creativity/culture wheels\n  and design a real c/c/c studio assessment task.\"\ntags:\n  - reimagine\n  - ccc\n---\n\n:::info[tl;dr]\n\nIn this workshop you'll:\n\n1. break into groups\n2. be assigned a trio of **code**/**creativity**/**culture** topics\n3. design a real c/c/c studio assessment item based around those three topics\n   (and present it to the group)\n4. write some marking criteria for your assessment item (and present them to the\n   group)\n\n:::\n\n[[toc]]\n\n## Workshop overview\n\n### Intro\n\nIs it possible to learn about algorithms through writing poetry about wealth\ninequality? How about exploring the issue of social media use via sculptures\nbuilt using cybersecurity tools and concepts? Is it possible to design an\nassessment task which encourages deep technical work and honest cultural\nreflection, while still producing a genuinely interesting creative outcome?\n\nThis workshop brings together folks from all points of the\ncode/creativity/culture compass to design a _real_ assessment task for the\n**c/c/c studio** creative computing outreach program. In fact, it _needs_ a\ndiverse range of voices to work properly. So if you've got thoughts and ideas\nabout CS/Engineering curriculum design, the arts, and life within the\nsocio-technical assemblage of our present age, then come along and have your\nsay!\n\nThis workshop is part of the\n[CoDesign Culture Lab](https://cecs.anu.edu.au/events/event-series/codesign-culture-lab).\nIf you're coming to the culture lab and you'd like to be part of the workshop,\n[get in touch](mailto:ben.swift@anu.edu.au).\n\n### Timeline\n\n- **9:00**: intro---what is the c/c/c studio\n- **9:20**: [group formation](#group-formation) (with stickers!\n  <span style=\"color:#eb4d4b;\">⬤</span><span style=\"color:#3498db;\">⬤</span><span style=\"color:#27ae60;\">⬤</span><span style=\"color:#85522f;\">⬤</span>)\n\n---\n\n- **9:30**: [spin the wheel(s)!](#spin-the-wheels)\n- **9:45**: [group work session 1](#group-work-session-1) (assessment item spec)\n\n---\n\n- **10:30**: break (morning tea)\n\n---\n\n- **11:00**: present your assessment item spec to workshop\n- **11:30**: [group work session 2](#group-work-session-2) (assessment criteria)\n- **12:00**: present your assessment criteria to the workshop\n- **12:15**: wrap-up\n\n### Group formation {#group-formation}\n\n#### Find your stickers\n\nFor this workshop it's important that each group has representatives from each\nfacet of the c/c/c triad. Look under your chair to find three stickers:\n\n- the **red** <span style=\"color:#eb4d4b;\">⬤</span> sticker is the _code_\n  sticker---if you consider yourself a _code_ person\n\n- the **blue** <span style=\"color:#3498db;\">⬤</span> sticker is the _creativity_\n  sticker---if you consider yourself a _creativity_ person\n\n- the **yellow** <span style=\"color:#f1c40f;\">⬤</span> sticker is the _culture_\n  sticker---if you consider yourself a _culture_ person\n\n- the **purple** <span style=\"color:#85522f;\">⬤</span> sticker is for if you\n  think that this whole \"reducing one's identity in such a multifaceted problem\n  space down to just a few stickers\" thing is total bollocks---your job is to be\n  your group's _enfant terrible_\n\n:::tip\n\nYou can choose to have 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4 stickers---it's up to you.\n\n:::\n\n#### Find your team-mates\n\nOnce you've attached your stickers prominently to your forehead (or wherever you\ndecided to wear them) then you need to find three team-mates so that each group\nhas four members.\n\nThe one requirement is that each group must have _all_ of the stickers between\nthem. So, as you mill about finding team-mates, ask one another\n\n1. why you chose to identify with the particular stickers you chose\n2. which sticker was the hardest to decide on, and why\n\nOnce you've found a team, assemble at one of the tables and await further\ninstructions.\n\n## Session 1: writing an assessment spec {#group-work-session-1}\n\nIn his intro, we introduced the c/c/c studio idea and set the scene for the\nwhole \"code/creativity/culture\" thing (spoiler: they're all _highly_ entangled).\nYou're now a curriculum designer for the c/c/c studio! Welcome aboard.\n\n### Design brief\n\n> Genius learns from nature, its own nature. Talent learns from art. Also,\n> creativity and culture seem to be important. _Olivia Wilde_[^wilde]\n\n[^wilde]:\n    obviously, this is fake, although\n    [Oscar Wilde said something similar](https://www.azquotes.com/quote/776726),\n    and I'm _pretty sure_ he was\n    [Olivia Wilde's](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1312575/) uncle\n\n:::info[_Your design brief for today_]\n\nIn your group, create an assessment[^assessment] task which teaches a particular\n**code** concept/tool by exploring a problem/challenge facing our[^culture]\n**culture** through a particular **creative** process/medium.\n\n:::\n\nThe educational context for this assessment task is the c/c/c studio---a\nselective program for year 11 & 12 students. If you're more familiar with a uni\ncontext, they're probably not too dissimilar from first-year undergraduates.\n\n[^assessment]:\n    you can think of it as an assignment, but that word has some baggage, so\n    just think of it as a description of a thing which a student must submit\n    which will be evaluated on whether it's a good thing\n\n[^culture]:\n    Part of the challenge here is that we don't live in a monoculture, at a\n    local level (because filter bubbles), at a national level (because\n    multiculturalism) and at a global level (because global village). Still, I'm\n    using this word so the c/c/c schtick makes sense.\n\nIn this group session your group needs to produce a (draft) document. I don't\nwant to be _too_ dogmatic about the form and content---the whole point of this\nworkshop is to throw out the rulebook---but here's a example of the sorts of\nthings that are usually important in an assessment item:\n\n- **description**: a high-level description of what the task is and what the\n  students are required to deliver\n\n- **background/motivation**: a bit more background on the task, tools, problem\n  domain, as well as any pre-requisite skills the students will need\n\n- **learning outcomes**: a list of learning outcomes for the assessment task (or\n  which the task is designed to assess)\n\n- **spec**: a concise, specific description of what the students are required to\n  produce, including any specific constraints or requirements on either the\n  deliverable or the process\n\n- **resources**: a list of resources the students might find helpful in\n  completing the task\n\n- **faq**: a list of (anticipated) questions the students might have about the\n  assessment task\n\nAt the end of this session you get to present your assessment task to the wider\nworkshop. So, your group will need to organise:\n\n- a scribe (either on-paper or on a laptop) to write the document\n- a presenter (or a creative group presentation strategy) for telling everyone\n  about your amazing assessment task\n\nIf you want to work on paper there are paper templates floating around (let us\nknow if you'd like one). If you've got a digital scribe, then there are\nelectronic templates\n([markdown](/assets/documents/ccc-curriculum-design-workshop/ccc-assessment-task.md)\nand\n[MS Word](/assets/documents/ccc-curriculum-design-workshop/ccc-assessment-task.docx)).\n\n:::tip\n\nOne more thing to keep in mind: in the\n[next group work session](#group-work-session-2) you'll be writing a set of\nassessment criteria which will be used to assess the submissions for your\nassessment task. So you don't have to worry about writing them down formally\njust yet, but keep that in mind as you design your assessment task.\n\n:::\n\n### Let's spin the wheels! {#spin-the-wheels}\n\nYou don't get to pick the code concept/cultural problem/creative process triad\nwhich forms the basis for your assessment task. Instead, we'll spin the\ncode/creativity/culture wheels[^winwheel] and let fate[^fate] decide.\n\n[^winwheel]:\n    wheels powered by [Winwheel.js](https://dougtesting.net/home) by Douglas\n    McKechie\n\n[^fate]: well, the PRNG in your web browser, anyway\n\n:::warning\n\nHistorical note This workshop was held in November 2019. The interactive\nspinning wheels that were originally on this page are no longer functional, but\nhere are the options that were available on each wheel:\n\n:::\n\n#### The code wheel\n\nThis wheel selects the _tool/concept_ which the students need to leverage (and\nin doing so, understand) in their submission. This is deliberately broad---you\ncan (and should) narrow it down in _your_ assessment task. Don't get hung up on\nthe \"code\" moniker, think about it as a computing/computer science tool/concept\nmore broadly.\n\nOptions: algorithms, embedded systems, signal processing, software design,\ndatabases, networks, UI/UX design, data analytics, machine learning,\ncybersecurity\n\n#### The creativity wheel\n\nThis wheel selects the creative medium through which the student will explore\nthe problem.\n\nOptions: music, sound, dance, photography, painting, drawing, textiles, film,\nsculpture, creative writing, memes\n\n#### The culture wheel\n\nThis wheel selects the _problem/challenge_ facing our culture/society to explore\n(and perhaps comment on) through the work. Again, you might want to narrow it\ndown to a particular angle on this problem, although it's worth thinking about\nhow to leave students to wrestle with what _they_ think about the problem, not\njust picking a theme which implies that there's only one \"right approach\".\n\nOptions: privacy, ethics, wealth distribution, climate change, work-life\nbalance, social media use, immigration, tolerance, food security, world peace\n\n### Things to consider as you design your assessment task\n\nNow that you've spun the wheels, you might be thinking that they've still left\nyou with a pretty broad scope---and you'd be right. Your group's job is to\nnarrow this down into a specific task which is tractable for your intended\naudience of students. It's fine (good, even!) if you narrow it down a lot.\n\nSome of your group members might have lots of experience designing assessment\ntasks, others may have never done it before (although I'm sure that everyone's\n_done_ one).\n\n- for the _code_ and _culture_ wheel results in particular, what are the key\n  aspects or sub-problems that you want the students to engage with? what are\n  some of the creative ways you can imagine to get those concepts across?\n\n- the Learning Outcomes are really important, and can act as a guide for the\n  rest of the design task---don't leave them till the last minute\n\n- what are the conventions of \"assesment tasks\"? how can you flaunt them?\n\n- how can you ensure that the students engage seriously with the _code_ part of\n  the problem? how can you make sure they actually build something, not just\n  talk about stuff?\n\n- in plain language, what do you want a student to learn through the process of\n  completing your assessment task? (that will help with coming up with some\n  learning outcomes)\n\n- how might the _concept/tool_ and the _creative medium_ shape the responses to\n  the problem? can you use this to your advantage in encouraging students to\n  attain the learning outcomes?\n\n- will the outcome (what the students produce) be something completely new, or\n  will it be a reimagination/repurposing of an existing technology, or\n  speculating on the impact of an existing technology as it develops into the\n  future?\n\n- how are you going to constrain the scope of your task so that it supports\n  students from a wide range of backgrounds/abilities?\n\n- do _you_ have any favourite resources or templates for designing an assessment\n  task? a quick google turns up a few (e.g. this\n  [blog post from the Australian Computing Academy](https://blog.aca.edu.au/assessing-the-digital-technologies-curriculum-5f81a98ce053)\n  or this\n  [more general assessment design framework from UTS](https://www.uts.edu.au/research-and-teaching/learning-and-teaching/assessment-futures/designing-and-redesigning))\n  but I'm sure you can find others as well\n\n- what's the worst-case scenario you'd expect if you set your assessment task\n  for a bunch of eager c/c/c studio students? how can you write the spec to\n  minimise the chance of things going down this way?\n\n- it's ok to use images, diagrams, YouTube clips, interactive widgets---the\n  assessment task itself won't be printed on paper, it'll be hosted on the web\n\n## Session 2: articulating the assessment criteria {#group-work-session-2}\n\nAs much as it feels gross and reductionistic to boil a student's mark down to a\nnumber, we need to mark the submissions. Your group's second (and final)\ndeliverable is a set of assessment criteria for the assessment task.\n\nAgain, you need to create a document which could be handed to a marker so that\nthey could assess the submissions and give a mark & grade. Again, the exact\nformat of this document is up to you. There are a few ways to do this:\n\n- a series of examples of what constitutes bad/good/excellent work---what would\n  an _outstanding_ submission look like? what would a borderline-acceptable\n  (e.g. a bare pass) submission look like?\n\n- a set of criteria for each of the code/creativity/culture dimensions of the\n  work, with descriptions of what bad/good/excellent work might look like\n\n- a full rubric (2x2 grid) with criteria along the rows, grades (e.g. fail,\n  pass, credit, distinction, high distinction) down the columns and a\n  description in each grid square\n\n### Things to consider as you design your assessment criteria\n\n- the problems (from the culture wheel) are _not solvable through a single\n  assessment task_, so don't make that the criteria---instead, you want students\n  to explore & understand the problem, process & tool more deeply\n\n- how do your criteria support students who haven't necessarily thought deeply\n  about the \"big questions\" to do so? how do they encourage students who have\n  thought about this stuff to go deeper?\n\n## Takeaway questions\n\n- Did the [wheels](#spin-the-wheels) (and the segments therein) provide enough\n  structure for your assessment design exercise? Too much structure? If you were\n  using them as a tool for assessment design in the future, how would you modify\n  them?\n\n- After participating, are you more or less convinced of the utility of the\n  creative arts in teaching the code concepts? Why?\n\n- What type of student would benefit the most from doing your assessment task?\n  How are they similar/different from the students we see in our CS programs\n  here in CECS?\n\n- If **you** were in charge of this workshop and had to deliver it again, what\n  would you change?\n\n:::tip\n\nThanks so much for participating! If your group wrote the assessment item on\npaper, can you hand it to Ben (or one of the other facilitators) before you\nleave? If you did it electronically (e.g. using the\n[markdown template](/assets/documents/ccc-curriculum-design-workshop/ccc-assessment-task.md))\nthen can you [email it to Ben](mailto:ben.swift@anu.edu.au)?\n\n:::\n\n## Appendices\n\n### Presenter bio\n\nDr Ben Swift is a Senior Lecturer in the ANU Research School of Computer Science\n(RSCS). As the leader of the code/creativity/culture (c/c/c) research group,\nBen's goal is to create spaces for talking about the way that code (software),\ncreativity (especially the arts) and culture (life) intersect in the modern\nworld. Ben's research contributions range from traditional Computer Science\n(digital multimedia, web technologies and human-computer interaction) through to\ninvited livecoding (live code-based music performance) performances and\nmultimedia artwork installations.\n\nIn 2019 Ben was awarded one of the inaugural _Reimagine Fellowships_ to develop\nthe **c/c/c studio**, an ANU Extension outreach program which will teach\ncomputer science to pre-tertiary students through making art, music and other\ncool things with computers. The c/c/c studio will also provide a supportive\ncommunity in which a new generation of people can learn, create, and\nshare---unlocking the latent potential in students who never knew their diverse\ninterests (especially in the arts & music) could be used in engineering and\ncomputing.\n\n[https://cs.anu.edu.au/code-creativity-culture/](https://cs.anu.edu.au/code-creativity-culture/)\n\n[https://benswift.me](https://benswift.me)\n",
  "createdAt": "2026-05-13T23:14:56.688Z",
  "description": "A hands-on workshop where participants spin code/creativity/culture wheels and design a real c/c/c studio assessment task.",
  "path": "/blog/2019/11/07/codesign-culture-lab-workshop",
  "publishedAt": "2019-11-07T00:00:00.000Z",
  "site": "at://did:plc:tevykrhi4kibtsipzci76d76/site.standard.publication/self",
  "tags": [
    "reimagine",
    "ccc"
  ],
  "textContent": "A hands-on workshop where participants spin code/creativity/culture wheels and design a real c/c/c studio assessment task.",
  "title": "code/creativity/culture curriculum design workshop"
}