Web Design II

Undergraduate course

Course description

Objectives and Content

This course provides in-depth training in dynamic website building, multimedia website content creation, and cultural analysis within these practical topics. The course has interrelated technical and theoretical components.

In the technical programming component, the students learn to create, publish and maintain dynamic interactive web experiences and content. Students will learn and partake directly in code writing, but may also be shown no-code based software within the curriculum. Students learn about design and publishing for mobile and the broader internet-of-things beyond the standard landscape website design. Students learn about visual presentations of data and information (such as tables, infographics). Students learn to create and embed multimedia elements into interactive interfaces.

These technical, programming components are a concrete aspect of the theoretical frame. Through the theoretical frame, students learn about relationships between coding practices, multimodality, design, and the societal discourse into which they place their own work. This can also incorporate information on code studies, database optimization, industry standards, rhetoric, and to which extent this is a useful tool to understand power structures and persuasion strategies on the web. This can include the topicalization of ethical problems, for example copyright problems, bias in AI, and moments when the designer or editor does not have control over the data which are produced.

The course offers training in combining programming skills and design and rhetorical knowledge to create appealing and engaging web-based interaction.

Learning Outcomes

After successfully completing this course, students will have:

Knowledge

The candidate has knowledge...

  • about classical and modern rhetoric in connection to the web and interface design
  • about languages including, and beyond, HTML and CSS
  • about how to read and understand scripts, code, and content creation platforms
  • about theories of aesthetics, text, images and media modes
  • about ethical guidelines for the use of personal data, sensitive information and Copyright protected material

Skills

The candidate can...

  • create, publish and maintain a dynamic website or mobile page
  • create and adapt multimedia content for a web environment or interactive interface
  • analyze rhetorical processes with different media modes on, and beyond, the web
  • use these actively in their own work

General competence

The candidate can...

  • defend and re-assess strategies for best coding and best conveyance of content
  • understand strategies for coding and design, and provide constructive criticism
  • explain and critically assess their own work
  • explain and defend own and others' choices and actions in a larger group

ECTS Credits

15

Level of Study

Bachelor

Semester of Instruction

Spring

Place of Instruction

Bergen
Required Previous Knowledge
Recommended Previous Knowledge
Credit Reduction due to Course Overlap
The course has a 100% overlap with HUIN205
Access to the Course

Admission to this course is limited and the registration deadline is usually before the regular deadline.

If there are more applicants than places, Bachelor students in Digital Culture will have priority. Some places are reserved for exchange students.

Teaching and learning methods

The class schedule will be available by the beginning of the semester.

The students develop individual projects and dynamic digital content.

If held, it is important that the students attend the orientation meeting at semester start before the teaching begins.

The students must be prepared for both lectures and lab sessions, because lectures always involve students and there always is discussion around the topics.

The workload is 20 hours per week from the beginning of the semester until portfolio submission. These hours should be used to attend lectures and labs, to produce practical work, read the course literature, solve tasks, prepare presentations, gather relevant material at the library and on the web. We expect that the teaching-free reading weeks are used in the same manner.

The students may be invited to guest lectures and other events at Digital Culture.

If fewer than five students are registered to a course, the department might reduce the teaching according to the department's guidelines (see MittUiB). In this case, students will be informed about this at the beginning of the semester, and before the enrollment deadline February 1st.

Compulsory Assignments and Attendance

Attendance is mandatory for lectures, labs and all course components. Participation is approved by the course coordinator. If the absence is exceeding 25%, the student cannot submit the portfolio.

There are 5 obligatory tasks during the course of the semester. These may include written tasks, oral presentations, a peer review of another student¿s project, and/or practical coding and creation tasks. Each is approved by the course coordinator.

These obligatory activities are approved/not approved, and only valid for the current semester. The obligatory tasks must be passed for students to be able to submit the portfolio. Information about the tasks, submission procedures and deadlines will be announced on Mitt UiB.

Forms of Assessment

One portfolio consisting of two parts:

  1. A comprehensive practical project showing the ability to use modern coding strategies to create persuasive, multi-modal web design.
  2. An academic analysis of this project (around 2000 words).

There is one single grade given for the portfolio. The parts have roughly equal weight.

The portfolio and its parts can be in Norwegian and/or English.

All parts of the portfolio must be taken during the current semester. There is no possibility to submit in semesters without teaching.

Grading Scale
The portfolio is graded with one single grade, A to F.
Assessment Semester
Spring
Reading List

The list over mandatory and recommended reading is available from Mitt UiB at semester start. This list is updated according to arising needs. The books are available at the University's bookstore Akademia before semester start, or downloadable as e-books.

We expect the students to actively add to these readings with self-retrieved sources, and to keep updated by following design blogs, collections and generally use web resources in their own work. Some such sources will be pointed at in the syllabus and during the lectures.

Class material is usually in English. Some book chapters or articles may be in Norwegian. Students may use and refer to works and sources in other languages.

Course Evaluation
Evaluation will be conducted in accordance with the University of Bergen's quality assurance system.
Programme Committee
The program board for Digital Culture
Course Coordinator
-
Course Administrator
Department of Linguistic, Literary and Aesthetic Studies