Subject: Gen Ed Course Proposal
Form data submitted to
http://www.gened.arizona.edu/gened/faculty/courseproposal/form.html:
001_Submitters_Email: alotto@u.arizona.edu
001_Submitters_Name: Andrew Lotto
002_Course_Title: The World of Sound: Speech, Music and mp3s
003_Course_Description: An introduction to sound and its perception,
including complex sounds such as speech and music. Topics include basic
acoustics, digital sound formats, how we learn the sounds of a particular
language, and how we perceive and appreciate music.
004_Current_Course_Number:
006_Proposed_Semester_Spring: Yes
008_Proposed_Semester_Year: 2009
009_Desired_Enrollment: 100-200
010_Class_Schedule: 3
011_Course_Format_Lecture: 100
012_Course_Format_Discussion:
013_Course_Format_Lab:
014_Course_Format_Practicum_Service:
015_Course_Format_Other:
016_Contact_Instructor: Dr. Andrew Lotto
Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences
University of Arizona
1131 E. 2nd Street
P.O. Box 210071
Tucson, AZ 85721-0071
alotto@u.arizona.edu
626-7530
017_Focus: No
017_Tier: Tier Two - Natural Sciences – Biological
019_Writing: There will be 2 written assignments during the semester.
There will be a write up of the results of the listening experiment along
with a graph of the student’s individual data. This short paper will
describe the purpose of the experiment and what the results tell us about
hearing. The paper will demonstrate the ability of the student to interpret
scientific data. The second written assignment will be an expository essay
on some topic related to sound and hearing. The paper will allow students
to demonstrate their writing ability and their ability to summarize a
scientific topic. Students will initially hand in a topic choice along with
a preliminary outline of the paper. After feedback, a first draft will be
completed and turned in. A final draft will be due at the end of the
semester based on the feedback from the first draft. This writing process
is similar to the steps of professional writing in the sciences.
020_Diversity_Non_Western:
021_Honors: Honors students will be required to perform an experiment
in the perception of sound using the interactive programs supplied to the
students as part of their homework assignments. The experiment will consist
of the creation of sound stimuli and collection of listening responses by
the student (as the subject). The results of this experiment will be
written up in the same format as the class experiment that all students will
participate in. The topic and design of the experiment will be developed
along with the Professor and Teaching Assistants in the first third of the
semester.
022_Assessment: Assessment will be accomplished by 3 exams that will
test knowledge of presented information as well as synthesis and application
of this information to novel situations. Exams will be multiple-choice
format. The scores on these exams will constitute 60% of the final grade.
The experiment write-up and topic paper discussed in the "Writing section"
will provide 10% and 20% of the final grade, respectively. The final 10%
will come from the Homework assignments described in the "Interactive modes
of instruction" section.
023_Critcal_Thinking: The readings in this class will examine current
theoretical debates in speech perception and music cognition. Lectures will
examine the evidence for each side of the debate and discussions during
class will be encouraged. In addition, the writing assignments will be
focused on interpreting research findings in light of these theoretical
foundations.
024_Modes_of_Instruction: Classes will be lecture-format with numerous
in-class demonstrations of sound-creating devices, digital sounds presented
acoustically and optically (visual), sound-processing software and
computational models. In addition to the presentation of information and
demonstrations, students will be encouraged to ask questions and discuss
ideas, especially those related to cultural differences in perception and
sound structure.
In place of specific labs, students will be provided access to
freeware programs that allow for sound manipulation, measurement and
presentation. Homework projects will include the creation and measurement
of sounds as well as collecting data in perceptual experiments. Students
will be asked to plot these data as well as describe the results of these
studies.
025_Information_Literacy: The quality of evidence presented in the
theoretical debates in speech perception will be an important part of the
presentations on speech. In addition, students will be required to access
and utilize primary source material in their final essay.
026_Comments:
026_Required_Readings: A required text "Mullin, W. J., Gerace, W. J.,
Mestre, J. P., & Velleman, S. L. (2003). Fundamentals of sound with
applications to speech and hearing. Boston: Allyn & Bacon." will be
available at the bookstore (approximately $65). All other readings,
homeworks and programs will be made available on D2L.
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