Perspectives is the newsletter of the Stanford course,
Perspectives in Assistive Technology.

Special Issue Soliciting Student Project Suggestions - Part 4

Student project suggestion review - Previous newsletter issues described the benefits of and process for submitting a student project suggestion, addressed the broad requirements of those projects, and explained the suggestion format. This issue focuses on the specific activities that lead to a project suggestion.

What activities lead to a suitable student project suggestion?

1. Pick a field, user group, and technology. For these project suggestions, the field is Assistive Technology, the user group is people with disabilities or older adults, and the beneficial technology is mechanical, electronic, mechatronic, or robotics systems - or software.

2. Employ ethnography, observation, discussion, and interview techniques. For this activity, meet with one or more people in the user group as well as family members and caregivers to observe and discuss challenges they face. A good approach this is to give them an opportunity to tell a story - such as what their day is like - rather than answer specific questions.

3. Identify a specific challenge related by a user or family members or a caregiver as well as resources and technologies that might be brought to bear on the challenge including advocacy groups, community organizations, and existing products that did not solve the problem adequately.

4. Verify that the project suggestion meets the project requirements.

5. Compose and email me a formatted project description for my review.

What is the deadline for submitting project suggestions? - Please email suggestions to me as soon as possible so I have adequate time to consider all submissions, edit approved entries, and post them - not later than Friday, December 1st.

Upcoming Local Event

Presentation at Cubberley Community Center Please plan to attend my upcoming presentation at the Cubberley Community Center where I will be speaking about the critical role that older adults and people with disabilities play as they work with teams of Stanford students to design and fabricate prototype devices that address real problems and challenges, as well as soliciting project suggestions for teams to pursue in the course. This will be a repeat of my August 4th presentation at Avenidas. When: Friday, September 15th from 11:00am to 12:30pm Where: Cubberley Community Center, 4000 Middlefield Road in Palo Alto, Building "I", 2nd floor How: No RSVP is required to attend this free presentation.

Support the course - Funding in any amount for the course and student projects is always welcomed. Monetary gifts support approved project expenses, administrative costs, honoraria for guest lecturers, and the end-of-term celebration. Refer to the Team Project Support webpage for more information.

Email questions, comments, or suggestions - Please email me if you have general questions, comments, or suggestions regarding the course. Thank you again for your interest.

Dave