Course-wide rules for hearing safety, access, data attribution, AI use, extensions and getting help.
Policies and support#
Hearing safety#
Playback never needs to be loud. Start at the lowest system volume, raise it only to a comfortable level and take a five-minute quiet break after 45 minutes of headphone work. Do not normalise submissions to maximise loudness. Every interactive work must open silently, include an immediate stop control and avoid sudden level changes.
Use speakers, visual inspection or a text/table alternative whenever headphones are uncomfortable. Tell the teaching team before a lab if tinnitus, hearing sensitivity or another access need changes how you should participate.
Accessible participation#
Sound is never the only route to a scientific fact in this course. Provide source values, a structured description and a visual or tabular representation. Interactive controls must be keyboard operable. Respect reduced-motion settings and give listeners control over playback, speed and repetition.
Contact Eli for an individual adjustment. You do not need to disclose a diagnosis. Equivalent work can use non-audio representations while still addressing mapping, uncertainty and interpretation.
Data and source attribution#
For every dataset record the publisher, object or event identifier, retrieval URL, retrieval date, units, licence where available, and every cleaning or derived field. Never describe a parameter-mapped sonification as an unprocessed recording. Musical quantisation, filtering, interpolation, time compression and added ambience must appear in the mapping disclosure.
AI and assistance#
Generative AI may assist with code, prose revision or exploration. It may not invent measurements, listening-test participants, citations or results. Submissions include a short assistance statement naming tools, significant prompts or uses, and the parts checked by the student. You remain responsible for running the work, verifying its claims and understanding every submitted mapping.
Deadlines and extensions#
Submit by the time shown on the assessment page. A submission received within 24 hours without an approved extension loses 5 percentage points; each further 24-hour period loses another 5 points, up to five days. Work more than five days late is not accepted without an approved extension.
Request extensions through Slop University’s student portal before the deadline when possible. Email Amara if illness or access circumstances make the portal impractical. Technical trouble is evidence for an extension only when reported promptly with the failing file or deployment log.
Getting help#
Bring mapping and prototype questions to the Listening Lab. Email Amara for course or assessment questions and Eli for access or audio-production support. Questions that affect the whole class are answered on the course forum without identifying the student who asked.