DETAILED COURSE OUTLINE
THE EDISON EFFECT: TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION IN AMERICAN
CULTURE
Instructor: Paul Israel (Thomas Edison Papers)
BRIEF COURSE DESCRIPTION (FOR CATALOG)
Examines the development and evolution of major technological innovations from the Era of
Edison to the present and investigates the processes of innovation used by Edison and others
to create and commercialize new technologies.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course examines the development and evolution of major technological innovations from
the Era of Edison in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to the present. Over the course of the
semester students will examine the processes of innovation used by Thomas Edison and his
contemporaries to create these technologies, inquire into how technologies and their innovation
changed over time, and investigate contemporary practices of invention and innovation. Some
course lectures are pre-recorded on-site at Edison-related locations and at museums holding
collections of key technologies.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Upon successful completion of this course, students will:
1. Be conversant with historic moments of American invention and innovation from the 19th
century to the present day
2. Identify key stages in the development of communication technologies ranging from the
19th century telegraph to today’s smart phones and tablets
3. Be able to summarize the role played by innovation in everyday life, and be able to
distinguish between small-scale and large-scale innovation
4. Know how to recognize and employ primary and secondary sources as the basis of
academic research
5. Become active practitioners of early stage, small-scale, innovation (e.g. idea generation)
6. Create persuasive and well-informed research projects on topics related to innovation or
invention
Version Date: 10.9.14 1 ASSESSMENT
15
Ongoing Discussion Forum Contributions (Weekly)
05
Live Online Team Meeting Participation
20
Short Response Papers (Module Summary)
40
Research Essay
20
05
Proposal and Annotated Bibliography
10
Draft
25
Final
Innovation in Action: Observe, Document, Present
10
Innovation in Everyday Life Notebook (Individual)
10
Presentation (Team)
____________________________
100% Total
Discussion Forum/Teams/Live Meeting: a variety of learning activities are available to ensure
that learners are continuously engaged with the course content. Each student will be assigned
to a team (max 5 students per team). Structured forums, organized by team, will foster learning
and review of the course material through discussion and exchange. Students will be required to
contribute original posts, and respond to their peers, each week. To help students navigate
through the weekly forums, the professor will present specific questions; monitor and contribute
to discussion; and offer a rubric for evaluation. During the first few weeks of the course, the
professor will hold a separate, live, online meeting with each team as a way to introduce course
requirements and provide an opportunity for dialogue.
Short Response Papers / Research Essay: a variety of writing-intensive assignments are
required to ensure that learners can increase their knowledge of the subject area and improve
their ability to comprehend, analyze, and create relevant concepts, issues and arguments.
Students will write a short response paper (3-4 pages) that synthesizes the instructional
materials and discussion pertaining to a given module or course section. In addition, students
will write a research essay (8-10 pages) in which they compare two types of innovation. The
research essay will be submitted in stages (proposal, draft, final) to enable students to receive
feedback from the professor and improve their writing process.
Innovation in Action: this course also includes a learner-centered activity that allows students
to engage with the process of innovation in a direct and applied way. Working within a preassigned time-frame (i.e. 24 hours), students will observe the role of technology in their own
lives and create a notebook outlining possible opportunities for improvement. For the first stage
of the assignment, students will be required to submit their notebooks to the professor and team
members. For the second stage of this assignment students will work in teams to produce a
short powerpoint, screen-cast, or video summarizing their innovation findings. This assignment
is an opportunity for students to understand the process of innovation through practice; learn or
improve their ability to observe, document, and present; and collaborate with others.
Version Date: 10.9.14 2 COURSE SEQUENCE
MODULE 1: Electrical Systems
Objectives
Students successfully completing Module 1 will be able to:
• Describe Thomas Edison’s role in creating industrial Research & Development
Labs
• Understand how industrial research emerged as a primary form of technological
innovation
• Identify the importance of the larger electrical system as a central factor
contributing to the success of Thomas Edison’s historic invention of the lightbulb
• Discuss the differences between energy markets organized around small-scale
power plants as compared to those managed by a grid of large national
distribution systems
Weekly Lesson Topics
1. The Rise of the R&D Lab
2. Invention: Example of Electric Lamp
3. Innovation: Electrical Systems and Industry
MODULE 2: Telecommunications
Objectives
Students successfully completing this Module 2 will be able to:
• Identify key features of various telecommunication technologies, including
telegraphs, telephones and the internet
• Compare different telecommunication models
• Explain how older forms of communication, including telegraph and telephone,
contributed to the invention of the internet
Weekly Lesson Topics
4. Telegraphy: The Victorian Internet?
5. Telephone: From the Bell Telephone to the Cell Phone
6. The Rise of the Internet
MODULE 3: Media
Objectives
Students successfully completing this Module 3 will be able to:
• Trace how technology has shaped the entertainment industries of music, film,
radio, and television
• Analyze how innovation in these industries has been influenced by competition,
intellectual property rights, censorship, and regulation
Version Date: 10.9.14 3 Weekly Lesson Topics
7. Inventing Entertainment
8. Competition, Censorship and Regulation
MODULE 4: The Human Factor: Labor & User Experience
Objectives
Students successfully completing Module 4 will be able to:
• Discuss how technological innovations have affected the labor process
• Understand the role played by the user in the process of research and design
• Identify the ways that innovation has been democratized as a result of emerging
technologies that have enabled users to more fully participate in the production
process
Weekly Lesson Topics
9. Innovation and Labor
10. User as a Source of Innovation
MODULE 5: Sustainability
Objectives
Students successfully completing Module 5 will be able to:
• Analyze the evolution of American transportation, focusing on the automobile, from
an environmental perspective
• Reflect on contemporary debates over the value of modernization processes in
agriculture and food-processing
Weekly Lesson Topics
11. Automobile
12. Agricultural Revolutions and the Processing of Food
MODULE 6: Future Studies
Objectives
Students successfully completing Module 6 will be able to:
• Identify and describe the features that make a particular site or region attractive to
innovation
• Understand the dynamic exchange between fact and fiction as it pertains to
technological innovation
Weekly Lesson Topics
13. Innovative Places
14. Science Fiction and the Future of Innovation
Version Date: 10.9.14 4 INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS
Students will be exposed to a variety of instructional materials including recorded lectures; onsite video footage created at museums and Edison-related sites; relevant scholarly articles; as
well as primary historical documents drawn from the Edison papers. All materials will be
accessible through the course Sakai site.
Scholarly Articles & Readings
Module 1: Electrical Systems
1. The Rise of the R&D Lab (20-23 January 2015)
Paul Israel, “Inventing Industrial Research: Thomas Edison and the Menlo Park
Laboratory.” Endeavor 26 (2002): 48–54 (6)
Andrew Hargadon, “Retooling R&D: Technology Brokering and the Pursuit of
Innovation,” Ivey Business Journal (2003): 1-8 (8)
2. Invention: The Electric Lamp
Andrew B. Hargadon & Yellowlees Douglas, “When Innovations Meet Institutions:
Edison and the Design of the Electric Light,” Administrative Science Quarterly 46
(2001), pp. 476-501 (23)
Thomas A. Edison Papers, “The Big Bonanza: Edison's Electric Lighting System”
http://edison.rutgers.edu/lighting.htm (supplemental)
3. Innovation: Electrical Systems
David Nye, Chapter 1: “Middletown Lights Up,” Electrifying America: Social Meanings
of a New Technology (pp. 1-28)
Module 2: Telecommunications
4. Telegraphy: The Victorian Internet?
David Hochfelder, “’The Ticker is Always a Treacherous Servant’: The Telegraph and
the Rise of Modern Finance Capitalism”, The Telegraph in America (pp. 116-37) (21)
5. The Telephone: From the Bell Telephone to the Smart Phone
Richard R. John, Network Nation: Inventing American Telecommunications (pp. 279310) (31)
6. The Rise of the Internet
Kenneth Lipartito, “Picturephone and the Information Age: The Social Meaning of
Failure,” Technology and Culture 44 (2003): pp. 50-81 (31)
Module 3: Media
7. Inventing Entertainment: Sound Recording and Motion Picturesw
Version Date: 10.9.14 5 William Howland Kennedy, Chapter 3: “’His Master’s Voice’: The Victor Talking
Machine Company and the Social Reconstruction of the Phonograph“ in Recorded
Music in American Life: The Phonograph and Popular Memory, 1890–1945, pp. 4464 (20)
8. Competition and Control: Radio and TV
Susan Smulyan, Chapter 2: “The Rise of the Network System” (pp. 37-64) (27)
Module 4: The Human Factor: Labor & User Experience
9. Innovation and Labor
Mark Levinson, “Container Shipping and the Decline of New York, 1955-1975,”
Business History Review 80 (Spring 2006): pp. 49-80 (31)
10. User as a Source of Innovation
Matthew Lavine, “The Early Clinical X-Ray in the United States: Patient Experiences
and Public Perceptions,” Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences 67
(2012): pp. 587-625 (38)
Module 5: Sustainability
11. Automobility
David Kirsch, Chapter 8: “Industrial Ecology and the Future of the Automobile” and
“Epilogue” from The Electric Vehicle and the Burden of History (pp. 228-40) (12)
12. Agricultural Revolutions and Food-Processing
Sarah Evarts, Processed: Food Science and the Modern Meal,” Chemical Heritage
Magazine 31 (2013)
http://www.chemheritage.org/discover/media/magazine/articles/31-3processed.aspx?page=1
Michael Moss, “The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food,” New York Time
Magazine, February 20, 2013 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/magazine/theextraordinary-science-of-junk-food.html
Module 6: Innovating the Future
13. Innovative Places
Stuart W. Leslie and Robert H. Kargon, “Selling Silicon Valley: Frederick Terman's
Model for Regional Advantage,” Business History Review 70 (1996): pp. 435-472
(47)
14. Science Fiction and the Future of Innovation
Bruce Franklin, Chapter 8: “Don’t Worry, It’s Only Science Fiction” and Chapter 9:
“Atomic Decision” from War Stars (pp. 131-54) (23)
Version Date: 10.9.14 6 COMPLIANCE WITH SAS ONLINE/HYBRID ISSUES
A. Pedagogical justification
A significant portion of the course consists of video lectures and discussion groups. In addition,
there will be links to related websites and videos. This is an instance in which the online
environment might offer an advantage to the in-class experience, since the video lectures will
allow repeated re-viewing, and the student-student interactions planned for this course are
designed for the online environment.
B. Limits on class size
In the initial offering of this class, a stop limit of 30 is suggested. This class size will enable the
instructor to get to know the students individually, allowing for an engaging and dynamic
learning environment. This will also allow for discussion to be limited to small groups, easily
monitored and supported by the instructor.
C. Qualifications of student target audience
No prerequisites for what is intended to be an entry-level interdisciplinary class at the 200 level.
D. Qualifications of the instructor
This is the first online class that I will have offered, though I feel quite conversant with the
material to be covered in this projected course. I have dealt with many of the subjects of weekly
lectures in courses on the history of American science and technology. In addition, I have
worked with teachers at the middle and high school level to develop related course materials. I
have also previously created PowerPoint presentations around many of the key themes and
technologies proposed for this course. Besides classes and teachers institutes I have given a
number of talks to innovators and have been involved in developing and presenting at a 3-4 day
program known as the Edison Event that uses Edison as a vehicle for Immersion Learning in
Innovation (http://norwellconsulting.com/innovationblog/edison-event). My own scholarship has
focused on innovation in the career of Thomas Edison and on technologies related to his career,
especially telecommunications and electric light and power.
Version Date: 10.9.14 7 E. Student Online Involvement
Students enrolled in this course are expected to spend about eight hours per weekly lesson.
Each weekly lesson is comprised of a combination of instructional materials (e.g. taped video
lecture, on-site footage; archival materials, etc.); learning activities and low or high-stakes
assignments.
Here is a summary of the learning activities and assessments planned for the course:
Discussion Forum/Teams/Live Meeting: a variety of learning activities are available to ensure
that learners are continuously engaged with the course content. Each student will be assigned
to a team (max 5 students per team). Structured forums, organized by team, will foster learning
and review of the course material through discussion and exchange. Students will be required to
contribute original posts, and respond to their peers, each week. To help students navigate
through the weekly forums, the professor will present specific questions; monitor and contribute
to discussion; and offer a rubric for evaluation. During the first few weeks of the course, the
professor will hold a separate, live, online meeting with each team as a way to introduce course
requirements and provide an opportunity for dialogue.
Short Response Papers / Research Essay: a variety of writing-intensive assignments are
required to ensure that learners can increase their knowledge of the subject area and improve
their ability to comprehend, analyze, and create relevant concepts, issues and arguments.
Students will write a short response paper (3-4 pages) that synthesizes the instructional
materials and discussion pertaining to a given module or course section. In addition, students
will write a research essay (8-10 pages) in which they compare two types of innovation. The
research essay will be submitted in stages (proposal, draft, final) to enable students to receive
feedback from the professor and improve their writing process.
Innovation in Action: this course also includes a learner-centered activity that allows students
to engage with the process of innovation in a direct and applied way. Working within a preassigned time-frame (i.e. 24 hours), students will observe the role of technology in their own
lives and create a notebook outlining possible opportunities for improvement. For the first stage
of the assignment, students will be required to submit their notebooks to the professor and team
members. For the second stage of this assignment students will work in teams to produce a
short powerpoint, screen-cast, or video summarizing their innovation findings. This assignment
is an opportunity for students to understand the process of innovation through practice; learn or
improve their ability to observe, document, and present; and collaborate with others.
Version Date: 10.9.14 8 F. Rubric for evaluation of student online participation
The written course components will be assessed, and students will be offered feedback,
according to conventional writing standards (e.g. argument, organization, grammar, proper use
of citations).
Discussion Forum Contributions will be evaluated according for quality, relevance, and
community contribution according to the following rubric:
Points
Quality Of Post
10-8
appropriate comments;
thoughtful; reflective; insightful
Relevance Of
Post
demonstrates knowledge of
material; relevant and original
posts; prompts further
discussion
attempts to motivate group;
demonstrates creativity;
responds to peers promptly
Contribution To
Peer Learning
7-5
appropriate and
respectful; good
understanding
related to discussion;
demonstrates
knowledge of material
4-2
responds but
with minimum
effort
topics do not
relate or are
overly brief
1-0
casual or no
posting
interacts freely;
attempts to provide
relevant points
does not make
an effort to
participate
no feedback or
responses to
peers
little or no
posting
This rubric is based on information from:
https://topr.online.ucf.edu/images/f/f0/IDL6543_Discussion_Rubric.pdf
G. Academic integrity
Students are expected to adhere to the following University standards of conduct for academic
integrity:
Academic Integrity Policy:
http://academicintegrity.rutgers.edu/files/documents/AI_Policy_2013.pdf
Student Code Of Conduct: http://studentconduct.rutgers.edu/files/documents/UCSC_2013.pdf
Student Honor Pledge: http://academicintegrity.rutgers.edu/academic-integrity-policy/honorpledge
Ongoing discussion forums (including professor feed-back), team-work, and live synchronous
meetings ensure that the professor will get to know the students in the course personally and
individually. Writing in stages, including forum contributions and essay drafts, provides another
mechanism for supporting academic integrity by preventing students from being able to submit
content or assignments developed outside the context and framework of the course.
In addition, since the course is entirely online, students will be required to login to Sakai for all
assignments, creating an electronic record of all their participation in the class. For essays, the
Turnitin feature of Sakai will also be used as a further check on student plagiarism.
Version Date: 10.9.14 9