University of Wisconsin - Parkside

Department of Computer Science

CSCI 495 Computer Science Seminar

Spring 2012

Instructors J. U. Quevedo and T. H. Knautz
Textbook A Gift of Fire: Social, Legal, and Ethical Issues for Computing and the Internet, Sara Baase, Third Edition, ISBN 0-13-600848-8
Syllabus Spring2012

Check your grades in D2L

Class planner
Week Date Activities Assignments
Due
1 1/19
  • Course Introduction: Syllabus, class format, and Group Assignments
  • Read and reflect about "Gift of fire" page 2 (Prometheus)
  • In Class Assignment 1: Group presentations
    • Group 1:(1.1 The Ubiquity of Computers and the Rapid Pace of Change, 1.2 New Developments and Dramatic Impacts), 
    • Group 2: (1.2.1 Amateur Creative Works: Blogs, Video Sites and popular culture), 
    • Group 3: (1.2.2 Connections: E-mail, the Web, empowerment and Cell phones)
    • Group 4: (Social networking, More connections)
  
2 1/26
  • Review of grading criteria, paper assignments and NYT report
  • In class Assignment 2: Group presentations
    • Group 1: (1.2.3 Collaborative efforts among strangers, 1.2.4 E-commerce)
    • Group 2:(Free stuff, 1.2.5 Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and  Motion, Robotics)
    • Group 3:(Motion Sensing and Control, 1.2.6 Tools for disabled people, 1.2.7 What next?)
    • Group 4: (1.3 An Introduction to Some Issues and Themes, 1.3.1 Issues)
3 2/2
  • In class Assignment 3: Group presentations
    • Group 1: (1.3.2 Themes)
    • Group 2:(1.4 Ethics, 1.4.1 What is ethics, anyway?, Do organizations have ethics? (page 34))
    • Group 3:(1.4.2 A variety of ethical views)
    • Group 4: (1.4.3 Some important distinctions)
  • In class Assignment 4: Group presentations exercises 1.24, 1.25, 1.26, and 1.27
 online posting 1
i_paper.topic
4 2/9
  • Individual Presentation: Section 2.1
  • In class Assignment 5:Group presentation  exercises 2.9, 2.15, 2.16 and 2.19
 online posting 2
i_paper.references
5 2/16
  • Individual Presentation: Section  2.2
  • In class Assignment 6:Group presentation  exercises 2.21, 2.23, 2.25, and 2.27
  g_paper.literature
6 2/23
  • Individual Presentation: Section 2.3
  • In class Assignment 7: Group presentation  exercises 2.30, 2.31, 2.33,  and 2.34
 g_paper.introduction
7 3/1
  • Individual Presentation: Sections 2.4 and 2.5
  • In class Assignment 8: Group presentation  exercises 2.45, 2.46, 2.47, 2.48, 2.49 and 2.50
 g_paper.proposal
8 3/8
  • Individual Presentation: Chapter 3
  • In class Assignment 9: Group presentation  exercises (3.11-3.12), 3.14, 3.19, and 3.23
i_paper.introduction
9 3/15
  • Spring Break, No Classes
  
10 3/22
  • Research Presentations
 g_paper.conclusions
g_paper_presentation
11 3/29
  • Individual Presentation: Chapter 4
  • In class Assignment 10: Group presentation  exercises 4.17, 4.11, 4.14, and 4.21
 i_paper.literature
12 4/5
  • Individual Presentation: Chapter 5
  • In class Assignment 11: Group presentation  exercises (5.14-5.15), (5.21-5.23),(5.25-5.17), and (5.9-5.10)
 online posting 3
13 4/12
  • Individual Presentation: Chapter 6
  • In class Assignment 12: Group presentation  exercises 6.10, 6.12, 6.15, and 6.19
 i_paper.draft
14 4/19
  • Individual Presentation: Chapter 7
  • In class Assignment 13: Group presentation  exercises 7.18, 7.19, 7.17, and 7.27
 online posting 4
15 4/26
  • Individual Presentation: Chapter 8
  • In class Assignment 14: Group presentation  exercises 8.7, 8.9, 8.13, and 8.14
 online posting 5
16 5/3
  • Individual Presentation: Chapter 9
  • In class Assignment 15: Group presentation  exercises 9.8, 9.7, (9.13-9.14), 9.16, and 9.17
 i_paper.final

Resources
Textbook PowerPoints
chapter 1 chapter 4 chapter 7
chapter 2 chapter 5 chapter 8
chapter 3 chapter 6 chapter 9
Textbook resource page
Effective Presentations

Group Paper:
This is a collaborative writing exercise in which members of the group will identify a position and state a proposal in one of the 4 topics listed below.  The group paper will consist of 4 sections outlined next.
(A) Review of Literature (15 points)
(B) Introduction (15 points)
(C) Proposal (30 points)
(D) Conclusions (40 points)

    TOPICS:
    (1) The under representation of women and minorities in undergraduate computer science: causes and solutions

        (3) Social Networking, Blogs and How They Affect the World Today
      

         (4) Online Product Reviews: Creating a More Accurate Rating Score