CS
349 Contemporary Issues in Computer Science
Alan Cline
Elaine Rich
Fall, 2016
Class
Information:
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Unique |
Time |
Room |
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51520 |
T, Th
2:00-3:15 |
GDC 4.302 |
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51525 |
T, Th 3:30-
4:45 |
GDC 4.302 |
The two sections will both be
team taught by Elaine Rich and Alan Cline.
Textbook
Quinn,
Michael, Ethics
for the Information Age, 6th Edition. (But the 5th edition would
also be okay.)
Staff
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|
|
|
Office |
Office Hours |
||
|
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Alan
Cline |
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GDC
5.808 |
W
2:00 – 3:00 TH 1:00 – 2:00 |
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Elaine
Rich |
|
GDC
5.810 |
T
1:00 – 2:00, W
noon – 1:00 |
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Justin
Oh |
TA |
By
appointment |
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Linda
Delafunte |
TA |
By
appointment |
||||
|
|
Katie
Bland |
CSC |
PCL |
||||
|
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Bri
Haramine |
CSC |
PCL |
T,
TH 5:00 – 8:00 |
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Flags
This course carries both the Writing
and the Ethics and Leadership flags.
See more on each of them below.
i>Clicker
We will use the i>clicker
interactive response system in class.
(Click here to find out more
about it.) If you don’t
already have an i>clicker, you need to get one. You can get it from the Coop or the
i>clicker site. The
i>clicker2 will give you more features, but the i>clicker1 will also
work. There’s now a new
thing, i>clicker+. We do not
know whether it is compatible with the base station that we’ve got, so
you should probably play it safe and get the i>clicker2. We won’t be using the phone apps.
Your i>clicker responses will form the bulk of your class participation grade. Thus it is a serious violation of our academic integrity policy to let anyone else use your i>clicker.
Other
Electronic Devices
It’s important that
everyone participate in class. To
that end: other than the i>clickers, there should be no electronic devices out
during class. There are three
exceptions to this policy: 1) If you need a laptop to take notes, please speak
to us about it. 2) If we’re
discussing an issue and we need more information, it’s fine to search the
web and share what you find with all of us. 3) If we ask the class to do something
online.
Grading
We all wish that we could have
courses without grades. You hate worrying about grades. We hate having to assign grades. But
grades are essential to insuring that your degree has the value it deserves. So
we have to have a grading system and that system has to have three essential
properties:
In this class, grades (using
+/-) will be assigned as follows:
|
Project |
53% |
|
Homeworks and note cards |
34% |
|
News articles |
7% |
|
Class participation |
6% |
Attendance and Rules for
Submitting Assignments
Coming to class
is very important in this course.
There is not a book you can simply read to make up for missing
class. Much of what we learn is
only in the class discussions.
Please read carefully, below, the rules on when and how assignments are
to be turned in. If an assignment
must be turned in during class, we will not accept it any other way except in
cases of excused absences.
We will excuse
absence in case of illness or other emergency, religious holidays or official
UT sponsored events. In the
specific case of the CNS Career Fair, there will be a makeup assignment.
Job interviews and other job trips do
not count as excused absences. You
need to plan those around class times.
You must come
to class on time. Late arrivals
interrupt the class for everyone.
Project
Everyone
will choose a topic for a term project. The project will have two parts:
Short homeworks will be assigned most weeks. You can see what they are and when they
are due by going to the Class Schedule
page. They will also be entered
into the Canvas schedule for the class.
But note: If there is any disparity between Canvas and either the Class
Schedule page or our normal policy (with regard to when things are due or how
they are to be submitted), it is likely that the mistake is on Canvas. Ask on Piazza and we will clarify.
Click here
for a discussion of what we’ll be looking for as we grade your homeworks.
Homeworks are due at 2:00 pm on the due
date (regardless of which class you’re registered for). They are to be
submitted electronically using Canvas.
You must submit pdf documents.
We won’t be able to read/grade documents in any other format. Late homeworks
will not be accepted. Do not push
us on this. We really mean 2:00.
Notecards
It is important that you come to class having done
the assigned reading. To help
assure that everyone has done so, you will often be asked to submit logical
“notecards”. We used to
ask people to bring in actual cards.
At this point, however, just think “notecard” to suggest how
much you need to write.
Specifically, what we are looking for is the
equivalent of one 4 x 6 card on which you have written a short description of
an idea that you found interesting as you were doing the reading. Once you’ve chosen an idea, do a
bit more research on it. Write up
your research. Then:
· Submit your
writeup on Canvas by 2:00 pm. It will be graded just as other homeworks are.
· Also, print it
and bring it to class. Come to class prepared to present what you have
learned. We will flip through the
submissions at the beginning of class and choose a few. Thus: Physical notecards are due at the
beginning of class. Not ten
minutes later when you stroll in.
Please note that notecards, like everything else
that you submit in this class, must be your own work unless you make it clear
that you are quoting and you indicate your source(s). If you want to refer to a website,
that’s great. After
you’ve written your own description of the idea you have chosen, you can
summarize the content of an interesting website and include the url.
You must be in class to submit a notecard. It
is a violation of our academic integrity policy to submit one if you are not in
class, prepared to discuss it. Your
electronic submission will not be counted unless you also bring a copy to
class.
As
you’re reading the news, be on the lookout for articles that touch on the
issues that we are covering in class.
Every Thursday, unless instructed otherwise in class, you should come to
class with a printout of an article that you found interesting. You should be prepared to present your
article to the class.
You
must be in class, on time, to submit an article. It
is a violation of our academic integrity policy to submit one if you are not in
class, prepared to discuss it.
Summary
of How to Submit Your Work
Piazza
Piazza
is a free online gathering place where students can ask, answer, and explore
24/7. Read more at www.piazza.com. We will use Piazza for important
class announcements. In addition,
you can use it to post questions and get answers both from other students and
from the instructors. Once
registration has settled down, we will enroll everyone in the class Piazza
forum.
Canvas
We
will use Canvas as a way both to submit homeworks and
to record grades. You can access it
at http://canvas.utexas.edu/.
Writing
Flag
This course carries the Writing Flag. Writing Flag courses are designed to give students experience with writing in an academic discipline. In this class, you can expect to write regularly during the semester, complete substantial writing projects, and receive feedback from your instructor to help you improve your writing. You will also have the opportunity to revise one or more assignments, and you may be asked to read and discuss your peers’ work. You should therefore expect a substantial portion of your grade to come from your written work. Writing Flag classes meet the Core Communications objectives of Critical Thinking, Communication, Teamwork, and Personal Responsibility, established by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
Course Writing Consultants
and the Writing Center
We strongly encourage you to take
advantage of the services of the University Writing Center, located in the PCL Learning
Commons. They offer free, individualized, expert help with writing for any UT
undergraduate. Their services are
not just for writing that has "problems." Getting feedback from an
informed audience is a normal part of a successful writing project. Consultants help students develop
strategies to improve their writing. The assistance they provide is intended to
foster independence. Each student
determines how to use the consultant's advice. The consultants are trained to
help you work on your writing in ways that preserve the integrity of your work.
This semester they have
assigned a specially trained Course Specialist Consultant (CSC) to our class:
Katie Bland. Your CSC is a special kind of UWC consultant who is dedicated
to helping you and your classmates with writing in this particular course. Your
CSC will attend this class with you and meet regularly with us to discuss our
writing assignments. Katie has
worked with CS 349 students once before, so she will be in a unique position to
help you. As students in this course, you and your peers have priority
over other UT undergraduates when scheduling consultations with your CSC in the
UWC. If your schedule and Katie’s don’t match, you can make
an appointment with any of the “generalist” writing consultants in
the Writing Center. You may want to
talk to Bri Haramine,
who served as a CSC for this class last year and is very familiar with our
assignments.
To schedule a consultation with your CSC:
You
can check on Katie’s hours here:uwc.utexas.edu/course-specialist-consultants.
To schedule, visit uwc.utexas.edu/appointments and
log into UT's new appointment-scheduling system, Symplicity.
Once there, follow these steps:
1. Click the
“Appointment” tab at the top of the page;
2. On the next page, click
the “Request a New Appointment” button;
3. On the next page, use the
drop-down “Type” menu to select “Writing Center” and
“Undergraduate Writing Appointment,”
4. Set a “Date
Range” and “Time Range” that correspond with your
availability and your CSC’s hours,
5. Look for and select your
CSC’s name;
6. A “Confirm Appointment”
box will pop up—in the “Note” area, indicate that
you’re requesting an appointment with your CSC, so UWC staffers know not
to transfer your appointment to another consultant;
7. Click “Confirm
Request.”
If you have trouble, you can call the UWC Front Desk
at 512-471-6222. If you
call the UWC Front Desk, be sure to give them Katie’s name.
Please schedule consultations with your
CSC only in regard to writing assignments for this class. For consultations
about writing projects outside this class, schedule consultations with other
UWC consultants using the same system outlined above. If your CSC will not be
available when you want an appointment, ask them or the Front Desk to recommend
other UWC consultants.
Ethics and Leadership Flag
This course carries the Ethics and Leadership flag. Ethics and
Leadership courses are designed to equip you with skills that are necessary for
making ethical decisions in your adult and professional life. You should therefore
expect a substantial portion of your grade to come from assignments involving
ethical issues and the process of applying ethical reasoning to real-life
situations.
Any student with a documented
disability (physical or cognitive) who requires academic accommodations should
contact the Services for Students with Disabilities area of the Office of the
Dean of Students at 471-6259 (voice) or 471-4641 (TTY for users who are deaf or
hard of hearing) as soon as possible to request an official letter outlining
authorized accommodations.
Academic Integrity and the
UT Student Honor Code
UT’s Student Honor Code
states: "As a student of The
University of Texas at Austin, I shall abide by the core values of the
University and uphold academic integrity." You can watch an excellent video about
the honor code here.
You should read carefully the class policy on academic integrity. Cheating of any form will not be
tolerated and will result in a failing grade in the class. If you are unsure about when or how you
need to cite your sources, ask us.
Additional Class Policies
You should read CS Department Code of
Conduct. The policies described there will be followed in this class.