CS 4944: Senior Seminar
Fall 2014

Task 1. Attend one technical talk or seminar. Write a two-paragraph response to the presentation---one paragraph summarizing the content and one paragraph politely critiquing the presentation. The quality of your writing will be assessed for this assignment. Upload your response to the class Scholar site by December 10.

Task 2. Attend class on September 16 and participate in a discussion with a panel of representatives from industry.

Task 3. Write a 4-5 paragraph essay on the topic described here. The quality of your writing will be assessed for this assignment. Upload your response to the class Scholar site by December 5.

Task 4.

• Read this recent CACM article by Peter Denning.
• Watch these videos:
  • Salman Khan, Education in 2060
  • Daphne Koller, What we're learning from online education
• Attend class on September 30 or October 7 and participate in a discussion of these videos, MOOCs, classroom-flipping, the future of education, etc.
• One outcome the CS program wants its graduates to achieve is "a recognition of the need for and an ability to engage in lifelong learning." Reflecting on this outcome, these videos, the classroom discussion, and your experience in CS at VT, write a thoughtful one or two paragraphs in response to these questions:
  • Are you prepared/equipped to pursue lifelong learning as a computer scientist?
  • Would you have been better prepared for lifelong learning if the ideas presented in these videos had revolutionized college education before you entered college?
  Upload your response to the class Scholar site by October 14.

Task 5.

• Read "Why software engineering courses should include ethics coverage" by Narayanan and Vallor, which appeard in the March 2014 issue of CACM [pdf]
• Attend class on October 28 or November 4 and participate in a discussion of this article.
• Another outcome that the CS program wants to see its graduates achieve is "an understanding of professional and ethical responsibility." Reflecting on this article, your experience in CS at VT, and this program outcome, write a thoughtful one-paragraph response to this question:
  • "Do you believe achieving this outcome is more difficult in computer science than it is for most other science and engineering fields? Why or why not?"
  Upload your response to the class Scholar site by November 11.

Task 6. Prepare and give an exit presentation, as described here. These presentations will be scheduled in 15 minute slots. The schedule is at the link sent via email to the class listserv. The quality of your presentation will be assessed for this assignment. Presentations will be held in McBryde 114.

Task 7. Complete by December 12 the simple "PEO Survey" available in the class Scholar site, under "Tests & Quizzes".