CS 4944: Senior Seminar
Fall 2016
Instructor:
Dr. Cal Ribbens,
ribbens@vt.edu,
Office Hours: by appointment
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 Canvas site by December 12.
Task 2. Attend class on September 13 to participate
in a panel discussion with CSRC representatives.
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 Canvas site by December 12.
Task 4.
- Read this recent
CACM article by Peter Denning.
- Watch these videos:
- Attend class on October 11 or 25 (note new date) to 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 references had
revolutionized college education before you entered college?
Upload your response to the class Canvas site by November 1.
Task 5.
- Read "Why software engineering courses should include ethics coverage" by
Narayanan and Vallor, which appeared in the
March 2014 issue of CACM
[pdf]
- Attend class on November 8 or 15 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 Canvas site by November 29.
Task 6. Prepare and give an exit presentation, as
described here.
These presentations will be scheduled in
15 minute slots in November and December (schedule TBA).
Presentations will be held in McBryde 114.
Task 7. Complete by December 12 the simple "PEO Survey" available
(under Quizzes) in the
class Canvas site.
CS 4944,
C. J. Ribbens,
10/2/2016