CS 4944: Senior Seminar
Fall 2018
Instructor:
Dr. Cal Ribbens,
ribbens@vt.edu,
Office Hours: by appointment
Task 1. Attend class on September ll to participate
in a panel discussion with CSRC representatives.
Task 2.
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 3.
Task 3.
- Read this recent
CACM article by Peter Denning.
- Watch these videos:
- Attend class on October 2 or 9 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 October 16.
Task 4.
- 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 October 23 or 30 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 6.
Task 5. Write a two-paragraph essay in which you self-assess the extent to which you have achieved
or experienced the horizontal
and diagonal characteristics of a
"VT-shaped Student".
This is a term that the university has been using recently to describe our goals for VT graduates.
Note that the "horizontal" aspect has to do with breadth and transdisciplinary knowledge; and the
"diagonal" aspects have to do with informal, communal, and experiential learning. Give yourself an
A-F grade for each of these two aspects---horizontal and diagonal---along with a few sentences
justifying each grade. Upload your response to the
class Canvas site by November 13.
Task 6. Complete by December 3 the simple "PEO Survey" available
(under Quizzes) in the
class Canvas site.
Task 7. 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 10.
Task 8. The traditional exit presentation assignment has taken on a different
format this semester. There are three components: (1) a simple survey,
(2) recording and uploading
a short video and presentation (e.g., powerpoint), and
(3) participating in a 45 minute focus
group session. Click here for all the details.
CS 4944,
C. J. Ribbens,
11/2/2018