CS 4944: Senior Seminar
Spring 2015

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 April 30.

Task 2. Attend class on February 24 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 April 30.

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 February 3 or 10 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 February 17.

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 March 17 or 24 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 March 31.

Task 6. Prepare and give an exit presentation, as described here. These presentations will be scheduled in 15 minute slots in April (schedule TBA).

Task 7. Complete by May 11 the simple "Student Outcomes Survey" available in the class Scholar site, under "Tests & Quizzes".