CS 4944: Senior Seminar
Spring 2018
Instructor:
Dr. Cal Ribbens,
ribbens@vt.edu,
Office Hours: by appointment
Task 1. Attend class on January 30 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 April 30.
Task 3.
- Read this recent
CACM article by Peter Denning.
- Watch these videos:
- Attend class on Februrary 20 or 27 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 March 5.
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 March 20 or 27 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 April 2.
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 April 16.
Task 6. Complete by April 23 the simple "Student Outcomes 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 April 23.
Task 8. Prepare and give an exit presentation, as
described here.
These presentations will be scheduled in
15 minute slots in April and May (schedule TBA).
The quality of your presentation will be assessed for this assignment.
Presentations will be held in McBryde 114.
CS 4944,
C. J. Ribbens,
1/16/2018