CSci 110 Summer 2008 Class Schedule and Course Summary


GW Website

School of Engineering and Applied Science
Department of Computer Science
CSci 110 -- Technology and Society
http://www.seas.gwu.edu/~mfeldman/csci110/summer08
Prof. Michael B. Feldman, course instructor
mfeldman@gwu.edu

IMPORTANT PRELIMINARY NOTES:
  1. We'll use Blackboard only for Assignment Submission, Discussion Boards, and Gradebook. All other class materials will be distributed from this (SEAS) website. Bookmark this page, which links to everything else!
  2. This is a 6-week Distance-Learning course. It runs 2.5 times as fast as a normal 14-week semester course. Be prepared to read your e-mail every day, and to spend at least 20 hours on this course in each of the 6 weeks.
  3. There is no exam in this course, so all the other work is important and you are expected to deliver it on schedule. Late submissions cannot be accepted.
  4. Term Project counts a total of 32%; other assignments count 8% each.
  5. Participation in online discussions (via Blackboard) counts 28%
  6. Work hard, but enjoy the course!

Course Schedule

WEEK
(click for details)
TOPIC
COURSE DELIVERABLES
(due via your Assignment Menu  by 11:59 PM EDT)
PROJECT DELIVERABLES
(due by 11:59 PM EDT)
Week 1 Details
7/7 - 7/13
Introduction, History, Ethics
(due by Friday 7/11)
Digital photo (JPEG or GIF) of yourself; introduce yourself to class members; personal ethical evaluation (8%)
(due by Tuesday 7/15)
Class discussion of ethics scenario

Week 2 Details
7/14 - 7/20
Privacy
(due by Friday 7/18)
Ethics Scenario Analysis (8%)
(due by Sunday 7/20)
Research Report on Voting Technologies (8%)
Week 3 Details
7/21 - 7/27
Free Speech and the Internet
(due by Thursday 7/24)
Current Issue Paper #1 (8%)
(due by Sunday 7/27)
Draft of Zoomerang Surveys (8%)
Week 4 Details
7/28 - 8/3
Reliability of Critical Software Systems
(due by Thursday 7/31)
Sci-Fi Paper (8%)
(due by Sunday 8/3)
Surveys Deployed on Zoomerang
Week 5 Details
8/4 - 8/10
Can We Trust the Computer?
(due by Thursday 8/7)
Current Issue Paper #2 (8%)
(due by Sunday 8/10
Preliminary Report on Survey Results (8%)
Week 6 Details
8/11 - 8/16
Software as Intellectual Property

(due by Saturday 8/16)
Final Group Reports on Voting Technologies (8%)

Objectives for students:  Read! Think! Write!

      1. Develop awareness of the historical, social, and ethical issues of the technological age
      2. Develop ethical analysis skills to evaluate the design / implementation of computer systems
      3. Develop social analysis skills to evaluate the impact of computer systems in context
      4. Use professional codes of ethics in decision-making
      5. Improve communication skills

Required Textbooks

Baase, Sara.
A Gift of Fire: Social, Legal and Ethical Issues of Computing (2nd Edition).

Prentice Hall, 2003.
ISBN 0-13-008215-5

Spinello, R. A. and Tavani, H. T.
Readings in CyberEthics (2nd Edition).

Jones & Bartlett Publishers, 2004.
ISBN 0-76-372410

Time commitment for this course: 20 hours per week, for 6 weeks.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF ASSIGNMENTS:

All reports must be typeset in 12-point font, double-spaced, and submitted via Blackboard's Assignment submission system, in plain text (.txt), Word (.doc), or PDF (.pdf) format. File names MUST be of the form Smith-Jane-sci-fi.doc. Do NOT use ANY spaces in the file name. Files that do not have proper file names will be rejected and not graded.

IMPORTANT NOTE: