CSci 110 Class Schedule and Course Summary
 |
School of Engineering and
Applied
Science Department of Computer Science CSci 110 -- Technology and Society http://www.seas.gwu.edu/~mfeldman/csci110/summer07 Prof. Michael B. Feldman, course instructor mfeldman@gwu.edu |
- We'll use Blackboard for Assignment Submission, Discussion Boards, and Gradebook. All other class materials will be distributed from this website only.
- 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.
- 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.
- Work hard, but enjoy the course!
| WEEK (click for details) |
TOPIC |
INDIVIDUAL PRODUCT (due via Your Assignment Menu by 11:59 PM EDT) |
GROUP PRODUCT (due by 11:59 PM EDT) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
5/21 - 5/27 |
Introduction, History, Ethics |
(due by Friday 5/25) Digital photo (JPEG or GIF) of yourself; introduce yourself to class members; personal ethical evaluation (5%) (due by Tuesday 5/29) Class discussion of ethics scenario |
|
|
5/28 - 6/3 |
Privacy |
(due by Friday 6/1) Ethics Scenario Analysis (15%) |
(due by Sunday 6/3) Group Mini-Report on RealID (5%) |
|
6/4 - 6/10 |
Free Speech and the Internet |
(due by Thursday 6/7) Current Issue Paper #1 (10%) |
(due by Sunday 6/10) Draft of Zoomerang Surveys (5%) |
| Week 4 6/11 - 6/17 |
Reliability of Critical Software
Systems |
(due by Thursday 6/14) Sci-Fi Paper (10%) |
(due by Sunday 6/17) Surveys Deployed on Zoomerang |
| Week 5 6/18 - 6/24 |
Can We Trust the Computer? |
(due by Thursday 6/21) Current Issue Paper #2 (10%) |
(due by Sunday 6/24) Preliminary Report on Survey Results (5%) |
|
6/25 - 6/30 |
Software as Intellectual Property |
(due by Saturday 6/30) Final Group Reports on RealID (15%) |
Objectives for students: Read! Think!
Write!
- Develop awareness of the historical, social, and ethical issues of the technological age
- Develop ethical analysis skills to evaluate the design / implementation of computer systems
- Develop social analysis skills to evaluate the impact of computer systems in context
- Use professional codes of ethics in decision-making
- 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 0-76-372410-6
US Postal Inspectors
Identity Crisis (DVD)
Available direct from USPS, or from GW Bookstore for $1.00.
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
to the Digital Drop Box 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.
-
Ethics Scenario Evaluation (15% of your grade): Evaluate an ethical scenario twice - once from the viewpoint of your personal ethical framework and once using the Code of Ethics of a professional society; then compare and contrast the two evaluations (total of 4-5 pages).
-
Science Fiction Report (10%): Read one science fiction short story or book or watch one science fiction film that presents a point of view about the relationship between technology and humans. Prepare a 3-4 page written report describing the point of view and your reaction to that point of view.
-
Current Issue Short Papers (10% each, 2 required): You will be provided with a list of possible current issues activities. You may also find them on your own based upon newspaper articles or TV news items.
-
Social Impact Analysis (30%): This is a class research project on which you will work together in groups to gather data from online computer users to determine public attitudes about the problem of identity theft. There are many serious societal concerns about identity theft and protection of personal data. It affects all of us. Your challenge is to research the topic as a class and design a survey to examine public attitudes about Identity Theft issues and challenges. Each team will write and submit ONE final report of its findings with conclusions and recommendations.
- Electronic Discussion Participation (20%): Because you will be taking this course entirely online, it is extremely important that you participate in the electronic discussion. Each student will be graded based upon active involvement in the discussion. This means reading the weekly assignments, thinking about them, logging on to the discussions and expressing your opinions! Note: It is not possible to get an A in this class if you do not participate in the electronic discussions!
IMPORTANT NOTE:
- All assignments for this course must be completed under the George Washington University Code for Academic Integrity.
- You may use the Internet as a source of information, but others' work must be acknowledged -- a quotation from the Internet is just like a quotation from a book, and must be written in quotation marks, with a citation (in-line or footnote) to the URL of the site you used.
- If you include material from the Internet in your own work, and fail to cite your sources properly, you are risking a charge of plagiarism!