COMP 492 Syllabus: Spring 2017
Instructor: John MacCormick
Acknowledgment: this syllabus and many other course materials
are closely based on the materials developed by Professor Grant
Braught for the fall senior seminar (COMP491, 2016), of which this
course is a continuation. I am grateful to Professor Braught for
his permission to use these materials.
Contact Information
My office hours, phone number and e-mail address are available on
my contact
page.
Course Description
The Senior Seminar (COMP491/492 combined) has three main components:
- A year long project with two options:
- Honors Research Projects: Students pursuing departmental honors
will use their honors research project as their senior seminar
project.
- H/FOSS Projects: Students not pursuing departmental honors will
become involved with a Free and Open Source Project (FOSS or
Humanitarian - H/FOSS) and complete several assignments using their
project during the first semester (491/fall) before planning
additional work on the project to be completed during the second
semester (492/spring).
- Readings, in-class exercises, homeworks and class discussions
related to Free and Open Source Software (H/FOSS) and Software
Engineering (491/fall);
- Readings and discussions on ethical, legal and social issues
related to computing (492/spring).
Book
The required textbook is Michael Quinn's Ethics for the Information
Age. Any recent edition is acceptable.
Class meetings
Tome 231, Tuesdays 3-5pm. In addition, please note the following
required events that occur outside the regular class meeting time
slot:
- Dickinson science symposium, Wednesday, April 12,
4:30-6:00pm. You are required to attend and present a poster at this
event.
- Computer science senior symposium, Wednesday May 10,
9:30am-12noon. Attendance is required for all students. HFOSS
projects will be giving their final presentations.
There is also an optional evening Clarke forum event, 7pm on Tuesday,
April 11: Thoughts on Cybersecurity in an Age of Trump by
Robert Deitz, George Mason University. A small amount of extra credit
will be given for participation in this event.
There is no final exam. Final papers are due 11:59 PM on Friday, May 12.
Course schedule and assignments
Please see the main course page for details about the course schedule and assignments.
Learning Goals
Students will:
- Become familiar with a variety of H/FOSS and Software Engineering topics.
- Improve their ability to work (reading/modifying/testing) within a substantial existing code base.
- Interact with a community of developers and users.
- Deepen their ability to write clearly and develop their mastery of specific forms of disciplinary writing.
- Be prepared for graduate study or a professional career in computing.
- Understand the fundamental ethical, legal and social implications of computing.
- Attain a broader vision of the discipline of computer science.
Grade Determination
Grading will be the same for HFOSS projects and honors projects, as
follows:
Preparation/Attendance/Engagement (PAE) -- includes
possible reading quizzes on discussion days. No blog
postings. | 15% |
A1 (A1a, A1b, A1c): Project Checkpoints -- Slack
live-logs, weekly wiki summaries, but no
presentations. | 15% (5% each) |
A2: Co-leading a discussion | 5% |
A3: Code review | 5% |
A4: Report draft | 15% |
A5: Science symposium poster | 10% |
A6: Final project presentation | 15% |
A7: Final project report | 20% |
Course Components
Preparation/Attendance/Engagement (PAE)
PAE will be graded according to the same criteria and rubric as for
the fall,
with the following modifications. On some discussion days, there will
be a brief reading quiz worth approximately 5 PAE points. You will not
be notified of reading quizzes in advance. Additional forms of
preparation may be required (e.g. posting discussion questions to a
Moodle forum), but you will be notified in advance of any additional
requirements. There will be no blog or reflective writing requirement.
Assignments A1a, A1b, A1c: Project Checkpoints
Grading of the three project checkpoints will be identical to the fall
semester, except that there is no presentation component. Hence, the
three graded components are: (i) Slack live-logs; (ii) weekly wiki
summaries; (iii) effectiveness. For detailed rubrics, please see
the fall
syllabus. For the dates on which project checkpoints will be
graded, please see the online course schedule.
Assignments A2-A7
Assignments A2-A7 are described on a separate assignments webpage.
Late work policy
Because of the nature of the assignments in this course (most of which
involve presentation or interaction), it is not possible to grant
extensions or "late days". Late assignments will typically receive
little or no credit.
Academic Integrity
Please take the time to read
the Academic
Misconduct section
of Dickinson's
Community Standards. Violations of this policy are considered
serious transgressions, so you should be especially certain that you
understand your rights and responsibilities under it. Students
suspected of academic dishonesty will be subject to the process
outlined in
the Student
Conduct pages. The specific collaboration policies for each
component of this course are detailed in the assignments. If you are
unsure about whether or not certain kinds of collaboration are
permissible on an assignment or in this course, ask your instructor.
Intellectual Property Rights
Audio or video recording of class meetings, lectures or
discussions is prohibited without explicit permission of the
instructor. Photographic records of whiteboards, projected slides
or other visual media is also prohibited without explicit
permission of the instructor. In any case where permission is
given for audio/video/photographic records to be made they are for
personal use only. They may not be shared or redistributed and
must be destroyed at the end of their usefulness or within one
week following the termination of this course, whichever comes
first. Similarly, any redistribution of sample code, homework
solution sets or provided lab code is prohibited. Please note that
all outside materials used in the course
(readings/tutorials/assignments/projects/etc) are also be governed
by their own licensing agreements.
Accommodations for Disabilities
Accommodating Students with Disabilities Dickinson values diverse
types of learners and is committed to ensuring that each student is
afforded an equal opportunity to participate in all learning
experiences. If you have (or think you may have) a learning difference
or a disability - including a mental health, medical, or physical
impairment - that would impact your educational experience in this
class, please contact the Office of Disability Services (ODS) to
schedule a meeting with Director Marni Jones. She will confidentially
discuss your needs, review your documentation, and determine your
eligibility for reasonable accommodations. To learn more about
available supports, go
to www.dickinson.edu/ODS
, email
DisabilityServices@dickinson.edu, call (717) 245-1734, or go to ODS in
106 Dana Hall.
If you've already been granted accommodations at Dickinson, please let
me know as soon as possible so that we can meet to review your
Accommodation Letter and complete your "Blue Form" Implementation
Plan. If you will need test proctoring from ODS, remember that you
will need to provide them with at least one week's notice.