Computer Science 439 - Seminar

Spring 2012 Syllabus

Instructor: Dana Steil

Email: dsteil@harding.edu

Office: Pryor-England 215

Office hours: 2:00-5:00 daily

Phone: 501-279-4340

Goals of this class:

1) A forum for faculty to make presentations on relevant topics not covered in the curriculum

2) A forum for outside speakers on current and interesting topics

3) A forum for students to gain experience in both independent research and oral and written presentation

In order to lessen the pressure during the oral presentation and in order to help guarantee a successful presentation the work and the points will be divided into phases with points assigned to each. The phases and points are as follows:

Attendance – 35% - This is your attendance record over 4 semesters. You are allowed two cuts per semester without penalty. While it is possible to have more than 100% in this category, your overall grade will be calculated using a max of 100%. i.e. You cannot use attendance to “pad” your grade.

This semester the sum of your seminar attendances from the fall of 2010 thru the spring of 2012 will be divided by .

	Fall 2010	Spring 2011	Fall 2011	Spring 2012	Totals
Available Seminars	15	13	11	13	62
Friday Morning Seminars	10	10	8	11	37
Attendances Counted	8	8	6	9	31

Ethics Text – 10% - You will be required to attend two different sessions where the Ethics text is discussed. You will be required to sign a statement that you have read each of the assigned sections of the text before they are discussed.

Paper – 20% - This is a 10-15 page research paper on the same topic as your seminar presentation.

• This paper is due two weeks prior to your seminar.
• You are required to have a third party proof read your paper before submitting it.
• Papers must be submitted on Easel and a printed copy on the due date.
• See Seminar Paper Grading Criteria.

Dry Run – 15% - This is a complete oral presentation of your seminar given to the instructor alone for critiquing. All visuals, handouts, etc. should be prepared at this time. All visuals, handouts, etc. should be prepared at this time. All material should be included. The only changes after this will be in delivery. Grading will be according to the accompanying sheet.

Seminar – 20% - This is the final oral presentation to the CS faculty, students, and friends. See Seminar Presentation Grading Criteria.  

Note: The grading scale is 90%=A, 80%=B, etc. There will be no rounding. The attendance policy is very lenient.

There is no reason not to have 100% in that category. Consequently, an 89.9% will result in a grade of “B”.