Syllabus

Course Number and Title: CS 385 Special Lecture Series in Computer Science
Location: Harney Science Center 235 Kudlick Classroom
Class time: TR 11:45-12:40am
Lecture schedule: https://sites.google.com/a/cs.usfca.edu/usfcs/sls-cs-fall-2011

Instructor: EJ Jung, HR 541
Email: ejung (at) cs (dot) usfca (dot) edu (preferred)
Phone: (415) 422-5422
Office Hours: MW 2:30-4:30pm or by appointment
Note that the emails are the most preferred way of contact outside of office hours, and will be answered by the next business day. To ensure proper handling, please include "385" in your subject.

Mailing list You may subscribe to the course mailing list to get a reminder the day before lectures. If you wish to, go here and contact the owner to join.

Textbook No textbook.

Course Goals and Objective
Weekly colloquium and discussion session on current developments will lead students up to speed with advances and progress in various aspects of computer science. Students will develop analytical thinking by listening, summarizing, critiquing the lectures. Students will also learn presentation skills by observation.

Attendance
Due to the nature of the course, attendance is required for every lecture. If you are late by 15 minutes or more, or leave early by 15 minutes or more, this will count as an absence. If you have a legitimate reason to miss a lecture, you should provide a documentaion, e.g. doctor's note. The attendance sheet will be circulated at every lecture. You'll need to sign in yourself.

Lecture reports
For every lecture, there is a report due by next lecture in class. If you did not pick up a report form at the lecture or misplaced it, there is a blank one in Blackboard. Remember to write in the date and the speaker's name. If you did not attend the lecture, your report is not accepted.

Extended report For the extended report, you will pick one of the three topics below, and write a 1,000 word essay. The final extended report is due at 11:55pm on Thursday, December 1st, submitted through Blackboard and will not be returned to you. Make sure that you list all the references you used in the end of your report. References do not count towards 1000 words. PDF is the only acceptable format. If you use Mac, you can Print->Save as PDF. If you use MS Word on Windows, download the add-on that allows you save as pdf. The deadlines are firm, i.e. there is no late day policy.

  • Describe your experience as CS major.
  • What problem or opportunity that computer technology brought to society this year has impressed you?
  • Pick one of the lectures and write an extended report on the same topic.

Discussion, participation Most speakers welcome questions during the lecture, and some might ask you to wait until the end of the lecture. Participate by asking questions in lecture or by discussing the lectures on Discussion board in Blackboard.

Grading
Your final grade will be calculated this way:

  • Attendance: 40%
  • Lecture reports: 40%
  • Extended report: 10%
  • Discussion, participation: 10%

Letter grades will be assigned according to the following scale:

A+ 97%
A 93%
A– 90%
B+ 87%
B 83%
B– 80%
C+ 77%
C 73%
C– 70%
D+ 67%
D 63%
D– 60%
F < 60%

Note that this scale is subject to change at any time.

Students with Disabilities
If you are a student with a disability or disabling condition, or if you think you may have a disability, please contact USF Student Disability Services (SDS) at (415) 422-2613 within the first week of class, or immediately upon onset of disability, to speak with a disability specialist. If you are determined eligible for reasonable accommodations, please provide me with your SDS Verified Individualized Services and Accommodations (VISA) form, and we will discus your needs for this course. For more information, please visit: http://www.usfca.edu/sds or call (415) 422-2613.

I would like to hear from anyone who has a disability which may require seating modifications or testing accommodations or accommodations of other class requirements, so that appropriate arrangements may be made. Please contact me during my office hours or make an appointment.

Academic Honesty

Do not cheat and do not plagiarize or copy from other students or from the web. I expect all students to adhere to the academic honesty policies at USF. For more information, please refer to the Fogcutter Student Handbook.

Students suspected of violating the academic honesty policy will face severe penalty. The first offense will result in a 0 on the assignment, and a report to the Dean's office. Repeated offenses will result in an automatic F for the course.