Life-long learning
The purpose of this assignment is to encourage you to think about life-long learning as one of the goals of your education, and to give you an opportunity to practice some of the skills of life-long learning, which include finding and reading technical information, and developing your understanding of new material by trying to explain it.
Unfortunately, by posing this assignment as an evaluated exercise, I am undermining one of the other skills of life-long learning, self-motivation.
- In addition to the required readings for this class, you should also read at least one other book about software. I have a collection of books you can look at to choose from; if you do not want to use one of these books, you must talk to me about your choice first.
- Read your chosen book over the course of the semester. If there are references in the book that interest you, or if you find other sources of related information, feel free to follow those leads.
- In the last month of the semester, during class you will present a short review of the book's main thesis, supported by at least three examples from the book, in the form of a lightning talk. Additionally, you should come prepared with one interesting question raised by your reading to lead a class discussion about your book. Feel free to discuss your talk with me first if you would like my suggestions before you present.
This is the last time I will mention this assignment. Part of the assignment (maybe the most important part) is remembering to do it.
