The course meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays
from 10:05-11:20 in either Classroom 5 (Section 1)
or Seminar 1 (Section 2). On some days the two sections
may meet together in Classroom 5.
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Professor
Owen Astrachan
- office: D241, LSRC
- email: ola at cs.duke.edu
- phone: 660-6522
- office hours: Tuesday 2:30-3:30, Wednesday 3-4, whenever my door is open.
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Professor
Shivnath Babu
- office: D338, LSRC
- email: shivnath at cs.duke.edu
- phone: 660-6579
- office hours: After class or by appointment
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Reading and Writing
This course carries a Curriculum W-designation. You'll write
papers, revise them based on comments, and resubmit the revisions.
You'll also write (online) short commentaries based on readings
for many classes. You'll write summaries and reactions to papers.
You should prepare for each class by reading the articles and readings
given on the syllabus. You should be prepared to discuss what you
read, ask questions about what you don't understand, and to lead
discussions during the semester.
This course also carries a (R)esearch designation. There is a term
project that can be done in groups, which should be a 10-20 page/person
research paper. The final project should have a
technical, analytical component to it. This can involve
programming/implementations, but it doesn't have to. Instead you can
read and analyze technical/professional papers.
Grading
Grading is done on an absolute, but adjustable scale. This means that
there is no curve. Anyone earning 90% or more of the total number of
points available will receive a grade in the A range (A- to A+); 80% =
B, 70% = C, 60% = D. This scale may go down, but it will not go up.
What is an A in Compsci 182s?
To receive a grade in the A range you must exceed
expectations. This means you must do everything required
very well or you must do more than is required and do this
well. In other words, to earn an A you must do more than merely meet
expectations, you must exceed them.
In order to earn an A+ you must
exceed expectations in general and do a wonderful project.
What You Turn In
You'll read and think a fair amount in this course, or at least you'll
be asked to do so. Different things you turn in for credit count
differently toward your final grade. The percentages toward your
final grade for each kind of
work you turn in are given in the table below.
What you do
| Percentage of Final Grade
|
written assignments |
Argumentative Paper | 8%
|
Technical/Ethics Resources | 8%
|
Case Study | 8%
|
out-of- and in-class work |
Class Participation | 10%
|
Class Leadership | 5%
|
Reading Quizzes/Surveys | 5%
|
Goodness Points | 6%
|
one-time artifacts |
Midterm | 10%
|
Technical Projects | 10%
|
Final Project | 25%
|
Total | 100%
|
Readings and Groups
Written work, and most work in general,
will be graded on a the following four/4 point scale:
- 0 means not turned in (think F)
- 1 is poor to barely acceptable (think C)
- 2 is acceptable to good (think B)
- 3 is good to very good (think B+)
- 4 is very good to excellent (think A)
You'll turn in papers and rewrites four times (two papers, two
rewrites). You turn in a paper when it's your group's turn.
Late Policy
You'll submit your work online. In general work will be due on Thursday
at midnight. You'll likely use either the web
or Blackboard to submit work. If you write a synopsis we expect you to
submit a .pdf file. We will not grade work submitted in any other format.
We don't care
about midnight vs. 2 am vs. 4 am, but after the sun rises your paper is
late.
Please use the
Trinity
Illness Forms on the web
as necessary, and understand its limits. Papers turned
in before class on the Monday after they're due will receive a 1 point
deduction. Papers will not be accepted after the Monday class.
Class Attendance Policy
You should come to class. If you don't attend you'll miss getting
information first-hand, meeting your old and new friends, participating
in discussion.
For each class, each student's participation will be graded on a scale of 0-2.
- 0 - did not attend class
- 1 - attended class, but basically did not participate
- 2 - attended class and participated well
Any missed class will result in a 0 for that day barring an official
Short-Term Illness
Notification. Also, being sufficiently late to lecture can
significantly increase your chances for a score of "1" or below. So
attend class and participate! We have 28 meetings. Full credit
for participation is based on 45 points.
Collaboration
Any work in this course that does not include an explicit policy about
working with others is assumed to be work you do on your
own. Occasionally you'll be given work to do with explicit permission to
collaborate. Without such permission your work is your own.