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Projects
Due on Monday, 06/23 (last day of class, early submissions encouraged)
You are expected to complete one semester long project in this class. Following our tradition
from last year, I have decided to offer you multiple options.
- Write a report/essay on a topic related to computer science.
You will be writing a critical essay. Your project will state some opinion and provide
supporting and dissenting arguments. Your essay must have some sort of discernible thesis
statement where you take a stand on some issue. As this is a computer science class, you will need to write the thesis in HTML, i.e.
create a web page. This gives you a chance to both investigate a CS concept and utilize your knowledge of HTML and CSS. Some example
topics are:
- Digital Divide: Should the government subsidize computer and/or Internet access for under-served areas and communities ?
- Monopoly: Microsoft vs. European Union case
- Should a university monitor university networks and connected computers for improper activity such as copyright infringement or
cheating among students ?
- Is Java a suitable language for introductory computer science classes? Is programming an important part of a "liberal arts"
education?
- Yahoo's China Problem: Should China provide data of their customers to Chinese Government?
- Facebook ad backslash: privacy?
- (You can also see the project topics from previous classes here)
- Write a program in java: Based on your interest, I can assign you a programming problem.Some example topics could be:
- Code advanced algorithms
- Convert some of the lab problems into a graphical user interface(GUI) program
- Java applet
- Simple java GUI program, like notepad or calculator
- Simple game, like tic tac toe, hangman, or snake (GUI or applet)
- Advanced web design: You can write a dynamic web page using web programming languages like php or create a flash web page.
Deadlines
- Topic selection: Friday 05/30
Decide what you will be working on and who you will be working with. Report in class
- Project proposal: Wednesday 06/04
Official topic proposal. Email me your topic name, names of the members in your group, and
sources that you are planning to use (By this date, you should have done some sort of a literature review).
- Project update: Friday 06/13
Informal project status. By this date, you should have met me during my office hours or after
class and informed me your project status
- Submission: Monday 06/23
Groups
You may and should work in a group (preferably of 2). However, you can also work alone or in a rare situation, with my permission, in
groups of three. But keep in mind that, the more students in your group are, the higher my expectations would be from your group.
On occasion, we have a few delinquent students who do nothing and rely on their hard-working partners to do the project for them. We
have three bits of advice on that matter. First, plan on doing your share of the work and make sure you are available in the time
before the project is due. Second, if you find a group member is delinquent let me know as soon as possible. I
will usually give a warning and then if problems persist, can grant divorce requests. The delinquent partner typically receives a
zero for the project.
Often, groups claim that the computer somehow ate their files. You are responsible for making sure your project is in working order,
so save early and do not leave anything to the last minute.
Turning in unacknowledged writing not written by members of your group or supplied by the course staff constitutes cheating and will
be dealt with as an Duke Community Standard Violation.
Here is the list of the project groups and their topics
- Peter: Chess end-game advisor program
- Stuart: Web 2.0
- Asher: Net neutrality in the context of contemporary politics
- Deon: Analysis of patents vs copyrights: software shouldn't be patentable
- Eriks, Josh: Game programming (Snake java applet)
- Deborah, Jessica: Calculator java application(applet)
- Allison, Amanda: Dynamic web pages, using PHP
- Danielle, Nicole: Microsoft vs European Union
- Chris, Joe: Censorship of Internet at schools: Should a university monitor university networks and connected computers for improper activity such as copyright infringement or cheating among students ?
- Chelsea, Jennifer, Gibbs: Facebook ad backslash: privacy?
- Jabari, Requan, Scott: Basketball history website
Grading
Overall, your project will be graded on:
- Content: Just like any other essay, you are expected to make your points in a well thought out and clear manner. In the
sciences, being concise is generally desired, so you need to make a complete and convincing argument not necessarily long one.
- References: Links to web pages, papers, and books that either support or dissent from your position. There should be at least
two for each side. You should summarize and discuss the contributions of these pages. You will probably need to use research tools
like LexisNexis Academic for news and laws, CiteSeer for Computer Science papers, search engines such as Google or Google Scholar,
and web directories such as Yahoo.
- Presentation: While I do not expect you to make professional quality web pages, your site should be readable, well-designed, and
utilize standard web technology such as images and links in illustrating your points. You should use other web pages for style ideas.
Pictures and a reasonably well-thought out interface are required. See for http://www.useit.com/ for good ideas and
http://www.gui-bloopers.com/ and http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com for bad ones. You can use a web design program like Dreamweaver or
Frontpage or use any program that can output web pages (such as Microsoft Word).
Tips
The content of your projects must refer to specific technologies that are available as well as the social, legal, and ethical
implications of the topic. It is not enough to talk about the copyright without mentioning specific systems and technologies that
could be affected. Your essay should not just be a treatise on the rights of record companies versus individuals.
A way of improving your essay is to actually correspond with experts in the field that you are studying. You can easily find the
email address for most professors, for example, online. If you plan to do this, keep your inquiries short and expect a short reply,
don't harass anyone, and start early because you probably will not hear back from people early if at all.
Google will be your friend, but it should not be your only friend in researching your topic. Whenever you need to find a page or a
person related to particular topic, searching with Google will probably give you a good start. You still need to do your own research
and analysis.
Do not lose points on simple things. For example, if you are required to have names of all team members on a document, make sure that
the names are there. Turn each part of the project in on time. Each part of the project from topic selection to the final project
contributes to your project grade. Late submissions will not be accepted for all of the parts of the project other than the final
submission. For the final project, you can turn in up to 2 days late for a 10% penalty.
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