CS 301: Social Implications of Computer Technology
Course Syllabus
Fall, 2022
Section 1001: 1-1:50pm Mon; TBE B-176
Section 1002: 10-10:50 Tues; TBE B-176
Section 1003: 2:30-3:20 Wed; TBE B-176
Prof. Hal Berghel; office: TBE B-378A;
phone: 702-895-2441;
hlb \\ acm // *rg
office hours: Monday-Friday - 9 am to 9:50 am and by appointment
Teaching Assistants: T.B.D.
ofc hrs: t.b.d.
Course Description:
Examination of ethical and social issues relating to the use of computing and networking technology. Discussion of social trends and their possible effects. Review and discussion of the ACM Code of Ethics for computing professionals.
General notes:
- the Syllabus for this course will be maintained on the instructor's website at www.berghel.net/sat.
- Assigned readings will be provided as an ONLINE TEXT. come from online resources, many if not most of which were written by the instructor - think of them collectively as the course textbook. There may be an occasional external resource as well. In either case, URLs for the readings will be clearly identified as such in this syllabus. Time permitting, I will discuss all reading assignments in the lectures. However, you will be responsible for all reading assignments whether or not they are discussed in the lectures.
- Test questions covering the reading assinments are available in the class STUDY GUIDE . All exam questions will come from this study guide. If an assigned reading is not covered in the study guide, there will be no questions on that reading on an exam. (Note that I use this study guide for several classes, so not all study guide content relates to CS301).
- UNLV POLICES AND RESOURCES
- The current UNLV policies that govern instruction are posted on the website of the The Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost at http://provost.unlv.edu/policies.html. Pay special attention to the semester memo under "S".
- In addition, please familiarize yourself with the following:
- Writing Center Statement
- Tutoring Availability
- UNLV information that might be of interest
- UNLV 2021 safety report
- UNLV campus police crime log
- UNLV Institutional Metrics
- Covid Information: no recent updates
- Supplementary references:
- Jaron Lanier, Ten Arguments for Deleting your Social Media Accounts Right Now, Picador reprint, 2019.
- Richard Spinello, Cyberethics: Morality and Law in Cyberspace, 7th ed., Jones and Bartlett, 2021.
- Formats for written work. For CS301, provide references for all non-original material. Quotation according to the principles of "fair use" under the U.S. Copyright laws apply. i.e., quoting and identifying a source is acceptable, plagiarizing a source is not. Any student found to have plagiarized will receive an "F" for the assignment. If you have any questions about this policy, consult with the instructor.
- I may change the syllabus based on the feedback on, and pace of, the lectures, so check the syllabus frequently and note changes. If you have any questions about the syllabus, ask them in class or send email to instructor or TA.
- GRADING SCALE: Grading will be on a standard "university scale," i.e., 90-100=A; 80-89=B; etc. I curve the exams so that the mean is at least 75%. The contribution of exams, homework, projects, etc. will vary but will be explained in the syllabus at the time of assignment.
- Your FINAL GRADE will be determined by:
-or, in the case of exceptional circumstances and with the permission of the instructor-
- [2] (B) a WRITTEN REPORT, consisting of both:
- 25 powerpoint slides (same requirements as presentation), and
- a written paper
- minimum of 3,000 words
- references in any format acceptable at UNLV
- All written reports in hardcopy (duplex printed and collated) are due at start of class on October 24, 2022 . Late penalty will be 5% per day.
NOTES:
- presentations will be scheduled alphabetically by last name around the 4th week of class. Due to the large class sizes, re-scheduling will not be allowed unless student provides a written excuse from UNLV student health, a registered health care professional, the UNLV office of student affairs, or a UNLV administrator..
- Any topic relating to Social Issues in Computing is acceptable for purposes of presentations, slides and reports. However the slides and presentations must correspond with one another.
- All exams will be "closed everything": e.g., "closed book," "closed notes," PDAs and computers turned off, cell phones off, etc. Any student caught with an active mobile device during an exam will receive a grade of F for the exam.
- Attendance will be taken. Perfect attendance (i.e., no missed classes) will result in a 10% increase in overall percentage grade. )
- A few times each semester the University will cancel classes for holidays. You are responsible for the material covered that week as described in the online syllabus, so plan to attend one of the other sections if your class is cancelled; else contact instructor or TA for other arrangements.
- NOTE: UNLV experiences several power outages each year (many unannounced or announced on short notice) that crash
College computer systems, so plan ahead and download the content you need well in advance of exams. As a precaution,
I recommend that you download the CS 301 Online Text so that you can store the URLs for readings covered on the exam offline.
What you will need for your presentation:
- A small USB memory stick formatted in either NTFS or FAT32 (preferred) for your presentation slides. I recommend against accessing your slides from a cloud service because of the delays involved. However, understand that your presentation will be limited to 10 minutes including any time spent accessing your slides.
- You will need access to a computer that can be used to prepare your presentation slides. The UNLV Office of IT has Windows labs for students on campus. Alternative formats such as PDF are acceptable so long as OIT can confirm that they can be rendered by the classroom computer.
- Only hardcopy will be accepted (these documents will be retained for ABET accreditation purposes). To minimize the amount of paper used, you must submit the slides "handout style" 4 or 6 to a page, double sided. Failure to use handout style will result in a 25% grade penalty. The course TA will provide advice on how to print handout style should you need help.
ABET Course Outcomes:
Syllabus
(reminder: When UNLV closes during the classweek, students are advised to attend other sections. You are still responsible for the material covered.)
General Overview of Course
- How to use the online course resources (syllabus, readings, links to digital libraries)
- Discussion of Required in-class presentations
- Calculation of final grade: presentation and slides -or- semester report will each count 50% toward your final grade. The mid-term exam will also count 50%. There will be no final in this class
- quality of presentation slides (at keast 25 slides to be submitted to me in hardcopy on the day of presentation: 4/6 slide/page handout style)
- quality of oral presentation (10 minutes maximum; you are not expected to cover all of the slides. This will be your opportunity to have fun sharing the more interesting information with the class.)
- quality of 3000 word written report fully referenced (any style of your choosing)
- Grading Criteria for Presentation, Slides and Report: (Re: ABET Student Learning Outcome 3, above).
- exemplar of acceptable slide format
- General Guidelines for Preparing Slide Presentation
- assignment: look over the assigned readings and think of a few topics that might suit you for an in-class presentation. Finalize a topic within the first two weeks of class. If you want my opinion on the suitability of the topic(s), just ask in class, speak with me after class or during office hours, or send me an email.
- In class assignment: place your name on note paper and summarize your opinion of the video shown in class (link below). Your summary will be returned to you on the last day of class and you will be asked to determine whether your opinion has changed. (this exercise is for student use only and will not be graded ).
- Study Guide to the assigned readings
- Pa$Sw0rDZ
Lectures by date and topics: (see the CS301 online text for specific reading assignments.)
Week of August 29: Technology, Information, and Innovation
Week of September 5: Disinformatics
Week of September 12: Information Technology and Democracy
Week of September 19: The World of Computing, Professional Ethics and You (lecture and readings relate directly to ABET Student Learning Outcome 4, above).
Week of September 26: Review/Exam Preparation
Week of October 3- Mid-Term Exam -Exams is "closed everything": e.g., "closed book," "closed notes,"
PDAs and computers turned off, cell phones off, etc. The detection of any mobile device in use will result
in an exam grade of F. Make sure to confirm that you have the latest revision of the study guide.
Student Presentations Begin (Speakers: provide slides in handout form to instructor on your way to the lectern. USB port available on lectern computer. Attendance will be taken!)
Week of October 10 - Student Presentations
- section 1001
(Monday)
- tbd
- section 1002
(Tuesday)
- tbd
- section 1003
(Wednesday)
- tbd
Week of October 17 - Student Presentations
- section 1001
(Monday)
- tbd
- section 1002
(Tuesday)
- tbd
- section 1003
(Wednesday)
- tbd
Week of October 24 - Student Presentations
- section 1001
(Monday)
- tbd
- section 1002
(Tuesday)
- tbd
- section 1003
(Wednesday)
- tbd
Week of October 31 - Student Presentations
- section 1001
(Monday)
- tbd
- section 1002
(Tuesday)
- tbd
- section 1003
(Wednesday)
- tbd
Week of November 7 - Student Presentations
- section 1001
(Monday)
- tbd
- section 1002
(Tuesday)
- tbd
- section 1003
(Wednesday)
- tbd
Week of November 14 - Student Presentations
- section 1001
- tbd
- section 1002
- tbd
- section 1003
- tbd
Week of November 21 - Student Presentations
- section 1001
- tbd
- section 1002
- tbd
- section 1003
- tbd
Week of November 28 - Student Presentations
- section 1001
- tbd
- section 1002
- tbd
- section 1003
- tbd
Week of December 5- Student Outcome Assessment, review of ACM Code of Ethics, and course review (Re: ABET Student Learning Outcome 4, above).