CSC 495 - Course Syllabus - Fall 2011

Thursday 9:30 - 10:20 CI 1006

Dr. David R.Berman
E-mail: bermand@uncw.edu
Office hours (CI 2039, 962-3247): M, W 9-11, T 10-12, R 11-12. Drop-ins are welcome anytime.

CATALOG DESCRIPTION

CSC 495. Seminar in Computer Science (1) Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing or consent of instructor.

OBJECTIVES

To satisfy the oral communication competency requirement for the B.S. degree in computer science, a student must successfully complete CSC 495 or any other approved oral communication intensive course. Fall 2011 is the last time this course will be offered. The course CSC 385 has been expanded from 1 to 3 credit hours and will be used to satisfy the oral communication competency requirement and the writing intensive requirement under the new University Studies program.

The purpose of this course is to provide practical experience in making oral presentations on technical topics. Each student will present two 20-minute technical seminars on an assigned topic, and will participate in the evaluation of every student’s presentations (including his or her own). Also students will be assigned lectures from the Triangle CS Distinguished Lecture Series to watch and report on.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING CRITERIA

• Presentations
  Each student will present two PowerPoint presentations on a topic to be determined during the first class meeting. Each seminar presentation must have the following structure.

  Slide-1	Title slide with the title of the talk and the name of the presenter.
  Slide-2	Outline of the talk, list of main ideas presented.
  Slide-3.....Slide-n	Detailed slide on each idea, demonstrations.
  Slide-(n+1)	Conclusion
  Slide-(n+2)	References for further reading, and weblinks.

  Tips and Suggestions for Making Presentations
  Making PowerPoint slides. Avoiding the pitfalls of bad slides.
  

  Each student will complete the Seminar Evaluation for each presentation. The evaluation document includes seven categories of assessment, each graded on a range from one through four. If a student delivers a perfect presentation, the score would be 28 points (= 7 categories x 4 points per category). The grade recorded for each presentation will be the average of the student’s self-evaluation (25%), the average of the peer evaluations (25%), and the instructor’s evaluation (50%). The grade will be scaled to a 10-point scale by multiplying by 3.57. Thus, 28 points is a grade of 28 * 3.57 = 100 A.

  Your two presentations will count a total of 66.67% of your course grade.

  Each unexcused absence will result in a 5-point reduction to your course average.
  
  

• Triangle CS Distinguished Lecture Series
  During the weeks with no presentations, each student will be assigned to watch and report on a lecture from the Triangle CS Distinguished Lecture Series (available on YouTube). You can watch the lecture on your own time, and we will not have a classroom meeting these weeks. The report on a lecture will be a 1- to 2-page synopsis that includes a summary and some of the highlights of the lecture. You should use good style in your write-up with complete thoughts and sentences, and correct grammar and spelling. Additionally you will complete the Seminar Evaluation for each lecture. Specific details about assignments will be handled weekly by email. You will have one week to watch each lecture and submit your report and evaluation. These activities will count a total of 33.33% of your course grade.
  
  
• Course Grade
  A modified 10-point scale will be used to compute your course grade.

      Numeric Score     Letter Grade     Quality Points 
    ====================================================               
       93.3 - 100            A                4.00 
       90.0 - 93.2           A-               3.67
       86.7 - 89.9           B+               3.33
       83.3 - 86.6           B                3.00
       80.0 - 83.2           B-               2.67
       76.7 - 79.9           C+               2.33
       73.3 - 76.6           C                2.00
       70.0 - 73.2           C-               1.67
       66.7 - 69.9           D+               1.33
       63.3 - 66.6           D                1.00
       60.0 - 63.2           D-               0.67
       00.0 - 59.9           F                0.00
  

HONOR CODE

It is the responsibility of every student to follow the UNCW Academic Honor Code.

UNCW practices a zero-tolerance policy for violence and harassment of any kind. For emergencies contact UNCW CARE at 962-CARE, Campus Police at 962-2222, or Wilmington Police at 911. For University or community resources visit http://www.uncw.edu/wsrc/crisis.html.

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

If you have a disability and need reasonable accommodation in this course, you should inform Dr. Berman of this fact in writing within the first week of class or as soon as possible. If you have not already done so, you must register with the Office of Disability Services at uncw.edu/stuaff/disability, and obtain a copy of your Accommodation Letter. You should then meet with Dr. Berman to make mutually agreeable arrangements based on the recommendations of the Accommodation Letter.