From the catalog:
CSC 100. Orientation to Computer Science
(1). Introduction to the field of
computer science. Overview of computer science disciplines, application areas,
and career options. Presentations in the department’s research areas. This
course is a required course for all majors and minors in computer science.
Text
Please consult the
class schedule for links to reference materials.
Professor Gene A. Tagliarini
CIS 2038
tagliarinig@uncw.edu
(910) 962-7572
M-W, 1:00-2:00 PM and T-R, 2:30-3:30 PM
Other office hours may be arranged by
appointment.
Regular attendance and vigorous, cooperative
participation in class are required. If you
desire the "benefit of the doubt" in any matter related to your grade
in the class, you will routinely be present, demonstrate respect, ask relevant
questions, and cooperate with the instructor and presenters as well as the
course objectives. Each student is
personally responsible for material covered during each class meeting. Class
participation is a major element of your grade; for details, see the section on
grading.
Your final grade will be determined based 70%
upon class participation, which implies attendance, and 30% upon your
performance on two, 500-word mini-essays (15% each). Class participation will
be observed by your interactions with the presenters (70% = participation in 14
presentations x 5% each). In each mini-essay you must document five
presentations (about 100 words each) in which you have participated. Each of
the five presentations covered in each mini-essay sub-section accounts for 3%
of the final grade (5 components x 3% = 15% maximum possible essay value).
Some suggestions for coverage in sub-sections
of a mini-essay documenting presentation participation:
1.
Who was (were)
the presenter(s)?
2. What was the main topic of the presentation?
3. What insight(s) did the presentation provide to your
understanding of the field of Computer Science?
a.
What facts did
you note that you never knew before the presentation?
b.
How does the
presentation affect your personal and potential professional practice(s)?
c.
What were the
professional or ethical implications of the ideas included in the presentation?
d.
What
perspectives did the presenter(s) offer that you had not previously considered?
e.
What additional
presentation content would help future students get a clear sense of Computer
Science as a discipline?
4. Describe a Computer Science career-related situation
in which you could use what you learned from the presentation.
5. How did the
presentation enable you to understand, forecast, model, or relate to an aspect
of professional computing?
The tests will be given according to the
following schedule:
Essay Due
Date
Mid-term
11:59 PM,
8 March 2012
Final 2 May
2012, Wednesday, 11:30 AM – 2:30 PM
Your final grade will be determined according
to the following scale:
Final
average Grade
90-100 A
80-89.999 B
70-79.999 C
60-69.999 D
less
than 60 F
The instructor reserves the right, solely at
his own discretion, to curve grades.
Incomplete grades are
given only very rarely and only when the student is
The instructor MUST be
able to certify all three of these
factors to the department chair before assigning a grade of
"I".
Evidence to indicate
progress toward the course SLOs is accumulated by various performance measures
including programming assignments and tests. The association between the SLOs
and the measures is indicated in the following table:
|
|
Measure |
||
|
SLO |
Mini-Essay 1 |
Mini-Essay 2 |
Participation Record |
|
1. …knowledge
of the field |
X |
X |
X |
|
2. …career paths |
X |
X |
X |
|
3. …ongoing research |
X |
X |
X |
|
4. …research
and communicate |
X |
X |
X |
Important scheduling items and key academic
dates can be found at http://www.uncw.edu/reg/calendars.htm.
A tentative
schedule is available online. At the discretion of the instructor, the schedule
may be adapted to include alternative topics. You should explore the Web to supplement
class discussions. Please express leadership by taking the initiative to read
about areas of interest without waiting for specific reading assignments to
study a topic that attracts your attention. If you have questions regarding
topics in the course, please e-mail your questions to the instructor or the
presenter(s), ask during class, or visit during office hours.
Americans with Disabilities Act
If you have a disability
and need reasonable accommodation in this course, you should inform the instructor
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 in Westside Hall
(ext. 3746) and obtain a copy of your Accommodation Letter. You should then meet with your instructor to
make mutually agreeable arrangements based on the recommendations of the
Accommodation Letter.