CS 454 Signature Project
This discussion of an evolving approach for a CS 454 Signature
Project is organized into three sections:
Motivations
This approach for a CS 454 Signature Project has at least three
motivations:
-
Connecting students with connections between computing and current
events
-
Sharpening student skills with written technical communication
-
Fulfilling SSU's Upper Division General Education Area B
Requirement
Computing and Current Events
In recent years, news reports have focused on the impact of`
technology on contemporary life. For example, many stories discuss
the use of computing and algoritms on policing, the justice system,
the approval of personal loans and mortgages, job hiring and
promotions, salaries, etc.— all raising issues of bias,
diversity, and equity.
In contrast, many STEM courses focus on technical issues,
problem-solving approaches and techniques; and many STEM students
may be unaware of the consequences
of technology.
A Signature Project can help connect technical aspects of computing
with social and ethical impacts. In an upper-level course, students
already have developed theoretical and practical
perspectives within a technical context, and direct engagement with
current events can provide additional insights and understandings of
how computing can impact a variety of stakeholders.
Although a project within a single course is unlikely to transform
student thinking about the role of computing in society, an engaged
activity may plant seeds for future thought.
|
Written Technical Communication Skills
Professional work within computing requires computing people to
work within teams, communicate with clients, and collaborate with
professionals with other specialties. For the most part, today's
projects are far too large and complex to be created by people
working alone. Individuals may have wonderful ideas, but potential
advances do not gain traction if the creators cannot communicate
effectively with both small and large groups.
As a result, national curricular recommendations for undergraduate
computer science highlight the need for students to develop strong
communication skills. Further, SSU as a liberal arts institution
expects students to to sharpen their communication skills through a
variety of courses.
Altogether, computing students are well served if they can
practice technical writing at the upper level, obtaining guidance on
how to organize and present material and receiving constructive
feedback on their own work.
Within the limits of a one-semester course, CS 454 will focus on
technical writing, rather than oral communication.
|
SSU's Gen. Ed. Area B Requirement
SSU's Upper
Division GE Area B: Scientific Inquiry and Quantitative
Reasoning is described as follows in the SSU Catalog,
Upon completion of the Upper Division GE Area B requirement,
students will be able to:
-
Interpret, evaluate, and employ quantitative analysis and
arguments
-
Synthesize and apply theoretical and practical perspectives from
multiple disciplines to develop and understanding of complex
issues
-
Apply knowledge, skills, and multiple perspectives in new
situations to analyze and formulate solutions to complex
problems with confidence and creativity
SSU specifies that "Every GE course must include
a Signature
Assignment", which in turn must include a self-reflection.
Over the years, the SSU CS faculty have decided that CS 454 is an
appropriate course through which students can meet this General
Education requirement.
|
Project Overview
The Signature Project for this section of CS 454 has three
components, with a fourth component available for extra credit.
Reminder Concerning AI-sourced Materials: Use of ChatGPT
(or other similar tools or software that generate suggested text) is
not permitted in this class for any assignments. This course assumes
that work submitted by students – all process work, drafts,
brainstorming artifacts, final works – will be generated by the
students themselves, perhaps with consultation with non-AI-produced
materials. Thus, use of AI tools in this course will be considered a
violation of SSU’s
Cheating and Plagiarism policy and could result in failure of
the assignment or failure of the course.
For each of the papers described below, submitted work must be
typed (e.g., using a word processing package) with 1" margins and
using at least 12-point font.
Required 2-3 Page Paper Reporting a Current Event
Summary: Select an approved news story related to computing
(but not involving gaming or video games), and write a 2-3 page paper
describing multiple components of the story.
Due Dates (all materials due at the start of class):
- Thursday, February 22: Send email to walkerhe@sonoma.edu, with a
[prioritized] list of three possible news stories that you could use
for a 2-3 page paper on a current event.
- Sunday, February 25 (or earlier): Students notified of which
story they should work with.
- Thursday, February 29: For each draft report being reviewed,
complete the Feedback
Form for Current Event Assignments, and bring 6 copes of a draft current event
paper to class (one to be given to the instructor; the other copies
to small group members)
- Tuesday, March 5: Bring 2 copies of written feedback you have
written for each draft paper you received (one copy for the
instructor, one for an author), and be prepared to [constructively]
discuss each draft paper
- Tuesday, March 12: Bring 3 copies of the final version of your current event paper class (two for the instructor, one for the SSU General Education Committee)
Target Audience: Students with only modest CS background,
such as those taking CS 215. (Thus, relatively little technical
jargon should be used.)
Assignment Details: Write a 2-3 page report, based on a news story, integrating technical components behind the story with potential impacts on the developers, users, and/or outside groups.
- Select 3 potential news stories that are indexed by either ACM News or Computer Weekly. Generally any story involving computing is acceptable, except for stories involving gaming or computer games.
- Since each student in the class is to report on their own
news story, each student must email me three news stories,
including relevant URLs. Indicate your preference (e.g., 1., 2,
3), if you want to work on one story rather than another.
- For this required assignment, all news stories must be dated
between January 1, 2024 and February 20, 2024.
- Although ACM News
or Computer Weekly
provide a short summary of the news story, your report should
utilize the full story (using the link from one or both of these
news-summary sites). Thus, before selecting a potential new
story, check the link to be certain you have access to the full story!
- As instructor, I will approve news stories in the order I
receive them—hopefully shortly after the email is received.
- Since approvals will be handled as student emails are received, students sending email early may have an advantage in getting preferred stories approved.
- If all stores referenced have already been assigned to others, my email may suggest some other options, but you also may send additional options.
- Once the news story has been approved, you should prepare a
draft paper based on the approved news report, with the following elements.
- Although most of your report must be in your own words, the
text of your report (not the title) must include exactly two or three
direct quotations, where each quotation must at least 7
consecutive words, but not more than a full sentence, from your
news story. Of course, quotations must be properly cited. !
Note that both the draft and final versions of this report must
utilize proper formats for citations
and the corresponding reference section.
- As with all technical reports, the introduction should
identify the topic, perhaps provide some context, and indicate
the structure (e.g., the main topics and their order) for the
rest of the report.
- Paragraphs in the body of the report should have coherent themes. .
- The themes will depend on the news story and some of
your own analysis, but always should include a description
of the current news event, something about the technical
underpinnings of the story, some consideration of the
significance of the story, and/or a review of the impact of
the technology. In particular, the draft paper should
consider at least four of the following
elements—perhaps devoting one or more paragraphs to
each.
- What individual, organization, company or group was
involved in creating the technology, or is the
technology a cooperative effort from multiple sources?
- What problem, issue, application, or use is being
targeted for the technology? That is, what purpose does
the technology aimed at?
- What individual(s), group, or groups benefit from
the technology?
- Does the author of the news story or the creator of
the technology likely have a bias or self-interest in
the technology? If so, describe that bias.
- What advantages or disadvantages accrue to the
developers or owners of the technology?
- What is the impact of the technology on people
actually using the technology?
- Are some people or groups (other than owners or
users) impacted by the technology, and if so, how?
- What public policies, laws, practices, or industry standards
currently exist for this technology?
- How might this technology evolve in the future?
If other elements, beyond those in the questions, seem
relevant to the news story and your paper, email me about
possibly adding further questions here.
- After the body of the narrative, the paper should
include a conclusions and/or future directions for the news
story.
- The report should also contain a reference section that
includes the full news story underlying your report,
together with any other sources included.
- For this required assignment, draft papers will be distributed
to students in a small group and to the instructor during one class.
Small groups of about 5 students will be identified ahead of time.
- During the next class, you will receive both written and oral
feedback on what passages seem to work well and possible
suggestions.
- Since thinking about news reports and providing feedback is
an important part of this exercise, all students are expected
to participate actively in their assigned small groups and
provide feedback, using
the the Feedback
Form for Current Event Assignments.
- Failure to actively engage in the feedback process may
result in a substantial grade penalty (e.g., up to a full
letter grade deduction for the semester).
- In considering your own paper, you may choose to follow or
ignore any elements of the feedback, as you prepare a final version
of the paper.
- Three copies of the final version of the paper should be
submitted, according to the above deadline. (One copy will go to
the instructor, one to SSU's General Education Committee, and on
returned to the author with comments.)
Sample Current Event Reports: Although both the content and
form expected for this assignment will be discussed in class, the
following samples illustrate appropriate responses to tis
assignment.
3-4 Page Paper Describing an NP-complete Problem
Summary: Select an approved NP-complete problem, and write a
3-4 page page that includes four components:
- a description of the problem
- an example, describing an instance of the problem and its
solution in this specific case.
- an explanation of why the problem is in class NP
- a justification of why every problem in Class NP can be reduced
this designated problem.
Due Dates (except as noted, all materials due at the start of class):
- Tuesday, April 23 (by 10:00 pm PDT): Send email to
walkerhe@sonoma.edu, with a [prioritized] list of three NP-complete
problems, that you could discuss in a 3-4 page paper.
- Thursday, April 25 (or earlier): Students notified of which
NP-complete problem they should work with.
- Tuesday, April 30: Bring 6 copes of a draft NP-complete Problem
paper to class (one to be given to the instructor; the other copies
given to a small group)
- Thursday, May 2: Bring 1 copy of written feedback you have
written for each draft paper you received, and be prepared to
[constructively] discuss each draft paper
- Tuesday, May 7: Bring 1 copy of the final version of your
NP-completeness Problem paper class.
Target Audience: Students with modest knowledge of the
concept of NP-completeness, but without a knowledge of specific
NP-complete problems.
Assignment Details: Write a 3-4 page report identifying an NP
complete problem, including a careful statement of the problem, an
example of the problem and its solution, a discussion of why the
problem is in Class NP, and a proof outline that shows the problem
is NP Hard.
- Select 3 potential NP-complete problems for consideration for a
problem report. Generally, any NP-complete problem may be
considered, except one thoroughly discussed in the textbook.
- One potential reference is Michael R. Garey and David
S. Johnson, Computers and Intractability: A Guide to the Theory
of NP-Completeness, W. H. Freeman and Company, Jan 15, 1979,
which is available free
from
academia.edu and can be ordered
from from
amazon.com. Additional references are available through Web
searches.
- Since no more than 3 students in the class may report on the
same NP-complete problem, each student must email me three
potential problems, including relevant URLs or book references,
indicating your preference (e.g., 1., 2, 3), if you want to work
on one story rather than another. (When possible, only 1 or 2
students will be assigned the same problem.)
- As instructor, I will approve NP-complete problems in the order
I receive them—hopefully shortly after an email is received.
- Since approvals will be handled as student emails are
received, students sending email early may have an advantage in
getting preferred problems approved.
- If too any proposed problems referenced have already been
assigned to others, my email may suggest some other options, but
you also may send me additional options.
- Once the NP-complete problem has been approved you should
prepare a draft paper with the following elements.
- Although most of your report must be in your own words, the
text of your report (not the title) must include at least
three direct quotations of at least 7 words each from a
published source. Of course, quotations must be properly
cited!
- As with almost all technical reports, the introduction
should identify the problem, perhaps provide some context, and
indicate the structure (e.g., main sections) of the rest of the
paper.
- After an introduction, the body of the paper likely should
include four main sections.
- A careful statement/description of the problem under
study.
- A reasonably-complete example illustrating one case or
instance of the problem and a possible solution.
- An NP-complete problem must satisfy two properties, the
first of which is that the problem is in Class NP. Thus, a
section of the paper should explain why the problem
satisfies this requirement.
- Generally, two approaches are commonly used to show
a problem is in Class NP: either a non-deterministic
Turing machine can be identified to solve the problem
or a polynomial time verifier can be created.
- The paper should provide a reasonably careful
description of one of these approaches—at about
the same level of detail as a "proof summary" as
described in the textbook.
- To be NP-complete, the problem also must be NP-hard.
Thus a section should provide an argument how every problem
in Class NP can be reduced to this designated problem in
polynomial time.
- Although an algorithm might be presented to reduce
every problem in Class NP to the designated problem, a
more common approach is to show how an known NP-complete
problem can be reduced to the designated problem.
Either of these approaches may be followed.
- If another NP-complete problem is reduced to this
designated problem, it is acceptable to cite a reference
that demonstrates the other problem is indeed NP
complete. That is, this paper does not need to show
that the other problem is also NP complete.
- In reducing another problem to this designated
problem, reasonable detail is needed—at about the
same level as a "proof summary" as described in the
textbook.
- Although the flow of arguments are left to the
writer, many [most] discussions of reductions are
organized into two steps: first describing the
reduction, and second explaining why the reduction can
be done in polynomial time.
- Throughout the discussion of why a problem is NP-complete,
arguments should be general about why this problem is in Class
NP or why polynomial reductions are possible. In particular,
an argument should not focus on a particular instance or
example of the problem, but rather discuss the processes
involved for any instance of the problem.
- After the body of the narrative, the paper should include
a conclusions. For this section, the body of the paper will have
explained various properties or characteristics of the designated
problem. The conclusion should draw on these intermediate results
to explain how the pieces come together to show that the
designated problem meets the specifications for a problem being
NP-complete.
- The paper should also contain a reference section that includes
the full news story underlying your report, together with any
other sources included. Content and formatting should follow the
section below on formats for citations
and the corresponding reference section
- For this required assignment, draft papers will be distributed
to students in a small group and to the instructor during one class.
Small groups of about 5 students will be identified ahead of time.
- During the next class, you will receive both written and oral
feedback on what passages seem to work well and possible
suggestions.
- Since thinking about news reports and providing feedback is
an important part of this exercise, all students are expected to
participate actively in their assigned small groups.
- Failure to actively engage in the feedback process may
result in a substantial grade penalty.
- In considering your own paper, ou may choose to follow or ignore
any elements of the feedback, as you prepare a final version of the
paper.
- 3 copies of the final version of the paper will be submitted, according
to the above deadline.
Required Self Reflection
Summary: Write a self reflection that connects work done in
this course with other course work in computer science and with the
application and/or use of computing in contemporary life.
Due Date (at the start of class): Thursday, May 9
Target Audience: This paper will be shared with the SSU General
Education Committee and possibly CS faculty and some SSU
administrators. As the SSU GE Committee and SSU administrators
include people from a variety of disciplines, one should not
assume readers will have substantial background in computing.
(Pending instruction to the contrary from the SSU Committee or CS
faculty it is not intended that this paper will be distributed to
students.)
Assignment Details: Since this course has been designated to
meet
SSU's Upper
Division GE Area B: Scientific Inquiry and Quantitative
Reasoning, including
a Signature
Assignment with a self reflection, this course requires that
you write about what you have learned from this course, and how it
carries over into your broader studies and experiences at sSSU and
beyond. To meet this requirement, please include answers to the
following:
- What are some insights or understandings have you learned from
the current event(s) and NP-completeness paper that you completed
for this course?
- What were the most challenging parts of this course's papers (e.g., on
current events and NP-completeness)?
- How did the content of this course connect with your work in
other computer science courses you have taken at SSU?
- In what ways have you grown as a student, individual, and person interested in computing from your experiences at Sonoma State University?
- What are three important things you learned as part of your computer science courses at SSU?
- Are there 1-3 suggestions that you might offer to improve the computer science program at SSU? Explain/describe.
In particular, you should devote at least one paragraph (each with 6 sentences) addressing each question, yielding at least a full page,
Optional 2-3 Page Paper Reporting a Current Event for Extra Credit
Summary: For extra credit, select a second approved news story
related to computing (but not gaming or video games), and write a
2-3 page paper describing multiple components of the story.
Due Dates (all materials due at the start of class):
- Optional: Thursday, April 11: Send email to
walkerhe@sonoma.edu, with a [prioritized] list of three possible
news stories, that you could use for a 2-3 page paper on a current
event.
- Optional: Sunday, April 14 (or earlier): Students
notified of which story they should work with.
- Optional: Thursday, April 18: Bring 1 copy of the final
version of your current event paper class.
Target Audience: Students with only modest CS background,
such as those taking CS 215. (Thus, relatively little technical
jargon should be used.)
Assignment Details: This extra-credit opportunity involves
writing a 2-3 page report, based on a current event, following a
somewhat simplified process than used for
the required current event paper.
- Select 3 potential news stories that are indexed by either ACM News or Computer Weekly. Generally any story involving computing is acceptable, except for stories involving gaming or computer games.
- Since each student is to report on their own news story,
each participant in this extra credit must email me three news
stories, including relevant URLs. If you have a preference
among your stories, indicate your interests
(e.g., first choice, second choice, third choice).
- For this optional assignment, all news stories must be dated after March 1, 2024.
- As instructor, I will approve news stories in the order I receive them, and approve a story—hopefully shortly after the email is received.
- Snce approvals will be handled as student emails are received, students sending email early may have an advantage in getting preferred stories approved.
- If all stores referenced have already been assigned to others, my email may suggest some other options, but you also may send me additional options.
- Once the news story has been approved, you should prepare a news report, following the same format and directions as the require current event paper
- For this extra credit option, draft papers will not be given to students in a small group, and you will not receive feedback on a draft from either students or the instructor.
- Only a final version of the paper will be submitted, according to the above deadline.
Some Additional Details
This section should be considered incomplete and under
development!
Formats for Citations and Reference Sections
Formats and details for in-text citations and References Sections in
journals and other publications vary by discipline, and different
computing venues may vary somewhat in their specifications. However,
most computing-related publications agree on several principles which
also are mandated for this course.
- Reference Sections
- Each referece is indicated with a separate entry, giving the
author (last name, first name), the title, the journal or publisher
as appropriate, and the date.
- Sufficient information must be included in each entry, so
that a reader can easily locate the work.
-
Online material must include a complete URL (just
indicating wikipedia.org is woefully inadequate),
together with the date the site was accessed.
-
Written sources must full publication information.
For magazines or journals, this must include the
journal title, year and month (and day, if
appropriate], and page number[s].
- If no author is identified, then the organization or group
is uIf two or three authors are identified in the work, then
each are indicated in the order listed in the article itself.
- If four or more authors are identified, then the first is
identified, followed by "et al.".
- Within the Reference Section, entries are ordered by author's last
name (not by the order that the references appear in the body of the
paper).
-
if multiple authors have the same last name, then ordering
proceeds by first name.
-
if the several references have the same author, order proceeds
by the date of publication.
- In-text Citations
- Both ideas and specific quotations are indicated within a text
(e.g., a sentence or paragraph) by placing the number of the work in
square brackets, where the number is keyed to the listing in the
reference section.
- If one work is cited, the format might be [4].
- If two or more works are cited, the references appear in the
same square brackets, separated by commas, such as [4, 7].
- If the material cited is in printed form, the page number or
numbers are given after the reference number, such as [4, p. 15] or
[7, pp. 13-15].
Additional guidance regarding formating may be found in the
instructions for authors for the
computing-publication ACM Inroads from the Association for
Computing Machinery (ACM).
