CS4001

Syllabus

Course Objectives

• This course examines the role and impact of information and communication technology in society, with emphasis on ethical, professional, and public policy issues. It is primarily built around reading and writing assignments and class discussions, including formal debates. Substantial practice of oral and written communication skills is a fundamental aspect of the course.
Topics under discussion:
• Techniques of Rhetoric and Logical Argumentation
• Impact of Computing on Society, Individuals and Organizations.
• Ethical Foundations
• Governance and Regulation
• Free Speech and Content Constraints
• Intellectual Property
• Privacy
• Security & Hacking
• Professional Responsibility
• Learning Objectives:
• Understand the effects of computing and related technologies on individuals, organizations, and society.
• Understand your responsibilities as a computing professional and their ethical underpinnings.
• Effectively communicate with others in writing and speech. Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of communication generated by others.

Textbooks

Required Texts:

• ETHICS: Ethics for the Information Age by Michael Quinn, 4th Ed., ISBN-10: 0-13-213387-3, Addison-Wesley 2011.

• WACE: "Writing Arguments: A Rhetoric with Readings, Concise Edition" by John Ramage, John Bean and June Johnson 5th edition, ISBN-13: 978-0205665778 ( Also acceptable: 4th Edition, 2004. ISBN: 978-0321412898)

Lecture

• Tuesday, Thursday :: 2:00 - 3:45pm :: CCB 52
• Final Period: Thursday August 4th 11:30-2:20pm

Grading Policies

There is no curve in this course. The grading breakdown is as follows:

• Attendance: 10%
• Debates: 10%
• Group work & Quizzes: 15%
• Homework: 20%
• Midterm Exam: 20%
• Term Paper: 25%

Timely handling of grade disputes: Disputes of grading on assignments, exams, etc must be discussed within one week of their return or posting. Should you find yourself having an issue with a grade, contact the grading TA. After you talk with your TA, if you are not satisfied you may contact the course instructor.

Attendance Policy: Attendance is mandatory. You will begin the class with a 105% grade in the attendance category. Every day you do not attend class your attendance grade will drop by 5%. This means that you can skip any day of your choosing while maintaining a perfect 100% score in the attendance category. (Or, you may maintain perfect attendance and take the 5% extra credit.) There will be a sign in sheet every class. It is your responsibility to make sure you sign the sheet before it is collected at the end of class. If your signature is not on the sheet, you will not get credit for attending class that day. Excused absences through the Office of the Dean of Students are the exception to this rule.

Late Work and Missed Exam Policy: Homeworks are due at the beginning of class. You may submit late homework assignments by the beginning of the next class period for a 20% deduction. Homeworks are not accepted after the next class period. Assignments other then homeworks are NOT accepted late without appropriate documentation from the Dean's office.

There are no makeups for missed exams. Any request for exceptions to this policy should be made in advance when at all possible.

Email Policy for this Course

Please try to use your official Georgia Tech email when sending email to us. It is more likely to make it through GaTech's spam filters, and we are unable to send email concerning grade issues to non-official email addresses. Please attach [cs4001] to the beginning of the subject of your email! Please also indicate who you are within your email. :)

Class management:
The class will make use of some of the features of T-Square (https://t-square.gatech.edu/portal). Assignments will be submitted through T-Square in the "Assignments" tab. Emailing your assignments to the instructor or TA is unacceptable. We will also make use of the "Resources" tab as a repository for useful documents and readings.

Document format:
Written assignments should be submitted using PDF. Do NOT submit .doc, .docx, .txt. .odt, etc. In general, assignments should be written in 12 pt, Times-Roman font (or similar) and double spaced.

Include a header at the top of each file you turn in detailing the following information:

• Your name
• Your gt email address
• The assignment name and / or number
• The names of any classmates you collaborated with

Academic Honesty

All students are expected to be familiar with and maintain Georgia Tech standards of academic integrity by giving proper credit for all work referenced, quoted, etc. Unless otherwise stated, all work is individual work by each student. This means that you are not permitted to look at assignments submitted by other students or by students who have taken this course in the past. Please review and be familiar with Georgia Tech's Academic Honor Code.

Plagiarism is the "use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work." [Wikipedia] and is considered academic dishonesty and an honor code violation.
If you have any questions about what does/does not constitute plagiarism or academic misconduct, please contact the instructor or TA.

Participation

Discovery does not arise from instruction but from personal engagement with the controversies and potentials of a computerized society. In this class, engagement will take several forms.

• You will be expected to read the assigned reading from the textbook and articles before class, so that you can interpret them for yourself and others.
• You will be expected to present and persuasively defend your positions on controversial topics both orally and in writing.
• You will be expected to critique the perspectives / opinions of both authors and classmates in discussions and position papers.
• On any given day, you may be asked to summarize and critique readings from the book or elsewhere for the class. On such occasions, you are invited to refer to notes you've made in response to the readings.
• Periodically, short reading tests will be administered via T-Square. After you finish each reading, you should check T-square for a reading test. They will be posted at least 24 hours before the reading "due" date, and will be due before class on the day the reading is listed on the calendar.

Extra Credit:
There will be an opportunity for extra credit. See the "Assignments" in T-Square for more information. All extra credit is due by July 21st, 2011 and will not be accepted after this date.

Term paper

A novel term paper written for this class will account for a significant portion of your grade. It is not possible to pass this class without submitting a term paper. These papers will be on a topic of your choice related to the class and will require a significant amount of research. We will discuss this requirement in detail during class. Your term paper is an opportunity to:

• Explore an issue in depth.
• Take a position on that issue.
• Clearly and logically support that position using the ideas from WACE.

Your target audience for the paper is the educated professional who is familiar with computers (as a user) and what is going on in the world, but is not a computer scientist. That's whom you want to convince that your position is correct. There are five steps in your term paper project:

• Topic proposal
• List of references
• Outline
• Draft paper
• Completed paper

For due dates, consult your class schedule or T-Square.

Debates

A team debate will account for a significant portion of your grade. It is not possible to pass this class without participating in the team debate. These debates will occur in class on the week preceding final exams, as well as in the final exam period. In the last several weeks of class your team will be given a small list of topics and must prepare to debate for and against each topic. The actual topics of your debate(s) will be selected randomly in class on the day of your debate. Your grade will be based upon your relative performance against the other debate teams.

Course Expectations

1. Lecture attendance is required.
2. Keep up with the reading. Readings should be completed before class on the date indicated on the Calendar.
3. Use the course t-square forum wisely to have discussions about course material with your classmates and the TA. You are expected to follow good forum etiquette.
4. Take responsibility for your course work submissions; it is your job to make sure that you successfully turned in what you meant to turn in. Be sure to verify your submission. This is how you make sure that you get credit for the work you do.
5. Be prepared when you go to get help from a TA or your instructor. Bring your work with you.
6. Take initiative. Begin your assignments early and if you think you need help, come prepared. Use the resources that are provided for you, and be determined to succeed from the start.

Policies are subject to change with notice from the instructor.

Assignments and ideas on this syllabus build on those from everyone who has taught it before, especially Amy Bruckman, Colin Potts, Mary Jean Harrold, Bill Ribarsky, Spencer Rugaber, and Valerie Summet.

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