CSC 412 - COMPUTER SCIENCE PRACTICUM

LECTURE HOURS: 1

LAB HOURS: 6

CREDIT HOURS: 3

PREREQUISITES: Eighteen hours of computer science with at least six hours advanced, and chair approval. Majors only.

GRADE REMINDER: Must have a grade of C or better in each prerequisite course.

CATALOG DESCRIPTION

Operation and supervision of computer facilities in a production and student environment. May not be used to satisfy requirements toward a minor in computer science or computer information systems.

PURPOSE OF COURSE

To acquaint students with the operation of computing facilities; to provide an opportunity for students to supervise and direct the use of the facilities; to further develop oral and written communications skills by enabling students to gain first hand experience in presenting technical and/or ethical information.

EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES

The goal of this course is to have students develop interpersonal skills through the operation and supervision of computer facilities. Oral and written communications skills will be augmented with a semester research project and technical presentation.

Evaluation criteria include:

1. Direct observation of work performance in the computing facilities.

2. Corroborated observation of work performance in the computing facilities by peers, students, and faculty.

3. Performance on homework problems.

4. Analysis of exam responses.

5. Analysis of term research document.

6. Performance on technical presentation.

This course will provide students an opportunity to do the following:

1. Demonstrate knowledge of computing facilities rules and operating procedures.

2. Develop skills in problem analysis for assisting users of the computing facilities.

3. Apply lecture material and documentation covering equipment operation and maintenance.

4. Apply lecture material and documentation covering operating system environments and application software.

5. Evaluate computing facilities rules and operating procedures and develop improvements and/or alternatives.

6. Develop research skills using the library and the Internet.

7. Develop technical writing skills.

8. Demonstrate communication abilities by assisting computing facility users and presenting an oral technical report.

CONTENT . . . . . . . . . Hours

Lecture . . . . . . . . . 15

Equipment operation and maintenance instructions

Description and use of hardware, operating system environments and application software

Communications (Internet, World Wide Web and e-mail)

Supervision responsibilities including user support and questioning techniques

Social and ethical issues (for specific topics, please see the following "Social and Ethical Issues" section)

Discussion of special problems encountered

Lab . . . . . . . . . Varies, depending on the number of students enrolled

Usage of laboratory facilities to perform basic assignments and project work

Scheduled supervision of the laboratory

Maintenance of help-desks to provide support to lab users

Operation of LAN based file and print services

Projects . . . . . . . . . 0-3

Projects are assigned at the discretion of the instructor. Project work will be accomplished outside of student's scheduled laboratory supervision hours. One term project for each student. Approximately 10 weeks to complete. Project requires research, a formal paper of eight to twelve pages and a formal presentation lasting ten to fifteen minutes. Topics are drawn from social and ethical issues (see topic list below).

Presentations . . . . . . . . . 0-9

Oral presentation of projects

Exams . . . . . . . . . 1-2

TOTAL . . . . . . . . . 45

TEXTBOOK

None

REFERENCES

McGee Computing Laboratory hardware, software, and procedures manuals and user's guides.

FACILITIES

The McGee Computing Laboratory which contains: Local Area Network, microcomputer, printing, and remote terminal equipment.

SOCIAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES

  1. Professional Ethics and Codes of Conduct for Computer Professionals: Professional ethics and computer professionals; professional computer organizations and ethical codes of conduct; and interpreting and assessing professional codes of ethics. (1 hour)
  2. Computer Professionals and Ethical Responsibility: Ethical responsibility and engineering and technical professionals; computer risks (safety, weaponry, and "whistleblowing" responsibility; and moral responsibility and legal liability in unreliable computer systems (1 hour)
  3. Ethical and Social Issues in the Use of Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality: Ethical and social issues raised in artificial intelligence, virtual reality, expert systems, and robotics. (1 hour)
  4. Computers and the Transformation of Work: Quality of work issues and employee monitoring (1 hour)
  5. Computers and Privacy: Personal privacy in the Information Age; privacy legislation and data regulation; databanks (accuracy, access, and the sale of personal information); and encryption, surveillance, record matching, and social control (1 hour)
  6. Computers and Social Justice: Computers and equity (race, culture, and social class), gender, and education; computer use/abuse in politics and voting. (1 hour)
  7. Computer Crime and Computer Abuse: Type of computer crime and the profile of the computer criminal; hacking and computer security; viruses and computer sabotage; and software piracy and illegal software. (1 hour)
  8. Intellectual Property Rights and Legal Issues: Intellectual property rights and information ownership; legal issues (court cases, copyright laws and patent protection); and electronic books, publications and scholarly journals. (1 hour)
  9. Cyberspace and Civil Liberties: Cyberspace and proposals for designing information infrastructures; cybersociety (social control and access); rights and ethics in cyberspace; civil liberties and democracy. (1 hour)
  10. Computers and the Quality of Life: technological progress, productivity and the quality of human life; human-computer interaction and human-computer dependency; computer use in health services and human services. (1 hour)
  11. Computers and the Future: History: past as prologue to the future; utopian and dysutopian projections; professional and social responsibility in future computing decisions. (1 hour)

Note: Coverage of each topic is dependent upon course enrollment since each topic is presented by a student.

Since these topics represent the focus of student research projects, their understanding is graded by the quality of the written report and the oral presentation (15% of course grade). Furthermore, the final exam contains questions derived from the oral presentations. The final exam is worth approximately 38% of the exam component of the course grade (the exam component is 30% of the course grade).