Computers in Society

Syllabus

Updated version is on D2L

Paper References

Your paper is an essay, so it needs a thesis statement; it should not be just a list of facts. Cite at least three references using APA style.

All references must be standard citable references from reputable sources, such as printed magazines, journals, and newspapers.

Wikipedia, blogs, and other non-attributable and non-edited sources are great for background reading (especially as you develop your thesis), but will not count as references.

Paper Reference Formatting

Click on the "References" tab in Microsoft Word and use the "Citations and Bibliography" section to insert references in APA format into your document and build an APA style bibliography section at the end of your paper. 

References in your Bibliography must be sited within the paper in the following format

(Author, year)

Paper Grading

I will grade your paper according to the Writing Rubric given on the Content page of the course web site

Paper’s Thesis

Underline your thesis statement in the first paragraph. Make sure to defend your thesis by citing supporting evidence. Your paper should also cite counterarguments against your thesis.

See the Thesis Statements reference on D2L.

Write an analysis of some aspect of Mark Twain's novel Huckleberry Finn.

Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn is a great American novel.

In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain develops a contrast between life on the river and life on the shore.

Through its contrasting river and shore scenes, Twain's Huckleberry Finn suggests that to find the true expression of American democratic ideals, one must leave "civilized" society and go back to nature.

Paper References and Citations

Your paper will lose 10 points if it has only two references and 20 points if it has only one.

The paper must cite each reference with APA-style citations for the reference to count.

A non-APA-style citation is the same as no citation.

Paper Spelling, Grammar, and Style

Your paper must have no errors or warnings in grammar, style, or spelling (except proper names or inside cited quotations).

Each error or warning will reduce your final score by two points.

You MUST USE MICROSOFT WORD to check your paper for spelling, grammar, and style errors.

PaperSpelling, Grammar, and Style

From Microsoft Word, go to the "Review" tab.  In the "Proofing" section, click on the "Spelling & Grammar" icon.  When the dialog box appears, click on the "Options" button.  In the "Writing Style" dropbox, select the "Grammar & Spelling" option.  Click on the "Settings" button.  Make certain that every checkbox is selected including the "Use of First Person" checkbox.  Then Proof your paper.

To check spelling and grammar, click on the “Review” tab in the ribbon bar, and then click on Spelling & Grammar.

Bibliography Creation

Click on the "References" tab in Microsoft Word and use the "Citations and Bibliography" section to insert references in APA format into your document and build an APA style bibliography section at the end of your paper. 

Direct Quotations

Only 10% of your paper can consist of direct quotations from cited sources. A one point penalty is assessed for every 1% over.

PapersFiction Requirement

Fiction Requirement:  One of your four papers needs to be an examination of themes (or a theme) related to this class in a work of fiction. 

The work of fiction can be one of the films shown for the class, a novel from the approved reading list (see course Content page) or a work of your choice that I have PRE-APPROVED via email. 

The writing requirements specified in the paper guidelines remain the same. 

Use secondary sources (i.e., other academic works, histories or reviews) in your preparation for this essay.

Your fictional work must be incorporated THROUGHOUT your paper, not just mentioned in a paragraph at the beginning or end of the paper.

A penalty of 50% of the paper grade is assessed if you do NOT submit a paper with the fictional requirement.

Paper Checklist1. Assigned a general topic to write your paper on.

2. Research your topic.

3. Formulate a thesis statement using the Thesis Statement document on D2L. Underline it in the first paragraph. Include counter-arguments to your thesis.

4. Format your paper using the Paper Guidelines on D2L.

5. Use Word to insert at least 3 references into your paper and create a bibliography in APA format. Max of 10% of your paper can be direct quotations.

6. Use Word to Spell & Grammar check your paper.

7. Submit your paper to turnitin.com BEFORE the deadline

8. Paper is graded using the Writing Rubric and Paper Grade Form on D2L

* One of the four papers MUST satisfy the preapproved Fiction Requirement. See the Approved List for Works of Fiction on D2L

TurnItIn Signed Agreement

Log on procedures< http://turnitin.com< Class ID: 3435872< Password: Bas3ba11< You’ll need to enter your email address, name, and a password to

complete the registration. < The name of our class in turnitin.com is .

Guidelines: You must submit each of your papers to TurnItIn.com on the due date by the specified time.  TurnItIn.com will reject any attempts to submit papers after the due date and time, even if your paper is just one minute late!  You will not receive credit for a late paper, even if TurnItIn.com is slow at the time your paper is due.  Therefore, you should try to submit your paper at least a few hours before the cutoff time.

TurnItIn.com

ONE submission per paper!!!!!

Run a Test… Choose an article from ACM TechNews digests (http://www.acm.org/technews)

Copy the article text to Word

Use the Paper Guidelines for format the paper, including headers

Add an underlined Thesis Statement to the beginning of the article

Use Word’s spelling, grammar and style check to proof the article

Fix the error(s)

Use Word’s “Citations and Bibliography” tool to create a fictitious bibliography at the end of the document.

Have me look at the final paper.

Submit the article to turnitin.com

Presentations Your presentation should be an introduction to the topic, so it

does not need a thesis. It MUST be between 10 and 15 minutes long, so a simplistic definition or comment would not be adequate.

The PowerPoint file must have no macros, no large (> 50KB) images or other linked content, no active buttons or anything other than text and perhaps some images.

Your presentation will be graded according to the Presentation Rubric given on the Content page of the course web site.

NOTE: The time of the presentation is especially important. The grade for the presentation will drop 10% for every minute short of the minimum time of 10 minutes. For example, a presentation that lasts 9 minutes will earn 90% of the grade it would otherwise receive. Make sure your presentation is at least 10 minutes long (not including questions).

Presentations ONE submission per presentation (10%

penalty)!!!!

That includes group presentations. Any changes that need to be made after the deadline are subject to the 10% penalty.

Effective Presentations

An effective presentation should have three parts:

Introduction Body Conclusion

Introduction

Attention Getter < Draw the audience in

Audience Analysis < Why should the audience care?

Preview< Tell briefly what is coming up

Body

Typically 3 main ideas

Main idea 1 – introduces the idea/concept you are talking about< Subpoint – explanations, examples, stories,

definitions, etc.< Subpoint…

Have a transition between each main idea

Conclusion

Should reflect the introduction Audience analysis Review Clincher

Individual Presentation Procedure1. Assigned a presentation topic

2. Research the topic

3. Include any references used in your presentation

4. Formulate introduction, body, and conclusion

5. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE

6. Submit presentation to D2L BEFORE deadline

7. Give presentation to class

8. Answer questions about the assigned topic

9. Grade is assigned using Presentation Rubric on D2L (50% class, 50% instructor)

Group Assignments Some weeks there is one general theme that you will work on as

a group. You do not need to meet in person with your group but you do need to communicate. You can use your group’s discussion forum on D2L for each group for this purpose. (Click on the Discussions tab on the course site.)

I recommend creating a list of possible topics, sorting it into a logical order, and then dividing the topics. Each person should present for between 10 and 15 minutes (as usual). The first speaker should present introductory material, and the last should present a conclusion. If there is currently debate about a particular topic, part of the group’s presentation should present an overview of pros and cons.

You can use a merged PowerPoint file for ease of transitions or individual files. If you use individual files, keep in mind that part of the grade is how well your presentation fits into the whole.

Group Presentation Grades

Your individual presentation: Based on the presentation rubric.

Group performance: Based on my subjective assessment the topics chosen, topic distribution among presenters, and transitions between presenters. (Part of my assessment may be your group’s discussion in D2L.)

Your contribution to the group: Based on your group members’ assessment of your contribution.

Group Presentation Procedure1. Group is assigned a presentation topic

2. Use D2L Discussion topic to assign individual topics and coordinate presentations

3. Research your topic

4. Include any references used in your presentation

5. Practice

6. Submit individual presentation to D2L BEFORE deadline

7. One group member submits consolidated GROUP presentation to D2L BEFORE deadline

8. Fill out Group Presentation – Peer Evaluation on D2L and submit to D2L BEFORE deadline

9. Give presentation to class

10. Individually answer questions about the assigned topic

11. Grade is assigned using Presentation Rubric (Group) on D2L (50% class, 50% instructor) * Participation Factor from Peer Evaluations

Participation Grades

You will be filling out the Presentation Rubric for each presentation.

Presentation Rubric completion, interaction with industry speakers, and general class discussion will be part of your subjective participation grade.

Any late submissions of peer evaluations, etc. will be reflected in the participation grade.

Brilliant Questions Be prepared to ask one brilliant question on the

presentation theme.

Your questions will be graded primarily on their relevance to the topic and whether they show that you are prepared (that is, that you have read on the topic before class and are not just “winging it”). Do not ask your questions in a manner that appears to “trap” or otherwise humiliate the presenter by demonstrating the presenter’s lack of knowledge.

Come to class with your questions typed on paper with your name. If the question you researched is not relevant to the presentation, you may have to modify it. Record a short note on the presenter’s response. Turn in your questions at the end of class to get credit for asking them.

Brilliant Question Procedures

1. Assigned two presenters to ask a brilliant question about their topic

2. If it is a group presentation, check the D2L Discussion topic to determine your presenter’s topic

3. Research the topics and formulate your questions

4. Type the questions prior to coming to class

5. Ask the questions in class and record the responses

6. You will be graded on your questions

Topics1. How have computers and computing changed society, for better or worse, over the last 50 years?

2. What Happens to and what is the impact of Recycled/Discarded Computer Hardware?

3. Computers in Education: Cheating and plagiarism

4. Universal Access to Information

5. Privacy Rights

6. Computers and the Law

7. Day in a life of a programmer, analyst, DBA, Tester, Software Developer, etc.

8. Advice on security and data protection for a home user and for a small company

9. File sharing (technological, societal and legal issues) and E-commerce

10. Video and online games and gaming

11. Electronic voting

12. Computer use in entertainment and art

13. The future of computers and computing

Formulate Groups

We will have three groups:

Papers, Presentations, Brilliant Questions

Due to speaker commitments, it is possible that topic order could change

Formulate Groups

Group 1

1 Bigham, Alex B2 Honl, Patrick G3 Madsen, Michael P4 Oltrogge, Matthew T5 Smayling, Nathan M6 Spencer, Daniel D7 Thomas, Austin W

Formulate Groups

Group 2

1 Clouse, Tyler J2 Kahnke, Joseph M3 Maharjan, Ritesh S4 Rahe, Dustin J5 Smith, Thomas K6 Stenzel, Brittany L7 Wichtendahl, Corban N

Formulate Groups

Group 3

1 Gahr, Gregory H2 Lafontaine, Phillip S3 Marquardt, Andrew S4 Shrestha, Yushma5 Sodeman, Christopher N6 Thapa, Dinesh7 Yochim, Dana E

For Next Week…

Group 1 < Submit your paper to Turnitin.com by deadline< Bring 9 copies of the Presentation Rubric from D2L

Group 2< Submit your presentation to the dropbox on D2L by deadline< Bring 9 copies of the Presentation Rubric from D2L

Group 3< Prepare your brilliant questions

You will be handing these in, so bring them on a typed sheet< Bring 9 copies of the Presentation Rubric from D2L

Assignment 2

After editing for group members, see D2L

For Today…

Turnitin Authorization form

Practice developing a thesis statement and referencing an article