CS 105 Computer Science as a Profession

Total Credits: 2 cr

Course Coordinator: William Junk

URL: http://www2.cs.uidaho.edu/~cs105

Current Catalog Description: Introduction to the computer science profession and curriculum; fields of study available; current topics in departmental research; curriculum planning; legal, ethical, and social issues in computing; academic ethics and responsibilities.

Textbook: Nell Dale & John Lewis, Computer Science Illuminated, Third Ed, Jones and Bartlett, 2007 or equivalent text.

References: Additional course references are available on the course web site.

Course Goals: After completing this course a student should:

• Understand expectations for academic integrity.
• Aware of personal, academic, and professional advising resources and tools available through the University.
• Understand requirements for graduation and have developed a tentative plan for completing his / her degree.
• Understand what a person who practices computer science does.
• Have general familiarity with common terminology in the computer science profession.
• Have general familiarity with a number of specialty areas in computer science.
• Have an awareness of current research areas in which departmental faculty are participating.
• Understand the professional responsibilities of a computer scientist or software engineer.
• Understand some important aspects of the impact of computing on individuals, organizations, and society.
• Understand basic concepts of intellectual property as they apply to computers, software, and computer science.

Prerequisites by Topic: None.

Major Topics Covered in the Course:

• Departmental expectations for academic integrity with specific emphasis on cheating and plagiarism
• The advising process and resources
• BSCS degree requirements and the University's general education requirements
• The work and career paths for computer scientists and software engineers:
  • Software development or software testing in a large corporate environment
  • Software development in a small company environment
  • Working as an independent consultant or developer
  • System administration, networking support, application support, web site support
• Legal, ethical & social issues:
  • Consequences of dependence on pervasive software; well known software failures
  • The Internet − issues and responsibilities
  • E-mail − freedom of speech, privacy
  • Web sites
  • Chat rooms and other innovative technologies
  • Use of University computer systems and facilities
  • Intellectual property rights and responsibilities
  • Software licenses, open source software
  • IEEE and ACM code of professional ethics and responsibility
• Overview of focus areas:
  • Hardware and software architecture
  • Theoretical computer science
  • Computer security
  • Fault tolerant systems
  • Bio-informatics
  • Artificial intelligence and evolutionary computation
  • Games and artificial environments
  • Software engineering

Laboratory projects (specify number of weeks on each): None.

Estimated Curriculum Category Content:

Area	Core	Advanced	Area	Core	Advanced
Algorithms			Data Structures
Software Design			Prog. Languages
Computer Arch			Other	2 cr.

Oral and Written Communications: Each student is expected to submit several one page summaries documenting important information provided by guest speakers and prepare a term paper of 3 to 5 pages in length on a topic of personal interest in the field of computer science.

Social and Ethical Issues: Approximately one third of the course is devoted to the study of social and ethical issues related to computers systems and computer software. Topics will range from the WWW and free speech to the professional responsibilities of a software developer. Some case studies will be used.

Theoretical Content: None.

Problem Analysis: None.

Solution Design: None.

Course Outcomes: The following list documents the course outcomes and crossreferences them to the BSCS program outcomes. The letter at the beginning of each reference identifies the program outcome supported. The numbers sequentially identify the course outcome for this course. After completing CS 105 a student should be able to:

• Understand expectations for academic integrity. Can identify academic situations and activities that are acceptable and unacceptable. (e-1)
• Understand basic concepts of intellectual property as they apply to computer science. Knows basic principles of copyright and patent protection and how they apply to students. (e-2)
• Understand what a person does who practices computer science or software engineering. (e-3)
• Understand the professional responsibilities of a computer scientist or software engineer. (e-4)
• Demonstrate how the ethical guidelines documented in the ACM / IEEE Software Engineering Code of Ethics and Professional Practice apply to a software developer and a software development project. (e-5)
• Write short essays that include expression of factual information and personal opinions. (f-1)
• Properly cite information obtained from reference sources. (f-2)
• Express one's personal views and contribute to class discussions. (f-3)
• Analyze the impact of computing on individuals, organizations, and society. (g-1)
• Understand requirements for graduation and their role in achieving educational success. (h-1)
• Recognize that an undergraduate education is only the beginning, with a major emphasis on teaching the student how to learn and stay abreast of developments in Computer Science. There will be a need for continued professional development as long as one remains active in the profession. (h-2)
• Be able to provide a high level description of several specialty areas in computer science. (k-1)
• Understand the relevance of courses covering advanced topics to the career options available and the educational requirements for specific career paths. (k-2)