Broader Issues in Computer Science
Computer science has had a far-reaching impact on many disciplines and on society in general. In this course, we'll discuss just a few of these issues for 15-20 minutes during Friday lectures.
Jump to Write up Requirements | Discussion | Grading | Topics
Remember that you can earn extra credit for reviewing additional articles about computer science or its effects on other disciplines.
Write Ups
Before 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, you will post a short write up of the assigned article(s) for the given topic as a response on the respective Canvas discussion. The write up should include
- How interesting you found this article on a scale of 0 to 9, with 0 being least interesting and 9 being most interesting.
- A summary of the three most important points in the article(s)
- How the article affected your understanding of CS and how it relates to other areas
- How the article relates to our course specifically (if at all)
- One question for class discussion
Discussion
We will discuss the articles briefly on Friday, in small groups and as a class. You are expected to actively participate in the discussion.
If you miss class when we discuss a broader issue, you cannot make up the discussion points, even with advanced notice. Nothing can replace that discussion. Consider doing extra credit to make up those points.
Grading
Your grade for each assignment will be worth 10 points:
- 7 points for the blog posting
- 3 points for actively participating in the discussion in small groups and as a class
Topics We May Cover
Topics we may cover briefly are
- the effect of the Internet
- Computing and education
- Computers and Medicine
- Digital divide
- Computing and the environment
- Volunteer computing
- Computing and the sciences
- Computer Science and Policy
- Electronic voting
- Diversity in computing
- Bugs!
- Net Neutrality
- Computing and entertainment
- Digital Humanities
- And more...