CS 385: Computing Professions, Fall 2017

Links: [Course Home] [Schedule] [Moodle]


Instructor Dr. Suzanne Rivoire
Meeting times Tu 12:05–12:55 PM, Zinfandel 1000A
Drop-in office hoursMoWe 1–1:45 PM
MoWe 4–5 PM
Office hours are in Darwin 116D. Please knock if the door to 116 is closed.
Textbook None!
Prerequisites Grade of C- or better in CS 215, or consent of instructor.

Course Goals

The major goals of this course are for you to

  1. Practice the major components of the technical job application process and interview:
    • Researching companies
    • Describing yourself and your projects
    • Answering coding questions
  2. Create a resume that presents your accomplishments in the best light for entry-level software engineering jobs
  3. Find information on graduate programs in CS-related fields, and tentatively decide whether to consider this option
  4. Describe one or more major ethical issues in computing professions

Consolidated Syllabus

You may download the course description and schedule in a consolidated pdf:
http://rivoire.cs.sonoma.edu/cs385/syllabus_consolidated.pdf

Coursework and Grading

Class Activities

Pre- and Post-class Activities

Each class will have a pre-class activity, a post-class activity, or both, to be submitted on Moodle. Most of these activities will take one of the following forms:

If you're interested in pursuing a career in this field, these are almost all things you'll end up doing anyway.

Most of these activities will be graded as follows. On a 30-point scale (multiply by 2 for activities worth 60 points), you will earn up to 10 points based on whether you have completed the requirements. These 0-10 points will be multiplied by a scaling factor based on the quality of your work:

Scaling factorDescription
x 1 Perfunctory: the bare minimum of content is present
x 2 Fair: sincere attempt to address the assignment, with serious flaws in execution and/or sloppy presentation
x 3 Thoughtful: content is well chosen and presented, with personal insight and reflection (where applicable)

"Thoughtful" doesn't mean long! It just means that you've put in the time to put together a considered response to the assignment.

In-class Activities

You'll be assigned a group of 6 students for in-class activities, with a few opportunities to shuffle groups throughout the semester. Your in-class activities will consist largely of discussions and peer critiques with your group members. You'll get full credit for these activities as long as you attend the entire class session (don't be late!) and actively participate with your group.

Grading Policies

Grade breakdown

Your grade for each class will be split into two components:

Pre- and post-class activities 60%
In-class participation 40%

If a class has both a pre- and post-activity, they will be equally weighted.

There are 15 required weekly assignments. The Tuesday before Thanksgiving will have an optional make-up assignment.

True story: the SSU exam schedule doesn't list an exam period for this course's time slot. So I guess we're all off the hook for that.

Cutoffs for letter grades (after rounding)
93908783807773706763600
AA-B+BB-C+CC-D+DD-F

Late policy

No late work will be accepted.

Collaboration Policy

The work in this class is specific to you, so it would be completely counterproductive and bizarre to cheat. But for completeness:

The work you turn in must be your work. If you have received significant assistance from another person, you should document the extent of that assistance. Directly copying part or all of someone else's work (including publicly available work on the internet) is academic dishonesty.

Penalties for Academic Dishonesty

Academic dishonesty will be severely penalized; at a minimum, you will receive a grade of 0 on the assignment. For more information, see SSU's cheating and plagiarism policy (http://www.sonoma.edu/UAffairs/policies/cheating_plagiarism.htm) and the Dispute Resolution Board website (http://www.sonoma.edu/senate/committees/drb/drb.html).


Course and University Resources

Online Resources

Website

Moodle Gradebook

The course gradebook will be kept on Moodle (http://moodle.sonoma.edu) so that you can check your grades and compute your average at any time. Grades will be posted to Moodle shortly after assignments are returned.

Email List

Course announcements will be sent to your SSU email address, so you should check your email frequently.

University Resources

Disability Accommodations

If you are a student with a disability and you think you may require accommodations, please register with the campus office of Disability Services for Students (DSS), located in Salazar Hall - Room 1049, Phone: (707) 664-2677, TTY/TDD: (707) 664-2958. DSS will provide you with written confirmation of your verified disability and authorize recommended accommodations. This authorization must be presented to the instructor before any accommodations can be made. Visit http://www.sonoma.edu/dss for more information.

University Policies

There are important University policies that you should be aware of, such as the add/drop policy, cheating and plagiarism policy, grade appeal procedures, accommodations for students with disabilities, and the diversity vision statement.

Go to this URL to find them: http://www.sonoma.edu/uaffairs/policies/studentinfo.shtml.