This course requires a written term paper on some topic related to computer
science professional responsibilities. The term paper is accompanied by a
presentation on the same topic.
Topic
The topic for the term paper and the formal presentation must be
pre-approved by the instructor.
A formal topic proposal must be submitted via Blackboard
two weeks before your presentation takes place (except for those
students giving their presentation in the first or second week).
You topic proposal must include
proposed title (and date for presentation)
proposed abstract (a two or three paragraph explanation of
the topic and your point about it)
outline of your approach to the topic
(list the big issues and how you want to look at them, maybe a note about why
this is an important or timely topic)
a short bibliography (three sources minimum;
books, papers, Web pages or other sources)
Deadlines and Due Date
Topic Proposal
two weeks before your presentation
Presentation Material (Slides)
one week before your presentation
Term Paper
one week after your presentation
Late submission is subject to a penalty of 10% per business day.
You paper should contain the information listed below.
Cover Page: Title, author, affiliation of the author, date, and abstract
(5 - 10 sentences, less then 500 words is typical)
Introduction Section: a rough overview of what issue you are writing about,
and your own evaluation or resolution of the issues.
Facts Section: This section should have no opinion or slant,
just give the basic facts that give rise to the issue of interest.
Any evidence must be supported by citing your sources.
Statement of Issue: This contains a few sentences (preferably one!)
specifying the issue of interest.
Arguments about the Issue:
This will probably be two (maybe more) subsections detailing arguments about the issue.
If your issue is mainly two-sided, you may have one subsection advocating something,
then another subsection giving the opposite arguments.
This section should not hold your own arguments or judgments;
it's purpose is to list and explain the arguments that other people
have proposed (even those you do not agree with.)
Analysis: Now is the time for you to analyze, synthesize, argue,
support or attack others' arguments about the issue.
This is the main part of the paper.
Show what you think, reason out a resolution and show why you believe it works.
I do not have to agree with you, just make a good argument.
Bibliography and Citations:
It is imperative that whenever you make reference to a fact of some sort,
you cite an authoritative source for that fact.
(Ex: "the internet now makes up 4% of the Gross National Product
of the USA" [cited source goes here and in your bibliography.])
This is very important. Whenever you use ideas of others,
you must give the reference.
It is good to use ideas of others in your analysis, but you need to
acknowledge it by citing the source.
When you use Web pages as a source, try to provide at least the following
information in addition to the "naked" URL: Title, author, affiliation,
date of publication (or date of viewing). And of course you should be
especially careful with the reliability and trustworthiness of Web pages.
The Role of Peer Reviewers
In addition to giving a presentation and writing a term paper,
you are required to act as peer reviewer or commentator on two
papers written by other students, and on their presentations.
In this capacity, your task is to make sure that the material
is presented in such a way that it is as easy as possible
for readers to benefit from the paper.
This includes, but is not restricted to the following:
Verify the facts. Make sure that the sources cited in the paper exist,
confirm the facts, and are reputable.
Check the arguments, and the conclusions derived. Try to ensure that
the reasoning employed in the paper is consistent and sound. Point out
if there are gaps, inconsistencies, or other problems.
Ensure balance and fairness. Especially for controversial issues,
authors may get carried away by their own preferences and viewpoints.
Look at the arguments presented for or against different perspectives,
and point out omissions or biased presentations. This is of course less relevant
for the sections where the authors present their own, subjective opinion.
Opinions and personal preferences should be clearly identified, and
there should be a clear separation between facts and issues on one hand,
and the subjective opinions on the other.
Do a consistency check between citations and the list of references
in the bibliography. Every citation in the text must have a full listing
in the bibliography, and ideally each source listed in the bibliography
should be referenced at least once in the text.
Point out spelling and grammatical errors.
Phrase your criticism in a professional and positive way.
Your job is not to "trash" the paper, but to help the author improve it.
The issues above are typically addressed when professionals review articles
submitted to academic journals, and are usually followed by a recommendation
to publish the article, reject it, or to ask the author for modifications.
To this end, the evaluators fill out a review form, and return it to
the editor of the journal, who then makes the final decision about
publication, rejection, or a request for modification of the paper.
The identity of the reviewers is usually only known to the editor;
otherwise, authors who are unhappy with the evaluation of their paper
may be tempted to retribute against the reviewers.
Specifically for this class, you need to complete the
peer review form,
and submit it to the respective BlackBoard discussion forum
(as a reply to the posting of the paper).
In order to keep the administrative overhead low, we will
conduct open reviews, where the authors know the identity
of the reviewer.
You also need to formulate at least two follow-up questions
that can serve as a starting point for further discussion.
Term Paper Writing Tips
Do a spell check!
Check the grammar!
Remember the Writing Lab in 10-138.
Use a clean, clear format, with descriptive headings.
Number the pages.
Do not use long quotes; cite the ones you use.
Cite all "facts" you state by listing a reference
to the sources of those facts (this is important!)
Link citations to your bibliography in a reasonable way
(author and name, or numbers are fine); journals also often
specify explicitly how citations must be formatted.
Do an explicit ethical analysis in a rational manner,
and restrict your subjective opinions to the appropriate
parts of the paper.
Grading Guidelines
20 % Facts: Facts should be clear, simple, and relevant to the issue.
10 % Issue Statement: A concise statement (one line is best) that presents the story
you want to tell.
20 % Alternative Arguments: Cover other thinkers' thoughts.
Make sure to cover major "sides" to the issue in a neutral and balanced way.
50% Your Analysis: This is your own analysis, preferably built upon
the Software Engineering Code of Ethics.
Original analysis is the major grade contributor.
A long, detailed report just explaining the situation,
without analysis or evaluation, will result in a low score.
Acknowledgement: I believe this was originally put together by
John Dalbey, with modifications by Clark Turner and Lori Fisher.
Adopted with further modifications by Franz J. Kurfess in Winter 2003.