CSIT285L

For summer 2023 students:

The office hours for the course are changing from what it is stated in the syllabus. The new hours will be every class day (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday) from 10:45am-11:15am. As always, please email to set up your own office hours slot. Meeting slots are available in 15 minute increments.

Welcome to CS/IT285L: Social Issues and Ethics in Computing. The Summer 2023 semester will soon begin. This class is conducted on campus. Please check Wiser for your course time and location.

Please familiarize yourself with this website, as along with Blackboard it will be the main online resource for you throughout the semester. It is imperative that you click through all the links you see on the right side of the page (or at the bottom of the page on mobile) so you’ll know what’s expected in this class.

I’m looking forward to having you in class!

-Dr. P.

Hi everyone,

Let me address some emailed questions I get at the end of every semester.

Will I round up your grade?

If you are less than .5 points away from the next letter grade, I will consider rounding up your score based on your engagement throughout the semester. If you ignore this answer and email me about it, no.

Can I please just this once give you more than .5 points so you can get the next letter grade?

No. Asking anyone for a grade you didn’t earn is not a good look. Asking your ethics professor shows you did not learn much from this course.

I do not “give” grades. I keep track of your scores and progress throughout the semester. Asking me to arbitrarily change that score after all the work is done makes no sense.

Can you redo assignments or turn in assignments that you didn’t do the first chance you had?

No.

When will I post grades?

As soon as I can, but there’s no set date other than the university deadlines.

It is no exaggeration to say that I am grading hundreds of papers right now. I hope I have sufficiently addressed these points here, so please do not send me emails asking questions like these. Of course, if you have other questions, ask away.

There are lots of final paper preparation events and materials for you, so I’ll summarize them here!

Embedded tutor in-person session (date TBD, indicate availability here asap). Food included.

Optional workshop days Thursday May 4 and Tuesday May 9.

Instructions.

Rubric (scroll down to bottom).

Examples near end of instructions page.

This evaluation is designed to provide information about the quality of this course to the instructor and department. All submissions will be anonymous and these questionnaires will be treated as confidential information. The instructor will not review your responses until after the final grades for this course have been submitted to the Registrar.

11:00am section

12:30pm section

4:00pm section

5:30pm section

Due to issues with weekly write-ups, you are now required to submit not only your final paper essay but also the planning document you created for outlines and drafts.

Please upload two separate files via the same final paper assignment submission link: first, your essay file in .docx or .pdf format only. Then, your planning document in .pdf, .docx, .pptx, .jpg, .jpeg, or .png format. The planning document may be scanned or photographed if it is hand drawn; digital files may be uploaded directly.

The submission window will open on May 7 at 8:00am.

It will close on 11:59:00pm on Tuesday, May 16, 2022. At 11:59:01pm the submission link will disappear. Any papers not submitted by then will not be graded.

Good news: Junkyard is free to download!

Bad news: It’s only for mac :-(. Another option is mind mapping software from Google, also free and not system-specific: https://www.mindmup.com/

Lucky you! Fellow students have provided an outline you can use for the 9.3.1 methodology via Google docs. Select File > Make a Copy to create your own editable version. Thanks to Leo and Michael!

Register or check your registration here:

https://www.sec.state.ma.us/ovr/

Thank you all for the relatively smooth midterm experience! Grades have been posted. Here are some frequently asked questions:

Can I see what I got right and wrong?

Not without an office hours appointment. I know it’s annoying, but while you would never try to save completed tests or post answers online, some students feel the need to try. The nature of the test requires special vigilance over completed copies. As a result, students (rightfully) wondering what they got right and wrong will need to schedule an office hours appointment.

I missed the midterm, can I take it now?

This is one of the few assignments in the course (along with projects and final papers) that are scheduled on certain days and do not qualify for late work. The relevant portions of the syllabus are below.