CS/IT 285L

Welcome to CS/IT285L: Social Issues and Ethics in Computing. This is an intensive course that meets 3 times per week, with the content and assignments from 2 “regular” days at each class meeting. The Summer 2025 semester begins on May 27, 2025, with days 1 and 2 (calendar for rest of days here). This class is conducted on campus. Please check Wiser for your course time and location.

As announced on Canvas, in our syllabus, and in class on Tuesday: class on Thursday, May 29 will be online. Please follow the Canvas instructions for watching the lectures, taking notes, and preparing for the following in-person class on Monday, June 2.

Please familiarize yourself with this website, as along with Canvas 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.

Our first graded assignments include:

• Day 2 attendance (from May 27)
• The BOS quiz (on Canvas, due June 2)
• The Syllabus quiz (on Canvas, due June 2)

I’m looking forward to having you in class!

-Dr. P.

Hello! Here’s our final exam schedule, which should also be accessible to you in Wiser now. This post was first made available in early March.

Dear All,

We are excited to invite you to the upcoming PEAAII May 9th Event: The AI Frontier – Student Research and Career Symposium at the University of Massachusetts Boston. This full-day event will highlight the creativity, innovation, and impact of our student community as we explore the evolving role of artificial intelligence across disciplines.

Event Details
Date: Friday, May 9, 2025
Location: University Hall TEAL Classroom, UMass Boston

Program Schedule

12:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Poster Showcase & Networking Lunch
Enjoy a complimentary lunch while viewing student research posters and engaging with peers, faculty, and visitors.
This session is led by our student Program Committee. All are welcome to attend.

2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
AI for All Student Project Presentations
Students from the AI for All course will present their final term projects—including live demos and video highlights. Faculty mentors, Provost Berger, and Paul English will be in attendance.
We are also honored to welcome Dr. Arthur Eisenkraft, 2025 NSELA Outstanding Leadership in Science Education Award Winner, as our invited speaker.

4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Alumni Career Panel
AI for All alumni will reflect on how they’re using AI in their careers and discuss emerging trends in the AI-driven workforce. The panel will include Paul English, Provost Berger, and UMass Boston alumni.

Call for Student Poster Submissions

Students are invited to submit AI-related research posters to be featured during the 12:00–2:00 PM showcase. The symposium encourages interdisciplinary work and real-world applications of AI.

Join the Program Committee (UMass Boston students only)

Students who register for the Program Committee will:
• Submit a poster by May 7
• Review 3 peer posters anonymously
• Attend the poster session on May 9
• Complete a short AI Canvas course (microcredential awarded)

Incentive: UMass Boston students who fulfill all requirements will receive a $100 cash award upon approval by Program Committee Chairs.
Note: Non-UMB students are welcome to participate but are not eligible for the award.

Need help designing your poster? Check out this short guide:
Poster Design Video

Important Links

Program Committee Registration:
Register Here

General Event Registration (Open to All):
Register on Eventbrite

We hope you’ll join us in celebrating the next generation of applied AI leaders. Please feel free to share this invitation with others who may be interested.

If you’re exempt from the final or don’t plan to attend optional days, you can ignore this update. For those who are taking the final and need some extra review/study days, read on:

We are officially in ungraded, non-obligatory attendance territory for CS/IT285! Here’s the plan:

For all optional days, I will stay in class for 5-10 minutes to see if anyone chooses to attend. If no one attends on time, that study session will be considered canceled. Don’t forget that you can study one on one with our tutor on campus or remotely.

Optional days now include: Tuesday, April 29; Tuesday, May 6; and Thursday, May 8.

No class (even optional) on Thursday, May 1: Please note that due to a conference on campus that I will be presenting in on Thursday, May 1, the classes that day will only be for unsupervised study. You can use our classroom, but I won’t be present for any of our course sections. Don’t forget that you can study one on one with our tutor on campus or remotely.

The purpose of these optional days is to review concepts that will be assessed on the final exam. The full list of tested concepts has been accessible since the beginning of the semester. Please review it and identify the terms that you would like to review so we can optimize our study time. Remember that as of our survey earlier in the semester, you can now use up to 60 physical (front and back) pages of numbered, named, handwritten notes on this exam.

The entirety of the class is optional. If you’d like to use the time to study on your own, you can. If you’d like to leave early, you can. These classes are solely for your benefit.

Thanks so much for a successful and engaging semester! Don’t forget to finish strong by:

• Completing your course evaluation when I send it out, most likely via Canvas

• Making sure you know if (or when and where) you are expected to take the final exam
  • Preparing your named, numbered, handwritten notes to bring to the exam if you so choose.

I will continue posting interesting articles on this page, which can be accessed without UMB credentials. Hope to see you around campus in the future. Have a great rest of your semester!

Days 23 and 24 are still required, so I’ll see you on Tuesday and Thursday of this week.

The most popular option in our survey was to turn Day 25 into an optional day and change the focus to another final exam review (to accompany the already established review days: May 1, 6, and 8).

Please note that this means many of you will not be obligated to be in class when course evaluations are released. You are still expected to fill out your course evaluations completely. Normally we would do this in class, but since I’m making the last classes optional, it’s your responsibility to do on your own!

In your grades section on Canvas, hover your mouse over the assignment name/grade that seems low. It will tell you if it’s dropped or not.

On Days 23 and 24, April 22 and April 24, we will review real world case studies and apply what we learned over the semester to them using the 9.3.1 methodology (learned on Day 22). That’s not changing.

Day 25 (April 29) is currently scheduled to be an obligatory (attendance grade taken) class day, during which we will analyze even more case studies. However, it has become apparent that no one is presenting a project on that day, which makes it eligible to be an optional day. 

Please note that whatever the outcome, students are expected to complete the course evaluations when they are made available, regardless of attendance.

What is your preference regarding Day 25 (April 29)?

Please vote here.