Readings will be posted ~2 weeks in advance of the seminar and lecture. The response question for seminar writing (1 page max) will be posted by Thursday 5pm the week prior to Seminar. Bring HARD COPY of the seminar paper TO SEMINAR on Monday.
Student responses to two other students’ week’s seminar writings are due by the Thursday after seminar (to the moodle).
- Week 1, March 31: Speaker Emerson Murphy-Hill.
Reading: Emerson Murphy-Hill, The Future of Social Learning in Software Engineering, IEEE Computer, January 2014, and Steven Brill, Code Red – Inside the … launch of HealthCare.gov…., Time Magazine, March 10, 2014, pp 26-36.
No response paper due this week. Question to ponder as you read the assignment: Read Emerson’s article first. Then, as you read Code Red, think about what of Emerson’s methodology/advice either was employed or could have been employed either by the original Healthcare.gov developers or the rescue team. - Week 2, April 7: Speaker: Byron Cook
Reading:
- We suggest you read this article first (it provides a gentle introduction tothe more technical article by Byron): Gary Stix, Send in the Terminator – A Microsoft tool looks for programs that freeze up. Scientific American (Nov. 2006).
- Byron Cook, A. Podelski,A, Tybalchenko, Proving Program Termination. CACM, May 2011, 54-5, DOI :10.1145/1941487.1941509.
Response Paper Question (~1 page): In your first paragraph, clearly state: 1) the thesis about program termination made in both of the readings, and 2) whether you will argue for or against that thesis. In the ‘body’ of your paper, present an argument for or against. In your final paragraph, as a summary statement, articulate why it matters whether or not the thesis is true. In other words, why is Microsoft paying Byron the big bucks to do this work?
Special Event, Friday, April 11, 3-5pm, Sem 2 E1105. Reading Clinic (for ineffective readers). Nancy Koppelman is running this.
- Week 3, April 14: Speaker: Dylan Sisson
Reading:- Mike Seymour, Pixar’s RenderMan turns 25 (Exclusive), fxguide, July 25, 2013.
- Mike Seymour, The State of Rendering – Part 1, fxguide, July 15, 2013. “the latest trends in the visual effects industry including the move to physically plausible shading and lighting.
- Mike Seymour, The State of Rendering – Part 2, fxguide, July 17, 2013. “explores the major players in the current VFX and animation rendering markets and also looks at the future of rendering tech.”
- (NOT ASSIGNED, but of possible interest to those studying OpenGL – note that Pixar and Evergreen are discussing a gift of Renderman to Evergreen – thanks to Dylan!): John Lukasiewicz, Scienti fic Visualization Using Pixar’s RenderMan, Computer Science M.S. Thesis, Rochester Institute of Technology, June 29, 2011.
Response Paper Question (~1 page): In the short introductory piece Renderman Turns 25, Catmull describes the integrated culture at Pixar as not just having a technologist working with an artists, but artists who are also technologists and technologists who are artists. “Frequently you can’t even draw the line. And drawing a line…becomes fruitless.” Then, in the two pieces The State of Rendering, you find a rundown on 14 of the most popular renderers for visual effects (VFX). Imagine YOU are working with others on an interesting VFX project, and your team is choosing a renderer. Think a bit about the project you’d like to do; which of the renderers described here would you choose. Why? How would you argue for it, drawing on its artistic and technology features?
- Week 4,April 21: Speaker: Emir Pasalic
Reading.- First,read a little about LogicBlox Technology , then look at (2), and finally try (3)
- Then, read: Shan Shan Huang, Green, Todd Jeffrey and Loo, Boon Thau. Datalog and Emerging Applications: An Interactive Tutorial. SIGMOD’11, June 12–16, 2011, Athens, Greece. ACM 978-1-4503-0661-4/11/06.
- Finally, work through the Interactive Tutorial: LogiQL in 30 Minutes
- and think about how this differs from traditional database (SQL or Hadoop) development.
Response Paper Question (~1 page): Professor Ullman (a very well known database researcher and teacher) at Stanford once told me that Stanford students complained a lot when taking the database class – until they graduated, went to work, and then found, essentially that “it’s all about the data.” (quotes are my words, not his). Let’s say YOU are like one of those students, graduated and in your first job. You have been assigned to a database team, and you are gearing up for designing and implementing a critical database applications to (maybe healthcare.gov?). Like many recent CS graduates, you have NOT had a database course. What about LogicBlox could you use that might help you in your work.
Tuesday April 22, 3-5pm, Sem 2 E1105. Special Event, Reading Clinic. (this is a repeat of Week 2 workshop).
- Week 5, April 28: Speaker: Irina Gendelman and Jeff Birkenstein.
Assigned Reading: Connected, pp. xiii – 134.
Alternate or Optional Reading: Lev Manovich, Navigable Space in The Language of New Media, pp. 213 – 243.
Response Paper Question (~1 page): Christakis and Fowler, in Connected, develop a theory of social networks, describing structure and function properties (connection and contagion), as well as rules that govern those networks. They then go on to posit that these principles explain certain human behavior. For your seminar paper, consider the authors’ theory in answering the following question: Do modern social networks such as facebook, linked in, or research gate, extend the reach and/or influence of individuals or groups in these networks? Draw on the material in the book to provide an argument supporting your response to this question. - Week 6, May 5: Speaker Sonia
Reading: The Lean Startup.
Response Paper Question (~1 page): Remember that you can choose to write on this question – or one of your own making.
Eric Ries has drawn upon his entrepreneurial experiences with startups (and large companies) to develop and refine a theory that will “shorten product development cycles, measure actual progress, and help us learn what customers really want.” In the first paragraph of your paper explain what this theory is. In the second paragraph, take one example of a project – from either the book or your own experience. Describe the project, and then go on to say how Ries’ theory was (or could be) applied to the project to help ensure success. Conclude your paper (in the third paragraph) with your assessment of the method; was it (or could it be) successfully applied by the people “in charge” of the project in question? Why did it (or would it) work (or not work)? What barriers do you see to its application? What inherent weaknesses (if any) do you see in the theory? - Week 7, May 1: Speaker: Frank Hardisty.
Reading:
– Hardisty and Robinson. The GeoViz Toolkit . Int J Geogr Inf Sci. Jan 1, 2011; 25(2): 191–210.
– Karimzadeh, et al. GeoTxt: GIR’13, November 05 2013, Orlando, FL, USA.
Response Paper Question (~1 page): In “The GeoViz Toolkit”, Hardisty and Robinson argue that three key advances in software engineering allow the Toolkit to address three key research challenges in geovisualization. For your paper, pick one software engineering advance and argue how it addresses the research challenges (or not), OR pick one research challenge and discuss how the three software engineering advances address that challenge (or not).Alternatively, you could explore the visualizations you see in Figures 1, 4, 5 and 6 (and if you like other GVT visualizations you find on the web) and critique the visualizations, i.e., consider the purpose and how effective they are at carrying out that purpose.
Note: If you are not doing an SOS Project, you need to write (by Week 10 a 5-page Summative Paper for seminar). Please hand in (or email to Judy) this week the topic you might choose. - Week 8 May 19: Speaker: Lynda Weinman
Readings:
– Nathan Heller, LaptopU: Has the future of college moved online? New Yorker, May 20, 2013,
– ReadWriteBuilders interview with Lynda.
– (Optional) Enough with the lecturing, NSF Press Release – 14-064.
Response Paper Question (~1 page): Choose ONE of the following questions (or make up your own):
a. “Laptop U” draws a dichotomy between what it calls the “elite” institutions, where students are prepared for a life of the mind, and community colleges or regional universities, which ‘merely’ prepare students for jobs. Another way to phrase this dichotomy in higher education is “education vs. training”. Are these the only two ways you think apply to higher education? Would on-line education emphasize or blur this distinction?
b. Drawing specifically on some of the facts, and pro’s and con’s, you find in the New Yorker article, how might you recommend (or not) a role for MOOCs (and/or Lynda.com type courses) at Evergreen (you might want to distinguish between them). You could aim your paper specifically at computer science; if so, be sure to respond to the question raised in the article about whether MOOCs work better in the sciences (math, computer science) than humanities and social sciences.
c. “Laptop U” contends that MOOCs are in their infancy and raises a number of questions about them, suggesting for example that “big data” could help solve them, OR that a “historian’s mindset” might be useful in assessing this “change over time”. In your paper, talk about how you might use one or both of those techniques to answer some of the questions raised. - Week 9, due Monday, May 27 – Memorial Day –. Holiday, No Classes, No Seminar. One of three writing options are due (via Moodle):
a. Rewrite of one prior paper. If you have all your papers done, take a little time to revise ONE paper so you have ONE EXCELLENT EXEMPLAR PAPER TO SHOW OFF.
b. Papers you are missing from the quarter. IF you are missing more than one paper (check with Judy week 8, you may use this opportunity to write your missing papers instead of doing a rewrite.
c. If you are not doing a project, then hand in a 2nd draft or revised outline or idea for your summative paper (due next week). Judy will give you feedback. - Week 10, June 2: Speaker: Moishe Lettvin
Reading: second half of Connected. In lieu of a paper to write, we’ll have a short (fun!) quiz in seminar on this reading and others from the quarter. - End of Week 10: Summative paper (~5 pages) due.
If you are doing an SOS project, your summative paper will be a research paper relating to your SOS project.
Otherwise, you must write a summative paper for seminar (about 5 pages); this can be either a significant rewrite and extension of one of your reflections, or an essay on the seminar theme.
Seminar Portfolios due: Thursday June 5. Please turn in to Judy at the Project Presentations (or to her mailbox in Lab I), all seminar papers you have turned in (and received back). You need not put this in a binder, but PLEASE paper clip them together, and put them in order (first to last).If you missed writing papers, you may email these to Judy – the deadline is MONDAY of Evaluation week – 9am.