Computers in Society
Syllabus
 Updated version is on D2L
Paper References
 Your paper is an essay, so it needs a thesis statement; it
should not be just a list of facts. Cite at least three
references using APA style.
 All references must be standard citable references from
reputable sources, such as printed magazines, journals,
and newspapers.
 Wikipedia, blogs, and other non-attributable and nonedited sources are great for background reading
(especially as you develop your thesis), but will not
count as references.
Paper Reference Formatting
 Click on the "References" tab in Microsoft Word
and use the "Citations and Bibliography" section
to insert references in APA format into your
document and build an APA style bibliography
section at the end of your paper.
 References in your Bibliography must be sited
within the paper in the following format
 (Author, year)
Paper Grading
 I will grade your paper according to the Writing
Rubric given on the Content page of the course
web site
Paper’s Thesis
 Underline your thesis statement in the first
paragraph. Make sure to defend your thesis by
citing supporting evidence. Your paper should
also cite counterarguments against your thesis.
 See the Thesis Statements reference on D2L.
Write an analysis of some aspect of
Mark Twain's novel Huckleberry Finn.
 Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn is a great American novel.
 In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain develops a contrast
between life on the river and life on the shore.
 Through its contrasting river and shore scenes, Twain's
Huckleberry Finn suggests that to find the true expression
of American democratic ideals, one must leave "civilized"
society and go back to nature.
Paper
References and Citations
 Your paper will lose 10 points if it has only two
references and 20 points if it has only one.
 The paper must cite each reference with APAstyle citations for the reference to count.
 A non-APA-style citation is the same as no
citation.
Paper
Spelling, Grammar, and Style
 Your paper must have no errors or warnings in
grammar, style, or spelling (except proper names
or inside cited quotations).
 Each error or warning will reduce your final
score by two points.
 You MUST USE MICROSOFT WORD to check
your paper for spelling, grammar, and style
errors.
Paper
Spelling, Grammar, and Style
 From Microsoft Word, go to the "Review" tab. In
the "Proofing" section, click on the "Spelling &
Grammar" icon. When the dialog box appears,
click on the "Options" button. In the "Writing
Style" dropbox, select the "Grammar & Spelling"
option. Click on the "Settings" button. Make
certain that every checkbox is selected including
the "Use of First Person" checkbox. Then Proof
your paper.
To check spelling and grammar, click on the
“Review” tab in the ribbon bar,
and then click on Spelling & Grammar.
Bibliography Creation
 Click on the "References" tab in Microsoft Word
and use the "Citations and Bibliography" section
to insert references in APA format into your
document and build an APA style bibliography
section at the end of your paper.
Direct Quotations
 Only 10% of your paper can consist of direct
quotations from cited sources. A one point
penalty is assessed for every 1% over.
Papers
Fiction Requirement

Fiction Requirement: One of your four papers needs to be an
examination of themes (or a theme) related to this class in a work of
fiction.

The work of fiction can be one of the films shown for the class, a novel
from the approved reading list (see course Content page) or a work of
your choice that I have PRE-APPROVED via email.

The writing requirements specified in the paper guidelines remain the
same.

Use secondary sources (i.e., other academic works, histories or reviews)
in your preparation for this essay.

Your fictional work must be incorporated THROUGHOUT your paper, not
just mentioned in a paragraph at the beginning or end of the paper.

A penalty of 50% of the paper grade is assessed if you do NOT submit a
paper with the fictional requirement.
Paper Checklist
1. Assigned a general topic to write your paper on.
2. Research your topic.
3. Formulate a thesis statement using the Thesis Statement
document on D2L. Underline it in the first paragraph.
Include counter-arguments to your thesis.
4. Format your paper using the Paper Guidelines on D2L.
5. Use Word to insert at least 3 references into your paper
and create a bibliography in APA format. Max of 10% of
your paper can be direct quotations.
6. Use Word to Spell & Grammar check your paper.
7. Submit your paper to turnitin.com BEFORE the deadline
8. Paper is graded using the Writing Rubric and Paper Grade
Form on D2L
* One of the four papers MUST satisfy the preapproved Fiction Requirement.
See the Approved List for Works of Fiction on D2L
TurnItIn

Signed Agreement

Log on procedures
< http://turnitin.com
< Class ID: 3435872
< Password: Bas3ba11
< You’ll need to enter your email address, name, and a password to
complete the registration.
< The name of our class in turnitin.com is .
 Guidelines: You must submit each of your papers to TurnItIn.com
on the due date by the specified time. TurnItIn.com will reject any
attempts to submit papers after the due date and time, even if
your paper is just one minute late! You will not receive credit for
a late paper, even if TurnItIn.com is slow at the time your paper is
due. Therefore, you should try to submit your paper at least a
few hours before the cutoff time.
TurnItIn.com
 ONE submission per paper!!!!!
Run a Test…

Choose an article from ACM TechNews digests (http://www.acm.org/technews)

Copy the article text to Word

Use the Paper Guidelines for format the paper, including headers

Add an underlined Thesis Statement to the beginning of the article

Use Word’s spelling, grammar and style check to proof the article

Fix the error(s)

Use Word’s “Citations and Bibliography” tool to create a fictitious bibliography at
the end of the document.

Have me look at the final paper.

Submit the article to turnitin.com
Presentations
 Your presentation should be an introduction to the topic, so it
does not need a thesis. It MUST be between 10 and 15 minutes
long, so a simplistic definition or comment would not be
adequate.
 The PowerPoint file must have no macros, no large (> 50KB)
images or other linked content, no active buttons or anything
other than text and perhaps some images.
 Your presentation will be graded according to the Presentation
Rubric given on the Content page of the course web site.
 NOTE: The time of the presentation is especially important. The
grade for the presentation will drop 10% for every minute short of
the minimum time of 10 minutes. For example, a presentation
that lasts 9 minutes will earn 90% of the grade it would otherwise
receive. Make sure your presentation is at least 10 minutes long
(not including questions).
Presentations
 ONE submission per presentation (10%
penalty)!!!!
 That includes group presentations. Any changes
that need to be made after the deadline are
subject to the 10% penalty.
Effective Presentations
 An effective presentation should have three
parts:
 Introduction
 Body
 Conclusion
Introduction
 Attention Getter
< Draw the audience in
 Audience Analysis
< Why should the audience care?
 Preview
< Tell briefly what is coming up
Body
 Typically 3 main ideas
 Main idea 1 – introduces the idea/concept you
are talking about
< Subpoint – explanations, examples, stories,
definitions, etc.
< Subpoint…
 Have a transition between each main idea
Conclusion
 Should reflect the introduction
 Audience analysis
 Review
 Clincher
Individual Presentation Procedure
1. Assigned a presentation topic
2. Research the topic
3. Include any references used in your
presentation
4. Formulate introduction, body, and conclusion
5. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE
6. Submit presentation to D2L BEFORE deadline
7. Give presentation to class
8. Answer questions about the assigned topic
9. Grade is assigned using Presentation Rubric on
D2L (50% class, 50% instructor)
Group Assignments
 Some weeks there is one general theme that you will work on as
a group. You do not need to meet in person with your group but
you do need to communicate. You can use your group’s
discussion forum on D2L for each group for this purpose. (Click
on the Discussions tab on the course site.)
 I recommend creating a list of possible topics, sorting it into a
logical order, and then dividing the topics. Each person should
present for between 10 and 15 minutes (as usual). The first
speaker should present introductory material, and the last should
present a conclusion. If there is currently debate about a
particular topic, part of the group’s presentation should present
an overview of pros and cons.
 You can use a merged PowerPoint file for ease of transitions or
individual files. If you use individual files, keep in mind that part
of the grade is how well your presentation fits into the whole.
Group Presentation Grades
 Your individual presentation: Based on the presentation
rubric.
 Group performance: Based on my subjective assessment
the topics chosen, topic distribution among presenters,
and transitions between presenters. (Part of my
assessment may be your group’s discussion in D2L.)
 Your contribution to the group: Based on your group
members’ assessment of your contribution.
Group Presentation Procedure
1.
Group is assigned a presentation topic
2.
Use D2L Discussion topic to assign individual topics and
coordinate presentations
3.
Research your topic
4.
Include any references used in your presentation
5.
Practice
6.
Submit individual presentation to D2L BEFORE deadline
7.
One group member submits consolidated GROUP presentation
to D2L BEFORE deadline
8.
Fill out Group Presentation – Peer Evaluation on D2L and submit
to D2L BEFORE deadline
9.
Give presentation to class
10. Individually answer questions about the assigned topic
11. Grade is assigned using Presentation Rubric (Group) on D2L
(50% class, 50% instructor) * Participation Factor from Peer
Evaluations
Participation Grades
 You will be filling out the Presentation Rubric for
each presentation.
 Presentation Rubric completion, interaction with
industry speakers, and general class discussion
will be part of your subjective participation
grade.
 Any late submissions of peer evaluations, etc.
will be reflected in the participation grade.
Brilliant Questions
 Be prepared to ask one brilliant question on the
presentation theme.
 Your questions will be graded primarily on their relevance
to the topic and whether they show that you are prepared
(that is, that you have read on the topic before class and
are not just “winging it”). Do not ask your questions in a
manner that appears to “trap” or otherwise humiliate the
presenter by demonstrating the presenter’s lack of
knowledge.
 Come to class with your questions typed on paper with
your name. If the question you researched is not relevant
to the presentation, you may have to modify it. Record a
short note on the presenter’s response. Turn in your
questions at the end of class to get credit for asking them.
Brilliant Question Procedures
1. Assigned two presenters to ask a brilliant
question about their topic
2. If it is a group presentation, check the D2L
Discussion topic to determine your presenter’s
topic
3. Research the topics and formulate your
questions
4. Type the questions prior to coming to class
5. Ask the questions in class and record the
responses
6. You will be graded on your questions
Topics
1.
How have computers and computing changed society, for better or worse, over the last 50 years?
2.
What Happens to and what is the impact of Recycled/Discarded Computer Hardware?
3.
Computers in Education: Cheating and plagiarism
4.
Universal Access to Information
5.
Privacy Rights
6.
Computers and the Law
7.
Day in a life of a programmer, analyst, DBA, Tester, Software Developer, etc.
8.
Advice on security and data protection for a home user and for a small company
9.
File sharing (technological, societal and legal issues) and E-commerce
10.
Video and online games and gaming
11.
Electronic voting
12.
Computer use in entertainment and art
13.
The future of computers and computing
Formulate Groups
 We will have three groups:
Papers, Presentations, Brilliant Questions
 Due to speaker commitments, it is possible that
topic order could change
Formulate Groups
 Group 1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Bigham, Alex B
Honl, Patrick G
Madsen, Michael P
Oltrogge, Matthew T
Smayling, Nathan M
Spencer, Daniel D
Thomas, Austin W
Formulate Groups
 Group 2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Clouse, Tyler J
Kahnke, Joseph M
Maharjan, Ritesh S
Rahe, Dustin J
Smith, Thomas K
Stenzel, Brittany L
Wichtendahl, Corban N
Formulate Groups
 Group 3
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Gahr, Gregory H
Lafontaine, Phillip S
Marquardt, Andrew S
Shrestha, Yushma
Sodeman, Christopher N
Thapa, Dinesh
Yochim, Dana E
For Next Week…

Group 1
< Submit your paper to Turnitin.com by deadline
< Bring 9 copies of the Presentation Rubric from D2L

Group 2
< Submit your presentation to the dropbox on D2L by deadline
< Bring 9 copies of the Presentation Rubric from D2L

Group 3
< Prepare your brilliant questions
 You will be handing these in, so bring them on a typed sheet
< Bring 9 copies of the Presentation Rubric from D2L
Assignment 2
 After editing for group members, see D2L
For Today…

Turnitin Authorization form

Practice developing a thesis statement and referencing an article