CSCE 481
Seminar
People
• Hank Walker
– Department Head
• John Keyser
– Associate Department Head
• Mahima Agumbe Suresh
– Teaching Assistant
What is This Class About?
• Looking forward: after graduation
– Lectures on jobs, job environment, company reps,
grad school, academia, etc.
• Understanding the bigger picture
– Assignments deal with research, life-long learning
– Lectures and assignments focus on the impact of
computing in the world
• Improving your writing
– W class
Grading
• Three components
– Pass all of them and get an A/S
– Fail any one and get an F/U
• Seminar reports
• Short Written Assignments
• Longer Written Assignment
Seminar Reports
• This is a seminar class (duh!)
– Attendance at the seminar is critical
• Must attend 13 classes, not including today
– We will have at least 16 more
– These should count for valid absences, also!
• Pick up a form each day at beginning of class
– Will remove it after a short time – be on time!
• Turn it in at the end of class
Short Writing Assignments
• 6 of these
• Each is 1-2 pages in length
• Score 0-10, >=7 is pass
– Grading rubric is in syllabus
• Today’s handout covers 3 assignments
• Can revise submissions, but don’t wait too
long
Large Writing Assignment
• 4-6 pages
• At least one revision required
• Details will come later in the semester
Aggie Honor Code
• Do your own work
• Don’t fill out seminar reports for others
• Avoid accidental plagiarism
– Don’t copy without citation, clear quotes
– Be sure not to just copy, even with citations
• May not be honor code violation, but not acceptable
Class Schedule
• See http://courses.cse.tamu.edu/keyser/csce481
– will update as speakers are scheduled
• Plan to meet most days through October, but not
afterward
• Early weeks: talks from Career Center
• Later weeks:
– Company speakers
– Panels
– Some talks by instructors about writing, academia,
grad school
Assignment Details
• Put cover page on all assignments
• Turn in hard copy at beginning of class
• Late penalty: 1 point per day (3 points
maximum)
– Cumulative for revisions
• Revisions: due within 1 week of return of prior
paper
– Can submit multiple revisions!
Culture Assignments
• 3 of the written reports
• Attend a research talk
– MANY to choose from
– But, don’t wait until the last minute!
• Write up a 1-page discussion of the research
topic (not the speaker/talk)
– Include citations to papers