Assignments
Homework Assignments
News Discussion
Web Project
Computers in the Arts
Impact of Computers
Solving a Social Problem

Unless otherwise stated, assignments should be submitted through blackboard (blackboard.unc.edu)
Note:  I am willing to review all assignments up to 3 days prior to their due date.

Homework Assignments

Due September 8: 
Your first assignment is to write an algorithm. Remember to consider error conditions.
A triangle is a 3-sided figure. The sum of any 2 sides must be longer than the third side.   Write an algorithm to check if three numbers could constitute the sides of a triangle. It produces a result of “yes” or “no”.

News Discussion (counts as part of class participation -- approximately half)

Required presentation material for this assignment is Powerpoint slides, including the reference .  Your presentation and the link or reference will be posted to the calendar as a record of what was discussed.

What you should present:  the content of the news article and what you consider the interesting questions that it raises.  Following this brief description, your job is to engage the class in a discussion.  You will not be graded on the class's performance but you do need to be prepared to ask follow up questions or to state a point of view to engage the class. 

What you should learn from this assignment:

Impact of Computers (20% of your grade)

This is a pair assignment.  The product is a class presentation and 5 page double-spaced report that explores the impact of computers on a particular field.  There are several approached that you can take to this paper:  you can examine how computers have changed this area or you can examine the as yet unmet promises of what computers can do.   In some cases, a single topic could be addressed either way:  for example, there have been a lot of changes in the area of publishing and education, but there is a vast amount of as yet untapped opportunity.

If it is an area that computers have actually created, you should discuss what area it replaced or what it has brearthbound ought new to society.  For example, computers created the field of space exploration: prior to computers, we were and could only study the planets and stars through telescopes and observations.  As a non-computer example, the automobile replaced the horse and buggy. 

Your paper should have significant facts to support your observations, but I want you to go beyond the facts and talk about the impact that those facts and changes have made.  Have the changes in how we should changed the way we work or the way we interact with people?  Has advertising changes changed how we spend our time and money?

I expect a proper bibliography for the paper.  If you are having trouble finding source material for your report, let me know and I'll give you a hand.  When you look at source material, be especially cognizant of the date of the material.  If you use no recent resources, you'll have missed significant changes.

I also want you to give me your views and use your own experience in the report.  You simply need to make it clear where you are giving your opinion rather than facts or someone else's opinions.  If you use other people's ideas, give them proper credit.  A simple rule to follow in ALL writing is when in doubt, give credit.

You will be graded both on content and form.  I am not concerned about your style, but the paper needs to read smoothly.  Given existing word processing tools, there is no reason for any misspelled words or typos.  Pay attention to punctuation and grammar.  Sentence fragments are occasionally useful, but a paper full of them is not well-formed. 

Both members of the team should present.  The grade for the presentation is on your ability to present the concepts orally in a clear and concise manner.  Your presentation should take approximately 15 minutes and should cover the content of your paper.  You should use graphics (pictures or charts) to illustrate your points and can use live demonstrations if you wish.  Important aspects of your presentation are speaking style (e.g., maintaining eye contact with the audience, speaking clearly), organization, and creativity in how you present.  Presentations should not be an exact recitation of your paper.

Prior to writing the paper, you will meet with me as a team to discuss the content and references.  The meeting is mandatory.

Web Project (10% of your grade)

The web project will be done in two parts. 
Part 1:  The first part will be your university home page.  This is due September 27.  The web page must include the following components:
You should try to make your web page interesting and appealing.  You will not be graded on the aesthetics of your page, but you will get credit for effort.  Also, we will discuss what was easy and hard to do and what is easy and hard for the user.  Having tried different ideas will give you a lot of insight into why there are so many variations on web pages.

Part 2: The second part will be a simple example of input and processing on a web page.  This  is due December 8.  In this component, you will produce a form that consists of at least one input type and produce output as well.  The output is to be produced by invoking a javascript function.   There is no need for an elaborate page,  but feel free to do as much as you enjoy.  Be aware that the javascript that I have shown you works on Mozilla, but may not work on Internet Explorer.  When you have completed the assignment, please make it publicly available and send me an email with the url.

Computers in the Arts (10% of your grade)

This is a 2-3 page double-spaced report that explores how computers are portrayed in the arts.  Choose a movie, short story or book.  Describe how computers are portrayed in the piece that you choose and discuss whether the portrayal is realistic.  Be sure to make it clear what piece you are reviewing and if it is not obvious how I would find it, please give me a pointer.

Possible topics:  There are pieces in which the computer plays a significant role (like the Matrix series) and ones where it has an interesting, but less significant role (such as Minority Report).  If you are interested in reporting on a short story or novel, you may want to consider science fiction and see if the computer usage is part of the "fiction".  The other good source of computer usage is the "paper" mystery, where much of the work involves following paper trails.

Because it may take me time to watch all the movies being reported on, you will need to give me the topic of your paper very shortly.

You should also discuss the significance of the computer in your chosen piece.  Does it have a significant role or is it simply a tool that people use?  Is it portrayed as something friendly or menacing?

Consider whether the functions that are used in the computer are realistic.  Does the computer "know" things that are unrealistic?  Is there a spectacular event when the computer fails?  Does the computer perform incredibly intelligent feats in basically no time.

Prior to writing the paper, you will meet with me to discuss the content and realism.  The meeting is mandatory.

There is source material about specific pieces available on the web.  Feel free to use it, but remember to give proper credit.

Remember to title your paper, number pages, and staple it.  Please plan on giving me both hard and soft copy of the report.

Final Project:  Solving a Social Problem (25% of your grade)

This will be a team project.  The ouput of this project is a 15-20 minute presentation and web page (either a mock up for an online solution or an informational page).  Handouts and speaker notes are optional; you may use them if you think it will make your project easier to understand.  The presentation should analyze a problem of interest to you and describe how computers can be used to address it.  I am not looking for a report on how OTHER  people have solved the problem, but on how YOU would solve it.  You are welcome to build on other people's solutions, but you should be pulling it together as you see fit.  The purpose of this project is to bring together what you have learned about computers and to apply it to a real problem. 

You should consider whether your solution is feasible in turns of computer trechnology, cost and user acceptability.  (For example, a $100,000 computer in everyone's home would not be a reasonable solution.)  Describe the limitations of your solution and potential problems with it.  I want to see both sides of the  story -- not just a "sell job" on how good a solution it is.  Be weary of overly complex solutions;  use the simplest technology that solves the problem.  Also be sure to consider security and privacy issues.

Prior to your presentation, you will meet with me as a team to discuss the content and your ideas.  The meeting is mandatory.