15-129

Freshmen Immigration Course
Time: Mondays and Wednesdays 2:30pm - 3:50pm
Location: Room 2052

 

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Course Syllabus

Course Description

The Freshman Immigration Course is taken by first-semester Computer Science majors. The course is designed to acquaint incoming majors with computer science at CMU. Talks range from historical perspectives in the field to descriptions of the cutting edge research being conducted. 15-129 is a three unit course and is graded pass/fail. Enrollment is limited to SCS Freshmen ONLY.

-- From the Official Course Description

Methodology

During a series of presentations, freshman CS majors meet and hear from different members of the SCS community. The speakers talk about our school, their research in CS, the history of computing, and future trends. The goal is to expand the students' concepts of what is Computer Science and what resources are available to them as students within the School of Computer Science.

This year, we add some twists to the methodology. Preparation for each of these talks and active participation will be stressed upon. We will also be exposed to initial presentation skills in this course. In addition, this course is a place to build community among the Freshman class, and to extend their horizons within and without CMU.

Note: 15-129 is a pass/fail course.

Learning Outcomes:

·        Develop a topical and introductory understanding of the various areas of computer science covered in class.

·        Learn how to search, gather and summarize information on CS topics online.

·        Develop a basic understanding of the SCS undergraduate curriculum.

·        Develop basic presentation skills on technical topics.

·        Improve time management skills and study habits.

·        Develop basic skills in web design and publishing.

·        Develop basic skills in various communication and collaboration tools.

Weekly Schedule

See Course Calendar on the course website.

Course Staff

Name

Office and Phone

Email

Office Hours

  Prof. Majd F. Sakr    

M-1007
4454-8625

msakr "at" qatar.cmu.edu

Open Door Policy
AND
By Appointment

 

Please note:

The number one way of guaranteeing to find me is through an appointment. Email me to setup a meeting and you will have my undivided attention during this time.

Prof. Sakr is often available, if the office door is open, you are more than welcome to stop by. Otherwise, email for an appointment, or just take your chances and drop by.

Please remember – we are here to help. We enjoy and appreciate the opportunity to be of help. Do give us the chance to work with you.

Prerequisites

None. This course is designed as a "first exposure" course.

Textbook

None

Website

The class website, http://www.qatar.cmu.edu/~msakr/15129-f10/ will provide a wealth of up-to-date information about the course.

You should visit it frequently, and keep an eye on the announcements page. If an announcement is up online, I assume that it has been read by the next class when we meet.

Course Attendance

Attendance is expected at all classes. Being on time is also expected.
NOTE: Being late is counted as an absence. Class starts at 2:30, "Late" means that you enter class at or after 2:30:01.

Grading

15-129 is a 3 unit pass/fail course. Passing it is a graduation requirement for all SCS students.

The Rules:

  • You must earn 25 points to pass 15-129.
     
  • You must attend a minimum of 12 classes.
     
    • There are 15 total classes.
    • Each week, one class will be for student presentations on the topic that will be presented during that week. The other class, one or more faculty members will be invited to give a talk on their area of interest.
    • Attendance beyond 12 classes counts as points toward the general requirement.
    • Being late is counted as an absence. Go back to the definition of "late" in the course attendance section.
       
  • You must earn 2 points by creating and constantly updating a website of your own. The design and content of this website is totally up to you. It can even become the start of your personal homepage if you wish. Web hosting is available. Follow these instructions. (use unix.qatar.cmu.edu instead of unix.andrew.cmu.edu) If your qatar unix account is not activated, get that done as soon as possible. No excuses will be accepted. Add a link to your CV (visit the office of Professional Development for help).

    However, for each faculty lecture, you MUST update your site to earn an extra point for the section or page where you will add your weekly research updates on the topic/area that we will be discussing during that week. Your update should contain three sections, which will be due @ 11:59pm the night before the faculty lecture. The three sections are:
     
    • About a 400 to 500 word summary of what you found/liked during your research.  Be careful not to plagiarize (do not copy and paste!) anything you find. You need to write this summary in your own words. Any plagiarism that is caught will be punished with a loss of two points, if repeated, more serious measures will be taken. Also, you are not allowed more than 500 words.
    • At least 5 links to websites, online articles or tutorials that one could go to for more information on the topic you researched.
    • Finally, your third section should contain three to five questions that you have regarding the area that will be discussed during the faculty lecture. You should use some or all of these questions to direct at the speaker who will give the presentation.

Note: You will get 1 to 2 extra points in the end of the semester if your website has a decent structured design or some interesting features in it.  This should indicate that you improved your web design and publishing skills.
 

  • You must earn 5 points by giving one presentation on a technical computer science topic of your choice. You will team up in groups of two (or maybe three, depending on the class numbers) decided by the teaching staff. Throughout these student presentations, we will be exposed to how we can become better communicators in general, and better presenters in specific. A group presentation should be 20 minutes followed by a 10 to 15 minute Q/A and discussion with students. You will also turn in a short 2-page paper (2 column ACM format) on the topic. Print enough copies for everyone in class on a single sheet of paper.

    Students not presenting, along with the professor, will provide feedback on your presentation. You will know from this feedback what you did well in your presentation and what you need to work on in the future. The form that will be used for evaluation can be found here.

    Finally, the topic of the presentation should be on an area that we are NOT covering through talks in our class. You should make sure to receive the professor's approval of this topic.
     
     
  • To complete the required 25 points, you may participate in any these activities. The following activities are each worth one point. You can participate in an activity just once (to get its point), unless it explicitly states the number of times that you can repeat it.
    • Meet with any of the 15-129 speakers or other CS faculty in their offices to discuss their research area. (You can do this up to 2 times. Have them email me that this meeting took place)
    • Participate in a local programming contest.
    • Get help from the ARC on your writing style and improve what you have written for your research summaries (At least 2 summaries for one point), and post (DO NOT REPLACE) the new version of what wrote online.
    • Participate on a varsity, club or Education City sports team. (You can do this up to two times)
    • The first three students to read this line and email me about it receive a point.
    • Become a writer/photographer/whatever for the All Around student paper.
    • Become an officer in a CMU approved organization (ask older CS students what clubs they are in).
    • Attend one of the computer security movie nights, or general SCS seminars on computer science (Max of three points).
    • Become a student member of the ACM or IEEE (ask CCSC officers about this).
    • Have a good design for your website. (previously mentioned)
    • You need to show skills in using email, Skype, Google Docs, Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and basic navigation of the Unix file system.
    • Work with the office of Professional Development to put together your CV.
    • Volunteer for a non-profit/community service organization.

If you do not satisfy these requirements, you fail the course for this semester and must repeat 15-129 next year.

 


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