CS 3111 Presentation and Report

The last two weeks of the term are devoted to individual student presentations of ethical issues related to computers. Each presentation will be about 30 minutes long, accompanied by a written report of at least 7-10 pages. An objective of this assignment is that you gain experience researching your topic by gathering multiple authoritative, external sources and integrating your findings in a well-structured presentation and report.

Topics

Presentation topics must be specific enough to treat in the time allotted. For example, the topic of "spam" is too broad, but the topic of "email spoofing and mail authentication schemes to combat it" would be acceptable.

Topics that are directly covered in the course texts are acceptable, provided that your treatment goes deeper than that given in the readings. To give you an idea of topic categories, here is a partial list of topics addressed by our text and related readings. However, this list is not meant to be exhaustive. You can choose a topic that interests you. Perhaps there is a topic that directly affects you or someone you know in your work. I welcome topics that are not covered in our readings. The only requirements are that they are computer related and center on ethical issues. Remember, ethics is the study of morality, and morality is about rules of conduct (whether lawful or governed by societal norms) describing what ought or ought not to be done in various situations.

When you have settled on a topic, email your choice to me as well as your preference for a presentation date (see the TERM SCHEDULE for possible dates). I will check your topic for content and scope. There will be no collaboration on presentations; these are individual, not team, presentations and reports.

Presentations

Presentations will be given using presentation software such as Microsoft PowerPoint, OpenOffice Impress, or a web browser. You can plug in your own laptop or use the computer permanently in the room. If applicable, programs may be run and demonstrated on the classroom machine. Be sure that you check that your presentation loads and runs without glitches well in advance of your presentation time and date. You will make your presentation file available to the class so that we all can download and review it.

Of course, you cannot create a presentation until you have done your research and drawn your conclusions. In fact, it is easiest to create a presentation after you have written the report, described next.

Reports

Here are some guidelines for structuring your report:

Describe the issue by fully stating the problem and/or conflict that is central to it.
Describe all related concepts, and define any terms, especially technical terms, that are necessary to understand the problem.
Provide any historical, socio-cultural, or legal background and context in which to understand the problem.
Although your audience includes both technical and non-technical majors, do not shy away from providing needed technical background to understand the problem.
Describe what makes the issue an ethical one, drawing from the ethical theory presented in chapter 2 of the text by Quinn.
Describe the role that computers or software play, as well as your take on whether computers make the problem unique or it is a traditional ethical problem with a new cyber-twist.
Give examples of real-world events relating to the issue: court rulings, news coverage, anecdotal data.
Where there are opposing sides to the issue, describe their constituents. Give both perspectives and complete arguments supporting their positions.
Give your judgment on the issue: Is it appropriately resolved? If not how do you think it should be resolved?
What is the outlook for the future? Must anything change - underlying technology? Society itself?
Conclusions

Here are more general considerations:

The more in-depth and specific the better. Avoid vague generalities.
Referring to concepts or points made in our readings is a plus.
Do not plagiarize. Quote and cite sources where necessary.
Do not rely only on Wikipedia. Consult and use a variety of sources.

Style and organization pointers:

No spelling errors are expected.
Pay attention to grammar and sentence structure. Awkward or garbled construction will be penalized.
Make sure the paper is organized with section headings for major sections and a preliminary overview of the paper's content in terms of those sections.
Provide good transition or flow from section to section.
Figures, tables, or screenshots can help break the textual monotony.
Include pagination (page numbers) in final copy.

Produce your report in a Word, OpenOffice, PostScript, or PDF document. Email it to me by the last day of class before finals week.

timothy colburn