CSCE 390 (Spring 2011): Lecture Log

January 13 (Thu), 2011 HW1 assigned: exercises at the end of chs. 1 and 2 of textbook (referred to as [B]). See elsewhere for details of submission. Administrative information: objectives, textbook, syllabus, grading policy. The students take the Ross-Barger philosophic inventory (cf. ch.4 [B]).

January 20 (Thu), 2011 HW1 collected. Philosophical belief systems (ch.3 [B]): introduction, metaphysics (ontology), epistemology, axiology (ethics and aesthetics), idealism, and realism.

January 27 (Thu), 2011 HW2 assigned: paper report on visit to SET Career Fair of February 2, 2011, due on February 3, 2011. See main page of course web site for details. Presentation by Ms. Helen Fields, Director of the CEC Satellite Office of the Career Center on the value of experiential learning and preparation for the upcoming career fair.

February 3 (Thu), 2011 HW2 collected. HW3 assigned: exercises from chapters 3, 4, and 5 [B]. See main page of course web site for details. Philosphical belief systems, part II: pragmatism and existentialism. The possibility of a unifying ethical theory: Moor's argument.

February 10 (Thu), 2011 HW2 returned. HW3 collected. (Note: HW1 graded but not returned.) HW4 assigned: exercises from chapters 6 and 7 [B], due February 24. Brief discussion of the IBM Watson Jeopardy-playing program and computer system. Three ethical dilemmas by Robert Barger, with absolutist and relativist positions. The ethical decision-making process (Ch.6 [B]); example still needs to be presented.

February 17 (Thu), 2011 HW4 assigned; see previous date entry. The ethical decision-making process (Ch.6 [B]): example. Psychology and computer ethics (very briefly) (Ch.7 [B]). A few slides on Artificial Intelligence, two-person game playing (min-max), and the IBM Watson Jeopardy-playing system.

February 24 (Thu), 2011 HW3 returned. HW4 collected. No HW assigned today. The computing field as a profession (Ch.8 [B]).

March 3 (Thu), 2011 No new homework assigned. Enjoy spring break! Use your time wisely and catch up with coursework in all your classes. Presentation by Dr. Csilla Farkas on Legal and Ethical Issues in Information Security.

March 17 (Thu), 2011 HW5 assigned: exercises 1 and 4 at the end of Ch.9 [B], due on Thursday, March 24. Computer-related codes of ethics (Ch.9 [B]).

March 24 (Thu), 2011 HW4 returned. No new homework assigned. Presentation by Dr. Homayoun Valafar on Computational Biology and Computational Medicine.

March 31 (Thu), 2011 Three case studies for the joint software engineering code of ethics.

April 7 (Thu), 2011 Presentatin by Mr. Ben Francis, president of the Columbia Linux User Group (ColaLUG) on open source software.

April 14 (Thu), 2011 HW6 (Career Plan) hard copy collected; soft copy to be delivered via dropbox.cse.sc.edu, due April 21. HW7 (presentation of a topic of professional interest that includes a non-trivial ethical issue) with PowerPoint slides) assigned, due April 19 at midnight, to be delivered via dropbox.cse.sc.edu.