Homework 01

Today in class, you will form groups and do a bit of directed brainstorming, comprising the "in-class" exercise. In Homework 1, you'll continue with this group; spending an hour or so on your own and then an hour or so with your group. As a result of that group meeting, you will write a collective (1 per group) page paper (single spaced) as described in the outside-class homework section of this document.

In-class class exercise:

Pair up with 3 to 5 other people and spend 15 minutes in class today doing the following group activity. Also agree upon a time over the weekend to do the group part of the homework assignment. Write down the names of the people in your group here:

Group activity: brainstorm about 2 of the 3 following topics. Assign one member of your team to be the scribe; this person will fill in your group's answers and turn in one of these sheets at the end of class to me. Assign another member of your group to report what was discovered to the rest of the class (after you've brainstormed, we're gonna discuss your answers collectively). For each of the two topics your group chooses, spend about 3 minutes or so brainstorming and another 2 reaching consensus.

Topics:

Agree on 5 computer science topics that you think best represent the field's many facets.
Identify 3 concepts in computer science that your group would like to know more about.
Identify a pressing social issue that has arisen as a result of computer technology's ubiquitousness.

Outside-class homework:

Alone activity spend an hour surfing the web. Your job is to find a web page on a company or research group that does something you think is cool that also might heavily rely on CS technology. Once you find this website, consider the following questions:

How might this person spend their time at this company?
What about the company/product/research interests you?
If you had to draw a caricature of "a CS person" at this company, what images would you draw upon?
Now, identify some classic "hacker" images use by Hollywood and the media. What traits does this caricture have, and how do they differ with the one you described before?

Group activity: After your web search, spend the hour sharing what you unearthed and discussing these questions. In the end, your group should write a one-page summary that best outlines your consensus reached on these questions. You will bring this page to class with you next week.

Other To-dos:

Reflect upon the "the what is computer science really" panel handout.
Check out the online text (week 1's reading).
Install software on your dorm computer if desired (see the Installing and Using Java in CS5 link on the course home page).