CSCE 190: Computing in the Modern World (Fall 2019)
Bulletin Description: An introduction to the
field of computing; trends in computing technology, the profession,
and careers; subdisciplines in computing; the nature of research and
development.
Corequisites: CSCE 145, 204, 205, 206, or equivalent
Meeting time and venue: Tuesday 1800-1850 in Amoco Hall
(1C01)
Instructor: Marco Valtorta
Office: Storey 2269, 777-4641
E-mail:
mgv@cse.sc.edu
Office Hours:
M 1500-1800, or by previous appointment.
Teaching Assistant:Fengyao Yan
Office: Storey 2210
E-mail:
fyan@email.sc.edu
Office Hours:
M 1000-1200 and 1000-1200.
Reference Materials:
- An iClicker (iCLicker+; iClicker2 will work too) is required.
(See: How to register your iClicker.)
Note: The iClicker
app (REEF) will not be activated for this course.
- There is no required textbook for this course.
- This course will be taught with materials provided to you during
the semester.
In addition, there are a number of books and papers that are
worth reading about computing, its past, and its future.
Some will be described or linked to this website.
Objectives
This course is intended to provide you with the bigger picture of how computing
fits into the modern world and why there is more to "computing" than just
"programming." Unlike nearly everything else taught in the department, this
will not be a highly technical course. We encourage you to participate in the
discussions and ask questions. The course will involve several other faculty
members at the department and external professionals working in the fields of
computer science, computer engineering, and computer information systems.
Outcomes
Students will be able to:
- Describe the "big picture" of computing
- Identify important milestone events in the history of computing
and what the future of computing may look like
- Identify some advanced directions in computing research
- Describe career trends and career options in computing
Homework and Projects
Points per assignment.
- (HW1, due Tuesday, October 15, 2019)
Choose a company where you would like to apply for a position. Write:
- A one-page overview of the company
- A one-page overview of the position that you would apply for
- A one-page resume (possibly, geared towards that position)
- A half-page essay on what you need to learn or do to be competitive for the
position
- Attend the STEM Majors Career Fair on Tuesday, September 24,
and write a half-page
essay describing your experience
- Complete your Handshake profile at the USC Career Center.
Write a statement that you
did this on the first page of your homework submission document.
In total, your document should be four pages long.
If you cannot attend the career fair because of a class conflict, you must:
- Do all parts of the assignment except for part (5)
- Attach a copy of your weekly class schedule for the week of September 24;
this should show that you could not reasonably attend the SET Career Fair
- Do one of the following:
- Write a half-page essay describing your experience at another career fair
- Attend an activity sponsored by the career center, such as a resume-writing
workshop, and write a half-page essay about it
- Attend an activity sponsored by a professional society in computing and
write a half-page essay about it.
Lecture Log
The USC Blackboard
has a site for this course.
Notes
Notes will be updated during the semester.
-
Introductory slides
used on 2019-08-27
-
Slides
by Dr. Jason Bakos on the Infrastructure of Computing
used on 2019-09-03
-
Slides on jobs and academic subdisciplines
within computing used on 2016-08-23
-
Slides on jobs and academic subdisciplines
within computing used on 2015-08-25
-
Slides
by Dr. Jason Bakos on the Infrastructure of Computing
used on 2018-09-04
-
Slides
by Dr. Jason Bakos on the Infrastructure of Computing
used on 2016-08-30
-
Slides
by Dr. Jason Bakos on the Infrastructure of Computing
used on 2015-09-01
-
Slides used by Mr.
Chris Lewandowski
of the USC Career Center (CEC Satellite Office) on 2019-09-19
-
Slides used by Mr.
Stephen Lariviere
of NWIC (Charleston) on 2019-10_08
-
Slides used by Ms.
Kathryn Kinniburgh
of the USC Career Center (CEC Satellite Office) on 2018-09-18
-
Slides used by Ms. Emma Waugh
of the USC Career Center (CEC Satellite Office) on 2016-09-06
-
Slides used by Ms. Tiffany Lide,
first-year student advisor for computing students
-
Slides used by Ms. Helen Powers of the
USC Career Center (CEC Satellite Office) on 2015-09-08
-
Slides by Dr. Matthew
Simmons on Digital Humanties used on 2018-09-25
-
Slides on
Academic Advising
used by Laura Nix and William Brown 2019-10-15
-
Slides on Academic Advising
used by Blake Brown and Amanda Torrence on 2018-10-16
-
Slides on Blockchain, with a
simple implementation in Python used on 2018-10-16.
-
Abstract of talk by Professor
Duncan Buell on 2018-10-30.
-
Notes on the IBM Watson Computer System,
used on 2017-09-26 and 2017-10-03
-
Slides by Mr. Robert
Adams of Capgemini on Computing in the Insurance Industry
used on 2018-10-02
-
Slides used by Mr. Blake Brown,
first-year student advisor, used on 2017-10-03
-
Savannah River National
Laboratory (SRNL)---Overview"
Slides used by Dr. Mary K. Harris, Chief Information Office or Savannah
River National Laboratory on 2016-09-27.
-
Computing from an
Electric and Gas Utility Perspective,
presentation used by Mr. Chris Pierson of SCANA Corp. on 2016-11-01.
-
Computing from an
Electric and Gas Utility Perspective,
presentation used by Mr. Chris Pierson of SCANA Corp. on 2018-11-20.
-
Programming Language
Paradigms,
slides used on 18-12-04.
-
Computing Curricula at USC; slide 15
used on 2014-08-26.
-
The Value of Experiential Learning,
slides used by Ms. Jennifer Whetstone-Jackson of the USC Career
Center (CEC Satellite Office) on 2014-09-02.
-
Computer
Science Career Prospects, poster used by Prof. Manton Matthews on
2014-09-02.
-
Data Science in Industry,
presentation by Dr. Denise Gosnell of pokitdok on 2015-10-13.
-
Life as a Web Developer,
slides used by Mr. Richard Baldwin of cyberwoven.com on 15-10-20.
-
Trends in Software
Engineering
slides used by Dr. Gregory Gay 16-10-25.
-
Trends in Software
Engineering
slides used by Dr. Gregory Gay 15-10-27.
-
Computing from an
Electric and Gas Utility Perspective,
presentation used by Mr. Chris Pierson of SCANA Corp. on 2014-09-09.
-
Unsafe for any Ballot Count:
South Carolina's voting machines and their analysis,
slides used by Prof. Duncan Buell on 2014-09-16.
-
Life as a Web Developer,
slides used by Mr. Richard Baldwin of cyberwoven.com on 14-09-23.
-
High Perfomance
Computing and Research Infrastructure at the University of South
Carolina,
slides used by Mr. Paul Sagona and Mr. Ben Torkien of
the University of South Carolina on 14-09-30.
-
Computing
Careers in the real world, or, "I have my degree, now what?",
slides used by Dr. Jerrold Heyman of Edgybees, Inc., on 19-10-22.
-
Applied
Analytics and ML in Healthcare and Benefits Management",
slides used by Mr. Seth Gregorie of Benefitfocus on 19-11-05.
-
Computing
Careers in the real world, or, "I have my degree, now what?",
slides used by Dr. Jerrold Heyman of EMC on 18-10-09.
-
Robotics:
Enabling Autonomy in Challenging Environments,
slides used by Dr. Ioannis Rekleitis on 14-10-21.
-
SRNL
Scientific Computing---Where Have We Been and Where We Are Going!"
Slides used by Dr. Mary K. Harris, Chief Information Office or Savannah
River National Laboratory on 2014-11-11.
-
Programming Language
Paradigms,
slides used on 14-11-25.
-
Professor Judea Pearl,
2011 ACM A.M.Turing Award Winner,
slides used on 17-11-14.
-
Professor Judea Pearl,
2011 ACM A.M.Turing Award Winner,
slides used on 18-11-27.
Some Useful Links
-
How to register your iClicker. Note: The Reef
mobile app is not functional for this course.
-
In this class, we write dates according to
ISO Standard 8601.
- Association for Computing Machinery
Student Group at USC
- Carolina Gamers Club
- Women in Computing (WiC) Group
at USC facebook page
- Society of Women
Engineers at USC
- National Center for Women and Information Technology
- ACM-W
- IEEE Student Chapter (.pptx)
- Prof. O'Kane's advisement
page with many useful links
- National Association of College
Employers (NACE) Spring 2017 Survey Summary (local copy)
- "Stem Occupations: Past, Present,
and Future." A report from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2017.
- AP/IB Credit Table for
the University of South Carolina
- Massimo Di Pierro.
"What is the Blockchain?" IEEE Computing Edge, April 2018, pp.22-25.
(local copy).
- John Backus's Obituary from the New York
Times, 2007-03-20.
- An Interview with Maurice Wilkes,
by David P. Anderson. Communications of the ACM, 52, 9 (September 2009),
local copy.
Maurice Wilkes, the designer and builder of the early stored-program computer
EDSAC, passed away on Nov. 29, 2010, at age 97.
- Obituary of Ken Olsen, founder of Digital Equipment
Corporation, from the New York Times
(February 7, 2011)
(local copy).
-
John McCarthy's Obituary from the _New York Times_, 2011-10-25
(local copy).
-
Dennis Ritchie's Obituary from the _New York Times_, 2011-10-13
(local copy).
- ACM
Citation Style and Reference Format.
-
IEEE Citation Style Guide
-
Alan Turing's
``Computing Machinery and Intelligence,''
Mind, 49 (1950), pp.433-460
, in HTML format.
-
Amnon H. Eden. "Three Paradigms of Computer Science."
Minds and Machines
Special issue on the Philosophy
of Computer Science, Vol. 17, No. 2 (Jul. 2007),
pp. 135-167.
London: Springer. DOI 10.1007/s11023-007-9060-8.
( Local copy)
- BBC
"The Inquiry" Podcasts. Two particularly interesting podcasts are "Can
We Teach Robots Ethics?" (October 12, 2017) and "Who Wins in a Cashless
Economy?" (September 20, 2016).
- Career-related links
- Career Center at CEC
- STEM
Majors Career Fair Information
- Career Center at USC (main site)
- Resume-Writing
Packet from the USC Career Canter
- ACM Career and
Job Center
- ACM Computing Degrees and
Careers Guide
- The Market
for Computing Careers, a report from Calvin College.
- The Gamecock
Toastmasters Club web site.
The club mission is to help students and other
members of the USC community develop communication skills.
- The IT-oLogy web site.
- What is the Internet?
A funny video from a 1994 NBC Today Show Episode.
- Research Methodology Links
- Thomas Dietterich.
"Editorial: Exploratory Research in Machine Learning."
Machine Learning 5, 5-9, 1990 (local copy).
- Thomas G. Dietterich, Pedro Domingos,
Lise Getoor, Stephen Muggleton, and Prasad Talelpalli.
"Structured Machine Learning: the Next ten Years."
Marchine Learning 73, 3-23, 2008 (local copy).
- Stephen Muggleton, Luc De Raedt, David Poole,
Ivan Bratko, Peter Flach, Katsumi Inoue, and Ashwin Srinivasan.
"ILP Turns 20: Biography and Future Challenges."
Machine Learning 86, 3-23, 2012 (local copy).