CS 185C-01: The History of Computing
GREEN SHEET
Fall Semester 2011
Department of
Instructor: Prof. Ron Mak
Mondays and Wednesdays, 6:00 – 7:15
PM
MacQuarrie Hall, room MQH 225 for classroom work. Most guest
lectures will take place in the
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Office hours: |
Mondays:
5:30 – 6:00 PM and 8:45 – 9:30 PM |
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Wednesdays:
8:45 – 10:00 PM |
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and by
arrangement |
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Office location: |
MacQuarrie
Hall, room 413 |
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E-mail: |
Course catalog description
“Advanced Practical
Computing Topics: Computing topics of current interest in industrial practice.
Emphasis on effective use and integration of software/hardware. Different
topics may be offered at different times in a short-course lecture/lab format
and may be repeated for credit.” 3 units
In Section 01, The History of Computing, we will
explore the historical context and antecedents of today’s computing
technologies, including hardware, software, and business and social issues.
Student
learning outcomes
Prerequisites
At least one of the
following:
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CS 46B |
Introduction to
Data Structures |
grade C- or better, or equivalent knowledge of computer software |
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CS 47 |
Introduction to
Computer Organization |
grade C- or better, or equivalent knowledge of computer hardware |
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Instructor
consent |
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A student
not meeting any prerequisites must fill out an Add Form at the beginning of the
semester to explain his or her justifications to take the course, and it will
be the instructor’s and the department’s decision whether or not to allow the
student to enroll.
Required texts
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Other required
texts will be downloadable from the Internet. |
Recommended texts
There are
many books about the history of computing. But since you will be writing about history, the
following book will be extremely useful.
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Since you
will be posting to a global website and your writing will become visible
worldwide, you may want to take advantage of the
Procedure
This is
course will have two simultaneous tracks. On one track, you will work on a project individually or as a member
of a small team, depending on the project. On the other track, you will attend talks by computing pioneers and
industry luminaries and turn in short essays about the talks.
What the
projects are will depend on student interest, either that of the individual or
the members of the small team, with instructor consent. One guide to project
selection is the range of expertise of the computing pioneers who have offered
to be project advisors.
Example
projects include
Each
project team will present occasional oral progress reports of its activities
during the semester to the rest of the class. You will post intermediate drafts
of your project reports (or blogs describing the progress of your research) to
the IEEE Global History Network website to expose your work to experts
worldwide and to solicit their help and guidance. Final deliverables will be
research results that can be submitted to the
Most of the
guest lectures will occur on Wednesday in the ENG 189 auditorium. We will use
the preceding Monday in the MQH 225 classroom to become familiar with the
speaker and his topic. After attending each guest lecture, you will e-mail the
instructor a short essay (at most one page) describing your impressions of the
guest lecture, such as what you thought of the speaker, what insights did you
gain from the talk, how you can use what you learned, etc. This essay will be
due at end of the day each Friday after the lecture.
Class
attendance and participation is critical for this course, both Mondays and
Wednesdays, to attend the guest lectures and to discuss the projects and the
lectures.
Schedule
See http://www.cs.sjsu.edu/~mak/SpeakerSeries
for the schedule of guest lecturers associated with this course. Unfortunately,
it is impossible to schedule the speakers in any semblance of chronological
order, so we will jump around in the history of modern computing, mostly the
1960s through the 1990s, based on the backgrounds of the guest lecturers.
Class grade
Your
individual class grade will be weighted as follows:
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33% |
Attendance
of the guest lectures and weekly essays* |
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33% |
Quality
of the project research** |
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34% |
Quality
of the final deliverable** |
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* individual scores |
If a project
team consists of more than one student, then each student on the team gets the
same team score. Quality of the research includes such factors as what sources
did you investigate, whom did you interview, how well did you solicit and
respond to criticism and advice, etc. Final individual letter grades for the
class will be assigned based on the class curve.
Classroom protocol
As
mentioned above, it is very important for each student to attend classes and to
participate. Cell phones in silent mode, please.
Academic Integrity
Your own
commitment to learning, as evidenced by your enrollment at SJSU, and the
University's Academic Integrity Policy requires you to be honest in all your
academic course work. Faculty members are required to report all infractions to
the Office of Student Conduct and Ethical Development. The policy on academic
integrity can be found at http://www.sjsu.edu/studentaffairs/.
Further Information
If you need
course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, or if you need
special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please make an
appointment with me as soon as possible, or see me during office hours.
Presidential Directive 97-03 requires that students with disabilities
requesting accommodations register with the
Please
familiarize yourself with SJSU policies and procedures:
particularly
the add/drop
policy. It is your responsibility to know and observe these
policies. However, if there is something about a policy that you don't
understand, please feel free to ask! You can also find answers to many
questions at the Academic Advising and Retention Services web
site. Note
that for the Fall 2011 semester, the last day to drop a course without an entry
in your permanent record is Tuesday,
September 6, and the last day to add a course and register late is Tuesday, September 13. After these
dates it becomes very difficult to drop or add a class, so be sure you are in
good shape before these dates arrive! See http://www.sjsu.edu/includes/calendars/academic/1112aycalendar.pdf