CIS 400 Senior Project -- Fall 2019


Course Overview

CIS 400 is the beginning of a two-course "capstone" to your undergraduate Computer Science education in which you will have the opportunity to identify, plan, design, implement, and evaluate a computing-based solution to a real-world problem.

In completing this course and the subsequent follow-on course (CIS 401), you will gain experience in:

  • working in a team, including division of labor and responsibilities, integration of work, interpersonal communication, etc.
  • identifying a computing-related problem and potential solutions, and exploring and evaluating different solutions' benefits and drawbacks
  • designing and implementing a computing artifact in such a manner that it can be worked on by a team, is easy to modify, is easy to test, etc.
  • assessing the effectiveness of a computing solution, i.e. the extent to which it addresses the problem it is trying to solve
  • considering the legal, ethical, and financial implications of decisions in a computing-related project
  • communicating the high-level goals and low-level details of a computing solution via written documents and oral presentations
Whether your next step after graduation is industry, academia, research, government, non-profit, etc., these are the sorts of skills you will need in your career as a successful computer scientist and engineer.

 

STAFF

Instructor

    Prof. Ani Nenkova

Teaching Assistants

    Oshin Agarwal
    Anushree Hede
    Rushab Munot
    Abhinav Karale
    Soham Parikh
    Yi Meng (Emily) Su
    Pooja Consul

 

Project Logistics

In order to achieve the educational objectives listed above, you will work on a group project during the Fall and Spring semesters. The focus of the Fall semester is on identifying and scoping out a problem to address, designing and refining a solution, implementing a prototype, and improving teamwork and communication skills.

Each project team should consist of 4-5 students who are currently registered for CIS 400.

 

GRADING

Fall semester

  • Project proposal
  • Class activities - Project pitches etc
  • Book presentations
  • Book summary
  • 5 technical updates
  • 2-3 faculty consultations
  • Final progress report
  • Peer grading final reports

Book Presentations

Book Presentation dates Slides
Project management for the unofficial project manager
Kory Kogon, Suzette Blakemore, and James Wood		 Sep 19, Sep 24, Sep 26
Zig-zag: the surprising path to greater creativity
Keith Sawyer		 Oct 1, Oct 3, Oct 8
Race after Technology
Ruha Benjamin		 Oct 15, Oct 17, Oct 22
Future Crimes Chapter 1-11
Marc Goodman		 Oct 24, Oct 29, Oct 31
On Writing Well
William Zinsser		 Nov 5, Nov 7, Nov 12
Future Crimes Chapter 12 onwards
Marc Goodman		 Nov 26, Dec 3, Dec 5

SCHEDULE

Fall semester

Round Dates
1 09/10
09/12
09/17		 Course overview
2 09/19
09/24
09/26		 Project Proposal - Project proposal template, Feedback template
Book Presentations
Technical update 1 due 09/29 - Work done from Sep 3 to Sep 24
3 10/01
10/03
10/08		 Project Proposal - Project proposal template, Feedback template
Book Presentations
4 10/15
10/17
10/22		 Modularity and Timeline - Timeline template, Feedback template
Book Presentations
Technical update 2 due 10/18 - Work done from Sep 25 to Oct 15
Book Summary 1 due 10/20
5 10/24
10/29
10/31		 Evaluation - Evalation template, Feedback template
Book Presentations
Book Summary 2 due 10/27
Faculty Consultation 1 notes due 10/31
Technical update 3 due 11/01 - Work done from Oct 16 to Oct 29
Book Summary 3 due 11/03
6 11/05
11/07
11/12		 Risk Analysis
Book Presentations
Book summary 4 due 11/10
7 11/14
11/19
11/21		 Team Dynamics
Technical update 4 due 11/15 - Work done from Oct 30 to Nov 12
Book Summary 5 due 11/17
8 11/26
12/03
12/05		 Ethics, Law and Technology
Book Presentations
Technical update 5 due 11/29 - Work done from Nov 13 to Nov 26
4 page-progress report due 12/04 - Will be graded for quality of writing, technical strength, innovation, societal impact/adequately addressing user need and soundness of the evaluation. Peers will grade on the last four aspects. Each student will peer grade 7 projects, with a short justification paragraph and this will count toward the final grade.
Spring Semesters
    Jan 16 - Jan 21 How to wash your chicken presentations
    Jan 23 - Jan 28 TED talk presentations
    Jan 30 Project presentations
    Technical progress update 1 (Covers work done Jan 15 - Jan 29)
    Feb 4 - Feb 18 Project presentations
    Technical progress update 2 (Covers work done Jan 30 - Feb 17)
    Feb 20 Project presentations
    Feb 25 - Feb 27 Weapons of math destruction
    Mar 3 - Mar 5 The ethical algorithm
    Technical progress update 3 (Covers work done Feb 18 - Mar 4)
    Mar 17 - Mar 26 Industries of the future
    Mar 31 Thinking fast and slow
    Technical progress update 4 (Covers work done Mar 5 - Mar 30)
    Apr 2 Thinking fast and slow
    Apr 6 - Apr 9 15-minute poster consultations
    Apr 10 Posters due to the Copy Center
    Apr 14 - Apr 16 Thinking fast and slow
    Technical progress update 5 (Covers work done Mar 31 - Mar 15)
    Apr 21 - Apr 23 Thinking fast and slow
    Final report due
    Apr 28 --- no class; peer grading of final reports instead