CSC 378/SOC 394 Winter-Spring 2003

Syllabus

This class will meet Tuesday evenings, from 5:45pm to 9:00pm.  It is a two-quarter course.  The instructors are Troy Harden (Psychology and Sociology) and John Rogers (CTI) .

Course Goals and Objectives

Community-based Service Learning courses are designed for students to experience serving the marginalized, disenfranchised and under-served populations of our community. With the gap increasing between the wealthy and those living in poverty, the need to address current issues becomes increasingly relevant. Nowhere is this more evident than in the technology arena. Students will have the opportunity to assess urban community needs in the technology arena, and address first-hand problem-solving methods and strategies to make a substantial difference in an inner-city community group. Goals and objectives include:

1. Increasing students' knowledge of urban community technology needs;
2. Increasing students' awareness of development of technology in inner-city communities;
3. Increasing students' understanding of not-for-profit community organizations/agencies;
4. Giving students experience in developing software for such organizations.

Prerequisites

To insure equal participation by all on the software development teams, you must have completed IS 315 or CSC 315 and at least two quarters of programming in the same language (e.g., CSC 215-CSC 310, CSC 211-CSC 212, or CSC 260-CSC 336). You may not take this course if you have already taken CSC 376/394.

Means of Achieving Goals and Objectives

Several means will be utilized to achieve the goals and objectives, including class lectures, project design and implementation, participation in discussions, experiential exercises, guest speakers, reading and writing assignments, and audio-visual material.

Possible Reading Sources (this may change!)

King, Martin Luther Jr. (1963). Why we can't wait. New York: Harper and Row

Schon, Donald A., Sanyal, Bish and Mitchell, William J. (1999). High Technology in Low-Income Communities: Prospects for the Positive Use of Advanced Information Technology. Cambridge: MIT Press.

McConnell, Steve (1993).Code Complete. Microsoft Press.

Means of Evaluation

Software Project: Students are required to complete a software project for a predetermined community organization. Students will be assigned to teams with other students and work with the instructor and the community agency toward identification and completion of the project.

The project will consist of a ready-to-install software package, a user manual, and technical documentation. In addition, during the course of the two quarters, students will be required to turn in four documents that detail progress with their project. Students will also be asked to present to their peers and the community organization concerning their progress. Completed projects will be due for delivery in the 10^th week of the 2^nd quarter, and students will be expected to present their projects in the classroom setting.

Group Presentation/Project: Students are required to complete a group project with their respective teams based on an aspect of technology and the "digital divide," per the approval of the instructor. Each team will be required to conduct research (a minimum of 10 articles or books) on the topic and submit a 10 to 15 page paper on the information that was gathered. The articles in the class may be used, but only as a supplement to the 10 or more articles found on your own. The paper should include three specific parts:

1. Research related to the subject manner and a detailed analysis of the problem.
2. Interviews with at least three persons from a community-based organization, school or agency related to the area addressed. The individuals must include: an administrator (program director, executive director, principal, etc.), a line-staff person (teacher, counselor, case-manager, etc.), and a person that the organization serves (students, clientele, etc.).
3. Solutions to problems that exist.

The group presentation must be 30 minutes in length. All group members must equally participate. Quality and creativity are expected.

Reflective Journals: Each student is required to submit weekly reflective journals via e-mail or hard copy (typed) concerning processing of class information and assignments. Students should observe the following format:

• Observation (What did you see?)
• Reaction (What did you feel?)
• Analysis (How does you experience relate to concepts you're learning in the course?)

Class/Field Participation: Students will be required to participate in activities inside and outside of the classroom.

Grades will be determined by the completion of the finished project and the research paper and will be assigned after completion of the 2^nd quarter. Students will receive incomplete grades after the 1^st quarter.