INSS 690

PROFESSIONAL SEMINAR

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND Education Center, Wiesbaden

Saturdays/Sundays, Weekend A, 09.00-16.00, Term 3 - 2000-2001

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

Notes:

Students are expected to discuss their interim results with the class and accept/provide constructive criticism from/for other class members in the course of paper preparation. Providing constructive criticism will be considered part of class participation.

The research report evaluations will be based on content, presentation, and quality of expression. Papers are expected to meet or exceed accepted graduate-level English and scholarship standards.

Papers should conform to the APA documentation style with minor modifications due to the html format. For example, since the paper will paginate based on the printer settings of the individual browser, it is not appropriate to list page numbers in the table of contents. Rather, the table of contents should be in outline form, and preferably with links to the appropriate sections. A brief summary of the APA style can be found at http://www.ldl.net/~bill/aparev.htm A more complete description may be found at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/Files/30A.html. The general order of items in the research paper should be: Title page information, Abstract, outline, body of paper, Annotated Bibliography. Note again, that due to html formatting, the Title page information should not necessarily constitute a full page -- it will be that much more difficult to read from within the browser. Similarly, the abstract should not necessarily constitute a complete separate page.

Presentation of Research: Students will present their research finding and conclusions to the class using appropriate audio-visual and/or handout material. The in-class presentation should allow for 15 minutes for questions and discussion. Members of the class as well as the instructor will contribute in evaluating and providing feedback on the presentation. Evaluation and feedback are considered part of class participation.

Examination: An exam will be given during the last class meeting. It will be an essay exam covering material discussed during class as well as material from student research presentations. Students will have a choice of questions to answer, i.e., answer 3 of the following 4 questions.

Class Participation: The essence of a seminar is the exchange of information. Seminar members are expected to come to class prepared, to accept responsibility for one or more parts of the seminar process, and to participate fully and carry their weight in class discussions.

Each student, for one component of class participation, will select two current topics/issues that will be of interest to the class, and will be responsible for leading the class discussion of the topic. Participants are encouraged to supply a one page handout to help focus the discussion. This handout can be in the form of a hard copy, or can be submitted via email to the class members.

TEXTBOOK:

Primarily articles from current journals and periodicals -- other materials as appropriate.

(Computer Select)

For topics for class discussion, each class participant will select a discussion topic of current interest and will identify one or two and one or two papers related to the topic. The following are potential class discussion topics. Other information system topics could be selected in addition to the ones in this list:

INSTRUCTOR: J. Meinke

Mr. Meinke earned the BA in Mathematics and the MEd in Mathematics Education from SUNY/Buffalo, the MAT in Mathematics from the University of Montana, and the MS in Computer Science from Illinois Institute of Technology. After a period with RCA Computer Systems Division, he became involved with post-secondary education, and has been involved in teaching and curriculum development in computing for more than two decades. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Consortium for Computing in Small Colleges and on the Steering Committees of both the Eastern Small College Computing Conference and the CCSC Southeastern Conference. In addition, he serves as a consultant to the CEEB (College Board) AP (Advanced Placement) in Computer Science program. His areas of interest include curriculum development, computer architecture and operating systems.

Email: meinkej@faculty.ed.umuc.edu or meinkej@acm.org; Address: Heidelberger Weg 2, D-69181 Leimen/St. Ilgen. Telephone: 06221-378208 or 370-6762/7157 (DSN) at the University of Maryland, 06224-924471 (home), 0172-6275322 (mobile).

TENTATIVE COURSE SCHEDULE:

20-21 January

Presentation of research proposals and critiques of such.

Note that facilities will be available for power point presentations. Participants should be prepared that first weekend to present their research proposals

Due: Research proposal with thesis statement, preliminary outline, preliminary bibliography

03-04 February

17-18 February

In-progress research paper review; topic discussions

03-04 March

Research presentations; course evaluations; examination