CS 395 - Independent Work in Computer Science
Credits: 2
Course Description
A course for computer science majors only. A problem, approved by the chairperson of the department, provides and opportunity for individual research and study. May be repeated to a maximum of six credits.
Prereqs: Major and a standing of 3.0 in the department and consent of instructor.
Needed Skills
Requirements will be individually determined by the supervising instructor.
Learning Outcomes
Outcomes will vary depending on the nature of the work performed. Students are required to document their objectives and define the scope of an independent study. This must be approved by the supervising faculty member.
Measures
These outcomes will be measured by the grading of deliverables as agreed upon by the scope of work. Typically, these will take the form of periodic oral and/or written progress reports. There will be a final written report and usually some software deliverable.
CAC Categories
The nature of this class makes it impractical to categorize the material across different offerings to different students.
Oral Communication (presentations)
One-on-one presentations are made to the instructor (supervisor) throughout the semester.
Written Communication
While not formally required, the local culture dictates that a final, relatively formal, written document serve as the culminating deliverable for a student taking this class.
Coverage
Theoretical content: minimal
· This varies, but for most independent study projects this is minimal.
Problem analysis: about 25%
· Again this varies but typically this will be about 25% of the effort as specifications, requirements and design of the project details usually require the first few weeks of effort.
Solution design: about 75%
· Typically a software deliverable is required that will account for the majority of the effort in the class.
Student evaluation and feedback
On projects, detailed feedback on each element of the project is returned.
Course Evaluation Questions
University sponsored course evaluations are not conducted for independent study courses.
Possible Textbook
Typically, no required textbook is used in this class.