Assignments

The grade for this course will be based on three primary writing assignments as well as reports that are submitted at the end of every class period. The three primary assignments are as follows:

1. Life-Long Learning

   Description: Read a technical article from an IEEE or ACM publication and write a one-page paper (11 pt font, single-spaced, 1-inch margins) on what you learned. Explain how you plan to stay current with developments in your chosen field. Due Date: 18 November, 2010.

2. Professional Ethics

   Description: Write a one-page paper (11 pt font, single-spaced, 1-inch margins) on the case study presented by our guest speaker that articulates what you would do and why. Be prepared to summarize your position to the class if called upon. Due Date: Two weeks after ethics lecture.

3. Contemporary Issues

   Description: Read chapters 1, 3-5, 10 of The World is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman. Write a short report (at least 1000 words) on how the ideas in this book impacted you, and what you plan to do to avoid being "out-sourced." Links are given below to other documents that may be useful to you as you write your report. Due Date: 9 December, 2010.

   Useful Resources

   "My Job Lies Over the Ocean" by Dan McGraw. ASEE Prism Online, vol. 13, no. 4, December 2003.

   Offshore Outsourcing and America's Comptitive Edge: Losing Out in the High Technology R&D and Services Sectors by Senator J. Lieberman.

   IEEE USA Position on Offshore Outsourcing.

   Firm is asked to end India outsourcing by Amy Joi Bryson, Deseret Morning News, Wednesday, March 24, 2004.

   India may lose 'Utah jobs' by Brice Wallace, Deseret Morning News, Friday, April 23, 2004.

   "The Utah Economy: A Review and Outlook", Bureau of Economic and Business Research, David Eccles School of Business, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, January/Feburary 2004.

   Remembering Y2K - The impact today. "Marketplace," American Public Radio, 4 January 2005. (This is a fascinating report that connects all the fuss over Y2K with the off-shoring of technical jobs today. Click on the "Listen to this story" link to hear the report.)

All three of these assignments must be completed to receive a passing grade in the class. Late assignments will be penalized.

In addition to the above, you will be required to hand in a brief set of notes from each lecture that explains what you learned from the lecture and what else you wished you had learned (if anything). These notes will be submitted via Blackboard (go to Assignments and then Attendance), and are due within one week of the lecture. There will be no opportunities for make-ups if you have to miss a lecture.

You may miss one lecture without penalty on your grade. However, for every additional lecture missed, your grade will be penalized one-half letter grade.