Pechenick Course Offerings, Fall 2008
(Feel free also to e-mail your questions.)

CS14 Visual Basic    CS195 Advanced Visual Basic    CS195 Accelerated MATLAB    CS292 Senior Seminar



Trying to decide which course is right for you? 

    Want to know what you're getting into?  


        Read on...          

             
  

CS14 Visual Basic    CS195 Advanced Visual Basic    CS195 Accelerated MATLAB    CS292 Senior Seminar

CS 14 Visual Basic Programming (3 credits)
 
Great course for beginners who want to see what computer programming is like.
Fulfills the Arts & Sciences mathematical sciences distribution requirement.

CSIS majors - check out the Advanced VB course, an approved substitution for CS14.

Visual Basic is a great language for creating interactive projects for business and pleasure.  It's also a very friendly language for learning how to program.  Microsoft is keenly promoting Visual Basic, so there are all sorts of fun and creative examples for us to look at, in addition to the well-tested, student-friendly textbook.  We'll be using Visual Basic 2008 Express (free software download), and the latest book by Gaddis & Irvine (for savings, see eBook option or find a student who is taking the course this summer).

http://www.microsoft.com/express/download/

http://www.microsoft.com/express/vb/default.aspx
(This is just to give you a flavor of what's possible for an ambitious final project IF you so choose  :-)

http://www.pearsonhighered.com/educator/academic/product/0,3110,0321531353,00.html


CS 14 is specifically designed for beginners - you do NOT need any programming experience (although you are welcome either way!), and you do NOT have to be a science or mathematics major (ditto).  You will learn to program quickly, with lots of support and hands-on lab opportunities for exploration and play.  In lieu of a final exam, you will create a project of your own choosing.  The projects you create can be run on any machine with a recent Windows operating system, including those of your friends and family!

Some examples of former student projects - by programming beginners - include:

Virtual tour of  Fenway Park, nutrition calculator for Mom's birthday gift, guitar chord tutor, theater majors' databases for costume and lighting design, personalized mp3 player, cost calculator for family's construction company, control of LED light show, ...

Note 1:  This course fulfills the College of Arts & Sciences Mathematical Sciences distribution requirement.

Note 2:  This course fulfills a requirement for the CSIS degree.  However, it is recommended that CSIS students with previous programming experience enroll in CS195, Advanced Visual Basic Programming (see below).  Your advisor is already prepared to approve this substitution for your degree.




CS14 Visual Basic    CS195 Advanced Visual Basic    CS195 Accelerated MATLAB    CS292 Senior Seminar

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CS 195  Advanced Visual Basic Programming (3 credits)  /** NEW COURSE THIS YEAR  **/

CSIS majors - this course is a great one for you!  Use it IN PLACE OF CS14.

Know another language but never worked in Visual Basic?   Already had CS14?    It's still okay to take this course!  

Grad students:  You are most welcome!  You are allowed a few 100-level credits, and should discuss this with your advisor.  You may also wish to consider Accelerated MATLAB, an excellent course for scientists, engineers, and financial analysts, which requires no programming background.

Visual Studio.NET 2008 is an extremely robust and professional programming environment.  Check the ads for programming job descriptions and you'll find lots of them seeking .NET experience.  

This course will allow experienced programming students to tailor your own exploration of Visual Basic with any combination of ASP.NET (web programming), ADO.NET (database programming), LINQ , and SQL Server.  See below for suggested Murach texts (TOCs are instructive); follow this link for a flavor of the possibilities:

http://www.microsoft.com/express/vb/default.aspx


WHAT'S SPECIAL ABOUT THIS COURSE?
  • We will move quickly through very accessible intro material - if you can already write code in some language and could use that language to earn at least a B- in CS26 (now renumbered CS110) or equivalent, you'll be fine.  (Note:  CS26/110 is NOT a prerequisite for this course.)
  • You will enjoy the latitude to focus your own learning, alone or in groups.
  • There will be many classroom opportunities for friendly code walk-throughs of your individual and group projects, with constructive trouble-shooting and feedback (this is really good experience).
  • Grades will be based on projects as well as your individual efforts to share new information, application settings, and those inevitable bugs and fixes with your classmates.
  • Those interested may receive Service Learning credit by developing  projects for clients seeking a computer-based solution to their particular work (can be in any area you like; if you need ideas, they'll be forthcoming early in the semester, or drop me an e-mail to explore your own thoughts).


FEEL FREE TO JOIN IN, EVEN IF
  • You're a CSIS major - This course is an allowed substitution for your CS14 requirement.
  • You've already taken CS14 -  after a short ramping-up period, there'll be almost no overlap.


You may use whatever documentation suits you - I plan to order these excellent books for the bookstore shelves (you might discover them to be keepers for your professional library):

http://www.murach.com/books/vb08/index.htm
(take a look at the TOC)

http://www.murach.com/books/a2vb/index.htm
(2008 version on its way)

http://www.murach.com/books/adv2/index.htm
(ditto)


CS14 Visual Basic    CS195 Advanced Visual Basic    CS195 Accelerated MATLAB    CS292 Senior Seminar

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CS 195  Accelerated MATLAB (1 credit)

This course is open to students from any degree program on campus, as well as Continuing Education students.

Those without programming experience are encouraged to enroll, as well as experienced programmers wishing to learn about this fabulous tool.

Grad students:  You are most welcome!  You are allowed a few 100-level credits, and should discuss this with your advisor.


MATLAB is a fantastic language used by engineers, scientists, and financial analysts world-wide.  Even without prior experience, one can very quickly learn enough to analyze and visualize (graph) your data.  There are a wide range of functions available for linear algebra, numerical methods, statistical analyses, image processing, and so much more.  In particular, MATLAB is especially designed to work with collections of information (matrices, vectors, arrays), so it is easy to do the same operation on all the data at once, or select out subsets of information that fit a particular criterion or classification.

The course is designed for students seeking that one additional credit needed to graduate or round out a semester, and will cover material quickly in order to provide sufficient depth and breadth.

No previous programming knowledge will be assumed; mathematical concepts will be accessible, and explained or reviewed as necessary.

Grades will be based on one midterm exam and various programming projects of appropriate scope for a 1-credit, 100-level course.

Materials will include
  • MATLAB software, which can be purchased for standalone use, or installed free, using the CEMS site license (requires continuous connection to UVM network during use, wired on-campus, or wireless/off-campus via VPN ).
  • MATLAB's own HELP documentation, which is quite excellent
  • Other recommended books and materials provided by the instructor

As applicable and if desired, each of you is welcome (at the instructor's discretion) to substitute, for course credit, your own research or other coursework as MATLAB practice material.  We can also use class time and office hours to discuss the particulars of your work.

To learn more, take a look at the Mathworks website for some of the ways this tool is used (but don't be daunted - we'll start at the beginning):

http://www.mathworks.com/

http://www.mathworks.com/academia/


CS14 Visual Basic    CS195 Advanced Visual Basic    CS195 Accelerated MATLAB    CS292 Senior Seminar

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CS 292 Senior Seminar (1 credit)

Graduation requirement for all seniors in CS (BA and BS degrees) and CSIS.

Yes, I know you already know you are taking this course if you are a CS senior this fall (and heads up:  it's only offered in the Fall).

In case you're wondering what this course is about, here's the way I organized the course in 2006:

http://www.cems.uvm.edu/~apecheni/cs292/

This format will be open to discussion at our first seminar meeting - there's always room for your preferences - but it's definitely a hands-on seminar course, so participation will definitely be student-centric, and will include a service activity (e.g., helping at CEMS' Design TASC/Technology Fair).

Potential topics are probably different from those you've explored in the majority of your other courses, and we can have some fun wrestling with thought-provoking ideas and possibly unquestioned assumptions.

For example, here's a sense of the articles I've collected in only the last few months.  Obviously, this is just a non-statistical sampling, and should not be used to deduce anything (one way or the other) about the opinions of the instructor, department, UVM, etc.

  • Blogs
    •   Was it okay for Matt Drudge to reveal Prince Harry's whereabouts (serving with British military in Afghanistan)?
  • Social networks and virtual worlds
    • If you're already married, should a Second Life marriage, in which you're spending many hours each day, be considered infidelity?

    • Facebook, Bebo, MySpace, Second Life, ...
      • Benefits?  Disadvantages?  Fait accompli?  Should "society" lighten up or run for cover?
  • Technology and society
    • Research shows that more than a quarter of eight to 11-year-olds online in the UK have a profile on a social network (e.g., Bebo, MySpace, Facebook).  Presumably, this is not unlike the participation level in the US.  Is this cause for concern?

    • Recent article titles:  

      • Text generation gap:  UR2Old (JK)
      • Humans to have robot lovers by 2050
      • Parents' reliance on the Web to find information about [their] children
  • Copyrights

    • What, in fact, are the copyright rules?
    • Should all information on the Internet be free?
    • Title of recent Pogue article (NYT):  The Generational Divide in Copyright Morality
  • Privacy
    • Is it okay for the state (country) to spy on its residents?
    • Is it okay for a company to spy on its employees?
    • Is it okay to share online conversations with others?  Is this a different question because technology is involved?
    • How do you feel about billboards flashing you-specific commercials as you walk past?
  • Implications of biometrics
    • Are our fingerprints private information?  Activitists in Germany didn't think so; in protest, they've published the prints of their Interior Minister on the Web!

  • Police state or fair game?
    • If a city arrests demonstraters, should it be allowed to subpoena the records of the computer scientist whose text-messaging system allowed them to organize more effectively on the scene?  (True story:   New York City, 2004 Republican National Convention) 
       
  • Cybercrime and protection
    • What's the latest in technology and public policy?  Which European country has done a great job fending off cyber attacks, and is now leading the European effort to bolster its Web Shield? *
    • How did the recent Hannaford debacle occur?  What should be done to prevent this in the future?
    • What are credit card companies doing now to protect you?
  • Digital Divide:  How does technology hurt, and how can it help the underserved?

    • What happens to the people and environment in locations where circuit boards are recycled?
    • If the level of technology improves in underserved areas, how will it impact people's quality of life?
  • Technology benefits
    • How will India change (and will it?) when Tata Communications "launches the world's largest commercial network" (wireless broadband)?
  • Ethical responsibilities
    • If you worked for the State Department, would you expose the passport records of presidential candidates?
    • Recent study in Madrid,  Scientists demand ethical education for computer [scientists]:

      "      ...without a solid ethical education, the [software] engineer “would become a mere depersonalized 
            technical instrument in the hands of others”. 
    • Who are the top 12 Green-IT users?  (...and what does that designation mean?)
    • If your company instituted an employee surveillance program, would you write/implement the software to do it?




This is your seminar:  Where do you want to go today?


*European country whose scientists have shown particular expertise in fending off cyber-attacks:  Estonia


CS14 Visual Basic    CS195 Advanced Visual Basic    CS195 Accelerated MATLAB    CS292 Senior Seminar

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