COSC/APCO/IASC 1P50

This course is currently offered through Sakai. This is the current or recent outline from Sakai.

Although this course is required for Computer Science students, it is one of the options for both the APCO and IASC streams. It is also a "Science Context Course." With the resulting mixture of student backgrounds, lively discussion is possible! Although no programming skill is required, an appreciation of what programs do, and can be made to do, is useful. Many fundamental issues of technology usage will be discussed in the lectures and in the seminars. Everyday use of computers and the internet, with their concomitant concerns about privacy, identity, and ethics will be covered. Information literacy will be highlighted, as will a study of plagiarism, particularly the use of detection programs such as Turnitin. Many topics have a direct influence on your daily life: for instance, what are the privacy implications of using Facebook; could what is published on a social networking site influence your job prospects, and should it? Should you be worried about RFIDs? What are the implications of using the new smart cards? How can a phishing scam be recognised before your identity is stolen? What can be legally copied from the internet? Is there a difference between copyright and plagiarism? This course consists of three hours of lectures per week, 7 weekly online 'seminars', and a Team Project.