Prerequisites

• COMS W3134 (or equivalent)

Course Overview

This course is designed as a companion to mentored research and industry projects in computer science that enable students to apply their learning in real-world contexts. While the course staff can provide general support for projects, they may not have the technical expertise to support all projects in depth. Therefore, for Spring 2024, students are expected to have arranged for a mentored project during the course registration period and will need to present their project topic in the first class. For example, a student could be working on a research project mentored by a professor or helping a local company develop a web interface to their product mentored by a company software engineer. Mentors must commit to meeting with students at least every other week. The course will be run through a mix of lecture and group work led by the course instructor as well as guest instructors from both industry and academia. Lectures cover a variety of applied computing topics designed to complement student projects and engage students with often underexplored considerations for effective and sustainable real-world projects. Students are evaluated both by their mentor on their project progress as well as by the course staff and peers on written deliverables and presentations. Note: Per University policies, you cannot both receive payment and course credit, or credit in two courses, for a single project. However, expanded projects may be acceptable. Similarly, projects done in groups will need to have larger scope. If your project falls into any of these categories, please reach out to the course staff.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the semester, you will be able to:

• Develop long-term open-ended project management skills
• Write up a formal academic report in LaTex
• Give formal project presentations
• Learn and practice a series of practical real-world skills to empower you in your future courses and careers (exact skills depend on the particular content of your project)

Waiting List

This class is capped at 16 students. Students will be admitted based on a combination of seniority, interests in the class, and contributions to a diverse set of viewpoints and experiences in the class. Half of the available slots will be reserved for Barnard students (asuming sufficient demand). To be considered for the class, please join the waiting list AND fill out the form at https://bit.ly/COMS3997-SP24-WL, which asks a few questions about your background and interests in the class, as well as requires you to describe your mentored project and submit a mentor agreement form.

Office Hours

The most up-to-date schedule of office hours can be found here. I will also try to respond to requests emailed to bplancher+courses@barnard.edu within 36 hours during the weekdays and within 48 hours over the weekend. Faster response time will be achieved via the course Slack.