Department of Computer
Science Dr.
Andrea F. Lobo
Syllabus
The
purpose of Field Experience is to provide Computer Science students the
opportunity to integrate academic knowledge with application skills. This
includes experiences to test and refine, first hand, under the supervision of
qualified professionals, the theory, facts and skills learned in academic
study.
The
learning outcomes for students in this course include applying the computer
skills learned in class to a practical problem, developing new computer skills,
enhancing written and verbal communications, writing a effective report, creating
and delivering a effective technical presentation, and understanding and
developing professional behaviors.
Finding
an internship
Each
student is responsible for finding his/her own internship position. The CS Department helps the students by
posting advertisements for company openings and recruiting activities at the
Career and Academic Planning (CAP) Center.
One excellent source of openings is the CSJobs
mailing list, which CS faculty members use to inform interested students of
summer and permanent positions. To
subscribe to the CSJobs mailing list, follow the
instructions in http://www.rowan.edu/cs/csjobs.
You
can get Field Experience credit for an internship that applies and refines the
knowledge and skills that you have acquired in the required CS courses. The type of work performed by the intern will
determine if Field Experience credit can be obtained or not. Typically, software development tasks qualify
for credit, while computer sales or simple software installations do not.
Freshmen or early sophomores are encouraged to do internships, but rarely will
they receive Field Experience credit since these students have not taken even
half of the required CS courses. A minimum of 250/500 hours of work is required
to obtain 3/6 credits of Field Experience. A CS student may apply 3 credits of
Field Experience towards his/her Advanced Restricted Elective requirements; CS
students typically apply additional Field Experience credits towards free
elective requirements. A CS student may register for Field Experience once or
twice, up to maximum of 6 credits.
Once
you have an internship, you should contact the Field Experience professor and
make an appointment to discuss whether or not your assigned tasks will merit
Field Experience credit. It will be
useful, but is not required, to bring to this meeting a statement from your
internship supervisor describing your anticipated duties. If you are approved, the Field Experience
professor will give you a signed override slip that you can take to the Registrar’s
Office in Savitz Hall to register for the course.
Field
Experience deliverables
This course requires the completion of the following
four deliverables:
1. Log Book (LB)
a. What is it?
b. Minimum contents
Keep a daily log of your activities. Document how
much time you spent at the field experience site. Write summaries of important
meetings, conversations and specific directives given to you. At the end of
each day, write notes to yourself about things you learned that may be useful
later. These things include: the code for a crucial C++ function to interface
with a database, the name for a manager that is leading a very interesting
project that you heard about at lunch, etc.
If you prefer to handwrite your log (for efficiency or privacy reasons),
do so in a notebook and not a loose-leaf binder, and glue on a printout of any
code that you wish to include; in this case, you must bring your notebook(s) to
be physically examined by the Field Experience professor at the end of your
internship.
Submit a weekly summary of your LB to the Field
Experience professor. Be sure to include the number of hours spent at the field
experience site on the given week, any task that was assigned to you with its
deadline, your technical achievements (what you did, what you delivered, etc), a
short description of any other issues that have come up, and your reflective
summary. Please submit your summary every
week, preferably via email (lobo@rowan.edu)
or fax (856 256 4741).
c. Preparation guidelines
See b. above, especially on how to submit weekly LB summaries.
d. Grading criteria
Timeliness of submission
2. Report
a. What is it?
b. Minimum contents
Section 1. Your job
· Company name, Department
name, location
· Direct supervisor’s name and
contact information (title, address, email address, etc.)
· Your project: description,
deliverables, number of team members
· Your duties: description,
deliverables, timeline. These will often change as the field experience
progresses. You need to explicitly communicate these changes to the Field
Experience professor, and include them in your DLB.
· Expectations of your
supervisor: similar to above but as seen by your supervisor (preferably in writing!).
Your supervisor’s final evaluation will address how well you accomplished or
fulfilled these.
· What are the prerequisites
skills or requirements for the tasks or the assignments?
· Which specific
courses/knowledge/skills learned at Rowan will you need for this job?
· List the specific new
knowledge/skills you will develop. Explain.
· Internal resources:
who/where can you turn for help if/when you get stuck with a problem?
Section 2. Corporate Infrastructure
and Culture
· Company name, Department
name, location
· Organizational chart of
affiliation: minimally including your position and your boss’s boss, your
position should be highlighted.
· Brief company history and
mission; include some statistics such as number of employees, number of sites,
etc.
· Is there a
personnel/employee handbook?
· What are the procedures for
routine employee evaluations?
· In what specific ways does
the organization foster personal growth:
What are the opportunities
for advancement/promotion?
Does each employee set personal goals or write a
personal improvement plan, and to what extent does the organization aid the
employee in attaining these goals?
Do they provide resources for continued higher
education?
· Summarize the specific
policies regarding conduct, nondisclosure, liability and intellectual
property.
Section 3. Your weekly LB summaries
Section 4. Your presentation materials
(slides, demos, etc.) and handouts
c. Preparation guidelines
Sections 1 and 2 can be completed at the very beginning of your internship. You probably want to obtain the information regarding some of the items in section 1 (duties, expectations, etc.) before you even accept your internship.
d. Grading criteria
Thoroughness
Timeliness of submission
Usefulness to future Field Experience students
3. Presentation
a. What is it?
A 15-20 minute presentation of your final report at a seminar which is open to all Computer Science faculty and students.
b. Minimum contents
The company
The project
Your duties
One or two interesting/representative technical details
(impress the crowd with what you know!)
Summary of knowledge/skills that you acquired
c. Preparation guidelines
One of the learning outcomes of this course is that you will create and deliver an effective technical presentation. Dr. Lobo will help you do this by providing handouts and feedback on your presentation draft and materials. The date of your presentation will be set by the Field Experience professor, in consultation with you. You will make appointments with the professor to meet for a review of your presentation draft and materials. The first review meeting will take place at least one week before your presentation date.
You will prepare your presentation materials, have them reviewed by the Field Experience professor, address any changes recommended by her, and deliver your presentation in a professional manner.
d. Grading criteria
Organization of the talk
(completeness, ordering of topics, etc.)
Effectiveness of
presentation materials (legible slides, relevant handouts, etc.)
Effective oral communication
skills (audible, clear pronunciation, good intonation, well-chosen words,
flowing delivery, eye contact, dress, etc.)
Good answers to questions (well informed, clear and
concise, etc.)
Choice of technical details (interesting,
representative, accurate, informative, detailed)
Effective use of time
(adequate division among multiple topics, ended on time, allowed time for
questions, etc.)
4. Supervisor’s evaluation
a. What is it?
The supervisor’s evaluation is an official evaluation of your work.
b. Minimum contents
See evaluation form at http://elvis.rowan.edu/~lobo/FieldExperience/supervisor.doc to find out what categories you will be evaluated on.
c. Preparation guidelines
You will give to your direct supervisor the evaluation form at the completion of your 250/500 hours of technical work. Please ask your supervisor to return the completed form directly to the Field Experience professor. You will not get a passing grade for your Field Experience until your professor has received this completed evaluation.
d. Grading criteria
25% LB
25% Report
25% Presentation
25% Supervisor’s evaluation
Letter grades will be assigned from your numerical
average according to the following table:
90+
and greater A- or A
85+
to 90 B-, B or B+
80+ to 85 C-, C or C+
75+
to 80 D-, D or D+
75 or less F
The typical suggestions apply:
· Be professional. Avoid
inappropriate screen savers, language, jokes, etc.
· Don’t be the last to arrive
or the first to leave.
· Be friendly: Who wants to
work with a grouch? But always be professional when interacting with
colleagues.
· Be a team player. Help
others if the opportunity arises. Accept the crowd’s invitation to go to Friday
lunch even when you packed a sandwich that morning.
· Make sure you understand
what your supervisor’s expectations are: What your deliverables are, what your
deadlines are, what your hours at work should be, etc.
· Make sure you understand
what your resources are: Which colleagues are available to help you with
technical or administrative duties, the company library, Dr. Lobo’s role in
helping you be successful in your internship, Dr.Lobo’s
or the CS Department Chair’s role in helping you in case there is an
uncomfortable situation at work that you wish to discuss with someone.
· “Well begun is half done!” Make a plan of
what tasks you will need to do to complete your first deliverable by its
deadline. Estimate the time each of
these tasks will take. Try to work extra hard in the beginning to get ahead of
your schedule. If you need to do some technical catching up, you might want to
stay in the office a little later than most. Perhaps you can continue your
reading and proof-of-concept coding at home after work when company policies
allow this.
· If at any time you notice
that you are not making progress on a task (e.g., you have not gotten something
to work although you have been trying for days, or you don’t know where to
start) quickly bring it up with your supervisor or with the person who your
supervisor said could help you. The more you wait, the worse this gets.
· Inform your supervisor as
soon as possible if you anticipate a delay in completing a deliverable. Your supervisor will appreciate the early
warning (and may dedicate more resources to the task so that the deliverable
can be completed on time) and your professionalism.
· Remember that your employer
can read your email and listen to your phone conversations (although they
probably won’t bother to do it).
· Work hard and don’t be hard
on yourself. You are an intern, not quite a professional yet, and it is
expected that you will need help and guidance.
Your
supervisor will meet with you in the first day (or so) of your internship.
During this meeting you should make sure that you understand your supervisor’s
expectations of your work. You should
try to get specific tasks assigned to you, and obtain the name of persons who
will support your efforts (e.g., who to go to when you are not making progress
with a technical problem, who to talk to about submitting time sheets or
getting an employee badge, etc.) This first meeting is also a good time for you
to bring up your participation in the Computing
Field Experience course. You will want to mention that you need to complete
250/500 hours of technical work, and that you will be asking your supervisor to
fill out a one-page evaluation at the end of this period. You must also mention
that you are required to submit weekly summaries of your work, and you must ask
your supervisor how to do this in a way that is consistent with the company’s
nondisclosure and intellectual property policies. Additionally, you may want to
ask how to obtain the information you required in sections 1 and 2 of your
Field Experience Report.