CS 195 Syllabus
Table of contents
- Course Overview
- Staff Contact
- Course Components and Grading
- Lectures
- Surveys
- Readings / QQCR
- Podcasts
- Accommodations, Regrades, and Late Policy
- Academic Integrity
- Community Guidelines
Course Overview
CS 195 is a discussion-intensive course about the social implications of computer technology. The purpose of this course is to help students make informed and thoughtful choices about their careers, participation in society, and future development activities. Readings and lecture topics are drawn from a range of fields that together seek to describe our contemporary global society: sociology, philosophy, economics, public policy, etc.
Enrollment
- Course Catalog
- If you are looking to enroll in this course but do not meet EECS department enrollment categories, please make a private post on Ed.
Staff Contact
The best (and fastest) way to contact the staff is through the Ed discussion board. Additionally, feel free to drop by or schedule a meeting for our office hours. More information about the office hours is available on the staff page.
If you need to contact the course staff for personal reasons, you can contact us at cs195@berkeley.edu.
Course Components and Grading
CS 195 is graded P/NP. The reason for this policy is to ensure that you can feel free to express opinions that are different from those of the instructors, both in class meetings and in written and spoken work.
In order to receive a passing grade in CS 195, you must complete the following:
| Course Component | Overview |
|---|---|
| Lectures | [updated 10/31] Attend at least |
| Surveys | Complete all course surveys (about 7 in the semester) |
| Readings / QQCR | Submit at least 10 of 13 QQCRs (starting Week 03) |
| Podcasts | Submit two Computing in the News podcasts that receive passing peer review grades. Also, provide 2 peer reviews for each podcast. |
Lectures
Lecture will be every Tuesday 3:30-5:00PM in Physics Building 1. Lecture is going to be a mix of presentations, students asking questions, group discussion, and class-wide debriefing.
Participation in class is expected, and attendance will be taken. The lecture is the vast majority of the experience of the class, and therefore you cannot have a time conflict. There will not be after-the-fact recordings posted.
This semester, CS195 will be taught in-person, by default. However, we understand that you may have public health concerns, commuting schedules, personal circumstances, etc. We therefore offer an opt-in Zoom Lecture Form for students to request online attendance for most or all lectures. We ask that you submit this form as soon as you know your accommodation (ideally 24 hours before the next lecture) so we can respond to your request.
Just like in-person students, Zoom students are expected to attend the majority of lecture. We will review Zoom attendance logs, and student not registered for the opt-in Zoom option will not receive credit. If you are mostly able to attend in person and need to miss a few lectures, in lieu of Zoom options we request that you use the provided lecture drops. See the Accommmodations section below for more details.
Surveys
There will be periodic required surveys throughout the semester, announced during class and on Ed. Please submit each survey on time by the date listed on the homepage.
Required surveys (updated throughout the semester):
- Week 1/2 Welcome Survey
- Group matching for Podcast 1
- Week 5 Survey
Readings / QQCR
Readings
Readings for each week will be released the week prior to each class (or thereabouts). Please finish the readings before class!
You do not need to purchase any additional materials for this course. Some linked articles may be behind paywalls; we will offer alternatives where possible (e.g., students have free subscriptions to the NY Times).
QQCRs
A QQCR, or a Question, Quote, Comment, and Reply is a short weekly assignment on the readings to help you reflect on the readings and contribute to an ongoing class discussion.
To get credit each week, you must complete a QQCR set: make three posts on the associated Ed megathreads for that week, where one of the posts must be a reply. Please see the QQCR Assignment page for more details.
Podcasts
You will submit two short (~10-minute) podcasts related to issues discussed in class. Please see the home page for more details.
Podcasts are to be completed in groups of 2-3 students. We will release a group registration/matching form with Podcast 1. If you do not have a group in mind, that is okay; we will use your responses to the group matching form to randomly assign your group.
Podcasts are peer reviewed, which means you will review two podcasts per peer review window, and have each of your podcasts reviewed by two of your peers.
We expect the podcasts to take up less time than formulating your thoughts on paper—hence why we are not assigning essays. Please do contact us if this is not the case.
Accommodations, Regrades, and Late Policy
We understand that situations come up during the semester. While we will make an effort to contact students about missing work throughout the semester, it is ultimately your responsibility to follow up with us to request additional accommodations as needed.
Lecture attendance: Please use your built-in absences first before contacting staff about additional makeups. You may make up lecture attendance by attending the H195 discussion section (discussion meeting times in sidebar). Note that sections often require prework, so please do make a private post on Ed in advance so we can provide you with details.
Surveys: You are expected to complete all surveys by their listed deadlines on the homepage. These will be reopened for completion periodically, so please do not make a private post on Ed.
Readings/QQCR: You must complete each QQCR set by the listed lecture date and time for credit. While we will accept short additional extension requests made prior to each lecture deadline, we will not accept any submissions nor extension requests more than one week late. Use your drops.
Podcasts: As of now there are no plans to offer makeup podcasts. While we do not want this 1-unit seminar to stress you out, please also understand that because of our grading timelines, podcasts must be submitted by the posted deadline. If you anticipate needing additional extensions, please make a private Ed post as soon as possible or see the form below so we can provide a short extension or another accommodation. We will review each extension request on an individual basis.
DSP: If you have a DSP-approved accommodation, we will contact you by the end of Week 2 with this semester’s DSP policies.
If you need an extension or regrade request, please fill out this semester’s Extension/Regrade Request form (to be added).
Academic Integrity
The student community at UC Berkeley has adopted the following Honor Code: “As a member of the UC Berkeley community, I act with honesty, integrity, and respect for others.” The expectation is that you will adhere to this code.
Plagiarism/Self-plagiarism
You must be original in composing the writing assignments in this class. To copy text or ideas from another source (including your own previously, or concurrently, submitted course work) without appropriate reference is plagiarism and will result in a failing grade for your assignment and usually further disciplinary action. Anyone found to have submitted assignments completed by another person (student or non-student) will likewise receive a failing grade in the course and be reported to the Center for Student Conduct. For additional information on plagiarism, self-plagiarism, and how to avoid it, see this GSI Guide for Preventing Plagiarism.
AI-generated text
The QQCR assignment is intended to be short and representative the work for a 1-unit course.
Nevertheless you may find it tempting to generate your QQCRs with ChatGPT / LLMs / AI / etc. Please don’t do this. It’s disingenuous, and it communicates to your peers that you do not value anyone else’s time. It’s also glaringly obvious.
In lieu of using an AI, use your assignment drops, or reach out to us to ask for an additional extension. We will individually contact students suspected of cheating with LLMs, and you will need to schedule a meeting with the instructor. We reserve the right to report you to the Center for Student Conduct and give you an NP in the course.
Community Guidelines
Our classroom environment extends to online spaces like Ed. Be civil and respect others, even those that are not in this course. If you find an issue on our course forum, please do one of the following:
- Reply on Ed directly (this counts toward your QQCR count).
- Email cs195@berkeley.edu.
- Submit an anonymous report form (to be added) to course staff.
Course staff reserve the right to delete and/or not award credit or dismiss students from seminar for remarks that promote hate speech, trolling, harrassment, discrimination, or defamation. Serious offenders will be reported directly to both the CS Department Grievances faculty member (link) and the University Center for Student Conduct.