Final Exam Instructions

 

1.               It is VERY IMPORTANT for you to follow these instructions precisely.  (If you do not, points will be deducted from your final exam score.)  If you have a question about these instructions, send your question by e-mail to peterson@cse.uta.edu .    (Questions and answers that would be of interest to the entire class will be posted on the class web site under Miscellaneous “Final Exam QandA”.)

 

2.                  Exam answers must be:

a)      Typed in reasonable and readable font size (with margins no more than 1.25”)

b)      Single-spaced plain text or Microsoft Word documents ONLY

c)      Within the size guidelines given at the end of each part of each question.

d)      Run through a spelling-checker and reasonably correct grammatically.  Incorrect spelling and grammar WILL count off.  There are resources at UTA where you can get assistance in correcting essays and papers.  Use them if you need them.

e)         Written by you without discussion of the content with other people.  You may consult references to answer these questions but not other people.  Be sure to cite your references.

f)          Submitted by e-mail to the e-mail address cse1111d@cse.uta.edu (i.e., plain text or Word documents sent as attachments). 

 

3.                  Your final exam answers are due no later than 11:59pm on Tuesday, May 6th.  Those which are submitted by 11:59pm on Thursday, May 1st will receive 5 points extra credit.

 

4.                  Your exam answers must include:

a)      Your name (no nicknames, please)

b)      The text of each of the questions followed by your answers to that question

c)         For each question that has multiple parts (a,b, …); label each part of your answer to match the part of the question being asked  [You are welcome to copy the test from the website and then use it as the framework for your exam answers.]

 

5.                  After your exam is turned in, you have completed the class.  You will get a response when your exam file has been successfully retrieved.   (Double check on your CUP requirements --A list of those students who are “CUP complete” is available on the class web site under the link Miscellaneous “CUP complete list”).    Your course grade will be available by calling SAM on May 14th or later.

 

Name:                                                             

 

 

1.                  You have recently researched and read about the Therac-25 accidents and the role that software played in causing these accidents which resulted in multiple deaths.  (If you have not yet done so, use a search engine to find articles on the web.) 

a)      Give a synopsis of the poor decisions made by the software and system designers of Therac-25 that allowed the accidents to occur.  Identify at least 5 such poor decisions, numbering each one clearly. [Not less than five sentences and not more than one typed page for the answer itself.]

b)      Consider each of the 4 ethical theories we looked at: utilitarian theory, duty theory, rights theory and virtue theory (plus any other that you read about).  Then consider each of the 5 poor decisions you identified in part a).  Do any of them appear to be morally right under one of those theories, but not morally right under another?  Explain. [Not less than five sentences and not more than one-half typed page for the answer itself.]

c)      Read through the Software Engineering Code of Ethics (found at www.onlineethics.org/codes/softeng.html)  and again consider the 5 poor decisions you identified in part a).  For each one of them, is there anything mentioned in that code of ethics that would have kept the software and systems designers from making that poor decision?  Explain. . [Not less than five sentences and not more than one-half typed page for the answer itself.]

d)      Cite your sources (i.e., give at least three references in proper format for articles that you read for this question).

 

2.               In your group presentation, you researched an area relating to contemporary issues in computer science.  Answer these questions from the knowledge you gained in working on your project:

a)      Give your presentation topic and then describe two subtopics from your presentation about which you learned something both new and interesting and what it was that you learned.  These can either be subtopics that were completely new to you or subtopics where what you learned gave a new perspective to your previous thinking about that subject. [Not less than six sentences and not more than a half of a typed page.]

b)      For you and the other members of your presentation group, what changes in behavior, responsibility, and attitudes would have made your project presentation better and the work on the project overall easier and fairer? [Not less than four sentences and not more than a half of a typed page.]

c)      Based on your experience in being an audience for other group presentations, what is the most important piece of advice you would offer, and why? [Not less than four sentences and not more than a half of a typed page.]

 

3.  In today’s society, issues of privacy vs. security are being widely discussed.  Privacy of personal information vs. national security, both involving the use of computers, are important to both CSE majors and the public at large.  Select an aspect of this issue which is of interest to you, find an article on that topic from a published source (e.g., a magazine or newspaper, but not simply someone’s web site), summarize the article and then offer your opinion about the issue stated in the article.  Include the citation (reference) so that your source can be found.   (Note: this question is addressing national security, not personal security.)   [Not less than 10 sentences and not more than 2 typed pages for the answer itself.]

 

 

 

End of CSE1111 Take Home Final Questions