Instructor: Richard Furuta, HRBB 402C, 845-3839, furuta@cs.tamu.edu

Office hours: Mondays 9-10 am and 4-5 pm, or by appointment.

Required textbook:

Baecker, editor, Readings in Groupware and Computer-Supported Cooperative Work: Assisting Human--Human Collaboration, Morgan Kaufman Publishers, 1993.

Readings from the literature as assigned.

Approximate Grading Scheme:

  35%     Class paper presentations and class participation
  30%	  Written paper reports (four; oral and written reports)
  30%     Term project
   5%	  Other assignments

Notes:

1. This class is a readings and discussions class. There are over 800 pages in the Baecker collection, and there have been many papers published since it was compiled, so by the time all is done we may have read and discussed around 1000 pages of material. You will be responsible for reading all of the papers and will be responsible for leading the discussion on several papers throughout the semester. The quality of your participation in discussions and your performance as a discussion leader will be reflected in your grade.
2. We will use electronic mail for announcements. You should check your account for mail regularly.
3. If you need to get in touch with me and I am not in my office, please use electronic mail.
4. The course Web site will be updated regularly to contain information of importance to the class. This will include copies of handouts, copies of slides, and the course's working schedule. You should check it regularly.
5. Assignments are due at the beginning of class on the due date.
6. Final course grades are based on the overall average. You are guaranteed a grade based on a 10\% window (e.g., 90-100% is an A). Individual grade windows may be increased in size if the instructor deems it appropriate (e.g., if you have 89% you might get an A but you will get nothing lower than a B).
7. A paper summary is to be turned in by each student for each paper read, unless stated otherwise by the instructor. The summaries are due at the beginning of the class for which the paper has been assigned. Paper summaries should cover "talking points" about the paper to help get the discussion of the paper started. Reports should include:
   • Your name and email address
   • Bibliographical data for the paper: paper title, authors, where it appeared (page citation in Baecker is sufficient for the papers from that collection), and date of original publication.
   • A list of key points made in the paper (i.e., what are the take-home lessons from the paper?).
   • A list of discussion points and unanswered issues raised by the paper.
   Use a separate sheet of paper for each report.