CSE Curriculum Committee: 2016-17

Agenda Items for Future Meetings

1. Discussion: should ENGR/CSE 1221 (Matlab) be CSE only (Rafe)?

2. Discussion: some upcoming course proposals (Paul)

   • new course MGEL/DataAnalytics (Ramnath)

   • new course on Law + CS (Choi)

   • new Python course? (Fritz)

   • new Ruby course? (Sivilotti)

3. Data Analytics students: cohort progressing through major

   • Pre-req's for tech electives, since students have 3430 (Sys 1.5) instead of 2431 (Sys 2)

   • CS Capstones require 390x, but (many) DA students don't take it (can a pre-req be "DA major"?)

4. Action Item: proposal from Neelam (7/2016)

   • Make 2331 (Foundations II) a pre-req for capstone courses

   • Rationale: encourage students to take the course earlier in their UG career

5. Discussion: (Rafe) Should the department have a grading policy/curve to standardize grades?

6. Discussion: R course coming from stats

7. Status report: Pilot offering of "DataMgt in Cloud" (spring)

8. Status report: Pilot offering of 3430 "Systems 1.5" (Neelam)

9. Follow-up report: Impact of new Arts & Science grade forgiveness policy, see minutes from 9/11/15 (Nikki)

10. Discussion: Should an UG course be created for rapidly evolving technologies (like 5xy9's for grads)? (Neelam)

2017-02-01

Present:

Soundarajan, Strader, Sivilotti, Reeves, Morris, (Yang) Wang, Peng, Sun, Supowit, Wenger, Vasko, (Huamin) Wang

1. Action: Change prerequisites for 2112 (Lori Rice)

   CSE 2112 (Modeling and Problem Solving with Spreadsheets and Databases for Engineers) is an Excel and Access course we were asked to develop for ISE. It is a required class in the ISE major. As designed and taught, the course requires a stronger programming background than stated by the pre-requisites. In particular, pre-requisite list include several alternatives to 122x (Intro in Java/C++) or ENGR 1281.

   The proposal is to eliminate those alternatives.

   Current Prereq’s: 1211 (203), 1212, 1221 (205), 1222 (202), 1223 (201), or 204, or EnGraph 167, or Engr 1221, 1281.01H, or 1281.02H, or CSE Placement Level A.

   Proposed new prereq’s: 1222 (202), 1223 (201), Engr 1281.01H, or Engr 1281.02H

2. Action: Changing and Enforcing prereq’s for core courses (Rafe and Nikki)

   Context: Students, especially pre-majors, who are not abiding by stated course prerequisites are taking up seats in courses needed by majors who are making appropriate progress toward graduation. Ineligible students are also taking up the early spots on waitlists for courses that are full, inflating the numbers and making difficult the tasks of determining how many sections of courses to offer each term and who should be added when seats become available. These ineligible students frequently fail or drop these courses, leaving unused spots that otherwise would have been filled with students progressing toward their degrees.

   The two following proposals (SIS enforcement and restriction to majors) aim to reduce the number of ineligible students trying to access CSE courses.

3. Proposal: Use SIS to enforce pre-requisites when students schedule

   The scheduling system used by students (SIS) can be configured to prevent students from registering for courses for which they do not have pre-requisites. This includes joining waitlists.

   Courses that currently have prerequisites enforced are:

   • CSE 2221 (core)
   • CSE 2231 (core)
   • CSE 2321 (core)
   • CSE 3321 (core choice)
   • CSE 3541 (core choice)
   • CSE 5912 (capstone)

   This proposal adds to the above list the remaining core courses, the core choice courses, and the project courses:

   • CSE 2331 (core)
   • CSE 2421 (core)
   • CSE 2431 (core)
   • CSE 2501 (core)
   • CSE 3901/3902/3903 (project)
   • CSE 3231/3241 (core choice)
   • CSE 3341 (core choice)
   • CSE 3421/3461 (core choice)
   • CSE 3521 (core choice)

   There was considerable discussion about the merits of the proposal, including the significance of the problem being addressed and the tradeoffs involved. Some points raised were:

   • Our current philosophy is to allow students to disregard pre-requisites, with the understanding that they bear the consequences of such a decision.

   • The enforcement of pre-requisites has, up to now, been done on a case-by-case basis, on request from the course coordinator and in consultation with the chair of the curriculum committee. The presumption of such discussions on the part of the curricum committee has always been that enforcement is not necessary. This motion changes that presumption for the listed set of courses.

   • Students may not even be aware they are disregarding pre-requisites, assuming that the scheduling system would prevent them from registering otherwise.

   • Most, but not all, departments enforce pre-requisites.

   • Special circumstances may exist for particular students that warrant waiving pre-requisites in those cases. The course instructor (and/or advising office) always has the ability to let students into their class, even if SIS prevented them from signing up.

   • Not all pre-requisites are equal. The course coordinators for each of the listed courses should be given the option of enforcing a subset of the official pre-requisites.

   The motion passed, 8 in favor, 1 opposed.

4. Proposal: Add “Not pre-majors” to prerequisites of certain courses. (Rafe and Nikki)

   Specific wording proposed: “Not open to CIS-PRE, CSE-PRE, ECE-PRE, DATA-PRE, ENGPRE-PRE, ENGREEXP, or students in University Exploration” to the prerequisites of certain courses.

   Adding and enforcing this prerequisite will prevent these groups of students from both registering for the courses and placing themselves on the waitlists. The courses to include this statement are the following:

   • CSE 2331 (core)
   • CSE 2421 (core)
   • CSE 2431 (core)
   • CSE 3901/3902/3903 (project)
   • CSE 3231/3241 (core choice)
   • CSE 3321/3341 (core choice)
   • CSE 3421/3461 (core choice)
   • CSE 3521/3541 (core choice)

5. Action: Add programming requirement to 2112 pre-reqs (Lori)

   The CSE 2112 course is an Excel & Access course we were asked to develop for the Industrial Systems Engineers major. We have taught this new class for about 2/1 years and we (Rafe and I, along with ISE) have come to the conclusion that we should replace the pre-reqs with pre-reqs that require some type of programming.

   Current pre-reqs: 1211 (203), 1212, 1221 (205), 1222 (202), 1223 (201), or 204, or EnGraph 167, or Engr 1221, 1281.01H, or 1281.02H, or CSE Placement Level A.

   Proposed pre-reqs: 1222 (202), 1223 (201), Engr 1281.01H, or Engr 1281.02H

   CSE 1223 (Java) or CSE 1222 (C++) or Engr 1281.01H or Engr 1281.02H.

2016-11-21

Present: Bucci, Fritz, Morris, Peng, Reeves, Sivilotti, Soundarajan, Strader, Sun, Supowit, Wenger, Xu

1. Update: Game design courses in other departments (Paul)

   The department of Design is proposing several new game design and development courses: Game Design I, II, and III. GD I is about analog games, GD II involves video game development using Unity, and GD III involves mobile apps.

   • Game Design 1
   • Game Design 2
   • Game Design 3

   A new minor on "Critical Game Studies" is being developed by Design, Communication, and English. GD I will be part of the core of that minor (along with a course from English and another from Comm.) GD II and III will be elective choices.

   GD II will be joint with ACCAD and mirrors an existing grad level course in ACCAD.

   There is some concern about the amount of overlap between GD II and CSE 3902 and 3541. Paul will continue discussion with the Graphics faculty and see what can be worked out, in particular involving the faculty with the closest relationships with ACCAD.

   We have told Design about CSE 1211 Images, Animation, Games, since it would be an appropriate course for students pursuing this minor

   This minor may be attractive to our students, but we should ensure the exclusions are appropriate: For example, a student who has 3902 should probably not get credit for GD II.

2. Action Item: proposal to change 3321 Automata pre-req's (Rafe)

   Proposal: Add Math 3345 as a pre-req for 3321

   Currently Math 3345 is a transitive pre-req: It is a co-req for 2331 Fnds II, which is a pre-req for 3321. However, Doreen has noticed students in 3321 who have not taken Math 3345, and who struggle with the material in 3321.

   By having Math 3345 in the formal pre-req list for 3321, it can be enforced by the registration system.

   The possibility of enforcing the Math 3345 co-requisite for 2331 was also considered (which would be another way to address the problems encountered in 3321). However, 2231 is taught during the summer, while Math 3345 is not. So, it can be helpful to not enforce the Math 3345 co-req. Rafe will contact Math to enquire about Math 3345 being offered in the summer.

   The motion passed unanimously.

3. Discussion: standardization of 2321 Fnds I content (Paul)

   ne concern voiced at the UG forum last spring was the lack of standardization between different offerings of Fnds I/II and Systems I/II.

   From the minutes of that forum:

   Comment from a student: The standardization in Software I, II seems really helpful. Such standardization is missing in Fnds I, II, and in Systems I, II.

   Neelam agreed that this was a good point and will bring it up to the appropriate faculty. Doreen Close noted that standardization might be especially important for Fnds I and Sys I since Fnds II and Sys II build directly on those courses. A number of students felt that this was much more the case with Fnds I/II (than with Sys I/II) so standardization is really important for Fnds I. We will discuss this in the Curriculum Committee and see if we can find a sensible way to address this.

   The committee was informed that the following measures have been taken (or are underway):

   1. There has been a change in instructional staff for Foundations I, which should improve the overall quality of instruction in that course.

   2. The Foundations I/II instructors will meet to coordinate material and presentation within this sequence.

   3. Foundations II currently begins with review, including out-of-class problem sessions run by Rafe. These sessions are open to students in all sections and are helpful for smoothing the transition from Found I.

2016-10-10

Present: Bond, Bucci, Morris, Reeves, Sivilotti, Soundarajan, Strader, Yang Wang

1. Action Item: concurrence request MAE 5194 Smart Product Design (Paul)

   • syllabus

   MAE has requested our concurrence for piloting a new course on internet-of-things connected devices: MAE 5194 "Smart Product Design". The pre-requisites in the proposed syllabus are CSE 112x, but should be 122x.

   The committee agreed to concur.

2. Update: ISE concurrence request considered last time (Paul)

   Last time (2016-09-19), we agreed to consult with Misha Belkin before responding to ISE's concurrence request. Misha saw some overlap, but for expedience we concurred with the one time (group studies) pilot offering and connected Misha with the faculty member in ISE. Apparently ECE also had concerns with the proposed course as they have something similar already on the books.

3. Discussion: Syllabus clean-up (Paul)

   • ECE Procedure for Course Changes

   There are two separate databases for syllabuses:

   1. the university database (curriculum.osu), and

   2. the college of engineering database (coe-portal).

   The college database includes important ABET information (such as the relationship of each course to Criterion 3 outcomes and program outcomes), while the university database does not.

   In general, new course syllabuses are developed and approved using the college tool, but changes to existing courses are done with the university tool.

   Because the two databases are independent, inconsistencies can arise. There are (at least) two sources of such inconsistencies: (i) modifications made at the registrar level (ie without dept involvement) when syllabuses are finalized in curriculum.osu, and (ii) changes to existing courses (ie initiated by the department) made at curriculum.osu. Kitty has been keeping the two versions in sync manually by updating CSE syllabuses in the college tool whenever we make changes (at curriculum.osu)

2016-09-19

Present: Bucci, Morris, Peng, Reeves, Sivilotti, Soundarajan, Strader, Supowit, Yang Wang, Wenger

1. Introductions (Paul)

   Our undergraduate student representative will be Cailin Pitt. He has served on the committee in the past.

2. Discussion: Review of summer activity (Paul)

   1. We approved a concurrence request from History for a new course, HIST 3702 "Digital History".

      • syllabus

   2. We approved awarding course credit for AP CS-Principles as CSE 1211 (Comp. Thinking Animation). We discussed the nature of this new AP CS class last year (see minutes). OSU is required to provide some credit for each AP exam (scores of 3 or higher). Although the new AP course for computer science (AP CS-Principles) has a fairly broad description, its learning objectives map best to CSE 1211. There is some concern that students who take AP-Principles may not be prepared for CSE 2221 (SW I); See discussion below about a change 2221 pre-reqs.

3. Action Item: Change of pre-reqs for 2221 (SW I) (Paul)

   CSE 2221 (SW I) has a programming pre-requisite, currently expressed as "CSE 1211, 1212, 1221, 1222, 1223, or CSE Placement Level A". The 121x courses, however, are "computational thinking" courses which, although they include programming activities, may not be preparing students adequately for CSE 2221. Nikki Strader and Paolo Bucci reported on students struggling in 2221 after completing 121x. Although some of the best students in 121x may go on to pass 2221, in general students are best served by a more rigorous programming experience such as 1223.

   Given that the option exists for taking a placement test to guage a student's preparation for 2221, the committee voted to remove the 121x option from the pre-req list of CSE 2221.

4. Action Item: Concurrence request from ISE (Paul)

   ISE has requested concurrence from CSE to pilot a new course, (as a group studies) "Optimization for High-Dimensional Data Analysis" (syllabus, proposal).

   Paul will check with Misha before replying to ISE.

5. Discussion Item: Co-reqs for CSE 1222 (C++ for Engineers & Scientists) (Rafe)

   Lima has requested that the math co-req for CSE 1222 (C++ for Engineers), which is currently Math 1151 (Calc I), be lowered to Math 1150 (pre-Calc). This change would allow pre-CSE students to proceed to CSE 2221 in their next semester and thus make progress in their major while simulataneously catching up their math sequence.

   The difficulty is that the projects and assignments in CSE 1222 use significant mathematical context, so the Math 1151 co-req is beneficial. Also, this course serves a large population of non-CSE students, so a such a change would require significant consultation with other stakeholders, none of whom would benefit from such a change.

   Finally, students who intend to take CSE 2221 should be taking CSE 1223 (not 1222) as a pre-requisite, as that is an easier transition (being in Java). CSE 1223 does not have Math 1151 as a co-req.

   Also, in individual cases the instructor may waive a pre-req after consulting with the appropriate advisor.