Course Syllabus
This syllabus is meant to serve as an outline and guide for this course. Please note that we may modify it with reasonable notice to you. We may also modify the Course Schedule to accommodate the needs of our class. Any changes will be announced in class/posted.
Staff and Meeting Times
Instructors: Ben Jones, Varun Shankar, J. Davison de St. Germain, Nabil Makarem, Matthew Flatt, Ahmad Alsaleem
TAs: n/a
Credit Hours: 4 credits. Hour expectation: 16 per week (standard CS course workload)
Lectures: None
Meetings: TBA by each Faculty Advisor
Course Description
Students will apply their knowledge of software development to specific applications while working with a local industry or institutional partner. As a result of real-world, practical experience, students will acquire deeper knowledge in the domains that they choose to work in. As part of the course, students produce a written report and oral presentation.
Course Outcomes
As a result of the internship, students will be able to:
- Use new programming tools and skills obtained through on-the-job experience;
- Explain how specific tools and development techniques apply to a specific implementation task; and
- Combine programming techniques and tools effectively in a practical software-development setting.
Internship Requirements
Students in the internship course will work with a local company or institution on a programming task. The work takes place during the fall semester, and the task is determined by the student and a manager/mentor at the company/institution. The internship should begin with a plan for a specific implementation task, but the actual work may differ from the plan (as can be expected in a real-world context).
The course is compatible with an internship where source code, tools, and specific strategies are proprietary to the partner company/institution and remain undisclosed, as long as a student can report in enough detail as described below—in short, to demonstrate that the scale and nature of the task is compatible with the capstone educational goals of the MSD program.
Internship work for the course work must include a substantial implementation component, i.e., writing executable code. It must be coherent as a semester-long project; while the work may involve different phases or a few different tasks, it must include components that are large enough to include a design–implement–test sequence that spans weeks. (Simply testing existing software or fixing a large number of unrelated bugs is not sufficient, for example.) Work towards the internship requirement may begin before the fall semester, but a substantial part of the work must overlap with the academic fall semester.
By the end of the semester, the student will produce a report that motivates and describes the implementation task and that explains, at least at a high level, the approach taken to solve the associated programming problem(s). The project cannot be so secret or proprietary as to prevent a public explanation of the motivation or a high-level description of the work involved. The report is in written form, and the student must also give a brief presentation (produce and explain a poster) that summarizes the report.
A specific manager/mentor at the company/institution must confirm that the student produced the software described in the report. In addition to working with a manager/mentor, the student reports on progress to the course instructor at several checkpoints during the semester:
- start of semester: initial plan due (~one page)
- ¼ through semester: status report (~one page) due
- ½ though semester: status presentation, joint with a subset of students in the course
- ¾ through semester: draft report (~5-10 pages) due
- end of semester: final report (~10-15 pages) and video presentation due
Mandatory Institutional Policies for Syllabi
Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)
The University of Utah seeks to provide equal access to its programs, services, and activities for people with disabilities.
All written information in this course can be made available in an alternative format with prior notification to the Center for Disability & Access (CDA). CDA will work with you and the instructor to make arrangements for accommodations. Prior notice is appreciated. To read the full accommodations policy for the University of Utah, please see Section Q of the Instruction & Evaluation regulations.
In compliance with ADA requirements, some students may need to record course content. Any recordings of course content are for personal use only, should not be shared, and should never be made publicly available. In addition, recordings must be destroyed at the conclusion of the course.
If you will need accommodations in this class, or for more information about what support they provide, contact:
Center for Disability & Access
801-581-5020
disability.utah.edu
65 Student Services Building
201 S 1460 E
Salt Lake City, UT 84112
Safety at the U
The University of Utah values the safety of all campus community members. You will receive important emergency alerts and safety messages regarding campus safety via text message. For more safety information and to view available training resources, including helpful videos, visit safeu.utah.edu.
To report suspicious activity or to request a courtesy escort, contact:
Campus Police & Department of Public Safety
801-585-COPS (801-585-2677)
dps.utah.edu
1735 E. S. Campus Dr.
Salt Lake City, UT 84112
Addressing Sexual Misconduct
Title IX makes it clear that violence and harassment based on sex and gender (which includes sexual orientation and gender identity/expression) is a civil rights offense subject to the same kinds of accountability and the same kinds of support applied to offenses against other protected categories such as race, national origin, color, religion, age, status as a person with a disability, veteran’s status, or genetic information.
If you or someone you know has been harassed or assaulted, you are encouraged to report it to university officials:
Title IX Coordinator & Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action
801-581-8365
oeo.utah.edu
135 Park Building
201 Presidents' Cir.
Salt Lake City, UT 84112
Office of the Dean of Students
801-581-7066
deanofstudents.utah.edu
270 Union Building
200 S. Central Campus Dr.
Salt Lake City, UT 84112
To file a police report, contact:
Campus Police & Department of Public Safety
801-585-COPS (801-585-2677)
dps.utah.edu
1735 E. S. Campus Dr.
Salt Lake City, UT 84112
If you do not feel comfortable reporting to authorities, the U's Victim-Survivor Advocates provide free, confidential, and trauma-informed support services to students, faculty, and staff who have experienced interpersonal violence.
To privately explore options and resources available to you with an advocate, contact:
Center for Campus Wellness
801-581-7776
wellness.utah.edu
350 Student Services Building
201 S. 1460 E.
Salt Lake City, UT 84112
Academic Misconduct
It is expected that students comply with University of Utah policies regarding academic honesty, including but not limited to refraining from cheating, plagiarizing, misrepresenting one’s work, and/or inappropriately collaborating. This includes the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools without citation, documentation, or authorization. Students are expected to adhere to the prescribed professional and ethical standards of the profession/discipline for which they are preparing. Any student who engages in academic dishonesty or who violates the professional and ethical standards for their profession/discipline may be subject to academic sanctions as per the University of Utah’s Student Code: Policy 6-410: Student Academic Performance, Academic Conduct, and Professional and Ethical Conduct.
Plagiarism and cheating are serious offenses and may be punished by failure on an individual assignment, and/or failure in the course. Academic misconduct, according to the University of Utah Student Code:
“...Includes, but is not limited to, cheating, misrepresenting one’s work, inappropriately collaborating, plagiarism, and fabrication or falsification of information…It also includes facilitating academic misconduct by intentionally helping or attempting to help another to commit an act of academic misconduct.”
For details on plagiarism and other important course conduct issues, see the U's Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities
Course Summary:
| Date | Details | Due |
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