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Assignments/Weekly Responses

Sambeg’s Weekly Response#3

Posted by S Raj on

Sambeg Raj Subedi
ENGL 21007-S
Prof. Jesse Rice-Evans
Weekly Assign#3
02/18/2019

The Measure of a Man, Star Trek, Episode 9 was interesting to watch as it mainly focuses on an issue related to human and technology. Data, a unique character in this movie, is a machine which completely looks like a human and is constructed in such a way that, it is capable of learning, responding and making decisions. These capabilities drew the attention of Maddox and his friend Riker. They aimed to disassemble that creature and make a study in order to recreate more of such machines. This episode moves around a central idea, which is to whether allow machines to have the freedom to use their rights or not, but finally ends up providing them rights, allowing him(Data) to refuse the proposal to disassemble and make an experiment on him.
Though in this movie, a machine was given the full freedom of its right, I don’t believe in the real world, we should allow machines to make the decision of their own. These machines are operated by software and algorithms, which is developed by humans. So, it’s not necessarily true that an operation performed by machine will be 100% correct and reliable. For example, in a newspaper article published in 2016, It was mentioned that predPol, which is an algorithm designed software used to predict when and where crimes would take place, was found intentionally targeting black communities. This shows how software, algorithms and AI are being sexist and racist. Now, the AI system has conquered almost everyplace. Developers are using several algorithms in software to silently withdraw the personal data and information from the user and use in an AI system for their personal interest. For example, we might sometime wonder how Facebook is able to display ads of our interest such as a shoe, phone and bags brand we like the most. Its all because of the AI system which is able to read our brain and, displaying such ads will unknowingly lead the user to buy that product.

Assignments/Week #1 Response

Sambeg’s weekly Response#1

Posted by S Raj on

Sambeg Raj Subedi
ENGL 21007-S
Prof. Jesse Rice-Evans
Weekly Assign#1
02/11/2019

The comic article “Understanding Rhetoric: A Graphic Guide to Writing” was quite informative in nature. In this article, the author mainly focuses on the definition of Rhetoric, views of ancient people and it’s importance in today’s writing and communication. Rhetoric, being a broad topic covers Ethos, Pathos, Logos, and Kairos. During ancient times, people had a mixed opinion regarding Rhetoric. According to Plato, ancient Greek philosopher “Rhetoric is intended only to hide flaws, not to encourage self-improvement” which clearly reflects his negative view about Rhetoric. He believed that it negatively impacted the young peoples by disabling their ability to speak the truth. In his opinion, sexual and violent crimes committed by actors on the stage helps spectators to imitate bad actions. I am quite unsatisfied with his views because it is not true that people will always grab a negative aspect of the play and try to imitate it. It totally depends on the individual’s ways of thinking. Unlike Plato, Aristotle is quite positive about Rhetoric. He considered Rhetoric to be one of the foundations of education. He believed that to be effective in communication and writing, three aspects Ethos, Pathos, and Logos must be taken into consideration. Ethos means credibility that speakers or writer brings to the subject. Pathos means the use of emotion on the subject and finally, Logos means the use of logic behind the argument. In order to make a complete meaningful argument, there must be the inclusion of all those factors. I am totally impressed by his opinion because while reading this article, an image of a Political leader appealing his citizens to vote for him came into my mind. If we deeply analyzed their speech then we could find the inclusion of all three factors. Apart from this, the author also highlighted on Kairos which simply means doing the right things on the right moment. It is obviously true because it makes no sense if somebody tries to make fun in a funeral ceremony. Things will be effective only if it is done at the right time.
Two other articles “When Your Grades Are Based On Labor” and “Labor Log” were basically about the grading system. It was mentioned that student is graded based on time and labor which means as long as the students put their effort on their paper and submit on time, they can expect a good grade. In order to improve students writing skills, students are allowed to revise their paper which is excellent because I think in next attempt students will certainly use their previous experience and be more creative to do better than previous.

Assignments/Week #2 Response

Sambeg’s Weekly Response#2

Posted by S Raj on

Sambeg Raj Subedi
ENGL 21007-S
Prof. Jesse Rice-Evans
Weekly Assign#2
02/11/2019

On Feb. 11, 2019, The New York Times published an article called “A.I. Shows Promise as a Physician Assistant”. It was written by Cade Metz. This article mainly focused on the latest achievement obtained in the healthcare field through Artificial Intelligence. Being a Computer Science student it was a great pleasure to know the positive impact of “Deep Learning” in almost every field including healthcare, transportation, communication and so on. Being specific to this article, it was mentioned that scientists had built a system that automatically diagnoses common childhood conditions — from influenza to meningitis — after processing the patient’s symptoms, history, lab results, and other clinical data. According to researchers, the system was highly accurate and one day may assist doctors in diagnosing complex or rare conditions. In order to build this system, researchers drew the records of nearly 600,000 Chinese patients who had visited a pediatric hospital over an 18-month period and this vast collection of data was used to train the so-called A.I. system. This system relies on a neural network which is a breed of artificial intelligence. It was also mentioned that Dr. Zhang and his colleagues have created a system that can diagnose an even wider range of conditions by recognizing patterns in text, not just in medical images, which can spot-check and make sure the physician didn’t miss anything. While comparing the results from the system and experienced physicians, it was observed that the A.I. system was more than 90 percent accurate at diagnosing asthma while the accuracy of physicians in the study was just 80 percent.
Making a rhetorical analysis of this article, I think this article was mainly intended for students, healthcare professionals, and policymakers. Being informative in nature, it was well organized and had appropriate references displaying authors credibility. This article made me more interested in the technology which on the other hand shows authors ability to emotionally evoke the reader’s interest toward the subject. This article initially started with a crisis of doctors in the US and finally ended up with an alternative as an A.I. system, which perfectly makes a logical sense in today’s context. Thus, in this article, all the necessary elements Ethos, Pathos, Legos and, Kairos were properly used which makes this article more powerful and effective.

Assignments

Assignments

Posted by Jesse Rice-Evans on

Assignments

Digital & F2F Participation:  The expectation for this hybrid course is that you participate in the various ways that we connect for class, whether that be in person, through Commons posts, with videos, etc. The most successful learning experience comes when students are engaged in the process.

Drafts & Peer Review: You will be asked to complete a first and final draft for each assignment. The first drafts will receive feedback from both myself and your peers.  You will complete peer edits based on a form provided to you. Drafting with peers allows you to collaborate with other classmates while also accessing your internal editor.  Often times editing someone else’s work with suggestions will inform your own draft.

Technical Report (Chp 19 Writing Lab Reports) 2000-2500 words

Depending on your field, you will write either a test, lab or engineering report.  This assignment is meant to build your fluency in scientific research and the way that these reports are expected in the field.

Based on your major and your academic interest or some past projects you have done with your engineering professors; choose the topic of your choice. Begin with a question that you want to answer, or a hypothesis/idea that you want to test. Begin some research about it. Find sources in credible journals and books. Use City College library database. Gather some information on the background of your topic and previous relevant research. You may re-experiment a past experiment for yourself, and you may get the same or different results. You want to add knowledge to the existing knowledge on your topic. Write about your methods, results, and limitations ethically. Use citation: both in-text and at the end in a bibliography.

In the past, students have created and distributed surveys, conducted a small-scale scientific experiment, etc. There is no assigned length for this assignment, as depending on your data and experiment, the report can vary widely in length. Essential components include: Hypothesis, Abstract, Introduction, Procedure, Results, Discussion, and Conclusion.

Lab Report guidelines – University of Sheffield

Technical Description (Chp 20 Writing Descriptions) 750-1500 words

Choose one artifact (technological item, entity, tool, object, process, mechanism, or principle) from any of our assigned videos, or an approved artifact from another multimedia source, and compose a detailed description of the artifact.

  • A description will indicate clearly the nature and scope of said object, process, or mechanism
  • A description assignment will introduce the object, process, or mechanism clearly
  • A description assignment will provide appropriate detail
  • A description assignment will end with a brief conclusion

Follow the sample descriptions listed on pg 548.  Include diagrams and photos if applicable.

RFP Response (Chapter 16) 2000-2500 Words

This is a group assignment.  You will find an RFP (Request for Proposal) in your field and respond to it as if you were going to submit a bid to the organization requesting it. As engineers, you will be required to convince potential clients that your strategy and idea is their best option.  In order to achieve this, a proposal must persuade its reader three things:

  • A proposal will show that you understand the clients’ needs
  • A proposal will show that you have already determined what you plan to do and that you are able to do it
  • A proposal will show that you are a professional and are committed to fulfilling your promises

Most RFPs give a specific template for how they expect bidders to respond.

RFP Pitch (Chapter 21) 1000 word reflection due after the presentation

Imagine your RFP bid made it through the first round, and your client is inviting your group in to hear what you are planning to do in person. You will now give a group presentation based on the RFP Assignment, which will include some form of multimedia (PowerPoint, Prezi, etc).  This will be a formal presentation and the expectation is that you look the part. In addition to the oral presentation, each student will be required to write a 1000 word reflection on his/her contributions, involvement, and overall experience working in a group setting.  

Final Portfolio and Theory of Writing

The portfolio and theory of writing are in many ways the most important documents that you’ll create for this class.  Assembling the portfolio will help you to see your progress as a writer over the course of the semester; the self-assessment will give you the chance to evaluate that work based on your own criteria as well as the course learning outcomes.

The Self-Assessment will provide you with an opportunity to demonstrate that you’ve understood the rhetorical terms that we’ve been working with this semester and an introduction to your portfolio.  The portfolio should include, at a minimum, the technical description, the technical report, the RFP assignment, and the group presentation response.  You should also include freewrites, screenshots of group work, basically any and all proof of what you completed over the course of the semester.

The portfolio will be housed on a WordPress site. If you are concerned about privacy, consider creating an email account that you can use exclusively for course work.  It will be read by me, some members of this class, and other CCNY faculty and administrators.  You are, of course, free to share your portfolio with anyone else, but do not make it freely available. If you would like to opt out of creating a WordPress site, please let me know and we will arrange for you to make a portfolio elsewhere.  We will have one class time dedicated to creating your WordPress sites.  

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