Hey all, I've been looking for electives to take to finish out my time here and I ran across CS495. According to the description, it is basically research and writing about technology. I know it requires department permission. How does it all go down. Do I just walk up to the department head and ask? Do I do research before time to show I'm up for it? Do I already have a topic? Do I have to write a book basically? Any guidance would be appreciated. Enjoy SUMMER!!!
CS 495 is Independent Study.
To take this course you need to work with a faculty member to define the work that you would be doing. The faculty member must agree to be your instructor and sign you up for the course. You will work closely with that faculty member to finish the project that was defined.
Independent study can be used to do a large software project, to do an extensive study of an area in CS, or to do a research project.
I took 2 semesters of CS495 under Dr. Weinberg. If you're thinking of taking this as an "easy way out" you're far better off taking one of Dr. Wu's classes. Independent study is incredibly time consuming.
ModernDayDarwin did a research project that was supported by the Undergraduate Research Academy.
This is an excellent way to do an interesting project, get elective CS credit, and possible present your work at a conference.
Anyone interested to should check it out: http://www.siue.edu/ura/
I did an Undergraduate Research Academy (http://www.siue.edu/ura/) project (also with Dr. Weinberg) for two semesters of CS495 credit. In general, an independent study requires a lot of work, time management, and personal discipline; as ModernDayDarwin (http://caos.siue.edu/userinfo.php?uid=336) said, if you are looking for an "easy way out", look elsewhere. If you want a challenging, but fun, project to work on, consider an independent study or the Undergraduate Research Academy (http://www.siue.edu/ura/).
While I'm not looking for an "easy way out", I do have a number of obligations that might cause this to be an undesirable move at the moment. Thanks for the info all!
well, it should also be noted that cs495 doesn't necessarily go hand-in-hand with the URA
Just to clarify: any sort of independent study work "requires a lot of work, time management, and personal discipline"; I wasn't just referring to the URA. Sorry for the confusion.