Social computing

Course goals

At the end of the course, you are able to:

• ILO1: design a research plan to analyze a social problem with computational means
• ILO2: design and test ethical guidelines for a social computing problem
• ILO3: learn to use multiple approaches to social data, and apply them to a problem successfully
• ILO4: combine social science methodologies with computational methodologies for addressing problems where large scale data collection may provide insights
• ILO5: learn to present work using a scientific language and with scientific rigor.

Assessment
The four parts that contribute to your final grade are:

• discussion questions: 25 points (individual) –[required: 12 points is required]
• student presentations: 10 points (group) – [required: 5 points]
• term project paper and presentation: 40 points (group) – [required: 20 points]
• final exam: 25 points (individual) – [required: 10 points]

Regarding the repair of a test:

• final exam. it is possible to repair the final exam grade up to 5.5, but only if 4.0 <= final exam grade < 5.5.
• discussion question assignments. it is not possible to repair the discussion question assignments.
• paper presentations. it is not possible to repair the paper presentation.
• term project. it is not possible to repair the term project. However, if you pass the requirements of the individual assignments of the course, you will be exempt from them when  ou re-take the course and will only be responsible for the term project.

 You cannot do a repair test if you missed more than one assessment.

Content

Social Computing can be broadly defined as ‘computational facilitation of social studies and human social dynamics as well as the design and use of ICT technologies that consider social context’ (Wang et al., 2007).
Watt argues that ‘if handled appropriately, data about Internet-based communication and interactivity could revolutionize our understanding of collective human behavior.’ (Watts, 2007).
If you like to apply computational approaches to social phenomenon and problems with the aim of bringing a broader perspective to social problems, this course is your first step.
The course provides you with knowledge of various methodologies used within the spare of social computing.

Course format
Lectures, discussion sessions, team work.
Students are expected to attend each lecture.