These are preliminary guidelines for the Paper, the other option from the Take-Home Exam. (You do only one or the other.) Both are 20% of your grade.
The work on the Paper should follow the quiz rules: no collaboration, no help from the TAs, and otherwise open "book."
In terms of quantity, I am expecting roughly a 4-page paper, roughly 1000 words. For most topics it would be quite appropriate to liberally sprinkle your paper with images taken from the Web, which you may incorporate into a Word document (for example). This is a case where one picture is not worth a 1000 words! However, there is effort finding and including appropriate images, and I will take that into account.
Here is what I imagine for a typical paper. You select a topic which is somehow related to the course. The topic must somehow relate to computers, but I would like to interpret this broadlly. So, for example, your topic could be DLP's (Digital Light Projectors), which is not specifically on computers, but it is certainly driven by computer technology, and is in some extended sense a peripheral device like an LCD. Another topic might be robotic surgery, which is the type of material I will touch on at the end of the course. I think it makes the most sense for you to choose a rather narrow topic, as the two I just suggested, rather than something as broad as "computers of the future." If you have a topic idea and are at all uncertain, please check with me before plunging into it!
Once you've chosen your topic, research it on the Web, and gather as much material as you can. You should try to include a "how it works" aspect. Also, historical development and where it might go in the future. So, a typical outline could be this:
Cite your sources. Quote with quotation marks when appropriate. Absorb and reword if what you find is too filled with technical jargon. Aim for your paper to be readable by another student in the class. Don't aim it for me. Be clear in your explanations. And of course, pay attention to your writing throughout.
Here is a random list of possible topics. I will keep augmenting this list as ideas occur to me.