Assignments

Weekly assignments

There will be weekly assignments of varying lengths. Writing helps thinking - no one develops a research question overnight. Research questions are the product of exploring an area in different directions, asking questions, looking at them from different angles and revising them. Writing during this process helps to avoid going around in circles, focus ideas and learn how to formulate questions clearly. Similarly, no one writes a research paper in one sitting nor without feedback. Assignments will also including reviewing your peers' and your own work.

Handing in assignments

Turn in both a hard copy and an electronic copy of each assignment. Hard copies are due at the beginning of class. Electronic copies should be handed in on Blackboard in the digital dropbox. Be sure to click "Send File" - "Add File" does not hand in a document; it is only available to you. The file name should be lastname_asgn#, for example, tartaro_asgn1. Unless otherwise specified, put everything in one .doc or .pdf file.

Late assignments

Late work and make ups will not be allowed, since the assignments build on each other and the schedule is tight.

Assignment 1: Your Interests and Dreams

1. Take some time to think about the following questions: What are some of your (childhood) dreams? Or what are some things that you are currently very interested in, issues you are invested in, activities you (would) like to do, areas you would like to make a contribution to? (It doesn't matter if there is no immediately obvious connection to computer science.) Start by brainstorming, then write one page answering these questions. You should have several things listed with short descriptions.

   Why am I asking these questions? I am not trying to say that your senior project will fulfill a childhood dream of yours (it may ... who knows), but I do think that you should keep your dreams and interests in mind when looking for a topic for your senior project. I would like for all of you to find a research question that is meaningful to you. It will make the senior project more fun and, most likely, more successful.

2. Look at web sites of computer science departments at universities and compile a list of CS research areas.
3. Pick three research projects that you come across which you find interesting. The projects have to be from different research areas. What are the research questions asked in each project? Why do you find the projects interesting? Write half a page about each research project, outlining what it is about, what the research question is, and why you find it interesting.

Assignment 2: Choose your research area

Pick one (sub-) area of research that you find interesting and that you would like to do your senior project in.

1. Write half a page about why you picked that research area.
2. Create a bibliography of papers to read in order to get a background in that area. This bibliography will be with you for the rest of your project. It will continue to grow as you learn more about the area and as you narrow down your research project. Your goal for this week is to find (at least) 5 entries. If you find more, that's good, but remember that you will have to read all of them. So you should be somewhat selective in what you put on your bibliography. In this first stage, you want things that give you an overview.

   Your bibliography should be an annotated bibliography. That means, in addition to the bibliographical entry, you need to have a few keywords or a sentence or two that remind you of why this paper is important to you.

   To find the papers for your bibliography, use the Internet, the library (and its electronic databases), and go to talk to CS faculty (or faculty from other departments if your project is interdisciplinary) who know the area that you are interested in. THIS IS A REQUIREMENT. You have to go and talk to at least one faculty member. Do NOT wait until the last day to do this.

   Decide on an order in which you are going to read the papers in your bibliography. Explain (in writing) why you picked that order. Upload your bibliography.

Assignment 3: Summaries 1

1. Read (at least) 3 papers from your bibliography. Write half a page summary of each of them: What is the research question in the paper? Why is the paper interesting to you; or why is it not interesting? Evaluate the results.
2. Revise your bibliography. Add new, interesting looking papers that you found, e.g., because they were cited in one of the papers you have read. Revise your order in which you are going to read the papers in your bibliography. Explain in writing why you decided on that order.

Assignment 4: Summaries 2

1. Read (at least) 3 more papers from your bibliography and do the same as last week.

Assignment 5: Background paper

1. Write a background paper on the research area or sub-area you have chosen. Referencing papers from your bibliography (you are, of course, still allowed to add to your bibliography), this paper should describe the main research questions being asked in that area, the methodologies used to answer them, and the methods used to evaluate the answers. The paper should not be just a list of paragraphs with each paragraph describing one paper. You should present how the papers relate to each other and to the overarching questions being asked in your research area. There should be a connecting storyline running through your paper.
2. Prepare a 10 minute presentation on your research area.

Assignment 6: Your research question

1. You will get the background papers of two other students. Review these papers using the rubric we developed in class. Give as much feedback as possible. Be as constructive as possible. This is going to help them write a good final paper.
2. AFTER having reviewed the other two papers, read your paper again and review it in the same way. Try to read your paper as if it was somebody else's paper.
3. Now that you have an overview of the kinds of research questions that other people ask in the research area you have chosen, you need to find your own. Come up with as many possible research questions as you can. In the end you will have to narrow it down to one (or maybe two). But you want to start with a large collection so that you have something to work with and choose from.
4. Now go through each research question, and ask yourself: Would I be interested in doing this? Is this a good research question? If not, why not? Don't eliminate any questions because you think they are bad research questions. Maybe they can be turned into good ones. But to be able to do this, you first need to reflect on what makes them a good or bad question.

Assignment 7: Final paper part 1

1. Pick the research question that you find most interesting and seems most viable. Go to faculty members who know the area that you are interested in and pitch the research question to them. Discuss why it is a good question, what is problematic about it, and how it could be changed to make it into a good question. Then revise your question in light of that discussion. (Again, do not leave this until the last day!)
2. Write the first part of your final paper. This means: an introduction introducing and motivating your research question and the background sections where you explain how your question relates to earlier work in the research area. You will be able to (and in fact you should) use material from your background paper. When doing so, revise it based on the comments you received from the other students and me.
3. Write down (separately) alternative methods that you could use to answer your question. Explain the pros and cons of each method.

Assignment 8: Practice presentation

1. You will get the draft papers of two other students. Review these papers using the rubric we developed in class. Give as much feedback as possible. Be as constructive as possible. This is going to help them write a good final paper.
2. AFTER having reviewed the other two papers, read your paper again and review it in the same way. Try to read your paper as if it was somebody else's paper.
3. Prepare an 8 minute presentation on your project.

Assignment 9: Final paper draft 1

1. Revise the first part of your final paper based on the comments you received.
2. Write the second part of the paper, which should describe what methods you are going to use to answer your research question and how you are going to evaluate your project.
3. Revise your presentation.