Instructor

Clark S. Turner (csturner@calpoly.edu)
Office: 14-222, 756-6133
Office Hours 

Basic Course Objectives

• To learn what is involved in writing a thesis.
• To learn how to do research.
• To learn how to present research, orally and in writing.

Course Materials

Your "textbook" for the course is membership in the ACM digital library. At $42 a year, this is one of the world's greatest bargains!

Other course material is available on the class website, at

www.csc.calpoly.edu/~csturner/courses/590w09main.html

  

There are eight assignments for the class. The assignments revolve around choosing a research area, writing about it, and giving two oral presentations.

A summary of the assignments follows, with an indication of the percentage each is worth. A more detailed description will be provided for each when the assignments are distributed.

1. Join the ACM; provide personal background information; select research area(s). (0%)
2. Read a thesis in your chosen research area and critique it. (5%)
3. Write a research "blurb" on your chosen research topic, including an initial bibliography. (10%)
4. Prepare and deliver a 5-minute oral presentation on your research topic. (10%)
5. Prepare a 1-2 page treatment of related work, suitable for inclusion in a conference or journal article. (15%)
6. Prepare a 3-5 page treatment of related work, suitable for inclusion in a thesis. (15%)
7. Prepare and deliver a 25-minute oral presentation of your research topic. (20%)
8. Prepare a 20+ page survey of your research area, suitable for publication in ACM Computing Surveys. (25%)

Exams

There are no in-class exams for the class. The final assignment can be considered an extended take-home final exam. It is due in my hand on or before 7 PM on Friday of finals week.  

Lecture and Assignment Schedule

The following is a week-by-week schedule of lectures and due dates:

Week	Date	Topic/Activity	Assignment Due
1	5 jan	Mon:
		Wed: Introduction to the class.  Readings - Shaw and Parberry
2	12 jan	Mon: More introductory topics	A1
		Wed: Library tour if possible (later, if delayed) Notes for week 2 Other Refs added
3		Mon: Holiday
	21 jan	Wed: Assignment examples (lib tour) example thesis evaluation	A2
4	26 jan	Mon: discuss thesis reviews (moved back one class)
		Wed: thesis reviews continued - what has passed for a thesis? Form research teams for document QA and other research support.  Discuss support roles.
5	2 feb	Mon: More assignment examples possible Presentation of research areas (A4 presentations)	A3, A4
		Wed: Thesis preparation tips, survey paper problem session.	A5 next week
6	9 feb	Mon: Research validation techniques, check out the Zotero plugin and other information.
		Wed: Paper problem session.  General discussions.	A6 for next week, A7 starts soon - volunteers?
Friday
7		Mon: Holiday
	18 feb	Wed: Long oral presentations begin if possible.  23 Feb for sure. Recently found MS resource - very nice.
8	23 feb	Mon: Long oral presentations
		Wed: Long oral presentations
9	2 mar	Mon: Long oral presentations
		Wed: Long oral presentations
10	9 mar	Mon: Long oral presentations
		Wed: Long oral presentations
finals	20 mar	Fri: Final assignment due before 7 pm	A8: 20 page Survey

Cheating Policy

I like to think it is unnecessary, but would like to make it clear.  In this class, to take someone else's result and claim it as your own without proper attribution is considered cheating.  Notice that research is ALWAYS based on others' work and that you must become comfortable with utilizing others' ideas and criticizing, rearranging or verifying them with your particular perspective.  Your contribution must always be clear, contributions of others must always be clear.  This is a very important component of the course.  If you neglect to cite a source for a proposition that is not yours, you will fail the course.  

*This syllabus is adapted from Gene Fisher's CSC 590 materials.