The course will explore the topics indicated in the course description through
a series of assigned readings in the form of papers and book chapters. The
course is divided into three atomic topics. The reading list and description of
the atoms is included later in this document. For each atom, the instructor
will present the basic background material. Each class will be in the format
of a discussion. For lectures giving introduction to background material, the
instructor will lead the discussion. For student-led discussion classes, one
student will be designated as a discussion leader and one student as a scribe.
The leader will be tasked on moderating the discussion and the scribe will be
tasked with summarizing the discussion. The discussion summary will be posted
to the course web-page.
Course Project/Paper:
Students will have a choice to do a project with a working demonstration or a
technical paper with a new idea. Students will have the choice of working in
groups of 2, or to work solo. The course project can explore building
prototypes of algorithms discussed in one of the assigned papers or a related
paper. Technical papers that students choose to write can either be a
comprehensive survey or can propose a new technical idea.
Required Readings and Supplementary Materials:
All reading material is posted under the schedule link of this page.
Description and Assessment of Assignments:
Students will be expected to read the papers before class and submit a one-page
review of the paper as homework. Every review should address the following 5
questions:
What is the main problem addressed by the paper?
What was done before, and how does this paper improve on it? OR What are the pros/cons of different techniques addressed in this paper?
What is the one cool mathematical factoid or proof technique that was learned from this paper?
What part of the paper was difficult to understand?
What generalization or extension of the paper could be done? OR What are the open problems?
Grading Breakdown:
Category
Weight
Paper Reviews (Best 9/10 summaries @ 5% each)
45%
Participation and Scribing
25%
Final Project
30%
Assignment Rubrics:
Reviews: Students will get credit for every review submitted. Reviews are expected to be turned in at the beginning of the class in which the paper will be discussed.
Participation: Students will be expected to participate in the class discussion. To ensure a minimum level of participation, we will have each student talk about their impression of the paper for up to five minutes. Once each student has had a chance to talk about the paper, the discussion leader will have the responsibility to sustain a discussion. The instructor will provide feedback to students about their participation as necessary.
Scribing: Each student will be tasked with being a scribe for at least one paper discussion. The paper summary should consist of no more than 5 slides, following the review template, with each slide dedicated to each question.
Project/Paper: Projects will be graded based on the depth of the research endeavor or the quality of the prototype tool. Survey papers will be graded based on their comprehensiveness. Technical papers will be graded based on their novelty and technical results. Students will be expected to present project proposals halfway through the course and give final presentations at the end of the course.
Assignment Submission Policy: Reviews are expected to be turned in at the beginning of every class on blackboard. Proposal/Project Presentations are expected to be emailed to the instructor prior to the day of presentation.