UMM CSci Senior Seminar description and requirements

This is the senior seminar (CSci 4901) description in the catalog:

In-depth survey of literature in a specific computer-related field of the student’s choice. Students analyze various articles or similarly published works, synthesize their contents, and present their work formally in a conference setting. Multiple writing and speaking experiences reviewed by faculty and classmates.

This is both a great opportunity and a great challenge.

It will almost certainly be a lot of work for a two credit class and you should prepare accordingly, but it’s totally manageable if you start early, stay organized and focused, and work on it incrementally.

A good senior sem experience, however, can really have far reaching consequences. KK’s senior sem paper became (in slightly modified form) her first publication in computer science. Another alum used her paper as the writing sample that sealed a deal with a publisher to write a book. And numerous students have been quite pleasantly surprised with what they were in fact capable of. One of the few really consistent themes we get from alumni and employers is the importance of communications skills, both written and oral, and this is a tremendous opportunity to develop these skills in really powerful ways.

Course goals and learning objectives

There are three major goals:

  • Learn to read, understand, and synthesize research literature in the field.
  • Write a high quality paper synthesizing and presenting summaries of computing research literature.
  • Give a high quality formal presentation on this material.

Other goals implied by these include:

  • Gain additional confidence and experience in both writing and speaking.
  • Gain increased facility in the critical and careful use of tools used to generate high quality articles and presentation materials.

Requirements

In the course of a semester a student writes a 5-6 page paper (ACM style, see sample papers and resources) that is an overview of recent peer-reviewed computer science publications on a topic of their choice. The student presents the paper as a 25 minute conference-style presentation for faculty, fellow students, alumni, and others. The student needs to demonstrate in-depth understanding of their topic by writing a clear paper that summarizes (in the students’ own words) the material that they learned from their sources and clearly presenting it, including the ability to answer questions on the material. Specifically:

  • The target audience for the paper and presentation are computer science students who have just finished Data Structures. Any terminology and background used in the paper that such students are not expected to have needs to be clearly explained.
  • The contents of your paper must be based on recent peer-reviewed computer science publications. Your paper may either do a deep dive into one or two of such sources (in this case you are likely to include more sources as background, but these additional sources may be less recent, and, in some cases, not peer reviewed, such as textbooks or technical reports), or it may present a broad overview of three or four of such sources. Some in-between forms are also possible (discuss your sources with your advisor and/or your instructor if you are considering a different organization of your paper). “Recent” should include at least one source published within the last 2-4 years, although different topics may vary slightly in expectations of how recent the sources should be, as well as how many are expected. “Peer-reviewed” roughly refers to appearing in ACM- or IEEE-sponsored journals and conferences. We will discuss the details of what constitutes peer-reviewing, as well as strategies for sources selection, as the semester progresses.
  • The paper must demonstrate understanding of technical computer science material, i.e. material that requires a student to use their knowledge of computer science.
  • The paper must be written in ACM style and cannot be less that 5 (reasonably complete) pages, nor can it be more than 6 pages, including all graphics and tables, but not counting the list of references (note: this is a change, starting Spring 2019 semester).
  • The paper must be reasonably typo-free, use proper grammar and writing style, and be well formatted.

The student is expected to work with their advisor and the course instructor on making progress towards the final paper/presentation, to be proactive in sorting out potential issues, and to take into account feedback from their advisor, course instructor, and paper reviewers (alumni and fellow students).

Senior Seminar Instructor

The course instructor conducts in-class meetings, provides feedback on students’ submitted work, keeps track of students’ milestones (see the cookie system), and takes care of organizational issues (printing the proceedings, room reservations, etc). The instructor is also there to answer questions and to (try to) resolve whatever issues might come up. If issues arise in the course, please contact the instructor as soon as possible (in person or by email) to resolve the problem.

Senior Seminar Advisor

Each student works with a faculty advisor on a chosen topic. Your advisor is one of Csci faculty (including the course instructor). In the beginning of the semester students pick a general area for a Seminar topic and approach a potential advisor based on a match in the topic of interest. We usually try to balance Senior Seminar advising loads among faculty so if you would like to work with a particular person, talk to them early so that they are still available. However, even if the topic match is not perfect, your advisor is still a highly valuable resource.

Usually you meet with your advisor once a week and submit all of your intermediate work (bibliography, drafts, etc) to them, in addition to the course instructor. Your advisor gives you feedback on intermediate drafts and helps you in all aspects of the course, from narrowing down a topic and literature search to practice presentations. Your advisor is the first source of help when you are stuck or have a question. Meeting with your advisor regularly and seeking their help as soon as an issue arises is essential for the success in the course.

Texts and other materials

Your key source of materials will be research literature in the field. We’ll talk about how to find things in class, and your advisor can be a big help there as well. There are also some useful links on the resources page.

We will also be reading a textbook on writing in computer science - it has plenty of helpful advice, so please read it carefully and revisit it often as you are working on your papers.

Course work and grading

Grades in CSci 4901 are determined by the CSci faculty as a whole after the final papers are submitted. Grades will be based on the following:

  • Your technical paper
  • Your presentation
  • Your attendance at class meetings
  • Your timely deliverance of all intermediate products (outline, bibliography, etc.)
  • Regular meetings with your advisor throughout the semester where you are well-prepared and making progress
  • Addressing any hurdles you encounter (unfamiliar terminology, confusing sources, lack of understanding of what’s expected) in a pro-active and timely fashion: seeking assistance from your advisor or your course instructor
  • Presentation practices scheduled in a timely fashion with your advisor and fellow students

The above items are all important, in slightly different contexts, for almost any career you may choose.

Additionally check out Cookie System for important grading information.

The CSci faculty may choose to acknowledge certain papers or presentations as deserving a distinction (informally known as Gold Star) as an indication of their unusually high quality. Getting a gold star corresponds to passing senor seminar with distinction. While this is not formally reflected in the grade, it’s a great thing to put on your resume or grad school application.


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