Engr 694-6: Research Methods in Computer Science
Spring 2013
Syllabus

Locations

The spring semester 2013 class meets in 106 Weir Hall at 2:30 p.m. to 3:45 p..m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The class is taught by Prof. Conrad Cunningham, whose office is in 203 Weir Hall. The official office hours for this class are 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays and by appointment at other times.

Prof. Cunningham's voice telephone number is (662) 915-5358 and fax number is (662) 915-5623. His WWW home page is http://www.cs.olemiss.edu/~hcc/ and his email address is cunningham AT cs DOT olemiss DOT edu.

The WWW home page for this class is http://www.cs.olemiss.edu/~hcc/researchMethods/.

The final examination for this class is scheduled for Tuesday, 7 May at 4:00 p.m.

Student Disabilities Services Statement

"It is the responsibility of any student with a disability who requests a reasonable accommodation to contact the Office of Disability Services (915-7128). Contact will then be made by that office through the student to the instructor of this class. The instructor will then be happy to work with the student so that a reasonable accommodation of any disability can be made."

Course Description from Catalog

This topic is not yet listed in the catalog.

This course targets computer science graduate students planning professional careers in teaching, research, and advanced development. It seeks to enhance the students’ abilities to think critically, communicate effectively (in both speech and writing), understand the profession’s culture and practices, and plan an appropriate research program. Although the instructor or others may sometimes lecture, most of the activities will focus on the students learning by doing.

The new computer science PhD curriculum requires that all PhD students complete this course; the new MS curriculum recommends that MS students take this course if they are planning to write a formal thesis or continue in the PhD program. (PhD students who have completed the comprehensive examination by December 2012 are not required to complete this course.)

Prerequisites

Graduate standing in computer science

Course Outcomes/Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. read, understand, and analyze computer science papers more effectively,
2. write computer science papers more clearly and effectively,
3. understand computer science as an academic and research profession more fully.

Source Materials

Selected Course Textbook

Justin Zobel. Writing for Computer Science, Second edition, Springer, 2004. ISBN: 978-1-85233-802-2.

Software:

Microsoft Word and LaTeX

Readings:

Various journal and conference articles, research reports, Web documents, and book excerpts as appropriate.

Professional Conduct

As a student in Engr 694-6, you are expected to conduct yourself in a professional manner according to the Honor Code of the School of Engineering, the Information Technology (IT) Appropriate Use Policy, the M Book, and any other relevant policies.

A few assignments may involve editing or assessing the work of others as defined for the assignment. Students may also consult the Writing Center. Otherwise, all students must complete their own work independently in accordance with the School of Engineering's Honor Code statement on plagiarism. It is plagiarism "to knowingly deceive, copy, paraphrase, or otherwise misrepresent your work in a manner inconsistent with professional conduct".

Grading

The grading scale for this class is A [90..100], B [80..90), C [70..80), D [60..70), and F [0..60). However, the instructor will be using the +/- grading scale, as appropriate, to provide more fine-grained grading within these ranges.

70 percent of the grade will come from the regular writing, editing, and research exercises and perhpas a few quizes. The other 30 percent comes from the term paper and presentation.

Assignments and Projects

• All students are expected to study the relevant portions of the textbook and handouts in conjunction with our class discussions (i.e., before coming to class). Explicit reading assignments will not always be given. If in doubt on what you need to read, please ask the instructor.
• Approximately seven papers or other assignments are planned for the semester. There may also be short quizzes.

• Unless otherwise stated in the assignment description, an assignment is to be carried out by each individual student without inappropriate collaboration with others. See the section on Professional Conduct.

• In preparing and submitting homework assignments make sure that:
  • your name, the course number or name, the assignment identifier, and individual exercises are clearly indicated in the content of the file or on the paper. (If it is a group assignment, give the group identifier and the names of all members.)
  • for any handwritten portions, you write legibly on only one side of the paper in a black or blue pen or dark pencil. Do NOT use red or green ink! Most of the assignments will require that materials be generated with a word processor and/or other tools.
  • your pages are stapled together in the upper left corner when viewed from the front.
  
  
• All students are expected to complete their homework assignments by their due dates. If an assignment is submitted late, a penalty of 10 percent of that assignment's grade will be assessed for each day it is late. A homework paper will not be accepted after graded papers have been returned, after a solution has been distributed, or after the final examination.

Examinations

• There are no examinations for this class.

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