Course requirements

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Unless it is absolutely essential, I will NOT accept attachments. All submissions will be electronic, and will be uploaded to a directory named 514_s2007 ), located immediately off your home page directory, and hyperlinked to from and email message to me. The directory will have subdirectories for the various requirements (below). You should create password protection for this directory (using, e.g., .htpasswd ), add a user haim and provide me with the password. It would be nice (but not required) to let me change the password.

Your grade for the course will be determined by successful completion of the following requirements:

• [10%] Bibliography summary (extensive reading of the current literature, compiled and submitted weekly) -- directory named 514_s2007/bib_summaries : each week you will search, read and summarize at least two new papers, book chapters, and/or any other new interesting materials related to the topics of our course. The bibliography summaries will include a list of full references of all materials read during the previous week, and short, one-paragraph summaries of two of those, for a total of at least 28 entries during the semester. Use the bibliography template to provide all available information. You will compile your bibliography summaries on a weekly basis, and submit them each week, on Mondays, first submission due Monday, September 17, 2007, at 11:59 p.m. In the document, you will list weekly entries with their week number and date (e.g., the first week's entry will be labelled "Week 1, September 17, 2007.") The document will be plain text (.txt), HTML (.html), or XML (.xml). I might get a wiki set up, in which case you will upload your bib summaries to it.
• [20%] Class presentation -- directory named 514_s2007/presentation : We will discuss the specifics of your class presentation (average one half of one weekly class) based on the number of students in the class, their individual interests, and our final topics choice. You will submit a draft of your presentation materials to me at least one week prior to your presentation date for review, comments, and suggestions.
• [20%, 20%] Term papers (two, due March 5 and Apr 30) -- directory named 514_s2007/papers : you will write two short term papers (maximum 2,000 words) on topics directly related to material discussed in class. We will discuss topics in class. Your paper should follow acceptable standards for scientific paper organization and format. Make sure to READ AND FOLLOW the Academic Honesty guidelines, they will be strictly enforced, and any violations will be handled in the most severe manner possible! If you are not convinced how serious I am about this, ask those (quite numerous, unfortunately) students who have failed my courses in the past because they violated the honesty requirements, including one last semester (Spring 2007)!
  1. first paper -- directory named 514_s2007/papers/1 : topic, title, and short abstract (no more than 50 words) due Monday, September 24; use the bibliography template to provide all available information (be aware, though, that the template has general bibliography format; the author of your paper should be YOU, and it hasn't been published anywhere, yet at least). The full paper is due Monday, October 29.
  2. second paper -- directory named 514_s2007/papers/2 : topic, title, and short abstract due Monday, November 5. The full paper is due Monday, November 26.

  To ascertain your independent contributions to your papers, on October 29 and November 26 (the days when each paper is due) we will hold short, in-class quizzes. In each quiz you will be asked to summarize the topic of your paper using no additional materials. These quizzes will be used, together with your submitted papers, to grade your papers.

• [30%] Term project (single or 2- to 3-student groups, depending on class size and project complexity) -- directory named 514_s2007/project : see this semester's default projects list. Specific, more detailed requirements will be provided later. An alternative topic of your choice may be proposed, and must be approved, but is only likely to be approved if it can be tied to class topics.
  • project proposal due: Monday, October 1; a brief progress report is due Monday, November 12; the project is due Monday, December 3. On that day, a brief (10-15 minutes) project presentation in class will be required.
  • project proposal should include: a title; short description of the topic, problem(s) to be addressed, and goals of the project; a preliminary "user manual," including a summary of the anticipated interfaces; a high-level design (modules, their purpose and functionality, and how they interact/communicate with other modules), and a list of “deliverables,” i.e., what will be delivered at the end of the semester. Important Note: you should plan very carefully for whatever external software support you will need to complete your project. Many projects for this course have required installations of specialized software (servers and/or server extensions, special developement environment, to name a few). All projects will be implemented on the WebLab facility, and, as applicable, I will strongly encourage you to build it using Ruby on Rails (an introduction will be provided in class); our System Administration staff must be informed as early as possible so they can address all software installation needs. Use the project proposal template to provide all available information. During our Paper 2, November 26 quiz, you will also be asked some questions about your project, again, to ascertain your original contributions to, and familiarity with your project. Your project’s final submission must follow exactly the project final submission guidelines.
• Participation in class discussions [no specific weight assigned]: I will not be taking attendance, as I consider each and every one of you a mature individual who understands that, above all, it's your time, your money, your education, and therefore, your responsibility to make the best of it. However, one of the signs of a serious commitment to the course is regular attendance and participation in discussions. I particularly look unfavorably at students who stop showing up in class after their own presentation has been made. I will factor this in consideration of borderline cases; a more favorable attendance and participation record can tip a borderline grade up, while a negative one will tip it down.

The emphasis will be on research and advanced work.

Prerequisites

91.513 or instructor's permission.