Basic Information
Course Description
This course introduces students to research in the broad
topics of software engineering (SE) and programming languages
(PL) through
reading, understanding, presenting and
critiquing (high-quality) research papers in this
general area.
There will not be a specific focus, but rather, we will cover
a wide range of topics featuring latest/recent advances in
the field.
During the first lecture (18.02.2020), we will explain the
rules, distribute the research papers, and give a short
lecture on research and technical presentations. Then, the
class will not meet for the following two weeks to allow
students time to prepare their presentations. The remaining
lectures will consist of student presentations, each covering
about one research paper assigned at the beginning of the
course.
List of candidate papers
Course Goals
- Learn how to read and understand a recent research paper
in computer science
- Learn how to present a technical topic in computer science
to an audience of peers
Academic Integrity
Please avoid copy-pasting as much as possible. For any
material (especially graphics and anything included by
copy-pasting) not created by you but included in your
presentation, you must acknowledge the source on the same
slide.
Grading
- Quality of presentation and subsequent question handling
- How well you have understood the paper
- How understandable that you have presented it
- How effectively your slides communicated, including the visual quality of the slides
- Presence and participation (e.g., asking good questions)
during other students' presentations
- If you miss many classes, you will fail the course
The papers have varying difficulty, which we will take into account.
How It Works
- At the beginning of the course, each student will be assigned a
research paper and presentation date (see schedule below)
- Understand the paper (motivation for the work, what the
authors do, what the results are, what the limitations are)
- Study the paper carefully
- Obtain and study relevant background material, such as other
cited papers; you may need to include some of this background
material in your presentation
- Possibly meet with the TA or instructor to ask questions
- Create a presentation
- Try to follow the guidelines given in the first lecture
- Main checklist for what the presentation should include
- Clear motivation for the work
- Provide brief necessary background when needed
- Clear explanation what the paper does --- using
appropriate examples, well-designed visuals, code
examples, etc.
- Do not trivialize the content, go deeper where necessary
- Understandable (by your fellow students) presentation of
the content and the results
- Do not attempt to cover everything from the paper, focus
on the key parts; be prepared to clarify/explain any
technical terms used
- Critical discussion of the claimed contributions at the
end of the presentation, including the work/paper's
strengths and weaknesses, as well as its limitations
(best to include both those explicitly
claimed/acknowledged in the paper and your own
thoughts)
- Strive for high visual quality
- Properly acknowledge any external material (graphics and
anything included by copy-pasting from other sources) on the
same slide (bottom right, small font, gray is usually a good
way)
- If possible, try out the tool/code that comes with the
paper, and consider giving a demo
- Have one meeting with your advisor at least a week before
your presentation for clarifications and feedback. Please
remember to bring a draft of your presentation.
- Present at your assigned date
- Presentations are 30 minutes + 15 minutes for questions
- The presentation time will be enforced (as for real
settings), but also avoid being overly short
Lectures
