Course Policies

Course format

In-person lectures will also be streamed online. Paper reviews are due at 12 pm PT on the day of the lecture. 

All communications regarding this course including private messages to the instructor will be via Ed discussions. Please create private notes to communicate with the instructor.

Paper Reviews

In each class, students are assigned 1 paper for review. The reviews will be collected through Gradescope. The review will include three parts: summary (5-10 sentences on high-level ideas in the paper), strengths (2-5 key contributions in the paper and their implications), and scope for improvement/future directions (2-5 key concerns that were not addressed in the paper or your ideas for future work). Paper reviews are expected to be short and concise. Of the 15 assigned papers, only the best 12 scores will be used for grading.

Class participation

Class participation grading will be based on active discussions in class. Note that paper reviews are due before the discussion period starts. The discussion phase is intended to advance our common understanding of the topic and think about future directions. Hence, during the discussion phase, introduce new points whenever possible and reply to others' comments when that is more appropriate to avoid repetition. 

Project

You are expected to do a project for the course in groups of 1-3 students. The project will have four checkpoints: initial plan, checkpoint 1, checkpoint 2, and final. In the second week, you are required to submit the title of your project and a high-level plan (key milestones and approximate timeline). You are free to choose a project related to your primary PhD/MS research project. In that case, please clearly define the portion that will be used for the class project. The mid-term evaluation will be based on a 5-10 minute recorded presentation and a report that covers related work and initial design (1-3 pages that can eventually be used in the final report). The final evaluation has 2 parts: a 10-15 minute recorded presentation and a 4-6 page project report. The final recorded presentations will be shared with the entire class. 

Grading

Paper Summaries: 30%

Class participation: 20%

Final Project: 50% 

(Title and plan: 5%

Checkpoint 1: 10%

Checkpoint 2: 10%

Final presentation: 15%

Final report: 10%)