Announcements
Made via email to the course list. You are responsible for reading each announcement carefully.
Grading components
| Project | 45% |
| Class participation | 35% |
| Moderating+Presentations | 10% |
| Paper critiques | 10% |
Grading semantics
The accompanying text provides an idea of my expectations for your course grade at the end of the semester.
| A+ | Excellent, top-caliber project work, active in class discussions |
| A | Excellent project work, active in class discussions |
| A- | Excellent project work, borderline active in class discussions, or Good project work, active in class discussions |
| B+ | Excellent project work, inactive in class discussion, or Good project work, borderline active in class discussions, or Fair project work, active in class discussions |
| B | Fair project work, borderline active in class discussion |
| B- | Poor project work, active in class discussions |
| C | Poor project work, borderline active in class discussions |
Critiques will be graded as “satisfactory”, “satisfactory –”, and “satisfactory +”. The grading rubric on OnCourse provides examples of critiques for each of these grades. Critiques must be satisfactory on average to pass the class.
Paper critiques
We will discuss two to three papers every week. Critiques for the first paper is due by Friday 5pm the previous week, and the remaining critiques are due by Monday 5pm, the day before class.
The critique for each paper should include a paragraph on 1) why this paper is important in the context of related work and how it advances science and 2) three technical weaknesses: these must be accompanied by well-argued supporting arguments.
Critiques must be submitted via OnCourse, before the 5pm deadline(s). The AI will grade one of these two critiques each week, chosen randomly.
Late critiques?
Manage your time well, and start early!
To accommodate for unavoidable circumstances, you get four automatic 1-day extensions for individual paper critiques without having to ask me for an extension. Finally, you can drop 4 summaries. Use these freebies wisely—save them for circumstances such as falling ill or interviewing.
Paper moderating
Ppapers will be discussed “seminar-style” with breakout roundtable discussions for about 15 minutes, followed by a 30- to 45-minute “all hands” discussion.
Assigned moderators will make brief (5-minute) presentations at the beginning of the discussion. The template for this presentation is available in the Resources section on OnCourse.
Moderator checklist:
- Prepare presentation: Use the presentation template in the ‘Presentation Templates’ folder under ‘Resources’ on OnCourse. You will make a brief, 10-minute presentation before the discussion begins. Make your slides as visual as possible and try to minimize bullets/text.
- By Thursday 5pm: Email Prof. Kapadia your discussion questions. Usually these need to be refined once or twice to ensure they will generate good discussion.
- Tuesday: By noon on the day of the class: Upload your presentation to ‘Moderator Presentations’ folder under ‘Resources’ on OnCourse
Project
See the projects page.
Honor code
In short: Give credit where it’s due and don’t plagiarize. Don’t copy or read others’ solutions. Remember, when you cheat, you cheat yourself above all else.
IU’s Honor Code and policies apply to your conduct in this course.
You may discuss papers with other students in the course or with me. However, you may not read or copy anybody else’s critiques—all submitted work must be your own, based on your own understanding of the content after such discussions. In particular, you may not read solutions for assignments on the Web (including websites for previous terms, inside or outside of IU).
Credit your sources. In your assignments, list all your collaborators (e.g., “I discussed this homework with Alice, Bob, …”) and credit any sources (including software) used. You must also credit sources that are permitted by the instructor. For example, you must credit code that we give you if it helps you with your work (either by direct use of the code, or by simply enhancing your understanding by reading the code).
Violations of the Honor Code will be treated seriously. Please let me know if you have any questions—better to be safe than sorry!
Special accommodations
Please let me know before the end of the second week of the term if you have any disabilities and would like me to make appropriate accommodations. All discussions will remain confidential, although the Student Accessibility Services office may be consulted to discuss appropriate implementation of any accommodation requested.
Religious observances
I realize that some students may wish to take part in religious observances that fall during this academic term. Should you have a religious observance that conflicts with your participation in the course, please come speak with me before the end of the second week of the term to discuss appropriate accommodations.