This repository hosts materials which describe the structure and operation of CMPSC 600. Check this space early and often for updates to the syllabus, schedule, and other course governance.
| Reader | Office | Tel. | Office hours | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dr. Oliver Bonham-Carter | Alden Hall, 104 | +1 814 332 2907 |
[email protected] | Office Hours |
| Prof. Maria Kim Heinert | Alden Hall, 112 | |
[email protected] | Office Hours |
| Dr. Greg Kapfhammer | Alden Hall, 108 | +1 814 332 2880 |
[email protected] | Office Hours |
| Prof. Douglas Luman | Alden Hall, 105 | +1 814 332 2136 |
[email protected] | Office Hours |
| Dr. Aravind Mohan | Alden Hall, 106 | +1 814 332 2883 |
[email protected] | Office Hours |
Independent research in computer science. Students are invited to use their own departmentally approved laptop in this course; a limited number of laptops are available for use during class and lab sessions. Must be taken on the letter-grade basis.
- Prerequisite:
CMPSC 580 - Distribution Requirements:
None
Your senior thesis process affords you the opportunity to pursue independent research in computer science. This course parallels the kinds of intense inquiry and research inherent to an academic life. To that end, you will work closely with your readers to explore rich, ever-complex, projects. Though the faculty cannot promise that this work will be frustration- or challenge-free, we invite you to pursue it with great enthusiasm, vigor, and to -- above all -- find joy in the process.
| Day of week | Time | Purpose | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 1:50p-2:40p | General meeting | Alden 101 |
The above meetings serve as your opportunity to work on assignments and participate in the community created by this course. Your ability to give and receive peer feedback is fundamental to your success.
Your readers expect you to attend these meetings. During these sessions, you will meet in groups led by your First Reader. The faculty expects your attendance and full participation, unless other arrangements (i.e. course conflicts) have been made.
Your First Reader's schedule governs office hours availability and will vary. To schedule office hours, use the schedule listed under your First Reader's contact information listed above.
There are no required texbooks for this course. However, the faculty highly recommend investing in the following texts for both academic and professional development:
| Title | Author | ISBN |
|---|---|---|
| On Being a Scientist (3rd ed.) | National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine | 978-0309119702 |
| BUGS in Writing: A Guide to Debugging your Prose | Lyn Dupre | 978-0201379211 |
| Writing for Computer Science (2nd ed.) | Justin Zobel | 978-1852338022 |
This course relies heavily on the above platforms. Your work will be assigned and evaluated on and crucial communication distributed through them. You are expected to register for and remain active on these platforms throughout the academic year.
Despite the fact that the majority of our communication relies on our Slack and other platforms, the faculty may occasionally use email to communicate significant information. As with other course platforms, it is your responsibility to be accountable for email communication.
By the end of this series of courses, you will develop skills to:
- Develop and complete an independent research process
- Present and communicate complex ideas in a variety of media via proposal and oral defenses
- Describe and analyze a research process, its methods, and outcomes in the form of a formal thesis document
- Effectively accomplish and offer peer and metacritical review
Faculty in the Department of Computer Science evaluate individual student performance as a faculty body, discussing submitted student deliverables. These deliverables are scored using the following percentages:
| Grading scale | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 96 - 100 | A- | 90 - 95.9 | ||
| B+ | 87 - 89.9 | B | 83 - 86.9 | B- | 80 - 82.9 |
| C+ | 77 - 79.9 | C | 73 - 76.9 | C- | 70 - 72.9 |
| D+ | 67 - 69.9 | D | 63 - 66.9 | D- | 60 - 62.9 |
| F | 59.9 and below |
The assignments of this course are comprised of various individual and peer deliverables, detailed below. For the purposes of evaluation, these assignments are assigned the following point values:
| Assignment | Point value | Percentage of course grade |
|---|---|---|
| Class participation | 50 | 5% |
| Maintaining course repositories | 50 | 5% |
| Status updates | 50 | 5% |
| Peer reviews | 150 | 15% |
| Thesis proposal | 500 | 50% |
| Thesis chapters (drafts) | 200 | 20% |
To pass CMPSC 600, submissions of and participation in the following assignments are required:
- Thesis proposal
- Thesis proposal defense
- Thesis chapters
Failure to successfully complete any of the above requirements will constitute a failing grade in the course.
As written, all students are required to attend all of the Monday class sessions and to fully participate in their research group meetings. Additionally, this also requires regular contributions, in the form of peer editing, questions and comments. For additional meetings with First or Second Reader(s), make an appointment via reader office hours.
You are responsible for accepting and maintaining GitHub repositories for each of the assigned course projects. These assignments will be issued in the course Slack channel. Repositories include completion- and submission-specific instructions via README files. Many of these operations feature using GitHub's tagging mechanism to release PDFs of your proposal with versions that adhere to the course's semantic versioning standard.
Course instructors will only grade and provide feedback on projects that are stored and properly released through GitHub.
This assignment types asks you to detail the progress made on identifying a topic for your project and completing the preliminary research needed to demonstrate its feasibility. This work should account for feedback solicited from your First and Second Readers.
In addition, you will be requested (at three points throughout the semester) to complete peer reviews of draft documents. This feedback is crucial to you and your peers' progress in this course.
The thesis proposal process is characterized by two fundamental parts.
Subject to multiple rounds of extensive revision, this technical document must be formatted according to the Departments thesis proposal style requirements and approved for a subsequent defense by your First Reader.
Basic features of the proposal document are listed in the course guidelines.
An oral defense of your proposal documentation to be held at a faculty-scheduled time. The first reader reserves the right to cancel students proposal defense if the thesis proposal document does not meet minimum requirements outlined in course guidelines. Projects subject to this condition may require a follow-up defense.
A submission of any two draft chapters of your thesis document. Written in a professional and scientific style, these chapters must be formatted in the Department's thesis style. Note that this style is different from the proposal style; guidelines for this style will be provided along with the thesis chapter assignment issued this semester.
Should a project require IRB approval for use of human subjects research, students are responsible for having a first draft of the IRB proposal application completed by 1 November 2021. Students should submit this proposal draft to their First Reader by this date.
The faculty of the Department of Computer Science reserve the right to make changes to this syllabus document. Should a change occur, changes may be discussed with the members of the course community. Minor revisions to wording that do not impact course events or deliverables may be made without notice.
Any change which impacts dates or significant changes in student responsibility will be communicated -- in writing -- at least one week in advance of due date of the deliverable affected.
All students and faculty at Allegheny College are bound by the Honor Code. Everyone expects that your behavior reflects this commitment. Given the eminently shareable and reproducible nature of code, the Department of Computer Science adds the following statement to the general college policy:
It is recognized that an important part of the learning process in any course, and particularly in computer science, derives from thoughtful discussions with teachers, student assistants, and fellow students. Such dialogue is encouraged. However, it is necessary to distinguish carefully between the student who discusses the principles underlying a problem with others, and the student who produces assignments that are identical to, or merely variations on, someone else’s work. It will therefore be understood that all assignments submitted to faculty of the Department of Computer Science are to be the original work of the student submitting the assignment, and should be signed in accordance with the provisions of the Honor Code. Appropriate action will be taken when assignments give evidence that they were derived from the work of others.
As the nature of "plagiarism" and constituents of "fair use" change often, the department encourages you to periodically review the specific tenets of the general college Honor Code provided in the latest course catalog and in the Compass.
The above statement, of course, also applies to online forums such as Stack Overflow, et al.
The discipline of computer science, like many others, encourages its members to act according to discipline-specific ethics. The faculty encourage you to take time to review the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Code of Ethics.
Students who struggle to understand knowledge and skills defined in this course are encouraged to seek assistance from their First Readers. To meet with readers, consult available office hours and make an appointment.
Historically, students who are successful in department courses visit and discuss course procesess and assignments early and often.
If you find yourself in difficult circumstances which affect your ability to participate in or complete course work, let us know immediately -- full stop.
Do not wait until the end of the semester.
Part of our role as course instructors is to make sure that students receive the assistance they need. Do not hesitate to let us know if there is anything we can do with respect to your ability to handle your work. This is especially true of our current circumstances of the on-going global pandemic. Again, let us remind and encourage you -- it is part of our job to help you access Allegheny College resources that will enable your safety and success.
In many situations, the following list of resources may help:
- The Maytum Learning Commons
- Allegheny College Counseling Center
- The Winslow Health Center
- Student Life
Students with disabilities who need accommodations in this course are encouraged to contact Disability Services at +1 814-334-2898. Disability Services is part of the Learning Commons, located in Pelletier Library. Should you need accommodations, contact this office as soon as possible to ensure that approved accommodations are communicated and implemented as quickly as possible. This serves everyone involved in providing the best environment for learning and support.