CSC 200 Undergraduate Problem Seminar
Ganesh:
A deity for researchers.
Information
Course: CSC 200 Undergraduate Problem Seminar
Instructor: Randal C. Nelson
TA: Lior Privman,
Office hours TBA, CSC 620
Time: TR 3:25 - 4:40
Room: CSB 601
Summary
This course is intended to provide students with a hands-on feel for what
research in computer science is like.
A significant component of the course will revolve around a set of
semester-long "impossible projects".
These are team system building efforts consisting
of the following goals:
- 1. Researching, understanding, and presenting the state of the art in
a specified semi-open problem,
- 2. grounding and solidifing this understanding by
implementing a solution that approaches the state of the art, and
- 3. attempting to identify areas where the state of the art
might be pushed and pushing on it.
Team members will regularly present project progress the the rest of the
class during semi-formal discussion sessions, where team understanding,
approaches and progress, will be critiqued, and potentially modified.
Teams will also prepare weekly written reports
Several different projects will be pursued in parallel by teams of
3-5 members.
Teams and topics will be selected by the instructor and TAs a
couple of weeks into the course on the basis of survey information
and some preliminary projects.
Our hope is that most droppers will have dropped the course by that time,
so we can have stable teams.
Depending on class size, we may have more than one team on a project,
in semi-competition.
Since both the instructor and the TA have AI backgrounds, the projects
are likely to have an AI-ish flavor, since, although we will not be
providing specific instruction, we need to be able to tell if teams
are really off track or heading up a blind alley.
A second component of the course consists of guest lectures by
researchers in the computer science department.
The course may also address issues in proposal writing and evaluation.
Attendance is mandatory. Participation in critique sessions is an
essential part of the experience, as is attendance at guest lectures.
There may be 5-minute "easy" quizzes on material occuring in the previous
class as a means of documenting attendance and attention.
This could include the content of unscripted discussions.
NOTE THAT CSC 200 IS NO LONGER REQUIRED FOR THE CS DEGREE.
Students should not undertake this course lightly.
It is expected to be a significant amount of work. Research is that way.
It is also likely to be the first course where the professor is not
providing material and answers, or detailed instructions.
That is also how research is.
If you are not interested in this sort of experience, don't take the course.
If it's your bag however, it could be a bit of fun in addition to a lot of
work, and you will learn a lot (not all of it technical knowledge).
Prerequisites
The course requires extensive programming, so 173 is required.
The projects will require the use of multiple source files and
libraries, so experience with programming utilities such as make, or
more sophisticated systems is desireable.
Efficiency is an issue in the projects, so ability to program in
a relatively efficient language such as C or C++ (though not assembly)
is required. Java may not cut it.
Course Text Books
There are no required texts. However, the following are recommended
reading, in whole or in part.
- "Out of Their Minds: The Lives and Discoveries of 15 Great Computer
Scientists" by Dennis Shasha and Cathy Lazere,
(Copernicus, an imprint of Springer-Verlag, 1995).
The title says it all.
- "ACM Turing Award Lectures: The First Twenty Years, 1966-1985"
(ACM Press, 1987). The best and the brightest in CS,
in their own words!!!
- "The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the
Structure of DNA" by James D. Watson, W. W Norton & Co., 1981;
Also in print from Touchstone Books, 2001.
A real classic.
- "Who Got Einstein's Office?" by Edward Regis, Perseus Publishing, 1988.
A history of the Institute for Advanced Study,
which was home to fourteen Nobel laureates and most of the century's
greatest mathematicians and physicists, including Einstein,
Kurt Godel, and J. Robert Oppenheimer.
- "A Gift of Fire" by Sara Baase (Prentice-Hall 1997).
Very readable inquiry into some of the ethical societal issues
arising from mastery of information technology.
- "Computerization and Controversy: Value Conflicts and Social Choices",
editied by Charles Dunlop and Rob Kling, (Academic Press, 1991).
Older, but still largely relevant set of essays.
- "Tomorrow's Professor: Preparing for Academic Carers in Science and
Engineering" by Richard M. Reis (IEEE Press 1997).
For anyone contemplating a career in academics.
Grading
Some combination of:
Attendance/quizzes, class participation, presentations, project reports,
project accomplishments.
As a first approximation, 20% each. However, note that quizzes, class
participation and presentations can only occur in class, and much of
the project work and organization will occur in class, hence most of
the grade is dependant on attendance. If you do not attend class
regularly, you cannot pass this course, and missing more than a session or
two will seriously impact your final mark.
If you cannot avoid an absence, contact or email me IN ADVANCE.
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