Deliverables
Most of our class meetings will require some outside preparation on your part. As documentation that you are doing this preparation, and (more importantly) to help facilitate lively and interesting classroom discussions, you will often have to submit a brief note to the discussion leaders of the day.
Discussion Notes
Discussion notes consists of the following:
- Summary: A very brief (3-4 sentence) description, in your own words, of what the paper is about.
- Take home: 1 sentence that captures what you think is the most important point/idea/insight in the paper. The hope is that if you remember one thing about the paper, this is it.
- Discussion questions/topics: 2 questions (1 sentence each is fine) that you have after reading the paper or topics that you would like to talk about during the discussion group or see covered in the presentation.
There will be a post to Canvas for each paper that you are assigned to read. You should post your discussion note as a comment to that post.
Deadlines:
- For core papers: 9am on the day of class
- For the supplementary paper you are assigned: 24 hours before the start of class
Summary Notes
The discussion leader of each group is responsible for posting summary notes to Canvas after the in-class discussion. In the last 5-10 minutes of the discussion group, the group should collectively agree on these notes. However, the discussion leader is ultimately responsible for submitting them and therefore has a strong incentive to keep the discussion flowing! The summary notes consists of the following:
- Summary: A brief (1 paragraph) description of what the paper is about.
- Take home(s): 1 (or up to 3) sentence(s) that captures what the group ultimately decided were the most important take home ideas of the paper.
- Discussion highlights: 3 very brief descriptions (2-3 sentences each) of the most interesting topics/controversies/insights that were discussed during your group.
Deadlines: Within 24 hours of the corresponding discussion group.
Paper Presentations
Paper presentations will consist of a 15 minute presentation of a supplementary paper followed by 10-15 minutes of discussion.
Discussants should:
- Read the supplementary paper.
- Submit discussion notes to Canvas at least 24 hours before the start of class.
- Be ready to ask questions during the discussion phase to help jump-start the conversation.
Presenters should:
- Read the supplementary paper.
- Read the discussion notes submitted by the discussants.
- Prepare a 15 minute presentation of the paper that does the following:
- shares the main idea(s) of the paper with the class
- relates these main ideas to concepts we have discussed in class
All group members should contribute to both the preparation and execution of the presentation.
The format of your presentation is flexible. You are welcome to use slides, the chalk board, or to present example code that illustrates the main idea of the paper. The most important thing is to communicate these ideas clearly to the rest of the class.
Remember that the majority of your classmates have not read the paper you have presenting, but they have read all of the core papers that we have discussed in discussion groups! Your presentation must connect and relate the ideas of your paper to the ideas and concepts we have discussed in class.
Project Code and Documents
There will be multiple project milestones throughout the term. Specific deliverables for the project will be described in detail on the project description page.