Guidelines for Participation
3 points at each of the 7 presentations
9 points at instructor's lectures
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Ask many (intelligent) questions. Questions that are directly answerable
by quoting the assigned paper or the introductory lectures are considered
poor questions.
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If you cannot attend a session, then you should let me know in advance
(if possible) and email me your questions in advance so that I can read
them for you; otherwise your partial grade for participation at that session
is 0 pts (unless you produce a medical report).
Guidelines for Presentation
10 points on comprehensibility
10 points on depth
10 points on answers to questions
5 points on technical writing & timing
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Locate your assigned paper, and photocopy it for all your classmates.
If you cannot find a paper, then contact me in order to photocopy my exemplar
(I am reluctant to do this in general, because my exemplars are usually
already heavily annotated).
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You may freely swap assigned papers, provided you let me know before the
corresponding presentations. You may not swap presentation dates, because
there usually is a logical sequence between the papers.
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The assigned papers are starting points only: they have been chosen so
as to give a good overview, but are in general insufficient to the presenters
to acquire a deep understanding of the described mechanism: explore
the references, and do not just parrot the (entire) assigned paper.
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Some papers are larger in scope than this course: present the algorithm
synthesis (resp. algorithm transformation) aspects only, but not the algorithm
implementation aspects, nor any material seen in the introductory lectures.
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Some papers have a wealth of information: I very much prefer you give a
thorough presentation of a relevant part of a synthesis mechanism, rather
than a superficial one of the entire mechanism. Contact me if you have
trouble deciding which parts are the most important ones.
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Presentations must be given to the class, not to me: the main purpose is
for the class to learn something.
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Be pedagogical: give many examples, go slowly, and do not forget that a
diagram is worth a thousand words!
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You must show me your draft slides minimum 72 hours before your actual
presentation.
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Timing is important: you will be stopped (and judged) when your allotted
maximum time is over, whether you have finished or not! The only way to
find out whether you will have enough time is to try (aloud, not by mute
reading) at least once before the official presentation. Allow for short
interruptions.
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Slides must comply with minimal quality standards in terms of technical
writing (and typesetting, if applicable): use spelling checkers, proofread,
ask others to proofread, and be consistent in your style, notations, layout,
and conventions. Try not to photocopy passages from papers when preparing
your slides.
Guidelines for Term Paper (max. 7,500 words)
15 points on comprehensibility
15 points on depth
5 points on technical writing
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Summarise, in your own words, the technique you presented, taking into
account the feedback you received during your presentation. If you can't
avoid copying (or if you do not succeed in paraphrasing) a passage from
a paper you read, then quote and reference: otherwise it is plagiarism!
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Classify, according to the criteria of the course, the technique you presented.
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Criticise it, and compare it to the related techniques presented by your
classmates.
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Synthesise, either by hand or using an implementation (where available),
a new program / algorithm for at least one of the sample informal specifications
given in the course.
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Develop a small, but non-trivial, extension / improvement / partial implementation
of your technique. Propose your idea to me first, or ask me for ideas if
you have trouble finding one.
Pretend your paper is being submitted to a conference or journal: this
means, among others, that it should be self-contained. It also must
comply with minimal quality standards in terms of technical writing and
type-setting: you must either use LaTeX or use a WYSIWYG system
in
a structured way, you must use a spelling checker, proofread, ask others
to proofread, and be consistent in your style, notations, layout, and conventions.
You may follow the bogus
paper on the Isabelle system in order to structure your own
writing; all ideas tackled in that paper must somewhere appear in yours.
Papers will be returned ungraded for revision (with a 1 point penalty
each time) after I encounter the 10th serious technical writing flaw (such
as spelling mistakes).
Papers must be revised according to my comments, within 2 weeks after
I have graded them, so as to further simulate a conference setting.
Term papers, and their revisions, may be submitted later than their
announced deadlines, but a penalty of 1 point is levied for each started
delay of 12 hours.