CS 91/191 Spring 2019 Syllabus

Basic information    Course description    Course goals    Prerequisites    Teaching methods    Expectations    Texts    Grading    Academic honor    Student needs    Mental health and wellness    Additional support    Religious observances    Statement on sexual misconduct    Course schedule

Basic information

Instructor: Tom Cormen
Office: 204 Sudikoff
Email: thc@cs.dartmouth.edu
Office phone: 646-2417
Office hours: March 25 through May 30 Class location: 115 Sudikoff
Class time: 2 (2:10–3:15 pm Monday, Wednesday, and Friday)
x-hours: 1:20–2:10 pm Thursday (used sparingly)

Course description

Here's the ORC description of CS 91/191:
Students will learn how to write technical papers in computer science, how to present technical papers in a conference-talk setting, and how program committees and journal editors evaluate technical papers. Writing topics include the proper use of technical typesetting software, organization of technical papers, and English usage. Students will write technical papers, produce official course notes, and give oral presentations.

We'll focus mostly on writing. Some of the writing issues we cover will be specific to computer science or mathematics, whereas some will be material that you should have learned in your freshman writing course, but probably did not.

Second in prominence will be how to give talks. Each enrolled student will give a 20-minute (conference-length) technical talk.

We'll spend the least time on how reviewers evaluate papers. We need to cover this angle, however, since every paper you submit to a conference or journal will be reviewed. You should have an idea of what your readers are looking for.

Course goals

To be a successful researcher, you need to do more than just obtain results. You need to communicate your results to your research community. In order to do so, you need to write papers that are accepted to conferences and journals. Although poorly written papers are sometimes accepted (too often, in my humble opinion), the odds of a paper being accepted increase if the paper is well written. Moreover, the odds of a paper being cited are much higher if the paper is well written.

Alas, most of us did not choose a career in computer science because we love to write English prose. Indeed, most of us seldom wrote prose during our undergraduate years. You might be rusty as a writer, and you almost certainly need to learn how to write technical papers. This course will teach you how and give you practice in doing so.

We will cover the following writing topics:

As a computer-science researcher, you will occasionally give technical talks. Some talk-giving skills apply to any form of public speaking, but others are specific to our field. This course will teach you how to give technical talks. You will give one, and you will critique talks given by others.

Prerequisites

From the ORC:
Each student must submit a short expository piece to be evaluated by the instructor at the start of the course; only those students meeting a required level of competence will be permitted to take the course for a grade. Students should also have a Computer Science background sufficient to understand research papers.

I have posted guidelines for the expository piece. I need it by 5:00 pm on Tuesday, March 26. You will know by class time on Wednesday, March 27 whether you have passed the writing test.

Teaching methods

We will use a combination of lectures and discussion. For the writing topics, I'll present some material, then we'll discuss. Then I'll present more material, then we'll discuss, and so on. For the segment on giving talks, we'll talk about elements of good and bad talks, then I'll present two talks—one intentionally bad and the other not intentionally bad—and I'll ask you to critique them. Later on, each member of the class will present a talk, which the rest of the class will critique.

We'll be running this course on the scribe system. For each class meeting that includes lecture, two students will be the official scribes. These students will take careful notes and write them up beautifully in LaTeX. They must be written in narrative form, with full sentences and paragraphs. The scribes will submit the notes to me by the start of the next Monday/Wednesday/Friday class. Once the notes pass my muster, I'll post them on the course website. I expect that each student will scribe once or twice.

Expectations

Part of your grade will depend on class participation, and so I expect you to attend classes. Of course, you will occasionally have to miss class for a good reason, such as attending a conference. In order to have good discussions, we need discussants. I'm good at talking to myself, but I'd much rather have you there.

The workload in this course will be moderate. I'll ask you to read a bit, but the reading will be mostly about writing, rather than technical. We'll have a few homework assignments. And you'll have to write a technical paper, with a draft due near the end of the term and the final version due at the end of the term.

I will alter the course schedule as needed. Among other things, it depends on how many students end up registered for the course.

Texts

I have selected the following books:
  1. Joseph M. Williams and Joseph Bizup, Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace, fifth edition. Required. The best book on writing style I've ever seen. This book tells you how to diagnose and repair sentences that are grammatically correct and even make sense semantically, yet somehow seem off. It has greatly altered the way I write.

  2. Leslie Lamport, LaTeX: A Document Preparation System, second edition. Recommended. Although better LaTeX tutorials might be out there, Lamport's book is to LaTeX as K&R is to C.

  3. Lyn Dupré, Bugs in Writing. Recommended. A good usage reference, geared toward computer scientists. You'll enjoy reading it all the more if, unlike me, you happen to like cats.

  4. Justin Zobel, Writing for Computer Science, second edition. Recommended. I don't agree with everything that Zobel writes, but I agree with much of it. This book will serve as a good starting point for discussion.

  5. William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White, The Elements of Style, fourth edition. Recommended. The classic, though a bit musty by now. I prefer Williams as a style book and Dupré as a usage book.

In addition, we will use your writing as text. I will ask each of you to submit some writing, and the entire class will critique some of the submitted writing. Lest you think that I'm asking you to do something I wouldn't submit myself to, fear not: you'll be critiquing my writing before you critique your classmates' writing.

Here are other books that you might find useful and possibly even enjoy:

  1. Nicolas J. Higham, Handbook of Writing for the Mathematical Sciences. It has a little that's specific to writing mathematics, a little on usage, and a lot on the process of writing a paper.

  2. Donald E. Knuth, The TeXbook. Like Lamport's book, this book is to TeX as K&R is to C. I find this book a bit difficult to use, however, and the index is a quintessential example of TMI.

  3. Patricia T. O'Conner, Woe Is I: The Grammarphobe's Guide to Better English in Plain English. Julie Sussman, the World's Best Technical Copyeditor, is a big fan of this book.

  4. William Safire, Fumblerules. Safire's list of grammar and usage rules, each of which violates itself. Example: "The passive voice should never be used."

  5. Lynne Truss, Eats, Shoots & Leaves. If you were as fixated on your research as Truss is on punctuation, you would have graduated by now.

  6. Bill Bryson. Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words: A Writer's Guide to Getting It Right. The most complete usage reference I've ever seen. A true labor of love and cantankerousness.

  7. Edward R. Tufte, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. This book was an instant classic. I don't agree with all of it, but it's certainly thought provoking. We'll discuss many of its positions when we talk about figures.

Grading

Your grade will be a weighted combination of the assignments, presentation, paper, and class participation:

Academic honor

The principle of academic honor applies in this course as in any other course. Work you submit must be your own, subject to requirements that I state in each assignment. If you need to work with someone else, you must fully attribute with whom you worked.

Believe it or not, I have had an academic honor violation come up in a past version of this course. I will not hesitate to bring any suspected violations to the attention of the Undergraduate Judicial Affairs Officer or the Dean of Graduate Studies, and violators can expect to be suspended for some number of terms. If you have any question about whether you are in danger of violating the principle of academic honor, please check with me before you do something you'll regret.

Student needs

Students with disabilities who may need disability-related academic adjustments and services for this course are encouraged to see me privately as early in the term as possible. Students requiring disability-related academic adjustments and services must consult the Student Accessibility Services office in Carson Hall 125 or by phone: 646-9900 or email: Student.Accessibility.Services@Dartmouth.edu.

Once SAS has authorized services, students must show the originally signed SAS Services and Consent Form and/or a letter on SAS letterhead to me. As a first step, if you have questions about whether you qualify to receive academic adjustments and services, you should contact the SAS office. All inquiries and discussions will remain confidential.

Mental health and wellness

The academic environment at Dartmouth is challenging, our terms are intensive, and classes are not the only demanding part of your life. There are a number of resources available to you on campus to support your wellness, including your undergraduate dean, Counseling and Human Development, and the Student Wellness Center. I encourage you to use these resources to take care of yourself throughout the term, and to come speak to me if you experience any difficulties.

Additional support

In addition to my office hours, you can get help at RWIT, the Student Center for Research, Writing, and Information Technology, located in 183 Berry Library, a few feet south of the Reference Desk on the main floor of Berry. The RWIT service is free. You may either schedule an appointment or walk in. See the RWIT website for information and scheduling.

Religious observances

Some students may wish to take part in religious observances that occur during this academic term. If you have a religious observance that conflicts with your participation in the course, please meet with me before the end of the second week of the term to discuss appropriate accommodations.

Statement on sexual misconduct

At Dartmouth, we value integrity, responsibility, and respect for the rights and interests of others, all central to our Principles of Community. We are dedicated to establishing and maintaining a safe and inclusive campus where all have equal access to the educational and employment opportunities Dartmouth offers. We strive to promote an environment of sexual respect, safety, and well-being. In its policies and standards, Dartmouth demonstrates unequivocally that sexual assault, gender-based harassment, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking are not tolerated in our community.

The Sexual Respect Website at Dartmouth provides a wealth of information on your rights with regard to sexual respect and resources that are available to all in our community.

Please note that, as a faculty member, I am obligated to share disclosures regarding conduct under Title IX with Dartmouth's Title IX Coordinator. Confidential resources are also available, and include licensed medical or counseling professionals (e.g., a licensed psychologist), staff members of organizations recognized as rape crisis centers under state law (such as WISE), and ordained clergy (see here).

Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact Dartmouth's Title IX Coordinator or the Deputy Title IX Coordinator for the Guarini School. You can find their contact information here.

Course schedule

Subject to change with minimal notice.
Week 1: March 25, 27, 29
Course overview. Paper organization.
Reading: Zobel, Chapters 1 and 9.

Week 2: April 1, 3, 5
Style.
Reading: Williams, especially Lessons 1–5; Strunk and White, Chapter II; Zobel, Chapters 2 and 3.

Week 3: April 8, 10, 12
Style. Figure design. Mathematical writing.
Reading: Zobel, Chapters 5 and 6; Dupré, Segments 43, 47, 57, 75, 77, 118, 126.

Week 4: April 15, 17 (no class on April 19)
Usage.
Dupré, Segments 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29, 41, 49, 50, 61, 64, 66, 73, 75, 77, 80, 92, 99, 104, 115, 116, 119, 129, 135, 139.

Week 5: April 22, 24, 26
How to give talks. The review process.
Reading: Zobel, Chapters 12 and 14; Dupré, Segment 122.

Week 6: April 29; May 1, 3
Critique student writing.

Week 7: May 6, 8, 10
LaTeX. Student presentations. May 10: Max, Jiachen.
Reading: Lamport.

Week 8: May 13, 15, 17
Student presentations. May 13: Almas, Michael. May 15: Abigail, Charlie. May 17: Shaojie, Jason.

Week 9: May 20, 22, 24
Student presentations. May 20: Shayan, Prantar. May 22: Christina, Pete. May 24: Qijia, Prashant.

Week 10: May 29 (no class on May 27)
Student presentations. May 29: Barry, Devina.
Thomas H. Cormen <thc@cs.dartmouth.edu>
Last modified: Tue May 7 12:54:03 2019