Students are responsible for:
*group size and frequency depends on final enrollment
Detailed instructions for each of these items appear below.
"Assigned" vs. "additional" papers:
In the following, an "assigned" paper is the paper assigned for the entire class to read and review. The "additional" papers provide (non-exhaustive) background material for the students assigned to present that day, and are optional reading for everyone else in the class.
The quality of our discussions will rely on how prepared everyone is when they come to class. It is important to do the reading in order to actively participate. Students are required to submit two paper reviews per week (and their associated discussion points) for the assigned papers. We'll usually have 3-4 assigned papers each week; choose only 2 of those assigned to review. In weeks that you are presenting, you can skip writing the reviews.
Each paper review should address most of following (in any order):
Keep in mind it's often easier to see flaws in a piece of work in hindsight, or judging from a distance -- yet we strive to comment on the good and creative things, too.
After writing your reviews, extract 1-2 favorite "discussion points" (1-2 sentences each) based on your analysis of each paper you reviewed. These should be key observations, lingering questions, interesting connections, etc. that fall out of your full paper review. Think of it as a recap of the most salient aspects of your paper review.
Submission instructions: due each Wednesday by 5 PM. To submit weekly reviews and discussion points: post each to Piazza as follows:
1. New post - select type to be Note
2. Post to - select instructors (which is default)
3. Select folders - select tag of reading (readingX), where X is the week number.
4. Summary - Use title with prefix "[Reviews]". The format looks like:
[Reviews] readingX review by (your name)
5. Post the paper review in Details box (text in the box directly, no links to other docs please).
Make only one post for both of your reviews, and include your discussion points at the bottom of the same review post.
Paper reviews are graded on a “check/check-plus/0” basis. Check-plus implies great insights and thoughtful analysis. 0 implies the review was not submitted or it is very low quality/effort. Lowest 2 review grades will be dropped, but 0s cannot be dropped. Late reviews received after 5 pm on Wednesday do not receive credit.
Each week a small group of students (~3-4) will be assigned to work together to prepare a presentation for that topic. We will designate assigned topics accounting for your preferences at the beginning of the course.
The presentation is to be closely coordinated with your small group and should consist of:
Time blocks above are to convey typical structure, but use your judgement about how to interweave background/additional papers with the assigned papers for best clarity.
What to cover: As a general guide, include these components in the presentations:
Additional tips:
Try to use applications to motivate the work when possible, and look for visual elements (images, videos) to put in the presentation. Check out the webpages linked on the class webpage, and also look at authors’ webpages for supplementary materials like videos or demos.
Re-using existing slides: It’s perfectly fine to re-use authors' slides from conference talks etc. when available, but be sure to clearly cite the source on *each* slide that is not your own (e.g., write "Slide credit: Jane Jones" at the bottom of each borrowed slide). Furthermore, even if you are borrowing slides, be aware you may need to edit them to make sure the flow and length are suitable for our class.
Draft slides: A full draft of the presentation is due by Tuesday 8 am the week your presentation is scheduled, to be discussed in a meeting with the instructor/TAs on Tuesday 3-3:30 pm, leaving time to iterate before your Thursday presentation.
The talk should be well-organized and polished and respect the time limit. Please run through it out loud and with the group before submitting your draft slides on Tues and check the time (typically 1 slide per minute is the max).
Posting and displaying slides: Please bring the slides on your own laptop to class, and post the slides in the google sheet linked in the canvas for our class.
To avoid any surprises or delays, it's always wise to check your slides on the projector in our seminar room before class starts.
Peer reviews of presentations: We will have a form for lightweight peer feedback on the day’s presentation (closes Friday each week). Students are always welcome to provide constructive feedback to their peers, and each student needs to provide feedback at least 3 times during the term (days of your choosing). Feedback will be reviewed by the instructors, then anonymized and shared with the presenters[b].
There are three coding assignments. Each one should be done with a partner, for one joint submission. You will have two or more weeks to complete each one, and we will allocate some time in class to take Q&A before it is due. All assignments are due via email to the TA by 11:59 pm on their due date. By default, an assignment loses 10 points of credit automatically for every day late. Submit zip file on Canvas per the assignment instructions.
Compute: We have created the assignment taking into consideration the compute requirements. We are ensuring the dataset and model sizes are small enough to load, train and analyze using most of the free resources. In particular, we recommend using Google Colab. The free version allows GPU access which should be enough for the assignments. A session can run at most 12 hours, and we expect all the assignments to run within this time. Please reach out to the instructor or the teaching assistant if you have difficulty in compute resources[c].
A project could be built around any of the following, and must be done with a small group (~4 people per team, size and scope to be confirmed by instructor):
Project proposals will be due in the middle of the term. Detailed instructions for the final project can be seen here.
Please read the UTCS code of conduct.
We encourage you to discuss the homework assignments and papers and project ideas with other students. However, your work must be completed individually (written reviews, slides for individual paper presentation). The exception is collaborative required work, i.e., the background component of the paper presentation, the assignment work with a partner, and your small group project.
You are free to use external resources like authors’ code, models, slides, videos, AI assistants, etc., but only as a reference to improve your understanding—not to produce what you will submit. External code CAN be reused for the final project, but should NOT be used for the assignments.
Any reuse of existing resources needs to be cited clearly.
IMPORTANT: The penalty for academic dishonesty will be a course grade of F and a referral of the case to the Dean of Students Office. Further penalties, including suspension or expulsion from the University may be imposed by that office.