CS 7000 Research - Syllabus

Instructor: Dr. Michael Sobolewski
Office: 310 Engineering Center
Office Hours:  Weekly meeting by appointment
Phone: (806) 441-9999
Email:  sobol@cs.ttu.edu
URL: http://cs.ttu.edu/~sobol/courses/cs7000/

Advanced standing and departmental approval.

Text and Supporting Materials

The instructor may provide materials appropriate to the student's work.

Course Description

CS 7000 is designed to allow students the opportunity to investigate special topic areas of computer science through conducting research under a professor's guidance.

CS 7000 is an exciting way to explore areas of interest that are not typically within the realm of graduate courses. Also, the format of CS 7000 is typically more flexible than that of regular courses allowing the student to focus mostly on the work to be accomplished rather than on being trained to do the work. That is why students should be at the graduate level (well trained in computer science) before taking CS 7000.

Students may work individually or in small groups on CS 7000 work.

Expected Learning Outcomes

Ability to:

1. define and investigate a specific research area.
2. develop a literature review in a specific research area.
3. develop a methodology to perform specific research.
4. implement the methodology.
5. determine conclusions and future research after implementation of the methodology.
6. document the investigation.

Method Assessment

• Report (Learning Outcomes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) written in your own words.
  • The report has 5 chapters consisting of the introduction, literature review, methodology, results, and conclusions/future research.  Its format is given below.
    • Title page with the title of the study, student's name, semester, and advisor.
    • The introduction should give a general overview of the research area, lead to the research problem, describe the research problem and its importance, describe what is to be done to investigate the problem, and give an overview of the rest of the report.
    • The literature review should contain a summary of the conference and journal literature relevant to the research problem including past approaches and results.  All equations and methods should have complete examples given.
    • The methodology should give in detail how the research problem is to be investigated including software, hardware, data, and experiments.
    • The results should detail everything that happened in the implementation of the methodology including deviations from the methodology.
    • The conclusions/future research should give the overarching conclusions that can be drawn from the results (not a restatement of the results) and what future research should be conducted to continue to help solve the research problem.
    • References used in writing the report with appropriate citations made within the report.  If a reference is not cited in the report, it should not be included here.
  • The report must document the research comprehensively and be organized well, formatted neatly, grammatically correct, understandable, and easy to read.  Any parts of the report copied from another source must be cited (reference and page number) as such and must have permission from the source's author to include the copied material.
  • The instructor will work with the student in the development of the report.
  • The report should be completed before final exams begin, however, additional time may be taken upon instructor approval.
• Other deliverables (Learning Outcomes 3, 4, 6)
  • Anything used to investigate the research problem, such as software or data files, should be included with the report.
• Weekly Progress (Learning Outcome 1, 6)
  • The student must meet with the instructor a minimum of once of week.
  • The instructor will work with the student in the development of the research which must not have been previously performed or documented elsewhere.
  • A short-term plan showing current and planned progress should be used.  Each week, the short-term plan should be filled in with hours worked for the week and deliverables worked on during the week.
  • A Web site may be given to the student to post CS 7000 materials.

Criteria for Grading

• Overall grade
  • Report - 50%
  • Other deliverables - 5%
  • Weekly Progress - 45%
• The usual grading scale will be used in the absence of a curve: 90-100 A, 80-89 B, 70-79 C, 60-69 D, 0-59 F.
• No grades are dropped.
• Late work will only be accepted within 24 hours of the due date and will be graded on a 90% basis.
• Questions about graded material:
  • All questions concerning graded material must be submitted in writing along with the graded material within one meeting period of the day the material is returned.
  • Questions will be handled on a case-by-case basis and may result in the entire material being re-graded either higher or lower.
    • Definitely notify the course instructor if points are not added correctly to reflect the actual higher grade (do not bother if the grade would be lower).
• Earning a higher grade:
  • Extra credit work will not be given, but the instructor may give extra points for exceptional course work. Any extra work performed by the student, however, should be done for the student's benefit, not with the expectation of receiving extra points.
  • Students with no more than two meeting absences, who consistently improve, and who show a positive attitude may be given a letter grade higher than their actual final course grade if they are at least within one point of the next higher grade.

Attendance Policy

• Meeting once a week with the instructor is highly recommended and usually required in order to keep the instructor apprised of progress and to allow the instructor to comment on the direction being taken by the student.  It is extremely important for the student to discuss all issues with the instructor that could possibly change the student's work from what was given in the original Short-Term Project Plan.  If such issues are not discussed with the instructor, then the student could possibly be given a lower grade for deviating from the agreed upon work.  Communication is definitely a key factor!
• The course instructor must be notified in writing prior to or within 24 hours of any absence in order to make appropriate plans with the student for making up missed meetings or CS 7000 work. Each absence will be handled on a case-by-case basis, but if the absence is due to reasons, such as oversleeping or neglecting to give prior notice when possible, the student will be penalized at a minimum by grading the missed material on a 90% basis or at a maximum by not allowing the missed material to be made up.
• Absence due to religious observance - The Texas Tech University Catalog states that a student who is absent from classes for the observance of a religious holy day will be allowed to take an examination or complete an assignment scheduled for that day within a reasonable time after the absence (p. 49).  Notification must be made in writing and delivered in person no later than the 15th class day of the semester.
• Absence due to officially approved trips – The Texas Tech University Catalog states that the person responsible for a student missing class due to a trip should notify the instructor of the departure and return schedule in advance of the trip. The student may not be penalized and is responsible for the material missed. (p.49)
• Whether an absence is excused or unexcused is determined solely by the instructor with the exception of absences due to religious observance and officially approved trips described above. The Center for Campus Life will notify faculty, at the student’s request, when a student is absent for four consecutive days with appropriate verification of a health related emergency. This notification does not excuse the student from class, it is provided as a courtesy. The service is explained as follows and can be found on the Center for Campus Life web site at: http://www.campuslife.ttu.edu/crisis/

Illness and Death Notification

The Center for Campus Life is responsible for notifying the campus community of student illnesses, immediate family deaths and/or student death. Generally, in cases of student illness or immediate family deaths, the notification to the appropriate campus community members occur when a student is absent from class for four (4) consecutive days with appropriate verification. It is always the student’s responsibility for missed class assignments and/or course work during their absence. The student is encouraged to contact the faculty member immediately regarding the absences and to provide verification afterwards. The notification from the Center for Campus Life does not excuse a student from class, assignments, and/or any other course requirements. The notification is provided as a courtesy.

Academic Integrity

All work in this course shall be done in conformance with the statements made on academic integrity in The Texas Tech University Catalog (p. 49):

• It is the aim of the faculty of Texas Tech University to foster a spirit of complete honesty and a high standard of integrity. The attempt of students to present as their own any work that they have not honestly performed is regarded by the faculty and administration as a serious offense and renders the offenders liable to serious consequences, possibly suspension.
• "Scholastic dishonesty” includes, but is not limited to, cheating, plagiarism, collusion, falsifying academic records, misrepresenting facts, and any act designed to give unfair academic advantage to the student (such as, but not limited to, submission of essentially the same written assignment for two courses without the prior permission of the instructor) or the attempt to commit such an act.
• "Cheating” includes, but is not limited to, the following:
  • Copying from another student’s test paper.
  • Using materials during a test that have not been authorized by the person giving the test.
  • Failing to comply with instructions given by the person administering the test.
  • Possessing materials during a test that are not authorized by the person giving the test, such as class notes or specifically designed “crib notes.” The presence of textbooks constitutes a violation only if they have been specifically prohibited by the person administering the test.
  • Using, buying, stealing, transporting, or soliciting in whole or part the contents of an unadministered test, test key, homework solution, or computer program.
  • Collaborating with or seeking aid or receiving assistance from another student or individual during a test or in conjunction with an assignment without authority.
  • Discussing the contents of an examination with another student who will take the examination.
  • Divulging the contents of an examination, for the purpose of preserving questions for use by another, when the instructor has designated that the examination is not to be removed from the examination room or not to be returned to or kept by the student.
  • Substituting for another person, or permitting another person to substitute for oneself to take a course, a test, or any course-related assignment.
  • Paying or offering money or other valuable thing to, or coercing another person to obtain an unadministered test, test key, homework solution, or computer program, or information about an unadministered test, test key, homework solution, or computer program.
  • Falsifying research data, laboratory reports, and/or other academic work offered for credit.
  • Taking, keeping, misplacing, or damaging the property of the university, or of another, if the student knows or reasonably should know that an unfair academic advantage would be gained by such conduct.
• "Plagiarism” includes, but is not limited to, the appropriation of, buying, receiving as a gift, or obtaining by any means material that is attributable in whole or in part to another source, including words, ideas, illustrations, structure, computer code, other expression and media, and presenting that material as one’s own academic work being offered for credit. Any student who fails to give credit for quotations or for an essentially identical expression of material taken from books, encyclopedias, magazines, Internet documents, reference works or from the themes, reports, or other writings of a fellow student is guilty of plagiarism.
• "Collusion” includes, but is not limited to, the unauthorized collaboration with another person in preparing academic assignments offered for credit or collaboration with another person to commit a violation of any section of the rules on scholastic dishonesty.

Civility in the Classroom

The Texas Tech University Catalog states (p. 49):  Students are expected to assist in maintaining a classroom environment that is conducive to learning.

In order to assure that all students have the opportunity to gain from time spent in class, unless otherwise approved by the instructor, students are prohibited from engaging in any other form of distraction. Inappropriate behavior in the classroom shall result, minimally, in a request to leave class.

Students with Disabilities

Any student who because of a disability may require special arrangements in order to meet course requirements should contact the instructor as soon as possible to make any necessary accommodations. Student should present appropriate verification from AccessTECH. No requirement exists that accommodations be made prior to completion of this approved university procedure.