Content Overview

Tentative Schedule

It is important to note that this schedule is evolving and will change based on your interests and how the class is progressing.

Evaluation

Weekly Paper Reviews

Each week you are expected to carefully read two to three papers. In addition, you are to submit a review of one of the papers (you choose which one). However, if you are doing a paper presentation, then you are excused for that week.

Reviews are due by 10:00 AM on the morning of the class. Please send me email with the subject "[COMP 5117] Paper Review Student_Name".

A review should be about 500-1000 words long (1.5-2 pages), and submitted as a PDF file.

Your review should address the following points:

1. What were the primary contributions of the paper as the author sees it?
2. What were the main contributions of the paper as you (the reader) see it?
3. How does this work move the research forward (or how does the work apply to you)?
4. How was the work validated?
5. How could this research be extended?
6. How could this research be applied in practice?

Class Participation

Each week you are expected to read all presented papers, as well as participate in the class discussion.

Paper Presentations

In a typical week, we will examine two or three research papers. Paper resentations will be done by students.

You will get to select three to five papers you want to present from the course (in the order of your first to last preferences). Please make your selections from the proceedings of the MSR, ICSE or other conferences such as FSE, ASE, etc. (2021-2024): MSR 2024, MSR 2023, MSR 2022, MSR 2021, ICSE 2024, ICSE 2023, ICSE 2022, ICSE 2021. Once you have selected your papers, email me your selection of three or five papers.This must be done by Monday, September 16 via email. I will generate a cohesive class schedule once everyone has selected their papers. Each student will be assigned to present one or two papers in class depending on the class size.

You are then to design a presentation of about 20-25 minutes that is both informative and entertaining. Don't feel limited to just the content of the papers.

You should also come prepared with a set of questions to foster a 15-20 minute discussion session that you will lead to follow the presentation (this is where the other students earn their class participation marks).

When you design your talk, keep in mind that the audience has already read the papers. Remind us of the motivation, the big ideas, the context of the problem being addressed, and how all of this relates to what we've already seen in the course.

Presentations can be done using Open Office, Powerpoint, Keynote, or PDF. You must share a set of slides (only PDF) by uploading them to the Discord server prior/after your talk.

Course Project

The project forms an integral part of this course. The projects can be done individually or completed in groups of two students.

You need to come up with an idea of your own that relates to the course material. The project topic will require my approval (via the proposal).

There are three deliverables for your project:

1. Project proposal. Before you undertake your project you will need to submit a proposal for approval. The proposal should be short (max 2 page PDF in ACM format). The proposal should include a problem statement, the motivation for the project, and set of objectives you aim to accomplish. I will read these and provide comments. The proposal is not for marks but must be completed in order to pass the course. This will be due on September 23 by 11:59 PM via email.


2. Written report. The required length of the written report varies from project to project (8-10 pages, double column format); all reports must be formatted according to the ACM format (LaTeX users can use "sigsoft" option: \documentclass[sigconf]{acmart} ) and submitted as a PDF. This report will constitute 100% of the project report grade. This will be due on December 13 by 11:59 PM via email.


3. Project presentation. Each group will have the opportunity to present their project in class on December 6. This presentation should take the form of a 15 minute (hard maximum) conference-style talk and describe the motivation for your work, what you did, and what you found. If a demo is the best way to describe what you did, feel free to include one in the middle of the talk. Please allocate 3-5 minute time for questions after the project has been presented.

The proposed structure of your presentation:

1. Introduction (describe the problem and motivation)
2. Research questions
3. Methodology: data collection, data cleanup, data mining, data analysis (statistics, machine learning), etc.
4. Results (achieved, preliminary, or anticipated)
5. Implications (why does this study matter? how can your findings be used?)
6. Conclusion (summary, main contributions)

Contact

The best way to get in touch with me is via Discord or email: olga.baysal[at]carleton.ca.

University Policies

For information about Carleton's academic year, including registration and withdrawal dates, see Carleton's Academic Calendar.

Academic Accommodations

Carleton is committed to providing academic accessibility for all individuals. Please review the academic accommodation available to students here: Academic Accomodations.

Academic Integrity

Student Academic Integrity Policy. Every student should be familiar with the Carleton University Student Academic Integrity policy. A student found in violation of academic integrity standards may be sanctioned with penalties which range from a reprimand to receiving a grade of F in the course, or even being suspended or expelled from the University. Examples of punishable offences include plagiarism and unauthorized collaboration. Any such reported offences will be reviewed by the office of the Dean of Science.

The use of any AI system will be considered academic misconduct. This includes, but is not limited to, chatbots or code generators (e.g., ChatGPT) for projects (reports, models, etc.). An exception to the above rule is made for automated grammar and punctuation checking tools (such as Grammarly).

More information on this policy may be found on the ODS Academic Integrity page.

Plagiarism

As defined by Senate, "plagiarism is presenting, whether intentional or not, the ideas, expression of ideas or work of others as one's own". Such reported offences will be reviewed by the office of the Dean of Science. More information and standard sanction guidelines can be found here. Please note that content generated by an unauthorized A.I.-based tool is considered plagiarized material.