COM495: Research Seminar

Updates

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Schedule

Introduction

The CS faculty members at Connecticut College believe that undergraduate research is essential for CS majors. Indeed, it is one of the major strengths of the Connecticut College Computer Science Program. The ability to conduct independent research is probably the main characteristic of interest to employers who want innovative employees, as well as to universities when considering graduate school applicants. Not only will undergraduate student research set you apart from other college graduates, the process will also greatly deepen and enrich your undergraduate education. Since CS tends to be strongly interdisciplinary, you are encouraged to pursue cross-disciplinary work in your research projects. Some common areas of collaboration are with art, music, biology, physics, economics, chemistry, neuroscience, psychology, and philosophy.

Info

Location:	Mondays, 7 pm to 9:45 pm, in Shain Library DILLEY
Professor:	Dr. Christine Chung http://cs.conncoll.edu/cchung cchung@conncoll.edu 860-439-2074 Bill Hall 315A Office hours by appointment
Grading:	Your grade in this class will be established through consultation with your research adviser. It will be a reflection of your combined performance in this class and in your research.

Required for Computer Science Majors

COM495 (offered every Fall) and COM496 (offered every Spring) are required courses for computer science majors. Students who would normally take independent studies to do research will sign up for these courses. The faculty member assigned to the course will be the course coordinator. Students will be doing research directly with faculty in their area of interest. Please see the CS Research Page for available areas of research. It is required that students contact the faculty member they will be working with either before enrolling in the course (preferred) or within one week of the course’s first meeting date.

Course Description

Practicum in computer science research. An introduction to research methods and implementation of a major research project. Students will read, present, and discuss technical papers; write a research proposal; make weekly reports; raise issues for class discussion; complete their research; write a technical paper; and do a public presentation. May be repeated unlimited times for credit.

Prerequisite: 300 level course in the area of computer science research or permission of instructor.

Student Learning Objectives

• Literature search – Students will present the instructor with a list of pertinent previous works.
• Read and understand technical papers – Students will write summaries of previous works; these will be part of their final paper Introductions.
• Technical accomplishment – Students will be expected to produce a research work that is at least at a level appropriate for an undergraduate senior. The goal will be that they produce significant research that is presentable and publishable in a peer reviewed conference.
• Effective written communication – Students will be expected to write a technical paper that is ready for submission to a technical conference. Those projects that lack the significance for publication will be published internally as technical reports.
• Effective oral communication – Students will present their work at departmental events and possibly technical conferences.
• Collaboration – Students will have the opportunity to work with other students and/or faculty on their projects. They will be expected to work together as a research group and will be graded on their participation in helping other students with research issues presented during class meetings.
  
  

Discussion

The course will meet weekly with a 2.5 hour session. The weekly meeting will be for students to discuss their research projects (all the students in the class will present their progress and raise issues for discussion) and for one student to present a research paper pertinent to the topic they are studying. The students will be required to develop a research timeline, write a research proposal, complete their body of research, write a technical paper, and give a presentation of their research at the end of the course.