spring 2010

CS376: Research Topics in Human-Computer Interaction

Discussion Guidelines

Each day, class will consist of a short lecture by the professor or an invited guest on the broad topic of the papers, followed by a discussion of the papers themselves. Each student will be asked to lead one discussion during the quarter. On the day of your discussion, please submit your materials (slides, notes, etc.) via the online course submission system instead of your critique. You should plan for your discussion to take a little more than half of the class period (roughly 45 minutes).

There are several goals for the discussion:

To briefly summarize the papers for those who may have not read them as closely as others. (This is most important for papers where a critique is not required.) This should take no more than 10 minutes of your total 45 minutes.
To lead a conversation about the papers, covering topics much like those that would be covered in a critique. You don't need to provide all the content, but you need to be willing to step in at any point when no one else is providing the content. To say it another way, don't plan on giving a 45-minute monologue, but have enough interesting things to talk about so that you could give a 45-minute monologue.
To get people talking! One great way to do this is to break people into pairs or small groups for a minute or two to think about a question. Pairs and small groups give more students a chance to participate, and they help students get ideas and words flowing.
To touch on the high and low level parts of the readings. High level concepts are important, they help us anchor on the topic and give us some motivation for a research topic, but also don't be afraid to really dive into the details of how a study was performed, or whether the right research question was asked.

Before class on the day of your discussion, read through all other students' critiques. (They're viewable through the course submission system after they are due at 7am). You are expected to weave ideas from everyone's critiques into the discussion.

We're very open to students trying something innovative or different during the discussion they lead. However, if you are going to do something like this, please talk to us about it several days beforehand (e-mail cs376@cs with your plan) so that we can help you determine if it is appropriate and achievable in the amount of time you plan to spend.

See the grading page for details on how the discussion you lead will be evaluated.

Signing Up to Lead a Discussion

After class on Thursday, April 1st, Students should e-mail the course staff (cs376@cs) with their top three preferences for dates to lead a discussion. Dates will be assigned on a first-come-first-served basis. The syllabus will be continually updated with assignments, so please avoid requesting days that are already assigned.