We will have a rotating schedule of student presentations. Depending on enrollment, each student may present multiple times during the semester. Each presentation will cover 2-3 papers on a given topic, and we will have a class discussion after each presentation. Overall, I expect to have presentations and the concluding discussion take up about two lectures. Rather than covering papers page by page, I expect students to present the material top-down, presenting background, the problem areas studied, and finally how the results are related and compare to one another. I will also expect soft copies of your presentations, which will be posted on the class webpage. I anticipate the presentations to be interactive and informal, so be ready to answer questions! Here are some guidelines on giving good presentations.
The semester project will be a short writeup of a specific problem area and possible directions for future research. The writeup should first summarize the chosen topic by covering not only papers covered in class, but also additional material that you may feel is relevant to the discussion. The remainder of the writeup should address current and future research directions in that problem area; feel free to formulate and suggest problems that you feel are interesting. Guidelines for the semester project are available here.