CS 498 Senior Seminar Students will research a current topic in computer science, write a paper on that topic, and make an oral presentation.

Course Goals  Insure that all graduating students have experience in both written and oral communication skills.  To evaluate the ability of graduating students to engage in life-long learning.  To introduce students to some current topics in computer science.

Life-Long Learning  The field of computer science is changing at a very rapid pace.  Graduates need to know how to keep their skills current.  Need to learn new languages and tools  Need to stay aware of new ideas  Need to be able to learn about topics that were not part of the curriculum

Course Deliverables  Literature search on a topic of your choice  Research paper on a current topic in computer science  in publication-ready format suitable for a journal or conference.  Oral presentation on the topic of the paper.

Format for Report  Use a format suitable for a journal or conference publication  abstract describes the paper briefly  introduction summarizes content and organization  body of report should be organized into sections  conclusions summarize the content  references are citations that are referenced in the paper

Reports  You need to write your report in a format suitable for a journal or conference publication  Format for submission to ACM journals  ission ission  Templates available for LaTex and Microsoft Word

laTex  A page formatting language commonly used for scientific papers  Based on Tex which was created by computer scientist Donald Knuth  kile provides a user interface for creating and viewing laTex documents

Rubric for Report  Report Contents  Introduction  Body of Report  Conclusions and recommendations  References  Purpose Stated  Accurate and relevant information  Logical Presentation of of Material  Grammar & Composition  Grammar  Spelling  Punctuation  Sentence Structure  Efficient Wording

Presentation Requirements  minutes for presentation, 5 minutes for questions  Appropriate use of visual aids  Presentation should include  Introduction  Logical presentation of the information being conveyed  Conclusions

Rubric for Presentation  Contents  Opening and introduction  Supports central idea  Is well organized  Ties presentation together  Invites discussion or questions  Stays within time limits  Visual Aids clear & easy to read  Delivery  Appropriate volume, clear pronunciation  Responses to questions  Doesn't read slides  Eye contact with audience

Schedule  Week 1: Intro  Week 2: Using the Library  Weeks 3-9: Faculty presentations  schedule at  Weeks 10-15: Student presentations

Next Week (1/29/08)  Meet at the Albertsons Library in room LIB 203  Beth Brin will demonstrate the use of several databases suitable for searching for computer science journal articles.