Add notes on paper presentations.

website/docs/assignments/presentations.md

@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+During this class, you will be responsible for presenting one paper in class and
+leading the discussion. [Here](../resources/readings.md) is a list of suggested
+papers; you are free to choose a paper that is not on the list, but please clear
+it with me first. The day before each presentation, I will send out a few short
+questions to check your understanding. Please reply with short responses---a few
+sentences should be more than enough.
+
+Research papers are written for a very specific technical audience. Papers
+appearing in conferences---most papers in computer science---are also subject to
+tight page limits and are typically extremely condensed; many things are left
+unsaid. (Here is a useful
+[guide](https://web.stanford.edu/class/ee384m/Handouts/HowtoReadPaper.pdf) to
+reading papers.) When presenting a paper in class, you should not try to
+compress the material from the paper. Instead, you should try to expand and
+unpack the paper, so that it is easier to understand.
+
+Here are a few specific things to keep in mind when presenting a paper.
+
+- **Make sure the high-level picture is clear.** Make sure to explain the
+  problem the paper is trying to solve, the setting, and as much of the
+  motivation behind the paper as possible.
+- **Don't spend the whole time presenting technical details.** It is probably
+  not interesting for the class to spend the whole presentation talking about
+  the technical details in a single proof.
+- **You don't have to present the whole paper.** It is simply not possible to
+  present every detail in the span of one lecture. For some papers, it may not
+  even be possible to present each main contribution. Focus on the one or two
+  most important contributions (as decided by yourself). If the paper first
+  discusses a "core" or "basic" version, and then later adds on a bunch of
+  advanced extensions, *focus on the core version*.
+- **Give as many examples as you can.** Most research papers are extremely
+  condensed, and do not have nearly enough examples. Present as many examples as
+  you can. Your examples don't need to be drawn from the paper---small examples
+  are the most useful, as simple as possible.
+- **Keep the class background in mind.** Our class has students from a variety
+  of backgrounds; try to keep this in mind. It's better to briefly explain a
+  technical term if you are not sure everyone knows what it means. You should
+  assume that everyone in the class has basic familiarity with the paper (say,
+  assume everyone spent about 30-45 minutes reading the paper before class).

website/mkdocs.yml

@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ pages:
     - Papers: 'resources/readings.md'
     - Software: 'resources/software.md'
     - Related Courses: 'resources/related.md'
-  - Project:
-    - Details: 'projects/details.md'
-    - Gallery: 'projects/final.md'
+  - Assignments:
+    - Presentations: 'assignments/presentations.md'
+    - Project: 'assignments/project.md'
+    - Gallery: 'assignments/gallery.md'