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