CS492/CS692 S19 Course Structure

This page contains elaboration on the structure of the CS492/CS692 offering in Spring 2019, including sections on lectures, the marking scheme, the late policy, assignments, role-playing exercises, and plagiarism.

Lectures

Lectures are scheduled for two eighty-minute sessions per week, TuTh 8.30 -- 9:50, in PHY 150. The class will be run more like a discussion seminar than a standard lecture. Students are expected to do the preparatory readings, as listed in the timetable, in advance; discussion will commence using those readings as a base. The instructor may talk for a few minutes occasionally in order to set the stage, make a technical point, summarize, or concentrate attention. Student participation is important not only to facilitate the learning process but also because marks are assessed for class participation.

Marking scheme

Final marks are based on: Keep in mind that there is no midterm or final in the course.

Lateness policy

There is no lateness policy. That is: late assignments earn no credit. Exceptions will be made in, well, exceptional circumstances, e.g., a life-threatening illness.

Assignments

 Assignments consist of written pieces of varying length on class topics. Each assignment has a specified focused subject or set of subjects from which to choose. Each of the first two assignments is due at 10:00am on a Friday. Each of the last three assignments is due at the start of a scheduled class. Note that the electronic copies of your assignments may be subjected to plagiarism checks.

All the assignments for the term are described on the Website by the end of the first week of the term. It is up to you to plan your time well in order to produce top quality assignments by the given due dates. Be especially diligent around the time that midterms are happening in your other courses.

There are no specific formatting requirements except the following:

Role-playing exercises (RPE)

 Two teams with, preferrably, two or, less preferrably, three students each will assign themselves to a possible RPE. RPEs are conducted weekly, starting on May 23, in the third week. Your e-mail concerning choice of topics and formation of teams must be sent by Thursday May 16, and will be handled on a first-come, first-served basis. We will make an effort to have the teams for the first two RPEs finalized no later than Friday May 10. Those who participate in the first two RPEs will be marked more leniently than will the others. Review the list of RPEs on the Website and then send mail to ben.armstrong [AT] uwaterloo [DOT] ca to indicate your preferences. NOTE: Requests received before May 7 at 8:30am will be ignored. By class time on May 16, anyone who has not yet sent e-mail to assign him- or herself into an RPE will be assigned an RPE by the course instructor and TAs. The assignment of students to RPEs will be finalized by class time on May 23, the date of the first RPE. Check the RPE table in the RPE page to find out where you have been placed. Since RPE teams are finalized early in the term, it is once more up to you to find appropriate times during the term to complete the required preparation for the RPE, prior to its scheduled date, especially when an assignment might be due on the same date and time as your RPE.

In an RPE, each of the two teams will take a different role or side, A or B, of the RPE's topic; the teams will typically have conflicting or opposing views. The initial scenario for the two sides of the RPE is outlined at the page describing the RPE. The teams for an RPE have the latitude to make adjustments to the initial scenario, including the exact wording of each team's position. Both teams must agree with the final wording, and the revisions must be approved by the TA. Thus, each of the two teams should have a clear agreement as to the topic of the RPE. If the teams elect to revise the wording of the scenario, they must post the revised scenario to the appropriate section of the CS492 newsgroup at Piazza no later than one week prior to the RPE.

Each team will prepare a position paper, from 1000 to 3000 words, describing its views on the RPE's topic. For RPEs held on a Thursday, the position paper is due at 4:00pm on the Tuesday before the Thursday.

Preparing a position paper will generally involve background research; it is also possible to conduct interviews with actual members of the teams being represented. Teams will post their position papers to the newsgroup. It is acceptable to post a link to a site where the position paper resides. PDF or postscript is preferred to Word documents. In addition, each team will deposit one hardcopy of its position paper into the assignment box on the 4th floor of MC, near MC 4066, no later than 5:00pm on the same day, the Tuesday before the RPE. Follow the same formatting instructions as for the Assignments.

Each other student is expected to read the final posted scenario and position papers in preparation for the in-class RPE. A student may want to post to the newsgroup some initial comments and questions before the RPE. In some situations, it may be more appropriate to keep questions and concerns for the actual RPE itself, so that we do not exhaust all discussion prior to the RPE.

At the RPE, each team will briefly present its position in six minutes maximum per team, and note that team A may not necessarily be asked to start with their position before team B. These presentations should not just repeat points made in the position papers, but should lead naturally into the discussion to follow. The class will then direct questions and comments to the teams, in a manner similar to that of a public forum or press conference. Discussion of whether the teams have depicted their roles accurately in their position papers and presentations is also relevant. Please note that this RPE is explicitly not a debate, and no vitriol should be directed towards the other team. Instead, each team portrays a position and adheres to that position. A period of four minutes, two minutes per team, will be left at the end of the class for final words from each team. This should be an effort to clearly articulate to the audience the position being taken and its overall worth.

Please note that it is also important to allow each team member an opportunity to demonstrate his or her skill in oral communication, either in presenting part of the team's position, in responding to questions from the audience during the discussion session, or in delivering the final two minute summary.

Taking into account the points made in class, the teams are required to produce, by 4:00pm the following Tuesday for a Thursday RPE (and by 4:00 pm the following Friday for a Tuesday RPE), a joint communique outlining what they can agree on and a common course of action, as what happens following a Union Negotiation. This communique must be posted to the newsgroup. We are looking for some effort to have the two teams articulate clearly where they have found a middle ground. There is no set limit for this document, but it is expected to be moderate in size, on the order of a page.

After reading the joint communique, students who want to provide feedback on the newsgroup should do so by 8:30am the Thursday following the RPE for a Thursday RPE (and by 8:30am the Tuesday following the RPE for a Tuesday RPE). A mark will be assigned to the teams, based on the position papers, the discussion in class, and the final communique on the basis of:

The 20 marks for the RPE will break down as: 10 for oral presentation, 8 for the position paper, and 2 for the joint communique.

It is expected that all members on one team will receive the same mark, but exceptional circumstances may be brought to the attention of the TA or the instructor, so that team members who do not contribute can potentially lose marks. The two teams presenting in a single RPE date do not necessarily receive the same mark.

Communication

Any questions about assignments should be directed to dberry [AT] uwaterloo [DOT] ca for expediency with a required cc to the course e-mail address cs492 [AT] student [DOT] cs [DOT] waterloo [DOT] ca. Requests for RPEs are to be sent to Ben at ben.armstrong [AT] uwaterloo [DOT] ca. He will also answer questions about RPEs. Discussion about RPEs should be posted to the appropriate section of the Piazza newsgroup.

Plagiarism

As with all courses, it is understood that each students is to do his or her own work unless otherwise instructed; that he or she must acknowledge consultation with other people and texts; that when he or she quotes from other sources, it should be brief and relevant; that they should add value to the material they have collected through further structuring and analysis. This is particularly important in light of the use of the Web in this course. Any violation of the Student Academic Discipline Policy (Policy #71) will be prosecuted. When in doubt, please consult the instructor or TA for guidance.