CS492 - Spring 2023 - Course Structure

This page contains elaboration on the structure of the CS492/CS692 offering in Spring 2023, including sections on lectures, the marking scheme, the late policy, assignments, and role-playing exercises. Information on University policies (such as academic integrity) can be found here.

Lectures

Lectures are scheduled for three eighty-minute slots per week (TR 8:30-9:50 (sec1) ; TR 10:00-11:20 (sec2) ). 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 communicate for five minutes here and there 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 because marks are assessed for class participation.

Marking scheme

• 50% assignments (5 assignments equally weighted)
• 25% the role playing exercise
• 25% class participation, based on
  • discussion of the topic of the week
  • participation in discussion during RPEs
  • discussion on newsgroup, including In The News (see below)
  Keep in mind that there is no midterm or final in the course.

  In The News

  Additional grades can be earned by finding current relevant articles and posting them to Piazza. This serves many purposes (creates new discussion points, helps curate the future of the course, helps to keep the course interesting for students etc.) Please file these under the appropriate folder on Piazza and we will update the timetable with current newly suggested articles.

  Late policy

  All assignments in this course are due Wednesdays at 10am. Late assignments will be accepted up to 5 days late, up to the following Monday at 11:59pm (on the long weekend in May you will get an additional late day to Tuesday). Submission after this will not be accepted unless extreme circumstances are present covering a period of 7 days before this extended deadline. In other words, allowing for 5 days late submissions is already extremely forgiving and short of being incapacitated for at least and including 7 days prior to this extended deadline, I will not be accepting submissions beyond this extension. Plan ahead and do not leave these assignments to the last minute to avoid unexpected issues from arising that might prevent you from completing these assignments. Joint written components related to the RPEs will not be accepted late.

  Assignments

  Assignments will consist of written pieces of varying length on class topics. Each assignment will have a specified focused subject or set of subjects from which to choose. Follow the instructions on the Assignment page for submitting. All the assignments for the term are described on the website by the time of the first class. 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 our RPEs and your midterms are happening in your other courses).

  Role-playing exercises (RPE)

  Two teams of four or five students will assign themselves to a given weekly topic. Formation of teams and choice of topics will be entirely completed by Friday May 12, and will be handled on a first-come, first-served basis. We will make an effort to have teams for the first four RPEs finalized ASAP and no later than Friday May 12. Those who participate in the earlier RPEs will be marked more leniently than those later in the course. Review the list of RPEs on the website and then fill out the forms to indicate your preference.
  • RPE form for the 8:30am class
  • RPE form for the 10:00am class
  NOTE: The above forms open at noon on Tuesday May 9th. Students requesting to be in groups with others must make suggestions with classmates in their section only. Attempts will be made to accommodate requests but no promises will be given. By Saturday May 13, anyone who has not yet sent mail to slot themselves into an RPE will be assigned an RPE slot at random. Check the RPE chart on the website to find out where you have been placed. Since RPE groupings 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.

  Each team will take the role of a particular group with concerns in that area; the teams will typically have conflicting or opposed views. The initial scenario will be outlined by the instructor. Groups have the latitude to make adjustments to the initial scenario, including the exact wording of each side's position. Both sides must agree with the final wording and the revisions must be approved by the TA. This means that both sides should have a clear agreement as to the topic of the RPE. If the group elects to revise the wording of the scenario, it must post revised scenarios to Piazza no later than one week prior to the RPE.

  For RPEs held on a Tuesday, each team will prepare a position paper (about 1500 to 2000 words) for 4pm the previous Friday.

  For RPEs held on a Thursday, each team will prepare a position paper (about 1500 to 2000 words) for 4pm the previous Monday.

  This will generally involve background research; it is also possible to conduct interviews with actual members of the groups being represented. Students will post a PDF of their position paper to Piazza (in the Folder for your RPE). Format the document to leave room for comments from the TA.

  Other students are expected to read the refined scenario and position papers in preparation for the in-class exercise. They are expected to be in class during the RPE to be part of the discussion and to consider posing questions for the teams. When the class time for the RPE begins, each team will be asked to briefly present their position in a twelve-minute timeslot; the TA will randomly choose either team A or team B to begin. These presentations should not simply repeat points in the position papers, but should lead naturally into the discussion to follow. Then a question-answering phase will begin, where students who are not presenting that day will be invited to ask a question in the manner of a public forum, to be answered either by team A or team B or both. The TAs will decide who is invited to ask a question. This task requires the RPE teams to think on their feet. The quality of the questions asked in class time will be used to judge the class participation of the audience members (rest of the class). Towards the end of the class time, each team will then be asked to provide their concluding remarks, 4 minutes each per team. This should be an effort to clearly articulate to the audience the position being taken and its overall worth.

  Note that this role playing exercise is explicitly not a debate (and vitriol should not be directed towards the other team). Instead, each side portays a position and adheres to that position.

  Please note that it is also important to allow all team members an opportunity to demonstrate their skill in communication, either in helping to provide the team's initial remarks, in responding to questions from the audience or in delivering the final conclusion.

  Taking into account the points made in class, the teams are required to go off and produce a joint communique outlining what they can agree on and a common course of action (similar to a Union Negotiation). Include your RPE number and which team you were on in the paper. This communique will be posted to Piazza (in the Folder for your RPE). We are looking for some effort to have the two sides 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. The due dates for the joint communique are as follows:

  For RPEs held on a Tuesday, the joint communique will be due on the immediately following Friday by 11:59pm.

  For RPEs held on a Thursday, the joint communique will be due on the immediately following Monday by 11:59pm.

  After reading the joint communique, students who want to provide feedback on the newsgroup should do so no later than the Friday following the posting date of the joint communique. A mark will be assigned to the presenters, based on the position papers, the discussion in class, and the final communique on the points of:

  • effectiveness in communication and thought
  • preparation and depth of treatment of the topic
  • content: how realistic/convincing the position is and how clearly it has been articulated
  • how much progress has been made jointly and
  • how well each team has succeeded in making the joint communique address their concerns
  
  

  The 25 marks for the RPE will break down as: 10 for oral presentation, 12 for position paper and 3 for joint communique.

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

  Communication

  Any questions about anything course related should be posted to Piazza publicly if possible and privaetly otherwise. Students are always allowed to post to the RPE folder with comments, following the uploading of the Joint Communique, up to certain deadlines which are posted in the Structure document.
  

  For RPEs where you are the audience, we allow you to post to the newsgroup if you are ill; for RPEs where you are a presenter, we allow the RPE to proceed if at least one team member is present. We have dates towards the end of term that we can use to reschedule RPEs in the extreme situation where all teammates are ill. If you are individually ill for your RPE time, an oral exam may be given in place in lieu of your oral performance at the end of the term. For class discussions, some of these are online and you can hopefully still be "in class" if at home and if you are too ill to do so, then we will also allow you to post to Piazza afterwards with your comments (one post please, for the non-RPE dates).