Announcements and Upcoming Events
| Date | Announcement or News |
|---|---|
| 29 Jan 2026 | Welcome to CS 4960! |
Basic Information
Textbook: None.
Best way to contact Dr. Thomas: Email mthomas@cs.csustan.edu Please put "CS4960" in the subject line of every email. Email without the "CS4960" might be classified as spam by email filters. Remember to sign your emails (put your first and last name at the bottom).
Or simply stop by office hours.
Prerequisite: CS 4100 or consent of the instructor. (This course is for Computer Science majors.)
Warning: I reserve the right to make changes to the syllabus at any time during the term by announcing them in class and on my web page.
This is a face-to-face class.
Office hours are listed on my web page.
Course Requirements, Assignments
Oral Presentations
- On your assigned dates deliver twenty to twenty-five minute oral presentations
on your assigned topics. (Seminar presentations may be
publicly announced and will be open to visitors who may wish to attend.)
- Important: The talks must be at least twenty minutes. Nineteen minutes and 59 seconds will be an automatic NC.
- A word-for-word script is not allowed. Students are not allowed to read from
a word-for-word paper script, nor read word-for-word off of their slides.
(A paper outline, containing only mnemonic words and short phrases, is fine.) - In the second oral presentation, at least eight minutes of the presentation must explain technical material using the whiteboard/blackboard, without the use of pre-made slides. Work through an example, draw and explain a diagram, etc.
- Additional information about the oral presentations and accompanying slides will be given in class.
- For whiteboard work, do not bring your own pens. The Facilities staff at CSU Stanislaus require everyone to use the pens they provide. (Some types of whiteboard pen ink cannot easily be cleaned off the whiteboards.)
- Time spent writing the "input data" for an algorithm explanation does not "count" towards the required eight minutes of whiteboard work. (In other words, you cannot spend 5 minutes writing numbers on the board, and 3 minutes explaining how the algorithm works, and satisfy course requirements.)
Participation
- Attend all the presentations of the other members of the class, and react to them by asking questions and by writing a short critique which will be collected and given to the presenter.
Rehearsals in Library
Students can reserve study rooms in the CSU Stanislaus library, which have white boards. These can be good places to rehearse your talks.
Grading
Assuming you fulfill all the requirements listed above, I will base
your grade on three components:
I'll grade your oral presentations based on the thoroughness and depth with which you address your topic as well as the clarity, accuracy and style of your presentation. You'll get a grade between 0 and 100 for each.
You'll get two participation credits for each time you attend a presentation and turn in an acceptable critique sheet. You'll get one participation credit for each time you attend a presentation and turn in an unacceptable critique sheet. I'll compute your number of satisfactory critiques as a percentage of two times the number of credits, and this percentage will be your participation grade. (If you show up late for a presentation and interrupt the speaker, you will receive a half-credit for that day.)
You will receive credit (a grade of "CR") for the course if
(The above "course requirements" and "grading" borrow liberally from Dr. John Sarraille and Dr. Melanie Martin's CS 4960 course descriptions, with permission.) University deadlines for setting grading options, and deadlines for enrolling, withdrawing, etc.
- your grade on your first oral presentation,
- your grade on your second oral presentation, and
- your participation grade.
I'll grade your oral presentations based on the thoroughness and depth with which you address your topic as well as the clarity, accuracy and style of your presentation. You'll get a grade between 0 and 100 for each.
You'll get two participation credits for each time you attend a presentation and turn in an acceptable critique sheet. You'll get one participation credit for each time you attend a presentation and turn in an unacceptable critique sheet. I'll compute your number of satisfactory critiques as a percentage of two times the number of credits, and this percentage will be your participation grade. (If you show up late for a presentation and interrupt the speaker, you will receive a half-credit for that day.)
You will receive credit (a grade of "CR") for the course if
- you receive a score of 60 or above in each of the presentation components, and 80 or above for the participation component, and
- your average over the three components is 70% or above.
(The above "course requirements" and "grading" borrow liberally from Dr. John Sarraille and Dr. Melanie Martin's CS 4960 course descriptions, with permission.) University deadlines for setting grading options, and deadlines for enrolling, withdrawing, etc.
Academic Honesty
The work you do for this course will be
your own, unless otherwise specified. You are not to submit other people's
(or any machine's)
work and represent it as your own. I consider academic
honesty to be at the core of the University's activities in education and
research. Academic honesty is expected at all times in this course.
F.A.Q.
- "What if I show a video during my presentation?" : As long as copyright laws are properly obeyed (see me if you have a question about how to do that), fine by me. But I will turn off the stopwatch that is keeping track of the length of your talk while the video is playing. So 15 minutes of videos will not shorten your talk requirements by 15 minutes.
Research Topic and Public Speaking Information
- Finding good research papers
- Communications of the ACM
- ACM Queue
- AAAI.org has a digital library of artificial intelligence (AI) papers.
- ACM Digital Library is one of the best places to find reputable papers on computing research topics. On campus, all the papers are downloadable. If off-campus, you will need to access it via the CSUS Library web site and enter your student password.
- Usenix, and the conferences organized by Usenix, have a good reputation in the systems, networking and security areas. If your topic fits somewhere in there, you might check their conferences for material.
- Citeseer is a scientific technical research paper search engine -- not a good place to look for ideas, but perhaps a place to find relevant papers after you have selected your topic.
- IEEE Computer and IEEE Spectrum
- Google Research - papers published by researchers working for Google Research. (If you can find a similar list of research papers by computer science researchers working for Microsoft Research or a similar research organization, please let me know about it.)
- Public speaking advice
- IASTED's Presentation Tips
- J. Gallian's advice on public speaking for technical speakers, and on PowerPoint slides
- The Gettysburg Powerpoint Presentation. (Norvig comments entertainingly on how he made the Gettysburg presentation and some responses to it here.)
- "9 simple and effective public speaking tips for scientists", by Scientifica
- Toastmasters International Public Speaking Tips
- "10 Tips for Improving Your Public Speaking Skills" by Marjorie North, Harvard Division of Continuing Education
News of Interest to CS majors near graduation
You might, at this point, feel like college takes forever. Perhaps this
news will cheer you up:
"Every year spent in school or university improves life expectancy, study says" (The Guardian, 23 Jan 2024).
"IT jobs in 2023: Look before you leap" (Feb 21, 2023, InfoWorld)
"10 Hardest IT Jobs to Fill" (Mar 1, 2023, InformationWeek) "Episode 434: Steven Skiena on Preparing for the Data Structures and Algorithm Job Interview" of the Software Engineering Radio podcast. (10 Nov 2020)
"10 Hardest IT Jobs to Fill" (Mar 1, 2023, InformationWeek) "Episode 434: Steven Skiena on Preparing for the Data Structures and Algorithm Job Interview" of the Software Engineering Radio podcast. (10 Nov 2020)
Course Learning Outcomes
- Demonstrate the ability to write a research paper on an advanced computer science topic; and
- Demonstrate the ability to give an oral, technical talk on an advanced computer science topic
Services and Support at CSU Stanislaus
- Student Health Center
- Health Center Building / 209-667-3396 / www.csustan.edu/health-center Medical care, health education, disease prevention, laboratory testing, physicals, women's and reproductive health, flu shots, immunizations.
- Disability Resource Services
- Vasche Library, L150A / 209-667-3159 / www.csustan.edu/disability-resource-services Supports students and arranges accommodations for students with disabilities, including disabilities related to learning, vision, mobility, hearing, autism, or chronic or temporary health factors.
- Psychological Counseling Services
- Student Services Annex 1 / 209-667-3381 / www.csustan.edu/CAPS Confidential individual personal counseling and group/wellness workshops to help students deal with stress, anxiety, depression, grief, relationships.
- Undocumented Student Services
- /Vasche Library, L203 / 209-667-3519 / www.csustan.edu/dreamers Walk-in advising, workshops, legal services, DACA renewal, scholarships, peer support, family and community engagement.
- Academic Success Center
- MSR 210 / 209-667-3700 / www.csustan.edu/ASC Drop-in advising for general education, university requirements, undeclared majors, academic probation, and California Promise.
- Learning Commons
- Vasche Library, L222 / 209-667-3642 / www.csustan.edu/learning-commons Tutoring (walk-in and regular appointments), supplemental instruction, WPST, writing center.
- Career and Professional Development
- MSR 230 / 209-667-3661 / www.csustan.edu/career
Career coaching, workshops, resume building, business attire, and more.
Schedule of Career Center events - Student Support Services
- www.csustan.edu/student-services