Molly Q Feldman (Instructor)
Jun-You Liu (TA)
Johanna Smith-Palliser (TA)
Contact Information: For all main course correspondence, please email: cs5306-staff-l@cornell.edu. Do not email the instructor directly; you will likely receive a speedier reply via the mailing list. If you have something you would like to specifically discuss with the instructor, you can find her email on her website.
Basics
Schedule & Calendar
Grading
Policies
Prerequisites: Knowledge of basic data manipulation and CS principles (CS1110 / 1114, 2110, 3110, or equivalent). If you are unsure, please discuss it with the instructor.
Lecture: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2:55 - 4:10pm, Gates G01
Online discussion: We will be using Canvas for class discussions. We will not be using Piazza. If 5306 is not showing up as a course for you, please email cs5306-staff-l@cornell.edu.
Assignment submissions: CMS will be used for all submissions. Please go to CMS and ensure that it shows that you are enrolled in this class. If not, please email cs5306-staff-l@cornell.edu.
Textbook/Readings: The course has no textbook. Instead, you will primarily read technical papers and news articles, provided online, for each lecture. See the "Schedule" below for each class's readings.
Costs: You will need to spend some money on recruiting crowd workers and running experiments for course projects. Please contact the instructor if such costs will pose a hardship and we can work out a solution.
The schedule below outlines topics and provides links to lecture slides, readings, and assignments. If you are off-campus and need to access articles with paywalls, please use Passkey.
(If the schedule below does not appear below for some reason, Click here to view it.)
The course calendar will be updated with relevant course information that is not lecture or assignment specific, as appropriate. The calendar will also show office hours; specific timing may change week to week, so please check the calendar before you go to office hours.
(If the calendar does not appear below for some reason, Click here to view it.)
Your grade will be calculated from the following:
75% Projects: There will be three projects spread out across the semester. Two projects will be similar in size and the final project will be slightly larger. You will work in teams of 3. Occasionally students ask if they can work in a team of 2. Note that any such exceptions must be approved in advance (and may not be approved) and you will still be graded on the expectations of a team of 3. The projects will be selected by you. While programming may very well be involved, your submission is not code, but rather documentation of the outcomes of your project. Project information below is tentative until bold; consult the course schedule for the most up-to-date information.
15% Readings/online discussion: The class will be divided randomly into 6 online reading groups. Each lecture will have one core paper that all students must read. Each group will additionally be assigned a paper that explores a topic in greater depth. There will be a discussion created for each lecture for each group.
The expectation is that all students are participating substantively. Grading will be done every two weeks. In addition, other discussions on particular topics may be initiated as appropriate.
10% Sporadic Assignments: There will be various relatively small assignments given over the course of the semester. Many of these will be about the use of online resources, and will be graded "submitted"/"not submitted" - you will be explicitly told if any assignment is an exception and being graded on a specific rubric.
Attendance will be taken in lecture on either Tuesday or Thursday, although the day will not be announced ahead of time. Attendance is factored into your participant points for the course; low attendance will result in negative participant points whereas good attendance will result in positive participant points.
Technology should only be used in lecture for course related purposes, for instance note taking or answering in-class Q&As. Technology should always be down during the "think" and "group" parts of the lecture. As a reminder, there is extensive research on the negative effects of technology in the classroom.
As noted above, all three projects in this course will be done in teams. Teamwork is a valuable skill to learn; teams are the norm in industry and you are typically evaluated each year (for promotion or retention) on what you bring to the team and your ability to work in a team. It's a skill that we will work on developing and improving this semester. For each project, your team will be asked to establish expectations in a team contract and you will evaluate each project member's teamwork at the end of the project. Based on those peer ratings, your individual project grade can increase.
Teams are groups of people, so there is no doubt that conflicts will arise. Part of teamwork is managing that conflict. We expect you to manage conflict professionally and courteously, as you do everything else in this course. The course staff is available to help you with team conflict. In the worst case, the instructor has the power to effect large-scale team change: remove a member, reorganize teams, etc. However, this will not be done until there is an attempt to address issues at hand within the group.
Because of the nature of the workload, late submissions are not accepted. Deadlines for projects are announced with significant notice to be able to let groups work around personal commitments.
From Cornell's code of academic integrity:
Absolute integrity is expected of every Cornell student in all academic undertakings. Integrity entails a firm adherence to a set of values, and the values most essential to an academic community are grounded on the concept of honesty with respect to the intellectual efforts of oneself and others. Academic integrity is expected not only in formal coursework situations, but in all University relationships and interactions connected to the educational process, including the use of University resources. ... A Cornell student's submission of work for academic credit indicates that the work is the student's own. All outside assistance should be acknowledged, and the student's academic position truthfully reported at all times. In addition, Cornell students have a right to expect academic integrity from each of their peers.
This course complies with the Cornell University policy and equal access laws to ensure that students with disabilities can still participate fully in this course. Requests for academic accommodations should be made during the first three weeks of the semester, except for unusual circumstances, so arrangements can be made as soon as possible. Students are encouraged to register with Student Disability Services, as we may require verification of eligibility to provide appropriate accommodations. Please email your letter (or alert us a new letter will be sent later) to cs5306-staff-l@cornell.edu.
Everyone, the instructors, TAs, and students, must be respectful of everyone else in this class. All communication, in class and online, will be held to a high standard for thoughtfulness and inclusiveness: it may never target individuals or groups for harassment, and it may not exclude specific groups. That includes everything from outright animosity to the subtle ways we phrase things and even our timing.
If any of the communication in this class doesn't meet these standards, please don't escalate it by responding in kind. Instead, contact the instructor as early as possible; if for whatever reason you don't feel comfortable discussing something directly with the instructor please contact your advising office or the department chair. A list of potentially relevant resources are below.
Unlike courses you may have taken in the past, a significant amount of planning and control in 5306 is on you, the student. Some suggestions for how to succeed in this environment are below:
If you need to discuss anything related to Title IX, please be aware course staff have a Duty to Consult; confidential resources are available here.
Website layout inspired by UCSD's CSE131 & website content from previous iterations of CS5306, UPenn's NETS 213, CMU's 17-356, and Brown's CS019