CS598-CXZ Advanced Topics in Information Retrieval (Spring 2005)

Basic Information

Administrative

Time: 2:00pm-3:15pm, Tuesdays and Thursdays (first class is on Jan 18, 2005)
Place: Room 1111 Siebel Center (tentative). Our official classroom is 1214 Siebel Center, but the room has a problem with the light switches.
CRN: 39665, Credit: 4.0
Instructor: ChengXiang Zhai
- Office: 2116 Siebel Center, Tel. 244-4943
- Office hours: Tuesday: 8:30am-10:00am, or by appointment
Secretary: Bethany Britton (2120 Siebel Center, Tel. 244-6241 )
Web site: http://sifaka.cs.uiuc.edu/course/598cxz05s/
Class mailing list: cs598cxz@cs.uiuc.edu
Class Wiki

Prerequisites:

With background in at least one of the following areas: information retrieval, machine learning, natural language processing or data mining, or consent of instructor.

Format

The class consists of a mixture of presentations by the instructor, presentations by students, mini workshops, panels, and project poster presentations. There will be no homework and no exams. Students need to read and present papers, participate in discussions, and finish a project.

Grading

Grading will be mainly based on the project work, participation, and presentations, according to the following weighting scheme.

Regular class participation: 10%
Grading will be based on how actively and seriously you participate in the classroom discussions.
Project proposal: 10%
Grading will be based on, but not entirely determined by, peer-reviewing. The instructor assigns a final grade for each proposal and gives each proposal a summarized feedback. Please refer to the project page for what questions your proposal should address.
Project proposal grading: 10%
Grading will be based on the quality of your reviews for the project proposals of other students. A good review should be specific, concrete, objective, and constructive. Avoid being vague, emotional, or too general.
Paper presentations: 10%
Grading will be based on your preparation for the presentation, including your slides, understanding of the paper, and question answering.
Paper critiques: 5%
You are expected to write at least 4 critiques (for 4 different papers) and post them through the Wiki. The instructor may request you to write a critique for a particular paper.
Mini workshop presentation: 10%
Grading will be based on your project progress (5%) and quality of your presentation (5%). The instructor will give a brief feedback for each project.
Panel participation: 10%
Grading will be based on how actively you participate in the panel presentation and discussions. Each student is expected to state his/her opinions on some topic/issue.
Project poster: 15%
Grading will be based on the quality of your poster presentation.
Final project report: 20%
Grading will be based on the research results of your project (10%) and the writing of your project report (10%). In the case of a group project, the report must state clearly each group member's contribution.

Note: In general, students involved in a group project will get the same grade for any project work, including presentation, even though it may be just one student giving the presentation. It is the responsibility of the group members to ensure that each member does actually make substantial contributions to the project and you, as a group, make progress on the project. Please try to resolve any problem by yourselves (e.g., one person is falling behind), but do contact the instructor if necessary.