Syllabus for IST 590: COLLOQUIUM
(Professional-seminar version)

Please note, this is a live document. Changes announced in class and on the list server will be incorporated from time to time. Announcements in class and their mirror here are the definitive version.

COURSE OVERVIEW

Nominally, this course is one of a "Continuing seminars that consist of a series of individual lectures by faculty, students, or outside speakers." This year the emphasis will be on developing graduate students more directly by focusing on developemental discussions about research topics with some guest speakers.

We will explore these topics through in-class presentations, discussions, readings (from both text and on-line sources), and exercises (done in groups assigned the first week).  

COURSE OBJECTIVES

• Prepare graduate students for PhD level scholarship
• Write and practice writing and reading and commenting on manuscripts. Student pairs will develop a book review suitable for submission for publication.
• An understanding of the research process by reading, listening, and discussing research.
• An understanding of the grant process by having participated in a grant process from the beginning through several stages to the end. (in the second semester)

COURSE ORGANIZATION

The IST 590 Web Site. This course has an active web page that contains the syllabus, assignments, links to useful sites, and other valuable material (such as how to correctly prepare assignments, citations templates, and other academic and recreational information). We will post late-breaking information and updates to the web page. This page can currently be found at acs.ist.psu.edu/ist590, and later will be available through links from the IST home page via course listings.

Required Texts (available at the PSU Bookstore)

I encourage your group to purchase one copy of each of these three books between your pairs (assigned in week 2). Copies should be available in the bookstore, and used copies are available online.

The compleat academic: A career guide, Second Edition. Edited by John M. Darley, Mark P. Zanna, and Henry L. Roediger, III. ISBN: 1-59147-035-8.

Reis, R. M. (1997). Tomorrow's professor. New York, NY: IEEE Press.
also see: learninglab.stanford.edu/projects/tomprof/newtomprof/#

Ramon y Cajal , reprinted 1999, Advice for a Young Investigator. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Required readings (handed out in class)

See syllabus below.

Optional Texts and Interesting Resources

http://chronicle.com/jobs/

Publication Manual of the APA (available at the PSU Bookstore) as a guide to referencing, citing, and the formatting of papers and manuscripts in general. Each pair should have access to a copy.

The elements of style

Example books to consider reviewing

Review of ICCM and Cognitive Science Conferences and their proceedings

Books on how to be a grad student

A set of books on military psychology available from Ritter

Models of language acquisition (Broeder & Murre)

Psychophysiological recording (Stern, Ray, & Quigley)

http://ist.psu.edu/faculty_pages/jjansen/academic/books_to_review.htm.

EVALUATION

You earn your grade but it will be assigned by the instructor. The criteria for each assignment will be discussed in detail, as will the grading scheme. Each written assignment will be evaluated on how well it addresses the questions posed, the clarity of thinking, the organization and presentation of the material, the quality of writing, and its timeliness. 

Your grade will be based on 100 possible points. You earn points with each assignment (see below). As a maximum scale (i.e., cutoffs may be lowered): A: 100-74, A-: 73-70, B+ 69- 67, B: 66- 64, B-: 63- 60, C+: 59- 57, C: 56- 50, D: 49- 40, F: 39- 0.  (The cutoffs for each grade is the lower number, without rounding.)

Your learning will be assessed in several ways. Please consult the schedule to see when papers/ assignments are due and exams scheduled. You will receive more written instructions for each assignment well in advance of the due date. Here is a brief summary of each:
   

Assignment	Weight		Due Date
Assignments	100%		Typically Mondays, as below
Total	100%

COURSE CONDUCT

• You should attend each class and actively participate in the discussions during class. If you are uncomfortable with public speaking, or if English is not your native language, we must meet in the first two weeks of school to establish ways to make you more comfortable in speaking and interacting with your peers. We are happy to do this; We have been there ourselves.
• For every hour of lecture, I anticipate that you will need to budget about 2-3 hours of out-of-class time. This implies that you need to budget about 45 hours of out-of-class time over the course of the semester. This time estimate is a guide and you may need to budget more or less. For example, if the material is new to you or difficult to comprehend, it will require more of your time.  If you are spending more, then see me, as this course is intended to serve you, not you it.
• You are responsible for all the readings, even if the material is not explicitly covered in class. You should read the class materials prior to class and be prepared to discuss and ask questions about the readings and assignments. You should also re-read the material after class as not every topic will be covered during class time. Many passages in the text may need to be read several times to gain clarity. Also, taking notes on the material you are reading and reflecting on the reading and these notes will help you better understand the issues, concepts and techniques that are being presented.
• All work must be completed and turned in at the start of class on the assigned date. Late work will be marked and returned on a time-available basis. Late means after the class has begun. Note that a computer's failure is not an excuse (it represents poor planning on your part). If you miss a deadline, a written explanation of a university recognized excuse and written documentation (e.g., a doctor's note) must be handed to me at the end of a lecture.
  Assignments that are simply late can be turned in for feedback but 0 marks.
• All assignment should be double-spaced (or 1.5 spaced where appropriate), on 8.5"x 11" or A4 paper. All pages should have 1" margins. Papers should be stapled and collated. Please do not use report covers; they will not be returned.
• Carefully proofread your work. Mistakes include spelling, grammatical errors, and other typos. You should assume that your reader is about as smart as you, not smarter.
• We expect individual work should be just that -- it should be done by you, alone.
• We expect group work should be just that -- from all of the group. If I become aware that you are not contributing to your group equally, I will intervene.
• Students who participate in University-sanctioned events (such as athletics) must make prior arrangements and give ample notice.
• The official language of this course is English.
• Requests for regrading must be turned in with this form.

IST 590 CLASS SCHEDULE (subject to revision)

The book reviews published from 2005 in TU/Chemnitz, Germany include:

Anke Mogilka and Diana Roesler (2007). Review of "A cognitive approach to situation awareness: Theory and application", edited by Simon Banbury and Sebastien Tremblay. Ergonomics, 50(9). 1518-1520.

Jahn, G., & Henning, M. (2007). Two new textbooks on applied cognitive psychology. Applied Cognitive Psychology. 21: 551-556.

The book reviews published from 2004-2005 include:

1. Cole, R., & Xiao, L. (2005). Review of Human memory: An introduction to research, data, and theory (2 ed.), by Neath and Surprenant. SigCHI Bulletin, May 6, 2005. 37(2). [local copy]
2. Farooq, U. and Pogrebnyakov, N. 2003. "Time Matters in Groupware. Book Review of Temporal Matters in Social Psychology: Examining the Role of Time in the Lives of Groups and Individuals." ACM SIGGROUP Bulletin, Volume 24, Issue 3, pp. 137-138. [there is a story about the year, but too long to include here]
3. Joshua B. Gross and Scott M. Robertson. 2005. Mixing Methods in Psychology: The Integration of Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Theory and Practice. SigCHI Bulletin. March.
4. Edgar A. Maldonado, Joseph A. Zupko (2005). Book Review: interactive storytelling. Computers in Entertainment (CIE), 3(1). 8.
5. Shizhuo Zhu and Bo Luo. Review of: Adaptive Information: Improving Business through Semantic Interoperability, Grid Computing, and Enterprise Integration. Information Processing & Management 41(5), September 2005, 1301-1303.
6. John M. Daughtry III and Thomas George Kannampallil, Refactoring to Patterns, Journal of Object Technology, 4(4). 193-196.

The book reviews published from 2002-2003 include:

1. Isaac Council and Yiling Chen, (2003), An introduction to support vector machines: A review, AI Magazine, 24(2) 105-106.
   
2. Yin Yang and Rui Wang, (in press).
   
3. Wang, H., & Zhang, Y. (2003). Book review: Shaping Web Usability: Interaction Design in Context. Information Processing and Management, 39(4): 665-666.
   
4. Jody M. Heckman and Edward J. Glantz Web content management: a collaborative approach. By Nakano, Russell (2002). Web Content Management: A collaborative Approach, First Edition, Boston: Addison Wesley Professional [ISBN: 0-201-65782-1, 222 Pages, Paperback, Price: $39.99]. Information Processing & Management, Volume 39, Issue 4, July 2003, 667-668.
   
5. Roeckel, M. (2003) Book Review: Time Warps, String Edits, and Macromolecules: The Theory and Practice of Sequence Comparison by David Sankoff and Joseph Kruskal, Eds. AI and Simulation of Behaviour Quarterly, 113, p 9.
   
6. Morgan, Allison, and Chen, Cong, Review of Integrety, internal control and security in information processing systems: Connnecting governance and technology. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 54(10):976-977.

Example places to place reviews include:

Computing reviews

AISBQ

American Scientist

Ergonomics in Design

References/Resources

On writing book reviews

www.well.com/user/ladyhawk/bookrevs.html (these all courtesy of Jim Jansen)

courses.washington.edu/tande/book_reviews.htm

library.queensu.ca/inforef/bookreview/write_review.htm

www.uleth.ca/lib/guides/write-review.asp

leo.stcloudstate.edu/acadwrite/bookrev.html

papa.essortment.com/bookreviewswri_reuc.htm)

General resources

Gene Spafford's page on this topic

www.cs.unc.edu/~azuma/hitch4.html

info.acm.org/crossroads/xrds1-2/advice1.html

Graduate Studies, Research and Careers in Computer Science
www.cs.iastate.edu/~honavar/grad-advice.html 
Dr. Vasant Honavar, Department of Computer Science, Iowa State University
--Graduate Study in Computer Science
--Ethics
--Research
--Writing, Publication, and Presentation
--Women in Computer Science
--Careers in Computer Science
--Life After Graduate School (for those going into Academia)
--Humor

Lord of the Rings as allegory for PhD

How to Succeed in Graduate School

Marie desJardins, marie@erg.sri.com

--Most frequently cited article in 590

--Special link from the page for people interested in AI

www.erg.sri.com/people/marie/papers/advice-summary.html

also at www.cs.umbc.edu/www/graduate/advice/advice.htm ,
and at www.cs.indiana.edu/how.2b/how.2b.html

Graduate School Survival Guide from Stanford
smi.stanford.edu/people/pratt/smi/advice.html

Advice on pursuing a career as a professor in the sciences:
www.gly.uga.edu/railsback/acadcareer1.html

Paperback (recommended by Dr. Kvasny)

Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day: A Guide to Starting, Revising, and Finishing Your Doctoral Thesis by Joan Bolker

General advice and pointers to other series, at the Chronicle of Higher Ed's section on career advice

Preparing for a career in human factors/ergonomics: A resource guide, by the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society

Notes from Ed Glantz on how to print posters

PSU's ITS Plotting Site (lots of info on plotting to Willard 2, 
but requires an account to upload your PS or PRN format file)
gears.aset.psu.edu/viz/services/plotting
 
PSU's Architectural Engineering Copy Center
Go here for either plotting or laminating.  Not account needed - they 
take cash.  Plots run about $36, but are supposed to be higher quality.  
They tell me you can bring the file in any format (like PPT, for example). 
  Laminating adds about $10 to a 48" long  poster
www.arche.psu.edu/ecc
 
PSU's Graduate Exhibition
Notes:  
- This exhibition allows for a portrait-oriented poster 3.75 feet WIDE by 4 feet HIGH
- Grad Exhibitors are given free plotting training (just mechanics, not technique) and a plotting account (each plot would have cost $25)
<http://www.gradsch.psu.edu/exhibition/>
 
PSU's Population Research Institute Library has compiled a comprehensive list of general poster design information
<http://www.pop.psu.edu/info-core/library/posters.htm>
 
POSTER EXAMPLES
Great example of a poster - hard to compete with astronomers who have access to such great images :-)
<http://www.mssl.ucl.ac.uk/www_astro/rlcs/uclcomp_rlcs.jpg>
 
I never got this to work right, but site contains many PS poster images
<http://www.informatics.ed.ac.uk/events/jamboree/2001/posters/>
 
One more poster example (vehicle-oriented as in IST 521)
<http://ppc.uiowa.edu/driving-assessment/2001/Summaries/PostSession2/jang_jeng2.jpg>
 

Note to students with disabilities

It is Penn State's policy to not discriminate against qualified students with documented disabilities in its educational programs. If you have a disability-related need for modifications in your testing situation, your instructor should be notified during the first week of classes so that your needs can be accommodated. You will be asked to present documentation from the Office of Disability Services (located in 105 Boucke Building) that describes the nature of your disability and the recommended remedy. You may refer to the Nondiscrimination Policy in the Student Guide to University Policies and Rules 1999.

As each student is an individual with specific needs, academic accommodations are provided on an individual basis based on the student's documentation. A reasonable accommodation is a modification or adjustment to a course, program, service, job, activity, or facility that provides the qualified individual with a disability to have an equal opportunity. An equal opportunity provides the means to attain the same level of performance or to enjoy benefits that are available to students without disabilities. For more information about services for individuals with learning disabilities, please contact the Office for Disability Services at (814) 863-1807.

Americans with Disabilities Act: IST welcomes persons with disabilities to all of its classes, programs, and events. If you need accommodations, or have questions about access to buildings where ISTactivities are held, please contact us in advance of your participation or visit. If you need assistance during a class, program, or event, please contact the member of our staff or faculty in charge.

An Invitation to Students with Learning Disabilities: It is Penn State's policy to not discriminate against qualified students with documented disabilities in its educational programs. If you have a disability-related need for modifications in your testing or learning situation, your instructor should be notified during the first week of classes so that your needs can be accommodated. You will be asked to present documentation from the Office of Disability Services (located in 116 Boucke Building, 863-1807) that describes the nature of your disability and the recommended remedy. You may refer to the Nondiscrimination Policy in the Student Guide to University Policies and Rules.

Affirmative Action & Sexual Harassment: The Pennsylvania State University is committed to a policy that all persons shall have equal access to programs, facilities, admission, and employment without regard to personal characteristics not related to ability, performance, or qualifications as determined by University policy or by Commonwealth or Federal authorities. Penn State does not discriminate against any person because of age, ancestry, color, disability or handicap, national origin, race, religious creed, gender, sexual orientation, or veteran status. Direct all inquiries to the Affirmative Action Office, 211 Willard Building.

PSU STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

Academic Integrity: According to the Penn State Principles and University Code of Conduct:

Academic integrity is a basic guiding principle for all academic activity at Penn State University, allowing the pursuit of scholarly activity in an open, honest, and responsible manner. In according with the University's Code of Conduct, you must not engage in or tolerate academic dishonesty. This includes, but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, fabrication of information or citations, facilitating acts of academic dishonesty by others, unauthorized possession of examinations, submitting work of another person, or work previously used without informing the instructor, or tampering with the academic work of other students.

Any violation of academic integrity will be investigated, and where warranted, punitive action will be taken. For every incident when a penalty of any kind is assessed, a report must be filed This form is used for both undergraduate and graduate courses. This report must be signed by both the instructor and the student, and then submitted to the Senior Associate Dean.

In this course, academic integrity needs two explanations. The first is that you are expected to contribute to your group. This means making time in your schedule for the group's meetings, being in touch via email, and preparing for those meetings. The second explanation is that your group's writeups are to be done only by your group. This means that while you can discuss the problems with others, and we agree that this is a good thing, the writing up needs to be solely by your group. If you have a question as to whether or not two writeups are too similar, then use the following standard:

If a pair of writeups are sufficiently similar that you can tell by reading them that the two groups worked together, then they are too similar.

By all means, talk to your colleagues, get help if necessary, but prove to us that, in the end, you understand what you are doing, and you can and must express it in your own words. If you and your group don't understand the material well enough to write it up on your own, and you need to copy, then four things are lost: Your integrity, useful feedback to us on how you are doing, your ability to perform well on the exam, and ultimately, your knowledge.