CS 697 Course Description | SCS | UW

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Objectives

This is a credit/no credit course that has no credit weight. It covers research and life skills that can help graduate students improve their academic and interpersonal competence. It is strongly recommended that all incoming graduate students take it as soon as possible.

Terms Available

Normally, once per year usually in the Fall.

Outline

Research Methodology

The differences between the MMath and Ph.D. The differences between thesis and research paper. Core paradigms of computer science. Styles of research. Finding a research topic. Finding the right supervisor.

Library Skills

On-line literature searching and document retrieval.

Critical and Creative Thinking

Outline of problem solving. Creative thinking: theory and practice. Creative-thinking techniques.

Time Management

Scheduling, organization and procrastination. Keeping a schedule. Developing a schedule: tools of time management: rules of time management; setting, assessing and achieving goals.

Stress Management

What stress is and how it affects us. Review of techniques for managing stress: progressive muscle relaxation, deep breathing, visualization, meditation, thought-stopping and positive self-statements.

Oral Communication

Voice production: breathing for speech, tone initiation. Before you speak. Platform manner. Performance anxiety. Structure and delivery of various types of speeches: an introduction, an acknolwedgement, an informative speech. Handling questions from the audience. Audio-visual materials.

Writing and Publishing in Computer Science

The kinds of writing computer scientists do. How scientific publishing works. How refereeing works. Structure of a canonical Master's thesis. Writing an abstract. Common problems of technical writing.

Academia versus Industry

Panel discussion.