Goals: The aim of this project is to research a subject area of your choosing, to write a short paper on your findings, and make an oral presentation before the class. To a large extent, this is intended to mirror the research process, communicating findings to one's peers both in written and oral forms. A principal goal is that you should have fun doing this!
Project constraints:
You can choose any project that is closely
related to the subject matter of the course. Everyone must work on
different subject material, so you need to run your proposed subject
by Dr. Baring for approval before embarking on it, so as to avoid conflicts.
Accordingly, you must submit a proposed topic to Dr. Baring
for approval by October 5th. This will permit timely
preparation of your paper and talk.
The level of exposition should be commensurate with that of the course;
you don't need to present at a level more advanced than the lectures
(and should not present at lower levels).
You must use sources other than Carroll and Ostlie and the lecture
notes. Other textbooks,
research papers, the World Wide Web, and even popular journals such
as Science can be resources; you will enjoy this project more the
further you explore. The intent is for you to investigate
a particular subject area a little more deeply than we can in lectures.
Presentation formats and schedule:
The short paper provides a more detailed
description of your understanding of your chosen subject area. It
should be between 500 and 1000 words (definitely no longer) plus
figures. It is advisable not to pack it with equations; mathematical
derivations are not what is being looked for. Exposition of an
occasional key equation would be welcome. Do not spend excessive
time making any figures look pretty or embedding them in the text.
The written paper will be due 3 working days before the orals.
The oral presentations will be held on-line as a virtual
mini-conference, probably around the beginning of November.
They will be 15 minutes talk plus 5 minutes question time.
Optimal lengths would then be 10-12 slides. The mode of presentation will
be either powerpoint, keynote or PDF.
Again, you should aim
for a coherent presentation, rather than spend excessive time on slide
preparation. Also, keep to the alloted time (rehearsal is highly desirable).
Assessment: Credit will be given most for showing your understanding and clarity of your written and oral presentations. This will include the clarity of your slides. Credit will also be given for intelligent questions asked of other speakers. The breakdown will be approximately 35% for the written paper, and 65% for the talk.