Reading Summaries
At regular intervals, you will be assigned to read articles and
excerpts related to the course material. You must turn in a written
summary of each reading in class at the start of lecture, on the due
date. When there are multiple readings assigned as once, you still
have to submit only one summary, covering all readings at once. The
summary should be typed. It should occupy no more than one page
(expected length: approximately 1/2 - 2/3 page). Quality is valued
over quantity. Summaries over a page will actually have points lost.
Assume that the reader of your summary is a competent computer
scientist who has not read the article before.
Each summary should contain the following:
- a heading that states the title(s), author(s), and chapter(s)/section(s) (if applicable) of the reading(s)
- one paragraph containing the main idea and several important supporting points and
ideas from the reading (2 pts)
- one short (1-2 sentence) paragraph about how this material relates to what has been covered so far in class or in your project (1 point)
- one paragraph of your own analysis of the concepts described by the paper (Does the author present valid points? Do you
agree with the material and/or position presented? What's your opinion?) (1 point)
The summaries will be graded on a four point scale as indicated above, with focus on quality answers.
Be sure to include specifics and back up your statements with data
from the article/your particular experiences. Provide minimal, if
any, direct quotes - this is your summary. Overall, our intention is
to use the summaries as a learning tool, promoting analysis of the
readings. They should not take very long to complete. If you
summarize the main points from the article, and provide a reasonable
critical analysis, you should get full points.