CS 124 long paper response guidelines

CS 124 Long paper response guidelines

Your long responses will be ~2 page critical respones to the reading, fluidly incorporating both papers.

Your response should go beyond simply summarizing the papers and critically evaluate the work in the context of what we have studied in this class. The guidelines listed on William Griswold's "How to Read an Engineering Research Paper" are excellent advice for how to read a research paper, but you should also specifically relate the work to the UI design topics we have discussed in the first month of this class, addressing questions such as:

What interface metaphor are the authors relying on?
How did they incorporate traditional usability and UI design guidelines?
What role does recognition play in the interface and does it present any unique challenges for interface design?
In what ways did traditional UI design techniques work or not work for the interface presented?

In doing your reading and writing your response, keep in mind the context in which the paper was written. Be sure you know who the authors are (their background and where they are now), and when and where this work was published. You don't have to explicitly mention this information in your response (you can if appropriate), but it can help you put the contribution or other aspects of the paper into context.

These reading responses are vaguely specified on purpose. Exactly what you address in your reading response is up to you, but you should be sure that your response is well structured and clearly addresses salient and interesting points related to this class. Your goal is to write critically about the paper, not just summarize it. You should take a position (in support, or against--but do try to vary this) on one or more of the papers' main contributions and then defend that position with specific support from the paper and other examples from class, in light of the points above.

Long Response Rewrites and Grading

At this point you are likely feeling that writing a long response is extremely daunting. After all, it might seem like you have in some cases only 2 days (between Monday and Wenesday) to read two hefty research papers and write your response. If I were you, I'd be thinking "Are you insane??"

Writing a polished, well-thouhgt-out critical response to two serious research papers is hard work, and something I would never expect you to do in only 2 days. Therefore, for each long response, you have an unlimited number of rewrites. I will grade your paper, give you feedback and then return it to you. You will then have 1 week to submit a rewrite, which I will again grade, give you feedback on, and return to you. You can keep submitting rewrites (until a deadline at the end of the semester), as long as you keep turning the drafts around with significant changes in one week. Only your final grade will be recorded.

Rules for drafts and rewrites:

Each initial paper you submit should be a serious effort with well thought-out ideas. It's OK if the ideas or writing is rough, but it shoudl be clear that you have put some thought into what you are trying to say.
Each rewrite must be a substantial revision from the previous rewrite that addresses (or attempts to address) all of my comments.
You must visit the writing center for AT LEAST one of your submissions (see below for more info on the writing center). You may visit the writing center with your first draft or your first rewrite. You MUST rewrite if you have not yet visited the writing center, and you must visit the writing center for your first rewrite if you did not visit with your first draft.
When you visit the writing center, you must bring the following:

A draft of your paper
The instructions for the long response (these guidelines)
Any comments or feedback I have given you on your draft

You have 1 week from when I return the paper to you to submit your rewrite. Check Sakai often.

If you do not adhere to all of the above rules, you will not be allowed to submit any more rewrites. If you fail to visit the writing center, you will receive a 0 and have to re-do your long response on another date.

If you are having trouble and feel that these responses are too open ended, please come talk to me and I will help you identify a direction for your response. Not understanding what you were supposed to do is not an excuse for a poor response. Futhermore, remember that everything you learned about good writing in HUM 1 will come in very handy here.

Finally, keep in mind that these responses should be relatively short for a paper (aim for 1.5-2 pages, single spaced, 12-point font). It will be important to be concise in your writing, but also, don't go overboard with the content of your response. A short, focused response focusing on one or two main issues is better than one that tries to incorporate every issue we've talked about in class.

You might find it helpful to take a look at the grading rubric for these papers before you start writing.

A note about the Writing Center

The Writing Center provides a good opportunity for you to get feedback on your work at each stage of the writing process, from working out ideas to polishing a final draft. This is a resource that can be helpful to all writers, from novices to experts. The center is open Sunday through Thursday evenings from 7-11 P.M., and is located in TG 106. You may schedule an appointment through their website, www.hmc.edu/writingcenter/ , or you may simply drop in during normal hours. If you'd like an appointment outside of normal hours, contact the director, Wendy Menefee-Libey, at menefee@hmc.edu. YOU ARE LIKELY TO FIND YOUR WRITING CENTER VISIT MORE VALUABLE IF YOU COME EARLIER THAN THE NIGHT BEFORE YOUR FINAL DRAFT IS DUE.