Information for Graduate Students

• How to make a thesis proposal?
  There are two ways to propose a master degree thesis project: (1) Identify your research interests and select a particular research topic by yourself first and then talk to a graduate faculty with the same or similar research interests. The faculty will help you to organize an advisory committee consisting of three graduate faculty members. You are ready to go. (2) Chat with your professors to find out what are their research interests and what are their past, on-going, or future research projects. You could easily find these information by visiting their web pages. Then visit your favorit professor at his/her office hours. It is a good idea to make an appointment before your visit out of their office hours. Then your professor will help you to form a proposal topic and organize an advisory committee.

• Is there a sample thesis proposal?
  Yes. Here is a sample proposal. Different professors might have different requirements for your proposal. This sample proposal reflects only my requirements. There are three key questions you should address in your proposal:
  1. What is the SOW (statement of work) for your thesis?
  2. Why is this topic important? (You need first find out what are the existing work in this area and what are their limitations.)
  3. What will be your major contributions?

• How to organize my thesis?
  Our School of Computing and Software Engineering has a "General Instructions" document for thesis writing. Please obtain this document from the General Office at J370-J371. If the secretary is not there, please try J393 for help.
  Prof. John W. Chinneck from Carleton University (Canada) has an excellent paper on How to Organize Your Thesis, please read it and following its instructions.
  Every thesis has an abstract or extended abstract, which is very important because it summarizes your main contributions in your thesis project. Please read and seek Advice to Authors of Extended Abstracts written by William Pugh from Xerox PARC.
  When submit your paper to a conference or journal, a lousy abstract will kill your paper at the first place. Here is a note written by Mary-Claire van Leunen and Richard Lipton from Xerox PARC on How To Have Your Abstract Rejected.

• How to select/change my major?
  Talk to your faculty advisor, or Ms. Beth Haynie who is the school Academic Advisor, or department chairs.

• Should I go for a Ph.D. degree in CS/SWE/IT?
  Absolutely if your goal is to seek knowledge.
  Probably it is not a best way to be a millionaire.

• How to contact you, Dr. Wang?
  My office is at J391. My office phone is 678-915-3718 and my e-mail address is jwang@spsu.edu. My door is always open in my office hours. I will be in my office at many other times; to minimize possible inconvenience, please phone or e-mail me to set up an appointment outside of my office hours.

Information for Research Assistants

• How to be a good research assistant?
  Below is a list of requirements for Yamacraw research assistants. It might be out of date by the time you are reading it, but it is a reference just for your information.
  1. RAs will post and keep their office hours and do the work assigned by Faculty during the office hours.
  2. If you could not do it, don't promise it. If you make a promise, keep it and abide it.
  3. RAs will abide by the Yamacraw Confidentiality Policy -- will not pass or transfer any research result (including ideas, algorithms, intermediate working products, documents, etc.) to non-Yamacraw parties.
  4. Since this is a paid work, RAs will not treat any deliverables (code, prototype, documents, etc.) as their own property. They belong to the University.
  5. RAs will have frequent meeting with Faculty documented in the project schedule.
  6. RAs will attend all meetings, no tardy, no absence.
  7. RAs will complete the work assigned by Faculty according to the project schedule, no excuse, no postponement.
  8. Research work for this stage is indicated by the start and end dates on your contract.
  9. Faculty will dismiss the RAs at any time when any one of the above items is violated without good reasons.

• How to conduct research in CS/SWE/IT?
  Professor Duane A. Bailey from Department of Computer Science, Williams College has A Letter to Research Students which is quite informative.
  Other interesting references include How to be a Good Graduate Student/Advisor, by Marie desJardins from Indiana University, and Graduate Study in the Computer and Mathematical Sciences: A Survival Manual, by Dianne O'Leary from University of Maryland, or How to do Research in the MIT AI Lab, ed. David Chapman from MIT.

• How to make a research presentation?
  
  • How to Give a Good Research Talk, by Simon Peyton Jones et al.
  • Women in Computer Science, a collection of papers are available here regarding women in computing.
  • How to Have a Bad Career in Research/Academia by David Patterson from UC Berkeley EECS Department.
  • A Dictionary of Useful Research Phrases by Graham, Jr., C. D.

• How to get a paper published?
  Try your best, God will do the rest.

Information for Teaching Assistants

• Who will be your teaching assistants?
  Teaching assistants (TAs) will be selected from a pool of CS/SWE/IT students who have achieved a good GPA (3.5 or above), who are interested in becoming teachers, and who possess good oral and written communication skills. Usually you have to apply only for TA of certain courses that you have taken before. School of CSE asks faculty to provide input in the teaching assistant selection process. TAs receive training and guidance from CSE faculty.

• What will your teaching assistants do?
  Teaching assistants will work in and outside the classroom with a professor and his/her students for up to 15 hours per week for the duration of a semester. Teaching Assistant activities and tasks are negotiable, but should fit within the course goals of improving teaching and learning process. Examples of teaching assistant activities are:
  • Assisting students with Lab Projects or Lab Practice
  • Responding to student questions outside of classrooms
  • Grading course assignments under the instructor’s guidance
  • Assisting in class preparation activities
  • Tutoring students in topics assigned by the instructor
  • Supervising small groups of students who are working on an assignment
  • Tutoring/mentoring students in one-on-one meetings

• How to grade student's assignment?
  Follow the grading policy of the course and seek instructions from your professor.

• How to supervise a Lab Practice?
  
  • Prepare it early.
    
  • Complete the Lab Practice assignment yourself before the class.
  • Make sure that the number of lab computers and seats is adequate for your class.
  • Check the hardware and software environment carefully beforehand.
  • Know how obtain help from CSE Lab staff when necessary.

Information for Undergraduate Students

• Why is computer science exciting?
  Because it is fun. Because it is young. And because it is important. Computer science has become the defining technology of our age. Its impact on our lives is evidenced by all the ways computers are used, from computer games, word processing, on-line shopping, to complex scientific computation to managing large amounts of data anytime and anywhere. With the advances of embedded computing or ubiquitous computing, microprocessors with programming capability are being used everywhere, from offices, home appliances, toys, cars, airplanes, to space shuttles. It is the job of the computer scientist to study the theory, abstraction and design of computers and the software used on computers to make all these various applications possible and reliable. It is the job of the computer scientist to design and implement new algorithms, new data structures, and new computing techniques to serve the human desire of more computing power and more application areas. The beauty of computer science comes from the applications it supports as well as the intricate and developing theory of its own.

• What are the major technical advancement in Computer Science recently?
  • The Internet and Web services
  • Networking technologies, particularly those based on TCP/IP
  • Graphics and multimedia
  • Networked embedded systems and ubiquitous computing
  • Object-oriented programming
  • Component-oriented programming, component-based software development
  • Human-computer interaction
  • Software safety
  • Security and cryptography

• What is Software Engineering?
  Software engineering is an engineering discipline which is concerned with all aspects of software production [Sommerville]. Software Engineering draws its foundations from a wide variety of disciplines. Undergraduate study of software engineering relies on many areas in computer science for its theoretical and conceptual foundations, but it also requires students to utilize concepts from a variety of other fields, such as mathematics, engineering and project management. All software engineering students must learn to integrate theory and practice, to recognize the importance of abstraction and modeling, to be able to acquire special domain knowledge beyond the computing discipline for the purposes of supporting software development in specific domains of application, and to appreciate the value of good engineering design.

• What is Information Technology?
  Information technology encompasses two broad areas:
  1. Information system management: acquisition, deployment, and management of information technology resources and services;
  2. Information system development: development and evolution of technology infrastructures and systems for use in organizational processes.
  Major characteristics of an IT professional include the following:
  • Having a broad business and real world perspective.
  • Having strong analytical and critical thinking skills.
  • Having interpersonal communication and team skills and having strong ethical principles.
  • Being capable to design and implement information technology solutions that enhance organizational performance.

• I want to do a senior project. Where do I start?
  You need find a faculty advisor first. The faculty will help you to write a Senior Project Proposal and organize an advisory committee. You are welcome to contact me for help.