Discussions and Quizzes
A central aspect of this course will be reading and discussing papers from the field of Social Computing. The goal here is to learn about the history and innovations so that you can make your own novel contribution as a final project. This class implements a “jigsaw learning” technique where students will read and teach different papers to each other. The jigsaw learning approach creates an opportunity for students to actively co-construct knowledge, rather than just passively consuming information. Students are encouraged to be active learners in all aspects of the course including asking questions during lectures, participating in activities, and collaborating with teammates on your final projects.
Each student will read and teach one paper each week (except Week 1 when everyone will read the same article, and in Weeks 8 and 10 which will be dedicated to Final Project prototyping). That way, you become an expert on some papers while getting exposure to many more! And by teaching each other, we aim to build community and social bonds within our class.
Every Friday, there will be a Quiz on ALL readings for that week. Therefore, it is vital for you to be present for discussion sections on all Mondays. Your grade will be affected by your attendance and presence in the jigsaw learning approach, your slide preparation, and your post-discussion evaluations. For all the papers you are NOT teaching, make sure to skim the papers (see note below on Reading vs. Skimming) before Monday's section.
Key points on this page:
Select papers you want to read and teach. Every student should pick one paper per week by signing up in the Course Dashboard (will open in Week 1)
Prepare and post slides to your discussion section folder before Monday’s discussion
Lead a small group discussion of your selected paper during Monday’s discussion
Listen and engage, and skim the other papers (you will be quizzed on these too!)
Fill out the Discussion Group Peer Eval after Monday's section
Attend lectures to revisit all four papers within a broader context
Complete a Quiz at the end of each week
Select Papers (during Week 1)
Starting in Week 1, students will select one paper per week (except W8 and W10) to read and teach to other students in your discussion section. The course dashboard (link on Canvas) will open in Week 1 allowing students to self-select which papers they want to lead (listen for instructions during lecture). Select one paper to lead every week (a total of 7).
Prepare “Jigsaw Learning” Slides (before Monday)
For papers you select to lead, prepare a set of slides (in any tool) to help teach the paper to your peers during the discussion section. Post your slides as a PDF in Canvas by 2pm on Monday BEFORE Monday's discussion sections!
Your slides will NOT be used to give a formal lecture for your whole section, but rather to lead a small group discussion with 4-5 peers. Peers should at least skim the other papers so they are prepared to ask clarification questions and to discuss.
Keep the slides relatively short, just briefly summarizing the main points of the paper, and bringing in additional material to help give the topic more context. Make your slides visually appealing, including figures from the paper and images from other sources. Do not just copy and paste text into slides. Your goal is to highlight the main themes and show how it relates to what’s happening today. Showing related real-world examples is often a good way to help make the concepts clear for others.
Include 3-4 slides to cover main points in the paper:
What novel system or empirical question is introduced in this paper?
How did the paper authors set up their evaluation or experiment?
What were the more important findings or lessons from the paper?
Include 3-4 slides to facilitate discussion on the paper (~one question per slide):
Include questions about the rationale, methods, and results to make sure your group understands the paper. (e.g., “What are the authors claiming is the most unique feature of their system?”)
Include deeper questions that discuss the implications of the paper. Some of these questions can be based on the paper’s Discussion section, but others could ask the group to reflect on what the paper means for social computing and how it connects to personal experiences. (e.g., “What has been your personal experience with concept X? How might we design a better system to account for that concept X?”)
Good discussion questions will prompt or provoke deeper thinking and discourse around the paper. Discussion questions often do not have clear answers and elicit a range of different perspectives. Ask questions that provide something concrete for students to respond to: "If we take the paper's key insights X and Y, what would be the expected benefits and drawbacks of applying this to platform Z?"
Prior examples of slides:
The slides are an individual assignment. Students are not allowed to view or copy slides from other sections or previous classes. Any attempt to simply copy another slide deck will be considered a violation of academic integrity.
Lead a Small Group Discussion (on Mondays)
Starting in W2, the IAs will divide the Monday sections into four parallel discussion Groups (in each corner of the room) with representatives from each paper. For each of the four papers, the student(s) leading each paper should teach the paper to their small group supported by their slides and PDFs of the Readings (on laptops). The small group should feel free to ask questions throughout and make sure they understand the gist and key insights in the paper. Each paper will get ~10 minutes for sharing slides and discussion before moving to the next paper.
Students earn full participation points for teaching one paper per week and engaging in discussion around the other three papers. Beyond simply attending and creating slides, students may lose participation points if 1) you are not prepared to share your paper, or 2) you are not participating in the discussion of the other papers.
How to have a discussion: Approach these conversations organically to advance everyone’s understanding of the paper or to ask questions. Take turns and build on peers’ prior comments. Make connections and references to other readings, videos, lectures, discussions from outside of class that enhance our understanding of the concepts in the paper. Avoid dominating the verbal discussions so that you give all your peers an opportunity to speak during class. Be respectful and attentive (e.g, don’t wear headphones or look at your mobile phone during the discussion).
Discussion Group Peer Eval (after section on Monday)
After the discussion section and before 11.59pm on Monday, please fill out the Discussion Group Peer Eval to self-evaluate your own slides and teaching, as well as the discussions lead by others in your small group. Make sure to learn the names of the students in your discussion group. Failing to complete the evaluation form will count against your participation grade.
Quizzes (on Fridays)
Student will read papers every week (except week 8 and 10) and there will be a quiz on Thursdays. The quizzes will test your knowledge and challenge you to reflect on that week's papers. This includes the papers you did not lead, so be sure to pay attention during the discussion sections and lectures. These will be "open book" quizzes so you may refer to the papers and your notes during the quiz period. Students have from the end of Thursday's lecture until end of Friday to complete the quiz on Canvas. Students will have 1 hour to submit answers, although we only expect the quiz to take you about 30 minutes. Sharing answers, discussing the questions, leveraging an LLM (e.g. ChatGPT, BARD, etc.), or doing any other forms of "collaboration" are strictly prohibited and will be reported to the Academic Integrity Office.
Grading:
The preparation, attendance, and participation for Monday discussions comprise a significant portion of students’ grade this quarter. Students can miss up to ONE discussion section with no penalty. Even if absent for Monday’s discussion, students must prepare jigsaw learning slides to earn that portion of the grade. Students who attend on Monday, but who are either unprepared or do not participate will lose points for participation.
“Jigsaw Learning” Slides Rubric:
Cover key methods and insights: Does the slide deck include 3-4 slides to cover the main points in the paper? Slides should visually explain the main system or study, the methods, and the results of the evaluation.
Include thoughtful discussion questions: Does the slide deck include 3-4 slides with discussion questions (one per slide)? Some questions should cover the main points in the paper, while others could focus on relating to other research or personal reflections. Discussion prompts should be open-ended and thought-provoking.
Create visually effective slides: Does the slide deck implement a design that is easy to understand, well organized, and visually appealing? Slides with walls of text are considered ineffective and should be avoided.
Embed examples and references: Does the slide deck include at least one example or reference to outside research or to cultural phenomenon to help contextualize the main points in the paper?
Slides can earn up to four points per slide deck for a total of 28 points for the quarter (7 papers). Slides that are not uploaded to Canvas in time for the Monday sections will be subject to the late work policy.
FAQs:
What if I need to miss Monday's section?
Attending the Monday discussion sections should be a high priority because it’s integral to jigsaw learning and key to understanding the papers for the quiz that week. However, we understand that students sometimes get sick or have other obligations. Students can miss ONE Monday section without penalty, but will lose participation points for more than one absence. If students need to miss Monday’s discussion due to illness or an excused absence:
Please communicate with your IA so that they understand the situation.
Finish your jigsaw learning slides anyway. The slide deck will be shared with your peer group and graded separately from the discussion.
Catch up on the other papers you were not leading that week. You can learn those other papers by viewing jigsaw slides from Monday in this folder, by reading/skimming the paper PDFs, and by communicating with your group on Slack. You will still need to take the quiz on time.
What should we do on Monday of Week 7 (Veterans Day)?
Since November 11th is a National holiday, we will not have discussion sections that day. For that week, students must still complete their “jigsaw learning” slides and find a time to meet their discussion group for one hour (before Thursday's lecture) to prepare for the Week 7 quiz. Your section’s IAs will create a Slack channel so that you can coordinate with your group. Your group can either meet in person or on zoom to share and discuss the four papers, just like would happen on normal Mondays.
Can I swap to a different Discussion section on Monday?
If students cannot regularly attend their assigned section time, communicate with the TAs about a potential swap to another section time on Monday. Due to room capacity issues, this will only be allowed if there are open slots available.
What does it mean to “read” versus “skim” papers?
Reading academic papers can seem daunting at first. However, effective reading is a skill that can be mastered with practice. For papers you select to read and teach, you are expected to spend about an hour to fully understand the paper. Review this article for advice on how to read academic papers to extract the gist of a paper, how to read critically, and how to use the paper as a way to start thinking creatively in the research area.
For papers you are not leading, you should still spend 10-15 minutes skimming these papers before class. Skimming includes reading the title, authors, year, abstract, headers, figures, tables, captions, and conclusion. Try to get a sense of the topics, structure and thesis of the paper. If you skim the papers, and then attend the Monday section and participate during the discussion, you should be ready for the Friday quizzes.