Dr. J's Research Orientation, Fall 2006
Student and Faculty Introductions
Working With Dr. J
Check out
The Guide to Working with Dr. J
Affinity Group Model
Observation: I believe in the model, but am not a fan of goofy
orientation meetings or educational theory wonks. Still...
- being a good student researcher takes all six slices
- in CS Systems, research is cooperative not competitive
- we will use a peer model
- relish the fact that not all peers are equal!
Create Our Affinity Groups
What natural teams should we form around research topics of related concern?
Cooperative Work
For each affinity group to succeed, we need to establish:
- positive interdependence
- individual accountability
- promotive interaction
- interpersonal group skills
- group processing
Compared with last year, I would like to create a culture of writing down
what we are doing, and a culture of demonstrating forward progress.
The Research Process
Each group please get together for 5 minutes and write the best
answers you can for each of the following questions:
- What is research?
- What are the goals of research?
- What are the steps followed in doing research?
- What are the rewards and challenges of research?
Research and Development
Dr. Jeffery conducts "experimental software systems research", which
means our experiments are (often large) software systems. Successful
research in this area requires software engineering disciplines and
programming skills. Do your research by
- Identifying the requirements of your team. Write them down in
a document. Maintain that document in a public place as it changes.
Keep these practical.
- Design a software solution that meets your requirements. Write it
down in a document. Maintain that document in a public place as
it changes.
Keep this as simple as possible, and no simpler.
- Implement your design. Test not just for basic function, but for
correctness and for performance. Adhere to project standards.
Establish a high(er) personal standard for your code.
- Integrate your work with others. Your work is not finished until
we all see it in our CVE's.
Expectations
Here are some expectations. What expectations do you
have of the group or of your faculty mentor? We will all...
- read e-mail (preferably daily) and be available to
each other for individual meetings when needed.
- read the group Wiki and participate in group "culture"
- commit to the group for a guaranteed amount of time each week,
and to attending weekly group meetings
- manage our time to meet our time commitment to the project.
- use goals to motivate ourselves and each other.
- see the group's success as an important part of achieving our
personal success
- join professional societies (e.g. ACM) and study what others are
doing in order to find our position in the larger CS community.
- see our whole job as: not just to invent-and-code; but to invent,
code, test, demo, publically release, and then write about
and market our work to the larger academic community.
Resources
Here are some resources. What resources will you need to succeed at
your job of contributing this semester?
- Physical space, desks, workstations
- Paychecks, grades, and degrees
- Google, Amazon, Coas, library, library loan
- Other group members' expertise and advice
Competing Concerns
In software engineering these are often called "Risks". Each group
please spend 5 minutes to come up with the major challenges and
obstacles that might prevent your groups from succeeding.
State of the Project
Dr. J will present his assessment of our starting point.
Research Goals
Each group should please spend 10 minutes identifying goals. Note:
individuals working independently merge goal sets by concatenating
them.
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