Lectures

in Pages

Summary

  1. Students are responsible for the material in lectures.
  2. Some lectures will be given “live” (synchronously), while other material will be given asynchronously (pre-recorded videos).
  3. We intend to record the synchronous lectures, but you are responsible for the material even if there is a failure.
  4. The slides are designed to be used as part of the lecture presentation - they may not make sense without watching the lecture. In particular, a lot of the slide content will be drawn during the lecture.
  5. We will monitor participation in lectures, it can affect your grade in boundary cases. (participating requires attending a synchronous lecture)

Lecture recordings and slides can be found at Lecture Materials: Videos and Slides

Details

CS559 is being taught online for Spring 2023. There are no in-person (face to face) lectures. All material will be delivered online. Exams will be online. Assignments will be given online. There will be no required in person activities. (there may be optional in-person activities, such as office hours)

Participation in activities during class periods may be tracked. We may consider this in grading.

Synchronous Lectures: Most lectures will be presented “live” (known as synchronous instruction). That means students are watching the lecture (via video streaming) while the instructor is presenting the material. Synchronous lectures allow students to ask questions, have discussion in chat, and for the instructor to use interactive elements (such as polling). There is also a very different feel - even if there isn’t much interaction, synchronous lectures feel different (maybe its the fact that it is live, maybe it is because there is the possibility to interact, or maybe it is something else). Many students find it advantageous to attend the live lectures.

The live lectures will be recorded. This means students can watch the videos afterwards. This can be convenient for reviewing a lecture you have seen. It also means you can watch the video later, if you prefer. You miss out on the advantages of the live lecture, but you gain flexibility.

Note: in the event that there is some failure and the video is not recorded, students are still responsible for the material.

Note: there may be delays between a live lecture and when it appears on the web for viewing. This is unavoidable given the University’s systems.

Synchronous lectures will be delivered via Zoom. See the page about Zoom for CS559. It is worth taking some time to get familiar with Zoom and get your settings correct.

Participation in lectures (attendance and other participation) will be tracked. If your grade is at a boundary, we may give you a bonus for attending or participating. Attending and participating means being part of the synchronous class.

Asynchronous Lectures: Some “lectures” may be provided as pre-recorded videos that you can watch whenever you like. In a sense, these videos are class material (like a reading). Pre-recorded videos have the advantage that (1) you can watch them whenever it is convenient; (2) you can start, stop, rewind, and fast forward; (3) you can watch them at fast (or slow) speed; and (4) you can choose your own pacing. You do need the discipline to actually watch them, and you must ask questions asynchronously (e.g., via Piazza).

Asynchronous lectures will be announced on Canvas.

Lecture Materials (Slides)

The slides used for the lecture presentations will be made available via Canvas.

Generally, there will be a version before the lecture (useful if you want to take notes), and a version after the lectures (that captures the drawings I make on the slides during lectures). We will try to provide a post-lecture version that includes links to the videos (timing placed on slides), but these might not be available for a few days after the lecture.

The slides are designed to be used in the video. The slides are not meant to stand alone. The slides may have no meaning if you don’t watch the video.

The pre-class slides often have lots of spaces where I intend to draw things. The post-class slides only capture the slide at the end of the lecture (it might have many drawings piled on it).

Do not expect the slides to serve as a replacement for lecture.

Lecture Video Availability

Video lectures will be made available on the web. There may be a delay before they are posted. It is a manual process involving transcoding, uploading, indexing, and some other steps. Do not count on videos to be available on any particular time table. Even if the course staff does their work quickly, the University’s video platform can be slow.