CSI 445/600. Distributed Systems
 
 
 

Grading

Assignments (30%)

Presentations (20%)

Participation (20%)

Projects (30%)


Assignments (30%)

During the semester (starting from Feb. 10), each student is required to review 8 papers among those in the reading list.  Each review must be emailed to the instructor (
) before the paper is presented in class (see the course schedule). Each review should be emailed as plain text (no attached file please!) with “[CSI 445/600]” and the title of the paper in the subject line. Samples of good reviews as well as the review grades will be emailed to the students every week.

Each review must be in the following format: 

  1. 1.Paper title:

  2. 2.Reviewer name:

  3. 3.Your rating: A (very interesting), B (interesting), or C (marginally interesting)

  4. 4.Summary of the paper: (no more than five sentences).

  5. 5.Strengths of the paper: (no more than three sentences).

  6. 6.Limitations of the paper: (no more than three sentences).

  7. 7.Research challenges the paper does not address: (no more than three sentences).

Reviews should be clear and succinct.  Note that verbose reviews or those with errors will make it difficult to evaluate your understanding of the paper, thereby negatively affecting your grade.


Presentations (20%)

Each student is required to choose a paper (see the presentation schedule) and inform the instructor of the paper he/she wants to present. These requests for presentation will be approved in the first-come-first-served manner, so early requests will be advantageous. Each presenter should send the presentation slides to the instructor a week prior to the presentation day so that the instructor can help the presenter revise the slides. Each presentation should end in approximately 40 minutes if there were no interruptions. Each presentation will be evaluated by the instructor as well as peer students using this presentation evaluation form.


Participation (20%)

Students are strongly encouraged to contribute to this seminar class by asking questions and sharing opinions (e.g., the strengths and weaknesses of the techniques under discussion). Critical discussion and analysis are key requirements for good systems research and also essential ingredients of this class.


Projects (30%)

Students are required to propose and carry out a project on any topic related to the course material. The instructor will guide these projects through separate meetings with students. Group projects (e.g., teams of 2-3 students) are highly recommended, but individual projects may also be approved. The projects will be presented as specified in the course schedule. The final project reports must be submitted by May 14, 2009. These reports should use one of the following templates: [MS Word], [latex]. For further details, refer to the Projects page or contact the instructor.


Policy on `I’ Grades

A grade of `I’ will only be given for genuine extenuating circumstances that are beyond a student’s control after the final drop date with a `W’ grade (for the final drop date, refer to the UAlbany academic calendar). To receive an `I’ grade, both of the following conditions must be met:

  1. •At the time when an `I’ grade is requested, the student’s class work must be in good standing:  more precisely, the student must have a weighted average score of at least 60% in each of the following: assignments, class participation, projects, and presentation (if applicable).

  2. •Written documentation must be supplied either by the student or by the University administration about the extenuating circumstances.