For many of the lectures throughout the quarter, a student will present one of the assigned papers and lead the discussion on the paper. The oral presentations will help you to communicate and analyze your own and others' ideas through spoken words. Furthermore, we will develop new ideas during discussions.
Each presenter will prepare a 35–40 minute talk on their assigned paper, followed by a discussion/Q&A session. Presentations will be done individually or in pairs, depending on class size. A sign-up sheet will be posted later on a first-come, first-served basis. For classes that you prepare a presentation, you are not responsible for a critique.
You must submit your slides to the TA (Hanyang Xu) by 11:59 PM PST the night before your presentation.
You are very much encouraged to reach out to the authors and ask for their conference talk or any other slides they might be willing to share; communicating and engaging with other researchers is a necessity. If you do receive slides from the authors, augment them with the strengths and weaknesses of the paper. If not, prepare your own slides as if you were presenting at a conference.
Craft your presentation like an onion, with each layer of thought being peeled back to reveal the core ideas of the paper. Slides should contain as little text as possible and instead serve as a visual aid to explain the key ideas. Prepare discussion questions and insert them at appropriate points in the talk. Engage everybody in the discussion, ask questions from the audience, and try to brainstorm new ideas with the class. Be prepared with knowledge of the paper beyond what you present.
I will evaluate your talk on a a scale of one to ten. You can earn a bonus point; however, most talks will receive a ten. I will allocate more points to slide preparation when the presenter does not have access to the authors deck.
| Clear Presentation of Key Ideas (teaching/explaining skills) | 2.5 points (4 points if slides are provided) |
| Clear, Well-Organized Slides (organizational and slide preparation skills) | 2.5 points (1 point if slides are provided) |
| Stimulating Interesting Discussion (higher order thinking) | 5 points |
| Exceeding Expectations in Any Area | 1 bonus point |