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Reading Response and Discussion

Reading and responding to research papers

(adapted from Lindsey Kuper's class, which is turn adapted from others)
http://composition.al/CSE232-2020-10/course-overview.html#in-class-discussion-process Links to an external site.

We will spend some of our time reading, responding to, and discussing research papers. Reading research papers is a skill that requires practice, and in this class, we will work on developing that skill. You will need to finish each reading assignment in advance of the day we discuss it in class. In fact, you will need to turn in a reading response by noon PT on the day before the day we discuss it.

Some advice on how to read papers

Attempting to plow right through a paper from beginning to end is usually not the most productive approach. Here’s some great advice from Manuel Blum on how to read and study. Links to an external site.

You may also be interested in time-tested paper-reading advice from Michael Mitzenmacher Links to an external site. and from S. Keshav Links to an external site..

What to include in your reading response

For each paper we read, you will submit a short reading response. The reading response process is designed to help you develop the skill of asking good questions about the readings. You should include the following in your reading response:

  • Paper Summary: Using only your own words, write an overview of the paper that can serve as an explanation of the paper for your classmates. Your summary should answer the following questions: What problem does the paper address (1-2 sentences)? What are the paper’s key insights (1-2 sentences)? What are the paper’s key scientific and technical contributions (2-3 sentences)? What are its shortcomings or flaws (up to 3 sentences)? If there are two papers, you need to do it for each. (These guidelines for summarizing a paper are taken from the ASPLOS 2021 Links to an external site. review process, with thanks to Emery Berger Links to an external site..)
  • Discussion questions: Please suggest 1-2 questions about the readings for our in-class discussion. These must be questions whose answers do not appear verbatim in the papers. Instead, try to go deeper. Keep in mind that you may need several sentences just to provide sufficient context for a question. For example, if a question has to do with how the paper’s topic relates to other work you were previously familiar with, you’ll need to summarize the relevant part of that other work as part of the question. Your discussion questions can related to either paper, or a comparison of the two. Furthermore, your questions must be unique (after you submit, you’ll get to see other people’s submitted questions).

(By the way, the summary I’m asking you to write does not, by itself, comprise a review of the paper, like those you would write if you were serving on a conference program committee. A review is much longer and more detailed, and would, among other things, make a case for acceptance or rejection of the paper.)

Reading responses are due at noon PT on the day before we discuss the reading in class. The reason for this relatively early deadline is to give me time to look at the responses before class so that I can structure the in-class discussion based on them. Don’t be surprised if you see some of your questions used in the in-class discussions!

You will submit your reading response on Canvas, in the discussion forums set up for each paper group. Once you submit, you’ll get to see other people’s submissions. After submitting, take a look at the other submissions to make sure that your questions aren’t a repeat (or very close to a repeat) of any already-submitted questions. In that case, you should edit your questions to make them clearly distinct from the previously-submitted ones. It is to your advantage to turn in your reading response relatively early, because the earlier you turn it in, the less likely it is that your questions will be a repeat of any previously-submitted questions!

In-class discussion process

On discussion days, we’ll use a structured in-class discussion process. The process we will use is inspired by one used by Matthew Ahrens Links to an external site., Kathleen Fisher Links to an external site., and Norman Ramsey Links to an external site. in courses taught at Tufts University, and the below description borrows heavily from their Links to an external site. documentation. Links to an external site.

Small-group discussion (20 minutes)

On discussion day the class will split into small groups of 3-4 students, using Zoom breakout rooms. (Unfortunately, this means that you cannot use the Zoom web client, since at the time of this writing, the web client doesn’t support the breakout room feature.)

Each member of each small group must take on one of the following roles. You must carry out this role in addition to actively participating in the conversation. Each student in the class should serve in each of the roles four or more times during the term.

  • Scribe: The role of the scribe is to take notes during the conversation, while participating in the conversation themselves. After class, all the scribes will meet and contribute to a formal write-up of the class discussion. One student in each small group will serve as the scribe.
  • Manager: The role of the manager is to keep track of time and make sure that all of the discussion questions get touched upon. Afterward, they will be responsible for recording everyone’s role on a shared spreadsheet. One or two students in each small group will serve as the manager.
  • Ambassador: The role of the ambassador is to represent their small group in the large-group discussion afterward. They will also be the first ones to answer follow-up questions from the rest of the class, or to pose questions to the rest of the class that would be helpful to discuss. Then, they will meet with the instructor before the end of the class to go over the “meta” of the class, and discuss how workload, group pacing, and other housekeeping items went.

The small-group discussion will use the following process:

  1. Each member of the group should unmute and introduce themselves. (You may want to turn on your video for the small-group discussion, although it’s not required that you do so.)
  2. The group should assign roles to each member.
  3. The group should discuss answers to the provided questions about the reading assignment. On each discussion day, I’ll provide a short list of discussion questions, many of which will be drawn from the reading responses that you and your classmates submitted previously. During the discussion phase, feel free to work together in a shared document and use any resources you like. This is a “brainstorming” phase. Don’t stop with a single answer; look at things from all angles.
  4. The group should try to reach consensus on the most satisfying answers. Perhaps the group will agree on answers that satisfy everyone. Perhaps there will be significant dissent – maybe even no majority view.
  5. The group should prepare to report verbally to the class as a whole. The ambassador’s report should cover the following points:
    • The preferred answers according to the consensus reached by your group.
    • The reasons that you prefer these answers.
    • Any significant minority views.
    • A few words about answers that your group considered but ultimately rejected.

Large-group discussion (20 minutes)

Breakout rooms will close, and the entire group will reconvene. At this point, ambassadors from individual groups will present their groups’ conclusions. During the large-group discussion, ambassadors speak first, for a couple of minutes each. Once all ambassadors have had a turn to speak, if there’s time remaining, we’ll open the floor to the whole class.

In the large-group discussion, we’ll discuss and evaluate the groups’ conclusions and try to forge a coherent consensus view that the whole class can agree on, but also be alert for gaps, inconsistencies, and incoherence. When possible, I’ll compare the conclusions reached by the class with my interpretation of the consensus position.

Wrap-up (10 minutes)

During the last ten minutes of class:

  • Ambassadors will gather in a breakout room with James and discuss how they think the day went, how they think the pacing went, what they are looking forward to, any worries they might have about the class, and so on.
  • Managers will update the shared role spreadsheet (link to be distributed privately) to list the role that each member of their small group played. 
  • Scribes will gather to start writing a class discussion summary, to be finished by at most a week from the day the in-class discussion took place.