In the spirit of the course content, we will crowdsource how we read and learn the material. To cover more breadth, we will divide and conquer a set of research papers among the students in class. Using the “jigsaw technique”, individuals only need to read and present one paper per week. Your peers will read, present, and facilitate discussion around the other papers, so you only need to skim these. That way, you become an expert on some papers while still getting exposure to many more! We expect active participation during all discussions and activities.
Each week, students will select and read ONE paper listed on the course Reading List. Then collaborate with your peers to deliver a short, high-quality presentation of your selected paper. We will sign up for paper slots together as an in-class activity on the first day. Then you can reach out to your peers to meet up during the week before you present.
Course dashboard (with reading sign-up sheet)
Keep your presentation short (~5 minutes... definitely no more than 10 minutes) and prepare a set of key questions to lead a discussion. Maybe two group members present slides and then the others facilitate the discussion. Work with your partners and make sure to post your slides to the dashboard before class. Each paper will be allocated about ~15 minutes of class time for presentation plus discussion.
Each student must sign up to present papers for 6 out of the 7 weeks of paper discussions (Weeks 2-8). That should give each student some flexibility in case of illness, project work, or other commitments.
As a presenter, you should read the paper in some depth. You will be teaching others who have only skimmed the paper. You might even print out the paper and take notes with a highlighter and pen. Do not just try to consume the information, but critically reflect on the assumptions, methods, and results. One way to start thinking critically is by questioning the paper. Here are questions to consider when reading:
What are the motivations and rationale for doing this work? (see the paper's Introduction)
What is the proposed solution? (see the paper's brief description in the Introduction and a detailed version in the body of the paper)
How was the core contribution evaluated? (see if the paper has an Evaluation or Results section, also read the discussion)
What are the contributions? (typically these are outlined in the Introduction, discussed in detail in the Discussion section)
What are future directions for this research? (see the Discussion section)
Thinking critically, what are the good ideas in this paper? Do these ideas have other applications or extensions that the authors might not have thought of? Can the results be generalized further? Are there possible improvements that might make important practical differences?
How does this paper relate to other papers and books that you have been reading? Sometimes you find that other researchers might have a different problem and approach, define the problem differently, or approach the same problem uniquely. How does this paper connect with other research?
What ideas does this paper spark for you? Write down any projects that come to mind that are variations or in some way inspired by this paper.
Here are some additional resources to check out:
Pieter Jan Stappers created this Map of Reading, Reviewing and Writing and this nice video resource.
Bill Griswold wrote excellent advice on how to read and take effective notes on research papers.
Michael Mitzenmacher on How to Read a Research Paper.
S. Keshav offers a "3-pass method" for How to Read a Paper.
Your goal is to succinctly teach students what you learned by reading the paper. With not much time, try to hit the key points. In preparing the presentation, make your slides visually interesting and include relevant figures from the paper. Try to reference at least one other paper related to your selected paper. For example, you might search for something that cited the paper, and then report back on how the newer paper builds on the prior work. Make sure to grab a screenshot or a figure from the referenced paper. Use words on your slides at a minimum. Whenever possible, show don't tell. Do not try to cover all the small details, but be prepared to answer questions about the details.
The last slide in your presentation should include the paper's title and authors (as a reminder) and 2-3 questions for discussion. For discussion questions, it is usually helpful for the question to not have a clear answer, but rather be one that people might approach from different perspectives. Avoid questions that are either too easy (e.g., “Was is a a between-subjects or within-subjects study design?”) or too general (e.g., “What do you think about collective decision making?”). Take some time to create insightful questions that will fuel generative discussion.
Julia Baum's guidelines for how to lead a discussion of scientific articles.
Scott Klemmer's guidelines on thinking critically about research papers
Some example presentations with discussion questions: Future of Work, Planning with Crowdsourced Data
For the papers you are not presenting each week, your job is to skim each paper before class (read the abstract and intro, skim the other sections, and review the figures) and actively listen during peer presentations and contribute to discussion. Be respectful but also inquisitive during class presentations.