Current Topics in Computational Linguistics

Guidelines

Here are the detailed guidelines for this seminar. Please read them carefully and let me know if anything is not clear.

The seminar will then be based on three pillars:

On our first meeting on April 12, I will introduce and motivate the topic in a live session and we’ll get to know each other.

Then, in the following weeks, you’ll have a reading/watch list to work through. As of the (probably) fourth week, one item in this reading list is a presentation made by one of your colleagues.

We’ll meet on Mondays for a short wrap-up of the previous content and for you to work in small groups to discuss a worksheet. I will randomly assign you to different breakout rooms each week, so that you have the chance to work with different peers.

Presentation

Each of you will be assigned one subtopic from the main topics in the schedule. If you have a very strong preference for one topic, let me know, otherwise I will randomly assign you a topic by April 19. I’ll also point you to the corresponding initial bibliography that you should expand during your research.

You must present this subtopic to your colleagues either in a 20-minute video or in a 3,500-word blogpost (it’s an approximately 15-minute read in Medium.com’s estimates, plus the needed time for non-textual content). Longer videos/blogposts are fine, shorter are not.

Independent of the media you choose, assume that your audience is willing that you spoon-feed them with whatever they need to understand that subtopic. Be creative and produce content that will be interesting and informative. A good layout and aesthetics is mandatory in both cases. The style may be more informal and pedagogical; you can use pictures, memes, emojis, etc. Make sure to include many examples to help comprehension.

Send me your presentation by the previous Monday, 20:00. So, if a topic will be discussed on May 17, you must send me if by May 10 at 20:00, so that your colleagues have enough time to work on that.

A detailed schedule will be posted on Moodle with your names and dates.

Participation

Participation involves:

The worksheets will be mostly composed of argumentative exercises (no programming). The answers will not be graded but a submission will be considered valid if, and only if, your solutions are coherent and complete. Any mistakes will be discussed in the wrap-up.

Remember that participating in group discussions, completing the weekly tasks and the valid submission of worksheets are a prerequisite to pass the course. A minimum of 70% is necessary for each of them.

Documentation

Each week, after working through the suggested material, you must fill in a reaction form about the reading list and provide feedback about that week’s presentation. Be polite and provide constructive feedback. I will then gather the feedbacks, anonymise them and share with the presenter. There will be a link on Moodle for submitting the documentation.

Minute

During the group discussions, you must use the opportunity to expose your arguments and listen to the ideas of others. Do not write your answers to the worksheet while discussing, concentrate instead on brainstorming. You will work on your answers later, individually.

To help take notes, each group must nominate one person to write a minute of the discussion and share with the others right after the meeting. This must be submitted on Moodle right after the meeting, one per group. Put the name of the members and the name of the person who wrote it. You must write a minute at least once during the semester.

Routine

Checklist

Notice that we’ll have a fixed checklist of tasks every week.

Anytime until Sunday 11:59 p.m.

  1. work through the material in the reading/watch list, taking personal notes
  2. read/watch the week’s presentation
  3. fill in the documentation form
  4. be prepared to discuss the covered topics

During the group discussion (Monday at 10 a.m.)

  1. discuss the worksheet with your colleagues
  2. one member writes a minute of the discussion

After the group discussion

  1. submit the minute (pdf, one per group) whithin 24 hours
  2. write down your answers to the worksheet individually
  3. submit your answers (pdf) until the next Sunday at 11:59 p.m.

Each of these tasks will have a corresponding submission link on Moodle.

Programming project

Reproducibility Challenge (To be confirmed)

Your task in the final project will be replicating one paper, i.e., writing your own code to try to reproduce the results of a published paper. I’ll provide a list of papers for you to choose from. You will work on this task and write a report about your findings in the format of a short paper.

Guidelines about the format, length, etc will be posted on Moodle.

There will be a link on Moodle for you to submit a zip-file with your code and paper.

Submission deadline for the final project: September 30, 2021, 23:59.

Integrity