Students taking the course for credit will submit a written research paper and present an oral summary of their research to the class in the last weeks of the semester. The topic or content of your project can be anything having to do with vision, and the dominant modality is usually (1) computer simulations of a model or (2) design of a psychophysical experiment. Other possibilities include (3) formal analysis of a model or (4) a critical literature review. Note that a psychophysical experiment does not have to be fully executed in the course of the semester, though collection of at least preliminary data would ordinarily be expected. Note also that a "critical" literature review must contain an original point of view, in the form of a hypothesis concerning which evidence is being gathered, or a sketch of a model for which design constraints are sought. The review cannot, in other words, be a list of "A said this, B said that, and C said this other thing." The research report is expected to be the product of an individual student's efforts, but students are not precluded from reporting on some aspect or extension of a collaborative project, provided the collaborator or collaborators are agreeable. Interim reports on progress are due as indicated in the timeline below.
Note that you will give two oral presentations to the class on your project. The first is informal and relatively short, and will occur during on of the non-Thursday discussion hours, on a date to be negotiated individually. The first report will describe interim progress. The second will be longer and more structured, and will occur near the end of the semester. In both cases you will be required to turn in a draft of the graphics for your talk to me at least 3 days in advance of your oral presentation, and a non-trivial portion of your final course grade will depend on the degree of professionalism that you exhibit in turning in that first draft in polished form and on time.
Turn in a hardcopy of a written pre-proposal for a course project, consisting of a title and a brief outline of your topic, including proposed methods and goals -- on the order of 2-3 pages.
Turn in a hardcopy of a formal proposal that will serve as a basis for a "contract" between you and me, stipulating precisely the nature of the problem that you will investigate for your project, and what will be deemed "worthwhile progress" by the end of the semester. You should provide sufficient articulation of the background literature to clarify why the problem you have chosen is an interesting one, and why the solution that you are investigating holds promise. You should also state what you anticipate will be the most difficult or time-consuming aspects of your research, and provide a realistic time-table for achieving specific interim objectives. This report should be on the order of 6-8 pages in length.
Proposals must include a descriptive title, an abstract, an introduction, clear articulation of goals, a "methods" section, a time-table, and a reference list.
You will provide an ORAL report to the class describing progress on your project. Presentations will be last approximately 10 to 12 minutes, including time for questions. Any audiovisual aids you use will be expected to be of high quality. Each of you will be asked to provide a draft of your presentation in advance, so that I can help you with revisions.You will be required to turn in a complete and polished draft of your talk in Powerpoint, Acrobat pdf, or some comparable format at least 72 hours in advance of your presentation; the required format is in the form of "thumbnails" of your visuals, four panels to a printed page. Failure to turn in a complete draft on time will be penalized. Your course grade will depend in part on the quality and completeness of your draft, to say nothing of the presentation itself.
You will give a final oral report of your findings to the class. The format will be that of a formal and "timed" presentation,on the order of 20 to 30 minutes long (to be determined, based on the course's total enrollment), including time for questions and discussion. Once again, you will need to turn in a complete and polished draft of your talk by 72 hours in advance of your presentation. By "your presentation" I refer to the starting time of the presentations for the class. Therefore ALL presentations are due by 1:00 PM on Sunday, April 30. Electronic submission is okay for this assignment.
Final written reports are due. Reports are to be composed in a style that conforms to "instructions to authors" for some internationally recognized journal, which you must identify by name on your cover sheet. All sections of your report except the references must be double-spaced.
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