You will learn the information in this course through a number of different methods. The primary mode of in-class instruction will be in the form of lectures based on the texts and other material. You will be informed of the sections in the text to be covered on a given day, and will be asked to read those sections before the class. However, the text just covers a small portion of the developments in this exciting area, and we will use information from a number of sources to supplement them. Announcements and other material related to the course will be available at the Parallel Processing Lab URL (please see the Computing Center for information on how to use WWW browsers like Mosaic and Netscape on the school machines). Since this is a ``live'' e-document, it will be updated constantly, and you will be asked to keep accessing it often.
In addition to the in-class activities, you will be encouraged to meet with other class members outside of class to discuss concepts. To facilitate communication between class members and between the class and the instructor, a special newsgroup has been setup for the class csm.class.macs440. Please feel free to post articles on this newsgroup to ask questions, make comments, or to discuss issues related to the course.
One examination and assignments in the course will test knowledge
imparted to you during class. However, the major task required
of you in this course is the completion of a term project in which
you use a parallel computer to solve a complex problem in the area
of your interest. Students are encouraged to bring in relevant problems
to the class, but there will also be a mechanism to hook up students
with formal mentors who will provide guidance about specific projects.
Students are required to turn in a written problem statement at the
end of two weeks, and a written solution design midway through the
semester. In addition to the paper versions of these reports, an
electronic (html) version is also expected. You are free to use any
wordprocessing system for the paper version, but it will be
convenient if you use , since we have a version of
LaTeX2html running on kaduna, and I can help you out with problems.
For information on
, please see
User's Guide
and Reference Manual by Leslie Lamport, Addison Wesley Publishing.
We will also have a lecture devoted to creating html documents.
At the end of the semester, each student will have to turn in a final report in both paper and electronic form. Project reports from Fall 1994 can be found at the PPL HomePage. In addition, each student will be required to give a 30 minute presentation to the class on their project. A significant portion of the grade will depend on these two tasks.
Notice that an emphasis is being made not only on doing good scientific work, but also on conveying your results effectively. Thus, a portion of your grade will be determined by the quality of your writing and presentation. I will give you adequate feedback on these aspects throughout the semester.
Since a major portion of the class relies on group discussions in class, your participation will be important, and a small portion of the grade will depend on it.
The weightage given to each evaluation method will be as follows: