Assignment 7 - Project Proposal

Overview
We have completed the homework portion of the class and covered a majority of the readings, so it is time to start finalizing plans for the project.  In Assignment 5, you started thinking about ideas, and in Assignment 6 you explored these ideas a little bit in terms of their novelty and applicability.  You now will form a team and build your refined proposal.  You have the last month-and-a-half of class to complete the final project, but we would like for you to be able to get started as soon as possible once November begins.

Instructions
Write a paragraph describing your project proposal.  You should discuss what you want to do, why you want to do it, and how you plan to accomplish it.  Roughly, this corresponds to the idea, the motivation, and the project plan.  If you need more than a paragraph, that is fine, but if you need only a few sentences to describe each, a paragraph is sufficient.

At the end, state whether you are working alone or on a team, and if you are on a team, list the team members.

Post this proposal to your blog by the due date.  Only one member of each team needs to post the proposal itself, but if you are a team member, you should create a post that links to the team's proposal and states your intention to work on the project.

If you need help forming a team, a spreadsheet has been placed in the class drive.  I encourage team leaders who have an idea post their name and a short summary of their idea to this spreadsheet.  That will help you find members, since those who are looking for a team are encouraged to sign up in the team slots that interest them.  We can finalize teams some time next week; this is just to help get your ideas out there and express your interests.

Obtaining Credit

You should have a blog post corresponding to Assignment 7 by the due date.  You need either a project proposal or a link to a project proposal stating that you are working on that team.

Due Date
Nov. 7, Monday @ Midnight
25% deducted per day late

Assignment 6 - Project Exploration

Overview
Following up on Assignment 5, you will now do some very tentative exploration into the project area which is interesting to you.  This should be a small assignment; the intention is to start helping you build a little background experience in the domain and reshape your ideas based on the prior work.

Instructions
Go to Google Scholar and input some general search terms related to your project idea(s).  Based on just the titles and abstracts, find 10 prior works which appear to be relevant to your own project goals.  You do not have to read these papers, simply find 10 that appear to be related.  You should then create a blog post with the citations of all 10 papers.  Hint: Clicking "Cite" under a result in Google Scholar will give you the citation information; MLA is sufficient for listing on your blog.

Obtaining Credit

You should have a blog post corresponding to Assignment 6 posted on your blog by the due date.  Again, this is simply a list of 10 paper citations related to your project idea(s).

Due Date
Sep. 12, Monday @ 11:30 AM
25% deducted per day late

Assignment 5 - Project Ideas

Overview
Even though it's only the second week of class, it will be helpful to start thinking about what aspects of sketch recognition interest you and, more specifically, shaping these ideas into potential topics for your end-of-semester project.  To further that goal, this assignment is that you post a paragraph about potential topic ideas to your blog.

Instructions
Post a paragraph on your blog regarding potential topic ideas for the class project.  It does not have to be very refined yet.  Think about your interests; why are you interested to learn sketch recognition?  Can this be morphed into a project?  Perhaps one of the ideas already presented in class is appealing to you, or your own research holds a sub-topic related to sketch recognition.  Again, the purpose of this assignment is to encourage you to start thinking about the final project, so spend some time brainstorming, and write up your best idea(s).

Obtaining Credit

You should have a blog post corresponding to Assignment 5 posted on your blog by the due date.

Due Date
Sep. 7, Wednesday @ 11:30 AM
25% deducted per day late
It is a very simple exercise primarily for your own benefit, so everyone should be able to complete it by class on Wednesday.

Assignment 4 - Persketchtivity Usage and Analysis

Overview
Following on the previous assignment in which you completed a tutorial in Mechanix, you will be using another live educational sketching tool: Persketchtivity.  This software should be much easier to use because it is available online, has automatic lesson progression, and only consists of drawing simple shapes.  After using Persketchtivity, you will be asked to once again write about your impressions in a list of "Do's and Don'ts of Sketch Recognition Systems, Part 2".

Instructions
First, you should complete the steps below to gain some experience using Persketchtivity.

1. Go to http://persketchtivity.com/ to access the main Persketchtivity log in page.
2. Return to the User ID spreadsheet that you used to log in to Mechanix.  Your user id is the same for Persketchtivity.  Once again, note that the password and user name are equal.
3. Complete the available lessons.  This consists of four different primitive shape lessons and a few 3D shapes and combos.  Many of the lessons have sub modules, but all of the exercises are small and should not take much time to complete.

Next, you must write a short post on your blog about the "Do's and Don'ts of Sketch Recognition Systems, Part 2".  Specifically, list at least 5 aspects of Persketchtivity which you liked as the "Do's" and list at least 5 aspects of Persketchtivity which you disliked as the "Don'ts".  These aspects may refer to the usability of the system, design of the interface, or any other observation relevant to sketch recognition software in some way.  You may present the lists as bullets or paragraphs, but there should be 10 distinct observations clearly contributed in the post.

Obtaining Credit

Your submissions will automatically be visible to us on the instructor side, so you do not need to submit any certificate or problem solutions to show that you completed the lessons.  However, we need to know who is who, so you must use the user name provided in the spreadsheet.  Remember the user name and passwords are the same.

To obtain credit for the "Do's and Don'ts of Sketch Recognition Systems, Part 2", ensure you have posted your 10 observations (5 do's and 5 don'ts) to your blog.  This should be the same blog you provided a link to on the spreadsheet provided with Assignment 2.

Due Date
This assignment should be submitted in two parts.  It should be completely finished by Monday Sep. 5, but the Persketchtivity exercises should be done by class on Monday Sep. 2.

Persketchtivity Exercises
Sep. 5, Monday @ 11:30 AM
Only excused late submissions (e.g. late enrollment)
Consider this as a sort of "checkpoint" so that we can ensure everyone has gained familiarity with Persketchtivity and address any problems that arise before the blog assignment is due that night.

"Do's and Don'ts of Sketch Recognition Systems, Part 2" Blog Post
Sep. 5, Monday @ Midnight
25% deducted per day late
This is when the second "Do's and Don'ts" list should be posted on your blog.

Assignment 3 - Mechanix Usage and Analysis

Overview
For the third course assignment, you are asked to do problems 1 through 11 of the TAMU Mechanix Tutorial and then write about the experience.  Mechanix is one of the largest projects in the Sketch Recognition Lab, and it uses  a combination of many recognition algorithms to automatically evaluate student truss drawings.  Truss analysis is important in several areas of engineering, like civil engineering, and Mechanix aims to be a personal tutor as it teaches these concepts to students.

While most of you probably do not have a background in civil engineering, the Mechanix tutorial you have been assigned should be very easy to follow.  Ultimately, the goal is that this assignment be a good learning experience while providing you with an introduction to the state of current sketch recognition software.

Instructions
First, you should complete the steps below to gain some experience using Mechanix.

1. Go to http://faculty.cs.tamu.edu/hammond/mechanix.php and download Mechanix Student Version from the links on the lower right side (Direct Download Link).  Note: If you're having trouble downloading, try connecting from campus or through the VPN.
2. Ensure you have Java installed, either the JRE or the JDK; you should have version 7 or greater.
3. Once you have Java installed and have downloaded the Mechanix application, double-click it to run the installer.  This will download the latest version directly from our servers for you.
4. Now, with Java and Mechanix ready to go, you should see a login screen to Mechanix.  Login with the user name given to you from this spreadsheet.  Note: The password and user name are the same.
5. Select the TAMU Mechanix Tutorial; there should be only one.
6. Step through problems 1 to 11, reading the instructions and submitting until you receive a "Correct" response each time.  Mechanix provides a checklist and specific responses at each stage of the submission, so feel free to submit as often as possible until you get the correct solution.
7. Problem 12 requires extra knowledge not well explained in the text.  This part of the tutorial is more a demonstration of the types of problems which Mechanix can handle in different contexts.  However, because it is only for demonstrative purposes and not well suited to this course, you do not need to complete problem 12.  You may if you wish, but it will not be counted.

Next, based on your experience using Mechanix, you must write a short post on your blog about the "Do's and Don'ts of Sketch Recognition Systems".  Specifically, list at least 5 aspects of Mechanix which you liked as the "Do's" and list at least 5 aspects of Mechanix which you disliked as the "Don'ts".  These aspects may refer to the usability of the system, design of the interface, or any other observation relevant to sketch recognition software in some way.  You may present the lists as bullets or paragraphs, but there should be 10 distinct observations clearly contributed in the post.

Obtaining Credit

Your submissions will automatically be visible to us on the instructor side, so you do not need to submit any certificate or problem solutions to show that you completed the tutorial.  However, we need to know who is who, so you must use the user name provided in the spreadsheet.  Remember the user name and passwords are the same.

To obtain credit for the "Do's and Don'ts of Sketch Recognition Systems", ensure you have posted your 10 observations (5 do's and 5 don'ts) to your blog.  This should be the same blog you provided a link to on the spreadsheet provided with Assignment 2.

Due Date
This assignment should be submitted in two parts.  It should be completely finished by Monday Sep. 5, but the Mechanix tutorial itself should be done by class on Friday Sep. 2.

Mechanix Tutorial
Sep. 2, Friday @ 11:30 AM
Only excused late submission (e.g. late enrollment)
Consider this as a sort of "checkpoint" so that we can ensure everyone has gained familiarity with Mechanix and address any problems that arise before the blog assignment is due Monday.

"Do's and Don'ts of Sketch Recognition Systems" Blog Post
Sep. 5, Monday @ Midnight
25% deducted per day late
This is when the "Do's and Don'ts" list should be posted on your blog.

Assignment 2 - Blog Creation

Overview
For the second assignment, you are asked to create a research blog where you will post your reviews and reference information for the papers you will read.  This blog may also be used to submit other assignments throughout the semester.  It will be shared with other members of the class, and you should leave comments open so that your classmates can make remarks on your posts.

Instructions
Go to Blogger and create a new blog.  If you are already logged in with a Google Account (either your TAMU or personal), you should be taken to your Blogger dashboard.  From there, click "New Blog" to start your research blog.

As mentioned before, make sure that comments are enabled, although they may be moderated if you wish.  You may name the blog whatever you like.

Obtaining Credit
You are not required to create any posts or make any comments on other blogs at the moment.  Just create it.  In order to get credit for creating it, and also to share the link with your classmates so that they may find your blog, please access the Google Sheet below and provide a link to your blog next to your name.

Note that you must be signed in as your TAMU account in order to have edit permissions.

Student Blog Links

Due Date
Sep. 2, Friday @ Midnight
25% deducted per day late

Assignment 1 - CITI Training

Overview

As the first assignment for CSCE 624, you are required to finish two training modules provided online by the CITI Program:

• Social and Behavioral Responsible Conduct of Research
• Group 2. Social and Behavioral Research Investigators and Key Personnel

By completing this training, you will be able to submit an IRB form that will allow you to collect data for your course project.  It should also be helpful to your general research work outside of this class.

Instructions

To do the training, please follow the instructions in the link below:

TAMU Human Subjects Training

Everything you need to know should be provided on that page, but the gist is that you should register with CITI Program under Texas A&M University.  From there, select the modules you need to complete (RCR and Group 2) and go to your courses to begin.  There will be several sections and quizzes after each section.  More details will be provided on the CITI page, and the training should take a couple hours on average.

Obtaining Credit

Once you have completed both modules, download a PDF certificate by going to "Print Report".  Send this certificate to the course grader, whose email address is given on the course syllabus linked from this post.

Due Date
Aug. 31, Wednesday @ Midnight
25% deducted per day late

Note: Group 1 is biomedical training and is not required for this course.  You may complete it if you wish, but it is much longer than the other two modules.