CS 8803 O24: Intro to Research

Instructional Team

Buzz
Nicholas Lytle
Creator, Instructor
Thomas Trask
Thomas Trask
Head TA

Overview

This course serves as a general introduction to research methods and CS research more specifically. Students will understand how to conduct, analyze, and communicate research in a variety of CS domains. Students will develop their own independent research in the form of a group written literature review and an independent research proposal.

This course is not foundational and does not count toward any specializations at present, but it can be counted as a free elective.

Course Goals

To demonstrate mastery of the goals above, students will be able to do the following:

  • Identify elements of the research lifecycle.
  • Identify common research methodologies in computer science in a variety of subfields.
  • Develop a comprehensive research proposal, outlining an original research question, a method of answering that question with appropriate data analysis methods, and able to communicate the broader societal impacts and intellectual merit of pursuing such research.
  • Identify social structures of research, including funding agencies, PhD programs, etc.
  • Demonstrate how to search for, read, and interpret academic research articles.
  • Demonstrate how to synthesize research articles into an original literature review.

Sample Syllabus

Fall 2024 syllabus (PDF)

Note: Sample syllabi are provided for informational purposes only. For the most up-to-date information, consult the official course documentation.

Before Taking This Class...

Suggested Background Knowledge

Students will need to be familiar with how to write in word processers and be able to learn how to write in structured markdown document editors (LaTeX). Resources will be provided on how to write in LateX.

Technical Requirements and Software

  • High-speed Internet connection

  • Laptop or desktop computer with a minimum of a 2 GHz processor and 2 GB of RAM

  • Windows for PC computers OR Mac iOS for Apple computers.

  • Complete Microsoft Office Suite or comparable and ability to use Adobe PDF software (install, download, open, and convert)

  • Latest versions of Mozilla Firefox, Chrome, and/or Safari browsers

  • Slack installed

Academic Integrity

All Georgia Tech students are expected to uphold the Georgia Tech Academic Honor Code. This course may impose additional academic integrity stipulations; consult the official course documentation for more information.