My Exam-Time Tips

Originally posted to the CU-WISE blog, and perhaps of interest to some of my readers here.

Most students here at Carleton are writing exams or working on final projects. This is the first April that I'm not doing the same thing - I'm in my second year of my Master's trying to finish my experiments for my thesis instead! But, needless to say, I've done it many times before, and have developed a pretty good system for studying for exams. While everyone learns in different ways, this strategy should work well for anyone in science and engineering, perhaps with some small modifications.

The basic idea is to find a couple of different ways to force yourself to retain the information you learned in your classes.

My first step (and probably where you all should start) is writing what I call a summary sheet. I comb through my own notes and the professor's slides, looking for key information. I write these down on real paper with a real pen, because when using a computer, the temptation to copy/paste is often too high. Plus, the act of thinking about what to write and then physically writing it is actually the first retention technique. It's amazing how much more I know about the course after doing this. It can take a few days if the time is available between exams dates, so don't procrastinate on this.

I sometimes pretend that my summary sheet is a cheat sheet that I can bring in to the exam with me. While I don't set a strict page limit for it, I do pretend there is some arbitrary one. That way I don't rewrite the whole course, but rather summarize most important stuff in my own words and pick out key information. Again, the extra thinking required to do this helps me remember the content.

Ok, so now I have this summary sheet. What's next? Well, this is where you might like to modify my strategy to fit your learning style. At this point, I like to be forced to recall the information verbally by having a friend (or even, say, my dad - they don't need to understand it) look at what I wrote and devise some straightforward questions about it. You may also want to look at it, cover it up, and try repeating it as a more rote way of memorizing the material (this might work better for practicing formulas, too).

After all that, I sleep. It's so important to be well rested for the exam. Even if I'm not done going through the whole course, I know when to stop, because not sleeping enough will be worse than not being able to answer a question or two on the exam. The next morning, I eat a good breakfast, and read over my summary notes one last time. But I just read them - I don't usually try to recite information or do any more memorizing, because that can be stressful (the last thing you need is more stress!).

Finally, I bring some water to the exam, and just relax! Nothing I do after sitting in that chair is going to change anything.

Give this method a try, and once you get the hang of it, you might even like it. ;) Best of luck on all your exams!

AR Game: Pit Strategy

I was discussing some possible PhD research ideas with my advisor-to-be, and games came up several times (he was, after all, hired as part of the game development stream at Carleton's School of Computer Science). I kept coming back to augmented reality as a potential area to focus on, not only because I find it incredibly exciting, but also because it is a relatively inexpensive way to play around with alternate user interfaces.

This video I found really inspires me to continue looking into this potential research area:

It's so slick looking! The video is from Beyond Reality, who say this game is a work in progress. If what we are seeing is a real demo and not a concept, then colour me impressed. I love how the 3D models pop out of the cards after just the right amount of delay, and the way weather is portrayed. This kind of game will be especially cool when AR glasses become more commonplace.

The Fundamental Matrix Song

After switching from C++ and OpenCV for my thesis experiment implementation, I was looking for some solid fundamental matrix code for Matlab. I came across this set by Peter Kovesi, which seems to be fairly good. While there, however, I came across something even better - a link to the Fundamental Matrix Song. This is for anyone and everyone who's ever worked with epipolar geometry or just wants to know a little more about it:

How to Write a Thesis

I'm finally getting down to diving into writing up my Master's dissertation, even though I don't quite have all the results I need yet (yeah, I'm slow, but it's totally been worth it). I have been searching around the 'net for some advice and ideas that will hopefully get me in the mood, if nothing else. Here are some of the links that I found most useful:

• How To Write a Dissertation from Purdue University; especially useful for its list of words to avoid and other grammar tips
• How Theses Get Written: Some Cool Tips from the University of Toronto; includes great tips for getting started early (which I didn't do this time around, but will for the PhD!), and gives great insight into the process from the examiner's point of view.
• Resources for Thesis Students from the University of Aukland; while not an article about how to write a thesis, this page has many valuable resources in addition to thesis-writing links (beware: many are, unfortunately, dead links!).
• How to Write a PhD Thesis from University of New South Wales; though this one isn't specific to computer science, it is still relevant. You should read the section called Personal, about halfway down - it makes some suggestions about keeping yourself in good mental and physical condition while spending many hours working on your writing.
• Writing and Presenting Your Thesis or Dissertation from Michigan State University; this one is long and detailed, so I didn't read through it all, but it looks promising.

I hope some of these resources come in handy for any of you that still have any dissertations to write (whether it's for a Masters or a PhD). I know that a lot of people are probably most scared of this stage of their degree, since many people feel they are not very good at writing. This is where I'm really lucky - as you can see from this blog, I'm quite used to writing. But everyone can do it, even if it takes some a little longer. Just keep at it!

CRA-W Grad Cohort: PhD Academic Career Paths

The second talk I attended at the CRA-W Grad Cohort was technically intended for third year grad students closer to the end of their PhD, but I sat in anyway. I wanted to learn more about academic positions, both to see what was different between Canada and the US, and to confirm whether I really did want to be a teacher rather than a professor.

If I wanted to be a professor, I would have to engage in research, described by the presenters as taking part in some kind of scientific discovery. I would also have to supervise both graduate and undergraduate students, as well as continuously apply for various sources of funding. It's not that these things are particularly unappealing to me (after all, I am planning to do a PhD!). I just feel that I've really clicked with teaching, so I would like to concentrate on that, and stick to research related to education and curriculum issues.

As for the teaching part of any position (professor, instructor, whatever), one would be required to actively and effectively mentor and advise students. All positions also take part it some kind of service at the departmental, university, or even professional development level. Service might include sitting on various committees, taking part in recruitment, or helping organize conferences.

After learning about the different kinds of universities in the States, it turns out that the best possible place for me would probably be a small liberal arts college. These schools grant only Bachelor degrees, and have a strong emphasis on teaching, scholarship, and service. I'm not even sure if these exist in Canada, though, since most universities I've heard of do have graduate programs of some sort (if anyone knows otherwise, let me know!).

In such a teaching-oriented institution, some of the expectations would be to:

• Research education methods
• Develop teaching skills
• Attend professional conferences and workshops
• Publish papers in, for example, ACM's Special Interest Group for Computer Science Education (SIGCSE)
  
• Work with professional organizations (such as CRA-W)
• Collaborate!

See? Perfect! Since I don't want to move away from Ottawa any time soon, though, I will have to try for an instructor position in town instead. I imagine the expectations are probably similar for such a job.

The last bit of advice for those who want any type of academic position is to realize that you are in the wrong place if you don't want to teach at all (that is, you care only about the research). So try it out ahead of time to see if you can/want to do it! Teach during grad school, even if you don't have to. Volunteer for things like WISE, conferences, and committees. Maybe even look for programs like the Certificate in Teaching Skills that Carleton offers (I'm almost finished this one myself). But whatever you do, don't go into a professorial position thinking that the teaching isn't important. It's not fair to anyone.