Research Methods in Computer Science

Resources and material from bootcamps conducted on research methods in CS

By Nipun Batra | nipunbatra.github.io

About

This repository contains the material used for a 2-hour bootcamp on research methods in CS. I conducted this session twice: in August 2018 at IIT Gandhinagar and July 2017 at IIIT Delhi. Below are resources and video recordings.

Watch the recording here

Citation

If you use this material, please cite it as follows:

@misc{batra2018research_methods, author = {Nipun Batra}, title = {Research Methods in Computer Science}, year = {2018}, version = {1.0.0}, url = {https://nipunbatra.github.io/CS-Research-Methods-Bootcamp/}, note = {Available at: https://github.com/nipunbatra/CS-Research-Methods-Bootcamp}, abstract = {This repository contains material from a 2-hour bootcamp on research methods in Computer Science, conducted in August 2018 at IIT Gandhinagar and July 2017 at IIIT Delhi. The sessions covered email writing, paper abstracts, scientific thinking, and debugging.} }

Contents

  1. Writing better emails

    An example-driven session on writing good emails. The session included examples of poor and good emails, characteristics of a good email, and three hands-on exercises for writing emails to:

    • A potential advisor
    • Reporting results to an advisor
    • Seeking help on a research project from someone outside the institute

  2. Towards better paper abstracts

    Discussed general structuring of research papers, case studies on good paper abstracts, and common scientific flaws visible in abstracts. Included hands-on exercises.

  3. Thinking like a scientist

    Explored the scientific method with examples. Hands-on exercises involved presenting hypotheses, observations, and experimental designs for various problems.

  4. Debugging like a pro

    Example-driven session focused on StackOverflow questions and characteristics of good debugging questions. Highlighted strategies to improve debugging efficiency.

Feedback

The average feedback for the sessions was approximately 9/10. Below are some subjective comments from participants:

"The presentations were excellent. The hard work on making these slides was clearly visible. Also, the way the sessions were presented in the class was good."

"Dr. Nipun Batra had given a good talk. I would like to thank him for giving his valuable time and for sharing lots of experiences which will help us a lot."

"Relating with Real-World examples was the best part of the presentation."