Coursework

Grading

  • Assignments (40%): There will be four assignments, each counting 10%.

  • Midterm (30%): There will be an online midterm in week 7.

  • Group project (30%): You are required to complete a group project applying techniques learned in this course on an NLP problem.

Assignments

The assignments will contain both written problems and programming problems.

  • Late policy: All assignments are due at 11:59pm (New York time) on the due date. You have 5 late days in total that can be distributed among the assignments. However, homeworks will not be accepted after 48 hours.

  • Collaboration policy: You may discuss problems with your classmates. However, you must write up the homework solutions and the code from scratch, without referring to notes from your joint session. In your solution to each problem, you must write down the names of any person with whom you discussed the problem—this will not affect your grade.

  • Submission: Assignments are submitted through Gradescope. At the beginning of the semester, you will be added to the Gradescope class roster. This will give you access to the course page, and the assignment submission form. If you have not used Gradescope before, please watch this short video.

Projects

The project allows you to apply what you have learned from the course to a real problem. You are asked to complete the project in a group of size 1 to 5 members.

  • Topics: You can choose any topics in NLP. Take a look at the ACL proceedings for inspiration. Here are some general directions:

    • A new algorithm or model for existing problems, e.g., detecting out-of-domain examples in QA)

    • A new application of language technology, e.g., solving problems in social sciences

    • Analysis of a dataset, a model, or a approach, e.g., what are the caveats, pros/cons, and interpretations

  • Deliverables:

    • Proposal (0%): You are required to submit a two-page proposal on Nov 3 (week 9). The proposal is not graded but we will provide feedback through office hours.

    • Presentation (10%): Each group should upload a recored presentation of no more than 15 minutes before Dec 8. During the last lecture, each group will give a spotlight presentation of their work followed by Q&A.

    • Report (20%): The final report is due on Dec 20. Each group should submit a report in .pdf in the ACL templates (LaTex/Word, Overleaf).