FIT3143 - Parallel Computing (S2, 2023) Assignment 3
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FIT3143 - Parallel Computing (S2, 2023)
Assignment 3 - Frequently Asked Questions (last updated: 1st September 2023)
Note: This document will be periodically updated with new questions and possible revisions to current answers.
1. Is this an individual based assignment?
A: Yes - as part of the authentic assessment structure for technical and taught based units, each student is required to work individually in this assignment. While you are allowed to discuss with your peers about the assignment, you must produce and submit your own work. Plagiarism is not allowed!
2. What do I need to submit for this assignment?
A: Each student is required to submit the following in Moodle:
a) A video containing the presentation based on the selected topic.
b) Proof of concept (PoC) demonstration/code walk through (part of the video).
c) Presentation slides (pptx/pdf, etc.). Do include the reference list into the presentation slides.
d) Proof of concept source code.
e) Peer-reviewed paper which was referred to in the presentation.
3. How long should the presentation video last?
A: The video should not exceed 15 minutes including PoC demonstration.
4. Should I create separate videos for the presentation and PoC demo/code walkthrough?
A: Nope. Please create a single video containing the presentation and PoC demo/code walkthrough.
5. Do I need to prepare presentation slides?
A: Since you are carrying out a recorded presentation, you should prepare presentation slides to explain the topics. Please submit your presentation slide (in PDF, PPTX or an equivalent format) along with the video and PoC into Moodle. If you are looking for a presentation template, you may opt to download this template.
6. In the assignment specifications, it says, “You will also demonstrate a proof of concept from the selected paper”. What does this mean?
A: The proof of concept (PoC) can be based on a paper representing a topic. You may refer to online sample code which implements the method described in the selected paper. The important point is that you can relate the PoC to the selected paper during your presentation.
7. How long should the PoC demo last?
A: Try to keep the PoC demo to between 5 and 10 minutes. Use the remaining time for the topic presentation.
8. How do I start the assignment?
A: To start, you should first access:
https://scholar-google-com.ap1.proxy.openathens.net/
Search for key points based on the listed topics. For instance, let’s take “ General Purpose Computing on Graphic Processing Units” as a topic of study. In the Google Scholar search, you can try searching for “ GPGPU”. Based on the returned searched items, you can download the relevant papers.
For instance, in the aforementioned searched item, we could refer to the following paper, “Message Passing for GPGPU Clusters: cudaMPI” or even this paper, “A Taxonomy of Modern GPGPU Programming Methods: On the Benefits of a Unified Specification” . For IEEE papers, click on “Institutional Sign In” at the top of the IEEE webpage, type Monash University and you will be logged in using your Monash Authentication details. A similar login approach also applies to other research paper repositories (e.g., ScienceDirect and Springer). If you are not familiar with accessing these sites, please feel free to consult your tutor for further guidance.
Continuing from the paragraph above, read the downloaded research paper and try to understand what is being presented in the paper (i.e., problem statement, proposed method, background work, methodology, results and analysis). Compare this approach with other cited papers in the same domain. Once you have collected sufficient information, summarize the content of these papers into your presentation slides. You can reuse the algorithms, results, charts and tables from the cited papers into your presentation, with proper citations to the referred papers. Please include the list of papers at the end of your presentation.
Your presentation should be structured so that it covers the following key points from the reviewed paper:
a. Introduction and background
b. Problem statement and hypothesis
c. Related work discussion from the reviewed paper
d. Methodology
e. Analysis of results & conclusions
As forthe PoC, you may refer to an existing code or algorithms as a reference. The existing code or algorithm should be related to the topic being presented. Some research papers may include links to github which contains code implementations. You can refer to these github code files for your PoC. If the selected paper for review did not include a link to a code implementation, no worries. You can opt to search online for a sample code implementation which describes the selected paper or topic.
Important: You are not allowed to reuse existing code verbatim. Instead, you need to implement your own version of the code and/or algorithm. You should also include code comments and cite the source of the referred code at the top of your code file. Although this unit is taught using the C programming language, for Assignment 3, you may choose your programming language of choice forthe PoC.
9. Can I refer to books instead of academic journals or conferences?
A: Nope, the scope of the literature survey for this assignment is limited to peer-reviewed conferences or journals. If you are wondering what the meaning of peer-reviewed articles is, this linkprovides a good explanation. We do not encourage whitepapers as the main source of your study and presentation content. The following linkprovides a few key differences between scientific articles and white papers, and hence the aforementioned statement to refrain from citing whitepapers. Please do not cite websites.
10. Can I select topics which are not listed in the assignment specifications?
A: Preferably, try to keep the scope of your literature survey based on the list of topics in the assignment specifications. You may opt to research advanced parallel computing topics (e.g., quantum computing), but please be careful as you also need to implement a PoC. There are quantum computing simulators written in C/C++ to which you could refer to when implementing your own version of the PoC. Nevertheless, please be practical in selecting a topic and papers related to the topic. Choose a topic which you are interested and comfortable with, and that you could also implement your own PoC based on a reference code.
11. How in-depth should the presentation summary be?
A: This very much depends on the selected topic and referred paper or publication. Some papers of the researched topics may include mathematical equations and algorithms which you feel is important to include in your presentation. Some papers may also include technical drawings or case studies which would be useful in your presentation. You should decide on the content to appear in your presentation. Most importantly, you need to understand the content to which you are presenting. Do not include equations, algorithms or technical drawing which you are unable to comprehend into your presentation. If you are unable to explain the content of your presentation, you could lose marks. If you are concerned about the depth of your presentation or the selected peer-reviewed paper, you could share your interim work for feedback with the lab tutor(s) during the consultation session with the tutor(s).
12. What happens if I select a paper for a topic, which is also selected by other students?
A: This is not a problem. There are certainly conditions whereby two or more students select the same topic or even the same peer-reviewed paper and PoC. However, each student should digest the content of the paper on their own and develop their own presentation structure. The same applies for the PoC demonstration.
13. How do I record a presentation and PoC demonstration?
A: If you are new to recording a presentation video, you can refer to this video tutorial, which describes an optional method of using Monash Panopto to create and combine presentation videos. Note: It is not mandatory to use Panopto to create your presentation videos. You can also use Monash Zoom or Microsoft Teams using a camera to create a video conference session, and then record the session. If you would prefer using a different software or video editing tool to create and combine your presentation videos, please proceed. If you are unsure on what tool to use to create and combine your presentation videos, then the aforementioned tutorial video may come in handy. If you require additional advice in recording a video, please consult your lab tutor.
14. What digital video format should I use to record the video?
A: Preferably, MP4 or MOV format.
15. Do I need to turn on my web camera when recording the presentation?
A: Yes, this is a requirement and part of individual grading. We need to verify your identity when presenting the topic. In addition, we will also observe the quality of delivery based on your eye contact and volume. If you do not have a webcam, you can use your mobile phone camera to connect to a video recording application (e.g., Zoom) and then record the presentation.
16. I am not a native english speaker. Will this affect my score?
A: Most certainly not. The quality of delivery focuses on your ability to maintain decent eye contact (e.g., not constantly referring to handwritten/printed notes when presenting), a good volume with varying tone to emphasize on the important aspects of the topics and your presentation pace, and also your comprehension of the topic. You may refer to the following presentation video (by previous FIT3143 students) as a sample. If English expression is a particular problem for you, you can get your submission checked with Monash English Connect.
17. Can I edit my recorded video to increase its playback speed by default?
A: Nope. Please refrain from editing your recorded video to increase its default playback speed.
18. How do we ensure that the selected paper is a peer reviewed paper?
A: Peer-reviewed articles are written by experts and are reviewed by several other experts in the field before the article is published in a journal or conference proceeding. This is to ensure the article's quality. Google Scholar (https://scholar-google-com.ap1.proxy.openathens.net/) represent a freely accessible web search engine that indexes the full text or metadata of scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines. Therefore, the majority of articles that appear in Google Scholar are peer reviewed articles. However, there are papers indexed by Google Scholar which appear only as preprints (e.g., in arxiv). Try to avoid papers which only appear in preprint websites.
19. Continuing from Question 18, what is the meaning of a preprint (or postprint) article?
A: When an article is submitted to a journal or conference for review, the review process could take several months or even up to a year. During this time, the authors of the article may opt to publish their article as a preprintin open access repositories (e.g., https://arxiv.org/).
When an article is accepted for publication in a journal or conference, it could also take several weeks or months for the accepted paper to be published by the journal or to appear in the conference proceedings. During this time, the authors of the article may opt to publish their article as a postprintin open access repositories (e.g., https://arxiv.org/).
There are preprints articles which are never published in journals or conference proceedings. Therefore, these papers are not peer-reviewed. As such, we advise students against selecting papers which only appear as a preprint.
20. What are the differences between a journal paper and a conference paper?
A: A journal represents a periodical publication which focuses on a specific discipline and includes articles (or papers) which are peer reviewed and good sources to cite from. A conference represents a venue where scholars, researchers and academics gather to discuss or to disseminate information on research and development in a particular discipline. This sitecontains more information about these differences for your reference. In your assignment, you may select a paper from a conference and/or journal for the parallel computing topic. Ensure that the selected paper contains sufficient information for your presentation and that you are able to comprehend the content in the paper.
21. If there are multiple concepts presented in a paper, can I choose only one of the concepts to demo as the proof of concept?
A: Yes you may do so. Nevertheless, do ensure that you select a proof of concept which you can implement as your own version.
22. For the proof of concept, do we have to run the code and show the output, or just a walk through the code is enough?
A: For the proof of concept, you are required to run the code and show its output. You also need to provide an explanation of the code and/or algorithm during the proof of concept demonstration.
23. How in-depth should the proof of concept be? For example, some languages and libraries hide a lot of implementation so will that be accepted?
A: To reiterate from Questions 7 & 8, the proof of concept (PoC) can be based on a paper representing a topic. You may refer to online sample code which implements the method described in the selected paper. The important point is that you can relate the PoC to the selected paper during your presentation. However, you are not allowed to reuse existing code verbatim. Instead, you need to implement your own version of the code and/or algorithm. Your own code version may call third party libraries. But if your PoC only calls third party libraries and there is no code describing an algorithm or method related to the paper, you could lose marks.
24. What's the minimum or maximum number of slides for the presentation? Can I keep the slides short but explain more verbally when recording the presentation?
A: There is no fixed value on the minimum/maximum number of slides required for the presentation. The marking rubric (in Moodle) includes criteria on how well the papers are to be summarized in the presentation. Therefore, by referring to the marking rubric, you should have a better indication on the scope and depth of your presentation. To reiterate from Question 8, you can reuse the algorithms, results, charts and tables from the cited papers into your presentation, with proper citations to the referred papers. This content would certainly increase the depth and information conveyed during your presentation.
25. What happens if I select a brief (or short) paper to read and present? Will it affect my overall score?
A: The marking rubric (in Moodle) includes criteria on how well the paper is summarised in the presentation. If you select a brief (or very short) peer-reviewed paper, you might not have sufficient information to be included in your presentation, and this in turn could have an impact on your assignment score. If you are unsure about your selected paper, please consult your instructor or tutor.
26. Is there a minimum presentation time?
A: There are no restrictions on the minimum presentation time.
27. What happens if my recorded presentation video (inclusive of PoC) exceeds the time threshold?
A: We would allow it if your recorded video is three minutes longer than the threshold time (See Question 3). However, beyond that, the tutor may stop viewing the video and you could subsequently lose marks.
28. Is there any limit on how old the paper reviewed should be?
A: Although it is not specified in the assignment specifications, it is preferably to focus on the literature within the past 10 years. Emphasising the literature produced within the past 10 years can provide a more contemporary and relevant perspective on the subject matter at hand. This approach acknowledges the potential advancements, shifts, and developments that have occurred in the field during this timeframe, enhancing the quality and timeliness of your analysis.
2023-10-26