IDS 6916 Simulation Research Methods and Practicum 3 Credit Hours Fall Semester 2017 Instructor: Dr. Cali Fidopiastis Phone: 407-963-9413 Office: PIII, Research Park (3039 Technology Pkwy, Orlando, FL 32826) Office Hours: By appointment. Email: cfidopia@gmail.com Course Description: This is a project course that is included in the core for M.S. (and Ph.D.) students in Modeling and Simulation (M&S). It serves as a capstone course for M.S. students in M&S. Interdisciplinary teams of students conduct fundamental and applied research on contemporary issues in modeling, simulation, and training. Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor. Textbook: Creswell, J.W. (2014) Research Design, 4 th Edition. Sage: Los Angeles Grading: Each student s grade will be based on his/her contribution to an interdisciplinary team s effort on a fundamental or applied research project on an important issue in modeling, simulation, and training and participation in class discussion forums. Each team will provide periodic progress reports to ensure that the teams make consistent progress on their projects. Course grades for each student will be determined as follows:
Milestone Due Date Possible Points Syllabus Quiz/Bio August 29 10 Citi Training September 5 30 Roles & Responsibilities September 12 10 Writer s Guidelines September 19 10 Report Prep Update September 26 20 Report Writing October 3 25 Paper draft complete November 7 25 Draft of PowerPoint November 14 20 Formal Presentation November 21/28 40 Final Paper December 5 150 Total 340 Project: Preferably a project team will consist of 3-4 students of varied academic interests and backgrounds. Project teams are encouraged to self-select and to discuss possible project ideas among themselves. The goal is to form teams and identify projects no later than January 30. Teams and projects are to be approved by the instructor, so it is advisable to begin forming teams and exploring project ideas as soon as possible Projects may be new projects or they may be continuations or expansions of projects from other M&S courses. The projects might lead to thesis or dissertation topics for one or more of the students involved. That outcome might be considered ideal. However, a thesis or dissertation that is already in progress may not be the focus of a team project. The objective for each project team is to complete the project and prepare a report (paper) suitable for publication in a conference proceedings (or journal). Choose your project topic wisely; your project must be finished by the end of the semester. The format should be guided by the style requirements of the publication venue. Each team will present a progress reports (February 22 or March 1) and a final report on their project. An informal, but professional, presentation will be made with each progress report. A formal presentation will be made to the class at the time the final report is due (April 12 or April 19). Paper copies of visual aids used in the presentations (such as PowerPoint documents) will be turned in and evaluated as part of the team s project grade.
A paper copy of the team s final report is due at the time of the team s final presentation. The final report is to be presented in one-column, double-spaced format regardless of the format specified for the conference or journal where you intend to submit your paper. Each team is responsible for satisfying any UCF requirements for conducting their project. For example, some teams may have to seek UCF Institutional Research Board (IRB) approval to conduct a survey or to use human subjects. Course Schedule: Date Planned Activities August 29 Course Introduction, F2F Class September 5 Ethical Research/CITI Training/ F2F Class September 12 Applied Research Design/F2F Class September 19 Module 2 is Open/ No formal class meeting September 26 Applied Statistics/F2F Class October 3 Interdisciplinary Team Research /F2F class October 10 No formal class meeting October 17 Research Methods Report Writing/F2F October 24 Module 3 is Open, Transdisciplinary Research October 31 No Formal Class Meeting
November 7 No formal class meeting, Team discussions November 14 No formal class meeting, Team discussions November 21 Preparation for class presentations and feedback on final paper, F2F November 28 Class Presentations December 5 Final Reports Due Course Requirements Short Bio Post a short description of your background, what you expect to get out of this course, your current and past jobs, and maybe something interesting about you. For example, I have three grandchildren and design and build furniture. You might also post a picture of yourself. Project Abstract This entails a listing of project members and a short description of your proposed project. The description should provide the reader with a reasonably good idea of what you intend to accomplish, a research question you intent to address (if a research
project) and the major steps you think you will need to accomplish your goal(s). The entire write-up can probably fit on one page. Discussion Forums Five discussion topics will be released at two week intervals starting with the first class. You will need to make three postings during the next ten days, one of which should introduce a new thread of conversation. The first posting should also include at least one reference. The other two postings can be in response to classmates initial postings. All discussion forums will be open until the end of the course and students in past classes have continued with their discussions past the grading period. Use the following conventions when composing a discussion posting: 1. During a Discussion assignment, deadlines for posting to and replying will be specified with each assignment. It is a good practice to always check the Discussions multiple times during the week. 2. If you want to send a personal message to the instructor or to another student, use e- mail rather than the discussions (see above E-mail Protocols). 3. Use the appropriate Discussion Topic; don t post everything on the "Main" Discussion Topic. 4. A helpful hint for use with both discussions and e-mail --- Compose your message in your word-processing application in order to check spelling, punctuation, and grammar --- then copy and paste your composition into e-mail or the discussion. This also saves online time. 5. Everyone should feel free to participate in class and online discussions. Regular and meaningful discussion postings constitute a substantial portion of your grade. 6. Be courteous and considerate. It is important to be honest and to express yourself freely, but being considerate of others is just as important and expected online, as it is in the classroom. 7. Explore disagreements and support assertions with data and evidence. 8. "Subject" headings: use something that is descriptive and refer to a particular assignment or discussion topic when applicable. Some assignments will specify the subject heading. 9. Use the "reply" button rather than the "compose" button if you are replying to someone else s posting. 10. Do not use postings such as "I agree," "I don t know either," "Who cares," or "ditto." They do not add to the discussion, take up space on the Discussions, and will not be counted for assignment credit. 11. Avoid posting large blocks of text. If you must, break them into paragraphs and use a space between paragraphs. Project Presentations and Final Paper Each team will present a progress and a final report on their project. An informal, but professional, presentation will be made in class in addition a report or narrated discussion which is a separately graded assignment. A formal presentation will be made to the class
during the last two class meetings). Paper copies of visual aids used in the presentations (such as PowerPoint documents) will be turned in at this time and also posted on the course website. The objective for each project team is to complete the project and prepare a report (paper) suitable for publication in a conference proceedings (or journal). Choose your project topic wisely; your project must be finished by the end of the semester. The expectation is that your paper (as turned during the final exam week) is sufficiently well written to be acceptable for a conference proceedings. One good example is the Winter Simulation Conference. See http://wintersim.org/. The final report is to be presented in the format specified for the conference or journal where you might submit your paper. In past classes, 25-30% of papers have eventual been published, but having your paper accepted for publication during the class is not expected. Each team is responsible for satisfying any UCF requirements for conducting their project. For example, some teams may have to seek UCF Institutional Research Board (IRB) approval to conduct a survey or to use human subjects. Formats for presentations 1. Progress report presentation All team members participate in the presentation and Q&A session. The team s presentation is limited to 20 minutes during which questions will be encouraged. Total presentation time, including post-presentation Q&A session, is limited to 25 minutes. 2. Final presentation All team members participate in the presentation and Q&A session. The team s presentation is limited to 25 minutes during which questions will not be encouraged. Total presentation time, including post-presentation Q&A session, is limited to 30 minutes.