CSE 494 SYLLABUS

Basic info

Quarter: Winter/Spring 2026
Staff Contact Email: cse494 [at] cs.washington.edu
Instructor: Leilani Battle
Teaching assistants: Vaishnavi Vidyasagar (vidya26 [at] cs), Tae Jones (taejones [at] cs), Rishabh Venkatesan (rvenka [at] cs)
Class time: Once a week on Thursdays 10:30-11:20am (50 minutes)
Class location: ECE 125
Number of credits: 4 (CR/NC)
Office hours: By appointment

Course objectives

The goal of this course is to support undergraduate students who are getting started in CSE research. The course builds on CSE 390 R - Introduction to Research in CSE, continuing to practice basic research skills in the context of a hands-on "guided" undergrad research project, while building community.

Course Structure

This one credit course involves an 50 minute class on Thursdays. The class time will be used for a mix of information sharing, discussions, Q&A, and class exercises. Students will work on their research project with a mentor outside of lecture time, while putting in practice the advice received or skills learned in this class. Students will also submit regular progress updates about their research projects, some with required artifacts related to their research (e.g., an abstract and poster about their research project). The course staff will provide general guidance for the research projects and feedback for specific artifacts.

Grading & Late Policy

This is a CR/NC class. Students are encouraged to attend lectures regularly but only a small number of in-person lectures are required, which are announced at the beginning of the quarter and labeled in the course calendar. Students who have a time conflict or miss optional lectures for other reasons should review the slides from the class and share any questions on the Ed Board. Each student and their mentor(s) are required to individually complete the Allen School Mentor-Mentee Agreement Form (for mentees, for mentors) for undergraduate researchers in week 1 of winter quarter to get a "CR" grade in this class. Students are required to submit weekly progress updates about their research projects starting in Week 3 of the Winter quarter, following the recommended format shared in lecture on Week 2 of the Winter quarter. Students need to complete all weekly progress reports to get a "CR" grade in this class. Students must also complete three required team check-ins throughout the quarter to get a "CR" grade in this class (see the course calendar for dates). In addition, students are required to present their research at the yearly research showcase at the end of the Spring quarter (see the course calendar for event details). Students must receive 100% of the points on all required assignments to receive a "CR" grade in this course.

Regarding Late Assignment submissions: All individual progress reports may be submitted up to 7 days after the deadline to earn missed points. Late progress report submissions are managed through gradescope. Team check-ins must be submitted before class time on the day they are due, however the team can submit a check-in submission 1 day late if they forget. The mentor-mentee agreement form must be completed in week 1 of winter quarter, and late submissions will NOT be accepted. The poster submission deadlines (poster draft: May 23rd, final poster: May 28th) are strict deadlines, and late submissions will NOT be accepted.

Weekly plan

Please see the course calendar for an up-to-date week-by-week plan of topics.

Communication

Day-to-day announcements about this class will be sent through Ed discussion boards. Students who have questions about the course content or logistics that might be relevant to the rest of the class are encouraged to post their questions on the Ed Discussion boards. Any other questions can be sent to the instructor and TAs via the staff mailing list (cse494 [at] cs.washington.edu).

Sick Policy

Students should stay home if they have any symptoms of possible illness, even if mild. We will enable students to complete all modules without having to attend class. The instructor might change a lecture to be online if a large number of students cannot attend or if she has any symptoms herself. Read more about COVID-19 safety here.

Academic Integrity

We follow the Allen School’s policy for academic integrity and misconduct.

Inclusion

We welcome students from all backgrounds and adhere to the Allen School’s Inclusiveness Statement. If anything related to the course makes you feel unwelcome in any way, let the instructor know.

We are eager to provide any necessary accommodations.

For disability accommodations, please see the UW resources at http://depts.washington.edu/uwdrs/current-students/accommodations/.

Religious Accommodation: Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW's policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available here: Religious Accommodations Policy. Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form.

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