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https://github.com/novoid/student-supervision-process

How to organize supervision of the development of (LaTeX-) documents of students
https://github.com/novoid/student-supervision-process

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How to organize supervision of the development of (LaTeX-) documents of students

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README 

        
# Time-stamp: <2017-08-09 23:54:50 vk>

# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-



* What the heck is this for?



The author is supervising several student works. Since each of them is

finalizing their work more or less in parallel, there is a need for a

structured way of supervision.



No student should suffer from being forgotten nor should get feedback

too late. Being a supervisor is not the biggest part of my job and so

I need a *common* procedure. I simply can not remember/maintain the

preferred data flow mechanism of each and every student. So students

have to adopt to my method.



And this is document describes the method.



PS: Do not hesitate and contact me if you have suggestions!



* Process Components



The supervision process consists of multiple parts:

- Following the Rules: how to keep students up to date on the process here

- Communication Channels and Setup: how to exchange files and information

- Individual Appointments: regular meetings with the students

- Regular Submissions of PDF files: how to supervise content

- Weekly LaTeX-Q&A: there are always things you can learn about LaTeX

- LaTeX Code: basic rules and direct feedback



** Following the Rules



This process is hosted [[https://github.com/novoid/Student-Supervision-Process][as a github project]].



You can «follow» the project on github and regularly monitor its

changes which is recommended but not mandatory. General

[[https://www.changedetection.com/][notifier-services]] are being blocked by github and can not be used for

following the [[https://github.com/novoid/Student-Supervision-Process/commits/master/][changes here]].



Changes will be announced via email to all of my students.



** Communication Channels and Setup



*** Asynchronous Communication



My *preferred* way of communicating with you is via *email*. I am

fairly good reachable per email, even on evenings and most weekends.



*** Synchronous Communication



If you want to get in touch with me for instant feedback, call my

*office phone number*. Either I am in my office and can answer your

call or (after four? times of ringing) you will be routed to my

cellphone. If you land in my voice mail system, I am currently

speaking to someone else or my phone is off (during sleeping hours).



You might as well ask me for my *[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jabber][Jabber]] ID*.



Sorry, I do have strong arguments against usage of Skype. But you

might as well ask me for my Google+ ID and schedule a *Google hangout*

there.



*** Submitting PDF files



I am using a tablet computer to read your PDF submission. This way I

read and annotate the *content* of your thesis.



Please use [[https://syncthing.net/][Syncthing]] instead of cloud-based services like Dropbox. It

maintains our level of privacy without exposing data to the public

cloud.



Syncthing is available for all major operating systems except Apple

iOS because Apple is prohibiting tools like Syncthing as they

prohibited tools like external keyboards for many years.



Create a Syncthing folder for your thesis using any name you wish. I

rename it to «LASTNAME_THESISTYPE» on my side (only) anyway.

(«Thesistype» is either «Bakk» or «DA».)



After you have created your Synthing folder, please do send me your

device ID ([[http://127.0.0.1:8384/][web interface]] > Actions > Show ID) and the ID of your

shared folder (expand the folder in the web interface).



*** Submitting LaTeX source code



You are going to set up a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Git][Git]] repository especially for your LaTeX

document. Even if you already have a Git repository for source code or

such, please do create another one solely for your thesis document as

well.



Please contact me for getting information where to push your local Git

changes to.



Do *not* wait for some final chapter or so to check in! *Check in

often!* Use it as an off-site backup in case your computer fails or in

case you delete large portions of text by mistake. Never think that

this will not be the case. We are all humans so we all make mistakes.

Even me :-)



** Individual Appointments



Each student gets a weekly 30 minute slot or a bi-weekly 60 minute

slot. If you think I need to do a small internet research by myself

for a question you have got, email me your question(s) upfront.



Agenda:

- What happened since the last appointment?

- What were the problems?

- Probably: comments about the last PDF submission

- Probably: comments about the LaTeX source

- Next steps and deliverables until next appointment



If the appointment should be canceled, write me an email at least one

day in advance. Short term cancels only via synchronous communication

channels such as phone.



** Regular Submissions of PDF Files



This is about the *content* of your thesis.



If you finish a certain part of your document:

1. Generate the PDF file

2. Put it in the shared Syncthing folder

3. Rename it to =YYYY-MM-DD_TYPE_LASTNAME_-_optional_things.PDF=

4. Send me an email, describing the parts I should check



File name convention examples:

- minimal example: =2012-03-18_DA_Smith.pdf=

- example with comment: =2012-03-19_Bakk_Mueller_-_chap_2-4_ready_for_persual.pdf=



After I checked the content of your document, you will may annotations

in the PDF file which will be discussed at the next individual

appointment.



I might as well add comments in your LaTeX code as well.



** Weekly LaTeX Questions and Answers



We will schedule a weekly hour for LaTeX-specific questions and best

practices. It is *not mandatory* but highly recommended. Especially at

an early stage of your thesis!



I assume that you already have [[http://LaTeX.TUGraz.at][basic LaTeX knowledge]]. At this

LaTeX-Q&A I will show examples of LaTeX source code and suggest things

that spare you lots of time (and nerves).



Please be assured: although I stick to current LaTeX code issues of my

students, this event is *not* intended to offend the work of single

persons! It demonstrates optimizations and encourages learning for

everybody.



I will keep individual LaTeX code optimizations to a minimum and

explain things *only* at this LaTeX-Q&A meetings! You will see: your

colleagues make the same mistakes as you do. And as I have done a

couple of years ago.



Occasionally, this LaTeX meetings may be canceled. In this case, I

will send an email preferably at least two days in advance.



** LaTeX Code



This is about the *form* of your thesis.



You *have* to use the LaTeX typesetting system to write your

thesis. For millions of reasons there is no arguing for doing it in

other systems. Sorry for that.



I will keep individual LaTeX code optimizations to a minimum and

explain LaTeX-related things *only* at the LaTeX-Q&A meetings!



I assume that you already have [[http://LaTeX.TUGraz.at][basic LaTeX knowledge]].



- Use the LaTeX [[http://latex.tugraz.at/vorlagen/allgemein#laengeres_dokument_wie_diplomarbeit_dissertation_buch][thesis template of LaTeX@TUG]]

  - you can use your own thesis template as long as you know what you

    are doing (I will check!)

  - especially as LaTeX beginner: *never* write your own template or

    preamble. Trust me. [[http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term%3Dbtdt][BTDT]] :-)

- In any case: please read the content of the example chapters of [[http://latex.tugraz.at/vorlagen/allgemein#laengeres_dokument_wie_diplomarbeit_dissertation_buch][the

  LaTeX@TUG template]]!

- Use the [[http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/todonotes/][todonotes]] packet

  - add the «listoftodos» command in your document to get an overview

    of open issues

  - Annotations and suggestions will be done using todonotes snippets

    within your tex-files

  - use todonotes by annotating open issues by yourself

- Check in all necessary files for compilation into the Git repository

  - do not forget images and such

  - do use *meaningful submit messages* in the commit line

- Maintain a script that generates the PDF file completely

  - the thesis template of LaTeX@TUG offers a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makefile][makefile]] for that

    purpose

- Make sure your LaTeX-editor ...

  - uses a decent *spell checker*

  - produces UTF-8 compatible TeX-files

  - does not produce line lengths longer than the usual 70-90

    characters in your TeX-files

- Do not check in the PDF output files into the Git repository

  of your thesis unless we agree on an exception

  - you can [[https://git-scm.com/docs/gitignore][ignore files for Git]] and thus keep them only for your own



There is an even longer [[https://github.com/dspinellis/latex-advice][page with excellent tips on how to write LaTeX

documents]]. I recommend you to read it as well. Some details do differ

from your situation here because you are using a different LaTeX

template (KOMA script) where following things are handled differently:

- no natbib

- no doublespace (it's not even maintained any more)

- no geometry

- no pslatex



* License



[[https://github.com/novoid/Student-Supervision-Process][Student Supervision Process]] by Karl Voit is licensed under a

[[http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/][Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License]]