Teaching Web Information Retrieval to Computer Science Students: Concrete Approach and Its Analysis

Abstract

In this paper I report about my experience in teaching Web Information Retrieval (IR) at graduate level. I have been teaching a Web IR course for two Master’s degrees in Computer Science and Information Technology at Udine University for the last 5 years. I present the topics I am currently teaching in my course, briefly describing the syllabus, discussing the available textbooks and reading material, and term projects for students. I provide some evidence, gathered by means of a questionnaire, about students’ satisfaction with the course. I also discuss in detail a crucial choice that every lecturer of Web IR has to make, namely whether (1) to teach the classical pre-Web IR issues first and present the Web-specific issues later, or (2) to teach directly the Web IR discipline per se. The first approach has the advantages of building on prerequisite knowledge, of presenting the historical development of the discipline, and probably appears more natural to most lecturers, who have followed the historical development of the field. Conversely, the second approach has the advantage of concentrating on a more modern view of the field, and probably leads to a higher motivation in the students, since the more appealing Web issues are dealt with at the beginning of the course. By discussing textbook support, analyzing related disciplines, and reporting on students’ and lecturers’ feedback, I provide some evidence that the first approach seems preferable.