I will attempt to share some of the things I have learned through this experience by describing the logistics of the project. While many of the ideas are specific to the research program undertaken by this particular class, it is hoped that they may serve as examples for other class research projects.
One of the keys to the success of this program is performing the work in parallel tasks. To accomplish a complete research project in the limited time available in one semester, and to distribute the work load so that every student can become involved, the class was broken into five task groups:
In a normal research program these tasks might be performed more or less in a serial fashion. In the class project these tasks were attacked in a highly parallel manner. Each task group began their work within the first couple weeks of the semester, and remained actively involved until the end. Some groups were pushed harder early on (e.g., the Background research group) while others had to work quickly at the end of the semester. With a little foresight, the workload can be distributed fairly uniformly. For example, the analysis group was given sample datasets early in the semester so they could learn how to use the visualization and analysis tools and be prepared near the end of the semester when the real data started to pour in.