A7: Special Topic Reflection Essay (Graduate Students Only) Due Wednesday, 15 April 2026, 11:00AM EST.

This is an individual assignment.

Learning Goals

Read a paper about an interesting way to use an LLM in software engineering and try it out yourself. Reflect on your experience.

The task

Write a 1000-word essay on a reflection question of your choice from this Google Sheet. Only one class member may choose each reflection question. Write your name down in the sheet next to the question you have chosen.

Each question is based on one of the “special topic” readings throughout the semester. You should read the “special topic” article in detail. Then, you should try to replicate something discussed in the reading yourself, using your own LLM. For example, if the article is about using LLMs for code review, you should spend some time trying to use an LLM to review a change to an existing codebase. It’s up to you exactly how you interpret this requirement, but your essay should clearly explain what you did and why.

Write your essay.

Good essays have concrete examples, e.g., it did x but I expected y in the context of z. Bad essays are vague and employ generic sentiments, like “I like it!”, or “It’s helpful.”.

Be sure to write down your name, UCID, and the reflection question that you chose to answer at the top of the page.

AI Constraints

You should not use any AI, GenAI, or LLM to write this essay. You may use any tool you wish to proofread your essay for grammar, but do not use any tool that creates or changes the meaning of what you have written.

Note: You will be on the hook for understanding and defending the opinions you write in these reflection essays during in-class activities. You must understand and buy into the contents of your essay at the time you turn it in. Unlike the other reflection essays, for this one only one student will answer each question. You will be called on in class to describe how you answered the question, so you should be prepared for that.

Submission

Submit as a PDF file to Canvas.

If you prepare the response in some other software (like Tex, Word, or Google Docs), please export as PDF before submitting.

Rubric

This homework is worth 200 points. You will receive points for accomplishing the following:

1. Name, UCID, and reflection question are written at the top of the page: 5 pts.
2. Essay is between 900-1100 words. 10 pts.
3. Essay answers your reflection question. 35 pts.
4. Essay shows that you have read and reflected on the article. 50 pts.
5. Essay clearly describes what you did to test out the article’s claims and why. 50 pts.
6. Essay contains meaningful reflections that derive from your personal experience in this class. 50 pts.