CSC 486 Artificial Intelligence

Spring 2004 Syllabus

Instructor:	Dr. Jan Pearce		C.P.O.:	1815
Office:	304-B Draper Hall (859) 985-3569		Office Hours:	MWF 9:30 to 11:00 am
E-mail:	pearcej@berea.edu		Feel free to send e-mail for appointments at other times.

The CSC 306 Course Description This course provides an introduction to the discipline of Artificial Intelligence (AI) from both the technical and the philosophical points of view. Topics discussed include programming in Lisp, search techniques, knowledge representation, and neural nets. Prerequisite: A facility to program such as would be gained in CSC 306, Introduction to Programming with C++, or permission of the instructor..

The Course Goals To become acquainted with the history of AI and some closely related fields To learn to program using the Lisp programming language To solve problems using search techniques, including uninformed (“blind”) search and informed (“heuristic”) search To become more familiar with typical applications of AI such as game playing To learn about learning, including inductive learning, concept formation, decision tree learning, statistical approaches, and neural networks To be introduced to knowledge representation and reasoning: knowledge bases and inference, constraint satisfaction, planning; and theorem-proving To be introduced to knowledge-based systems and probabilistic reasoning To become a more independent learner and logical thinker.

The Two Texts Our primary text, Artificial Intelligence, A Modern Approach, is the second edition of a popular text by Russell and Norvig and will be used to learn AI concepts. The second text, ANSI Common Lisp by Graham, will be used to learn to program using the Lisp language.

Other Required Materials Each student is required to bring his or her laptop to class most days as announced.. All assignments should be backed up daily. The normally understanding instructor will not be at all sympathetic to loss of electronic work, so it is the student's responsibility to protect his/her work from such heartbreaking loss. In addition, each student is required to have and use a Berea College e-mail account to facilitate electronic communication.

The System of Evaluation

* Please refer to the GRADING section of the current Berea College Catalog for the College-wide interpretations of these letter grades.

Maximum Final Grading Scale             Grade ≥ 93 %   A 90% ≤ Grade < 93 %   A- 87% ≤ Grade < 90 %   B+ 83% ≤ Grade < 87 %   B   80% ≤ Grade < 83 %   B- 77% ≤ Grade < 80 %   C+ 73% ≤ Grade < 77 %   C   70% ≤ Grade < 73 %   C- 67% ≤ Grade < 70 %   D+ 63% ≤ Grade < 67 %   D   60% ≤ Grade < 63 %   D-             Grade < 60 %   F

Evaluated Items Test 1 Test 2 Test 3 Quiz Total Assignments Project Final Exam

Points 100 100 100 100 100 100 200

Grading Percentages 12.5 % 12.5 % 12.5 % 12.5 % 12.5 % 12.5 % 25.0 %

The Course Home Page Our course home page is located at http://www.berea.edu/faculty/pearcej/CSC486-AI/. Use this page as a resource to find this syllabus and other course-related information.

The Grading Policies For the benefit of the students in the class, all course grade computations are continually updated by the instructor, so students may check frequently on their in-progress course grade during the term.
	After having completed all work prior to the final exam and before dropping any points or receiving any bonuses, any student who is receiving an A or B on the above maximum scale using the appropriately weighted set of tests, quizzes, assignments, and project and who is satisfied with her or his grade, may elect to receive that grade as a final grade and will not be required to take the final exam. So that all are in agreement, this decision must be discussed in advance with the instructor.
	For students taking the final exam, the lowest score earned on one 100 point exam score, quiz total or assignment item will be dropped before computing the final grade. Note that the project grade will not be dropped, but if the lowest percentage score is earned on the 200 point final exam, then one half of the final exam score will be dropped.
	A student's final grade may be raised above her or his earned percentage grade if in the instructor's opinion the student shows significantly improved work in the course or on the comprehensive final exam.

The Assignment Bonus

Frequent assignments will be assigned, since doing assignments thoughtfully and conscientiously is one of the keys to success in this course. Through assignments students get the needed practice of application of the concepts. Because the instructor desires to strongly encourage a diligent effort on assignments, students who turn in each of their assignments with no more than three assignments submitted late, will be awarded an additional 10% on the assignment grade!

The Tests and Quizzes Tests and frequent short quizzes will be given in this course. Approximately one announced quiz will be given each week in which there is no test. In general, the announced quizzes will consist of questions on the assigned text readings or assignment-like problems. The most likely time of the three tests will be:
Test 1: Week of February 23 Test 2: Week of March 22 Test 3: Week of May 3
Problems that appear on the tests will be more varied in nature, ranging from assignment-like problems to problems that require a deeper synthesis of ideas and from true or false questions to short-answer questions.

The Final Exam The comprehensive final exam will be during the regularly scheduled final exam period, Thursday, May 20, from 8:00 to 9:50 AM, on the last day of Spring Term finals. By Berea College policy, no instructor can reschedule a final exam on his or her own, so please plan now to take it then.

The Attendance Policy Class lectures, discussions, and in-class computer work are considered to be a vital key to success in this course. It is the hope of the instructor that class sessions are both informative and useful, therefore attendance is expected at each class session unless a specific exception is made. This policy will be enforced in several ways. Quizzes may be announced or occasionally "popped," and because the lowest quiz grade will be dropped, under nearly all circumstances, make-up quizzes will not be given. Likewise, make-up tests will under almost no circumstances be given, so missed tests will therefore count as the student's dropped 100 points. Absences from class are noted, and repeated absences will adversely affect the student's grade. The final grade may be lowered by one third of a letter grade for each absence after the fourth. Thus, it is the responsibility of the student to speak to the instructor about each absence from class. This should be done as soon as possible, and if at all possible before the absence occurs. Students who miss class are held responsible for all of the material covered, assigned, and collected during their absence.

On Assignment Collection All written work should be neat, organized, and should show sufficiently many steps to demonstrate a clear understanding of the techniques used. Assignments are due at the beginning of class on the announced date due. If a student must miss class due to either a sickness or a planned absence, assignments are still expected to be submitted on time. Assignments are posted on the web and may be requested in advance. Late assignments will be accepted for reduced credit up until the assignment is returned, and late work must be labeled as late. Written or printed assignments may be turned in before class or at the instructor's office, but should NOT be sent through the CPO, attached in e-mail, or given to a student assistant. A selection of the assignment problems will be graded for credit, and assignments not meeting the above standards may receive reduced credit.

On Teamwork Learning to work in teams effectively is strongly encouraged. Some assignments may be specifically designed for teamwork, others for individual work, but on most assignments you can choose to work alone or in a team. All assignments must clearly include all of the authors' names at the top of each page. On any assignment in which half or more of the work was completed in a team, a single copy of the assignment should be handed in with all of the team's participants listed as authors. Teams can generally consist of one, two, or three members due to the nature of the work in this course. Unless otherwise stated, teams shall not consist of more than three members for most work. On any assignment where less than half of the work was completed in a team, individual assignments should be handed in with the author acknowledging all of the help received for each problem. This includes significant help received from the instructor or in the Math/CS Lab Consultants. Note that the instructor or a Math/CS Lab Consultant may help with assignments, and while this help should not be acknowledged as co-authorship, it should still be mentioned. This is meant to be a sharing process; do not "give credit" to other students who have not attempted to contribute to the work or to the team's work, because it is ultimately not a help for the student who did not contribute to the work. Thoughtful practice, not (even mindful) copying, is ultimately the best way to learn. Note that on all team-completed assignments, students must describe the roles played by each author on the assignment. Warning: Please be careful to conform to these standards for teamwork, since they are designed to encourage good learning practices. (Furthermore, copying another person's work or otherwise failing to adhere to these standards may even result in a charge of academic dishonesty.)

The Class Atmosphere The members of this class constitute a learning community. Learning in such a community best takes place in an atmosphere in which instructor and the students treat everyone with mutual respect. Students need not always raise their hands in order to ask questions or to make comments, but they should not interrupt the instructor or fellow students in doing so. Students typically find the atmosphere set by the instructor to be a sometimes playful and nearly always relaxed one, but students will still need to work hard and consistently both in and out of class in order to do well. If at anytime you have thoughts, comments, or suggestions about how the class atmosphere could be improved or made into one which is more supportive of your learning, please come by or drop me a note about it. I welcome such suggestions.

For Additional Help The two teaching assistants for this course will be Huy Nguyen and Jolene Wee. They may be able to answer questions about the course and programming content during consultations in the Math/CS Lab. Located in Draper 302, the Math/CS Lab is open each Sunday from 6:00 to 7:45 PM and each Monday through Thursday 7:00 to 9:15 PM (except on evenings of convocations when it closes early). Students are strongly encouraged to make use of the help available in the Math/CS Lab, as well as in the instructor's office hours. Best results are obtained trying to solve problems alone or in a group before asking for help, so in either place, students should be prepared to show what they have already tried. Topics in this course build throughout the course, so students should be sure to do their best to keep up with the class, so as to not get behind and possibly forever lost. No question to which one does not know the answer is "dumb" unless it goes unanswered because it remained unasked.