Computer Science 151
Artificial Intelligence
Fall 2013
Course Page Syllabus Assignments Resources Sandbox

Course Overview: In this course, you will be introduced to various topics in the broad field of Artificial Intelligence (AI). While it is not possible to introduce you to all subfields of AI in one semester, you will be exposed to the following topics: a history of AI, search, reasoning, probabilistic models in AI, speech recognition, supervised learning techniques, clustering, natural language processing, and philosophical issues in AI. In addition to a firm understanding of these topics, I hope that you also leave this class with an awareness of the state of research in this field, as well as the current challenges.

Prerequisite: Computer Science 52 or instructor's permission.

Time and Place: Tues. and Thurs. at 9:35-10:50am in Seavers Commons room 104.

Instructor: 
Prof. America Chambers
Edmunds 221
america.chambers@pomona.edu

Course Web Page: www.cs.pomona.edu/classes/cs151/
You should visit the course webpage FREQUENTLY for course announcements, assignments, and resources. Announcements will be posted on the main page, while assignments will be posted on the page titled assignments. Be sure to also check out the page titled resources for useful texts and tutorials.

Textbook:
Russell, Stuart and Norvig, Peter. (2010) Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach (Third Edition). New Jersey, Prentice Hall.

This book is a required text. You will have a reading assignment for every class period and material from these readings will be on the quizzes.

Computer Systems: We will be using the Linux systems of the Computer Science Department. To obtain an account, go to http://www.dci.pomona.edu and follow the link "Request an account." Do this right away! After submitting the request, you'll have to visit the system administrator in Edmunds 219 for your account info. You will need this account in order to submit your work for the course.

Coursework: 
Your work in this course will fall into several major areas which are described below.

Readings:
Readings will be taken from the textbook as well as from recent literature. The textbook is quite clear and I strongly recommend that you read it. Material from the readings will be on the quizzes. The readings for each class (in addition to lecture slides) will be posted on the assignments page.

Assignments:
There will be 5 homework assignments in this class. Each assignment will be a mix of programming and written questions. The programming questions will ask you to implement an algorithm (in Python) that we have discussed in class and apply it to the game of Pac-man. Each assignment will also contain a set of optional questions. These optional questions are ungraded and are provided to help you better understand the material and prepare for quizzes. For some assignments you will be required to work on your own whereas for others you will have the option of working with a partner.

Quizzes:
There will be two midterm quizzes covering course material. The two in-class quizzes are tentatively scheduled for Thursday October 17th and Tuesday November 26th. These dates are subject to change.

Final Project:
During the last month of the semester, you will complete a final project (either in pairs or individually). You will propose a project in the area of your choice (related to something we covered in the course) including a problem and a solution to the problem. After your proposal is approved, you will implement this solution, write a final paper in which you document your solution and relate it to literature in that area, and finally present your work to the class.

Submitting your assignments:
All assignments will be posted on the assignments page. East assignment will specify a due date and time. See the assignments page for details on how to submit your work. Assignments are due at the date and time specified. Late work will be penalized (15% per day late) except for serious illness or similar emergencies (notify and work with the Dean of Students and the instructor on these occassions). For the programming assignments, the code in the files you submit must compile and run without errors. No partial credit will be given for a submission that does not compile.

Collaboration:
I encourage you to collaborate on your homework, however, there are few ground rules.
  1. For some assignments, you will be able to work with one other student if you wish. Any such assignments will be marked with the word PAIR on the assignments page. (Note: if an assignment is not specified as a PAIR project on the assignments page, then it is a SOLO assignment.)
  2. You may not work with the same person for more than two assignments. Reason: You should learn to work with different people, and I want to make sure that no student is depending too heavily on another.
  3. Collaboration on assignments must be truly collaborative: sitting together and programming, alternating being the "driver" and "passenger."
  4. In cases where you do work with a partner, you may submit one copy of the code (include both of your names in the header of each file).
Grading:  Grades in the course are based on four components.

Assignments 50% (10% each)
Quizzes 20% (10% each)
Final Project 25%
Class Attendance 5%

Class attendance is required and will be reflected in your grade. While there is no final "exam" for this course, you will be presenting your final project work during our scheduled final exam time (Friday, December 20th at 9am) - as noted in Pomona's final exam schedule. Attendance is required.

Policy on Academic Honesty: In the past, there have been a few unfortunate instances in which students in the class have presented work other than their own. See the Pomona College Catalog for the college's policy on academic honesty. Students from other colleges are governed by the policies of their home campuses.

You are allowed (encouraged, even!) to discuss general approaches to solving problems, but all work you submit must be your own. Working "together" or presenting variants of the same file is not acceptable (unless I explicitly say to work in pairs - later in the semester). Do not exchange programs or program fragments in any form -- on paper, via e-mail, or by other means. Identical, or nearly identical, papers will be considered conclusive evidence of plagarism.

As a general rule, you should not be looking at someone else's code or answers while (or just before) typing your own. A good way to avoid this is to discuss problems and write notes on the whiteboard (not actual code though). The idea here is that you need to be able to reproduce your own answers (for example, on an exam). Copying solutions from any source, including the web or previous CS 151 students, is not allowed. Contact the instructor if you have questions about what is appropriate collaboration.
Plagiarism will result in the following actions:
  1. In the first instance, a no credit will be given for the work submitted, and a letter reporting the incident will be sent to the office of the Dean of Students.
  2. In the second instance, a grade of F for the course will be given, and the matter will automatically be referred to the Academic Discipline Board at Pomona College or the equivalent body at another college.

Campus Resources:
  1. To request academic accommodations due to a disability, please contact Dean Collins-Eaglin

  2. The Quantitative Skills Center is a new learning center dedicated to supporting quantitative skill development for Pomona students. The QSC offers free group and individual study sessions facilitated by our QSC Fellows. We offer a number of course-specific study sessions, but you can also meet with a Fellow to review specific topics (for example: exponential and logarithmic functions, single and multivariate equations, balancing chemical equations, basic statistical analyses, etc.) used in a wide variety of courses. To find out more details and sign up for a study session, please visit www.pomona.edu/qsc.

  3. The Writing Center (on the ground floor of Smith Campus Center across from the Living Room) offers students free, one-on-one consultations at any stage of the writing process - from generating a thesis and structuring an argument to fine-tuning a draft. We also work with students on all aspects of oral presentations. The Writing Fellows - Pomona students majoring in subjects including Economics, Computer Science, English, and History - will work with you on an assignment from any discipline. Consultations are available by appointment, which you can make online: writing.pomona.edu. The Writing Center also offers drop-in hours Sundays through Thursdays from 8-10pm.
Last modified: Mon Sep 2 13:15:35 PDT 2013
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