SCXT 350 Lecture Schedule

Notes:

• This should be considered very much a document in development. While I will try as much as possible to stick to the posted exam dates, the schedule of lectures and homework will likely change as the term progresses. Updates, and detailed weekly plans, will be posted on this home page.
• Please note that reading assignments for an individual lecture should be completed before the lecture. Readings may include handouts to be provided, and may also include readings in books on reserve. When a reading calls for a response, the printed response must be turned in at the start of the lecture. In some cases, I may call for a response following discussion.

University dates given below should be accurate, but please check the main university calendar for the final word.

Change History:

• 1/20/04:  Modified for Spring 2004

Notes:

• This should be considered very much a document in development. While I will try as much as possible to stick to the posted exam dates, the schedule of lectures and homework may change as the term progresses. Updates, and detailed weekly plans, will be posted on the This Week / Next Week pages..
• Please note that reading assignments for an individual lecture should be completed before the lecture. Readings may include handouts to be provided, and may also include readings in books on reserve.

Exam dates:

• Exam 1:  Friday, February 27
• Exam 2:  Friday, April 2
• Exam 3:  Friday, April 30.  Please note that this is in the last full week of class.
• Final exam:   12:00 Noon Thursday, May 13.  All students must take the exam at this date and time.

Week 1:  Monday, January 19

• Topic(s)
• Introduction
• Reading
• Descartes (handout)
• Anthology, pp 3 - 33 (Indroduction and first two papers)
• the Dawson textbook should be available in Week 3.
• Other notes
• Monday is Martin Luther King day (no classes or office hours)

Week 2:  Monday, January 26

• Topic(s)
• Algorithms and computation.
• A bit of LISP
• Reading
• Notes and handouts (notes will generally be PowerPoint presentations available on Hedwig.  Handouts will generally be provided either before or during the class period in which they will be used.
• Other notes
•  

Week 3:  Monday, February 2

• Topic(s)
• The Turing Test
• Some history (including possibly a video)
• Reading
• Dawson, chapters 1, 2
• Anthology pages 153 - 167 (Turing: Computing Machinery and Intelligence).  There will be a "read and respond" assigned for this paper.
• Other notes
•  

Week 4:  Monday, February 9

• Topic(s)
• Marr's three levels of explanation
• More on algorithms
• An introduction to connectionism (continuation of last week's video)
• The physical symbol system (an introduction)
• The Turing-Church hypothesis
• Reading
• Semantic Engines: An Introduction to Mind Design (Anthology, page 34)
• Vision (Anthology, page 69).  There will be a "read and respond" assigned for this paper.
• Other notes
•  

Week 5:  Monday, February 16

• Topic(s)
• A brief introduction to the connectionist model.  We will discuss this in more detail following a more detailed discussion of the symbolic approach (GOFAI)
• Reading
• Dawson, Chapter 3
• Rosenblatt (Anthology, page 179 and introduction beginning page 169).  Skim over the mathematics - we'll look at the important parts in lecture.
• Other notes
• Monday, Feburary 16 is the last day to withdraw with an automatic "W".
• The first hour exam will be next Friday.

Week 6:  Monday, February 23

• Topic(s)
• Expertise and an introduction to expert systems.  We will later on look at an easy-to-use (but very powerful) expert system shell (CLIPS) which will help us further understand issues in search and knowledge representation.
• Discussion of paper/project
• Reading
• Notes
• Other notes
• The first hour exam will be Friday, February 27

Week 7:  Monday, March 1

• Topic(s)
• Back to GOFAI:  states, operators,  and search
• Means-ends analysis
• Reading
• Newell and Simon (Anthology, page 84).  I will possibly add their Turing award lecture and a "read and respond" exercise on that lecture.
• Other notes
• Paper/project proposals due Friday

Week 8:  Monday, March 8

• Topic(s)
• Knowledge Representation
• Expert systems
• Reading
• Notes and handouts
• Other notes
• Friday, March 12 is Mid-Term

Week 9:  Monday, March 15

• Topic:  Spring Break (no classes or office hours)

Week 10:  Monday, March 22

• Topic(s)
• More on expert systems and CLIPS
• Reading
• Notes and handouts
• Possibly a Newell and Simon handout (with associated "read and respond" assignment)
• Other notes
• Exam #2 will be next Friday
• Annotated bibliography due Monday

Week 11:  Monday, March 29

• Topic(s)
• Expert Systems
• The nature of computation:  Finite State Automata
• Wednesday, March 31, will be a guest lecture by Mark Reinitz. Please note that the exam review for the third hour exam will be on Monday, March 29.
• Reading
• Notes, re-read chapter 2 in Dawson
• Other notes
• Exam #2 will be Friday, April 2.

Week 12:  Monday, April 5

• Topic(s)
• The nature of computation:  Grammars, automata, and the Turing Matchine.
• Reading
• Notes, re-read chapter 2 in Dawson.
• Other notes
• Registration for Fall Term begins Monday, April 5
• The first draft of the paper is due next week.

Week 13:  Monday, April 12

• Topic(s)
• Searle responds to GOFAI
• The connectionist response to GOFAI
• Cathy Hale will give a guest lecture on Wednesday, April 14.
• Reading
• Minds, Brains, and Programs (Anthology, page 140).  There will be a "read and respond" exercise on this paper.
• Notes
• Re-read chapter 3 in Dawson
• Churchland on artificial neural networks (Anthology, page 179)
• Pinker on ANS (Anthology, page 307 - skim)
• Other notes
• The first draft of the paper is due Wednesday.
• Early registration for Summer begins Monday, April 12

Week 14:  Monday, April 19

• Topic(s)
• Back to Marr (putting it together)
• Reading
• Dawson, chapters 4 - 7
• Other notes
• Exam #3 will be next week.  Please note that this is in the last full week of the term.

Week 15:  Monday, April 26

• Topic(s)
• The problem of language and a final response to Descartes
• Reading
• Dawson, chapters 4 - 7
• Anthology, pages 445 - 483 (three papers on linguistics)
• Other notes
• Exam #3 will be given on Friday, April 30.

Week 16:  Monday, May 3

• Topic(s)
• Wrap-up
• Review for Final Exam
• Reading
• As required
• Other notes
• Wednesday, May 5 is the last day of classes. 
• All work must be submitted by 5:00 Wednesday, May 5.  The final copy of the term paper (due the last day of class) will be accepted until the final exam with an increasing penalty. 

Week 16:  Monday, May 10

• Final exam:   12:00 Noon Thursday, May 13.  All students must take the exam at this date and time.