CS 630 Spring 2009 Syllabus

CS 630: Advanced Artificial Intelligence Systems

Spring 2009
Syllabus

Course description: This course is a continuation of Artificial Intelligence (CS 530). Emphasis is placed on advanced topics and the major areas of current research within the field. Theoretical and practical issues involved with developing large-scale systems are covered.

Pre-requisites: CS 530 (Artificial Intelligence) or professor's consent.

Professor: Rebecca Bates
Computer Science
Wissink Hall 231
Phone: 507-389-5587
Fax: 507-389-6376
Email: bates@mnsu.edu

Course Website
http://bates.cs.mnsu.edu/cs630 Check the website regularly for announcements and updates.

Course Hours and Location

Lectures: T, Th 5-6:15pm WH 286A

Office Hours

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

1-3 1-3 by appointment 2-4 10-12

Other times by appointment.

If things that are useful for the entire class come up, they will be posted on the announcement section of the class webpage so please check it regularly.

Course Materials
Required Text: Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach, 2nd ed., Stuart Russell & Peter Norvig, Prentice Hall, 2003, ISBN 0-13-790395-2.
Other readings will be made available online.

Grading
Homework, programming assignments, in-class work (including paper discussions): 25%
2 Midterm Exams: 35%
Final project: 40% (including written and oral presentations)

Tentative Topic List

Review of AI: agents, problem solving, knowledge & reasoning, planning (~3 weeks)
Planning (~1 week)
Uncertain Knowledge & Reasoning, i.e., probabilistic reasoning (~3 weeks)
Machine Learning (~4 weeks)
Applications (~3 weeks)
Project presentations (1 week)

Important Dates
Midterm 1: Friday, February 27
Midterm 2: Thursday, April 23
Project presentations will be done during the final week of the class.

Course Tools

HPC & Krypton: You will get an account on both of these machines. If you haven't set up a krypton account, please do so since that will be the portal to the HPC (High Performance Computer). You can set up the account through the mavmail/mavdisk account and password pages.
Desire2Learn: This web-based software package will be used for turning in programming assignments and feedback surveys.
Password protected webpages: The Computer Science Lab computers host these pages. The assignments and solutions will be available on the web but will be password protected.

Homework and Exams
Some classes will be discussions of articles and papers and will be lead by students in the class on a rotating basis. Thus, homework will include preparing brief summaries in order to lead discussion.

The homework for this course will also include problems related to readings from the book and any other assigned readings as well as programming projects.

Your exams will be based on information gained through both homework and class experiences as well as material covered in lectures and assigned readings.

Expectations of Students

Students will take responsibility for their own learning. Students are responsible for all material, announcements, or changes made during class or on the course web page. Attending class and checking the web page regularly are encouraged. While attendance is not graded, students who miss a lot of class will find it extremely difficult to get an A or even a B in the class.
Students will clear up questions on exams during the exam period. Students are responsible for ensuring that their exams are not missing any questions or pages.
Students will deal with conflicts in a timely manner. If you have some reason for missing an exam, you must talk with me before the exam or take a 0 on that exam.
Students will wait 24 hours, but no more than 1 week, after receiving a graded assignment or exam before bringing up grading questions. Grades will be re-evaluated but are not negotiable.
Students will bring up issues about final grades within two days of grades being released. Again, I will take requests for grade re-evaluations but final grades are not negotiable.
Students will only ask for an incomplete grade in the case of exceptional circumstances and will furnish documentation that conforms to CS Department regulations (illness requiring documented medical attention, documented death in the immediate family).
Students will do and present their own work in compliance with the academic honesty policy.
Students will check their email on a regular basis. This means at least three times per week.

Disabilities
Students who may need accommodations for a disability can make an appointment to see me during my office hours to discuss your needs.

Academic Honesty
By staying enrolled in this class, you agree to abide by the University's Policy for Academic Honesty which appears in the Student Handbook under the section heading "Academic Honesty". If you have questions about the policy please contact me, your advisor, or another faculty member PRIOR to engaging in a "dishonest" act. Failure to abide and respect the Academic Honesty Policy will result in severe penalties as allowed by the University.

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
1-3	1-3	by appointment	2-4	10-12