CS 540: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence, University of Wisconsin

Instructor: Chuck Dyer

  Office:       6379 Computer Sciences Building
  Telephone:    262-1965
  E-mail:       dyer@cs.wisc.edu
  Office Hours: 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, and by appointment

Teaching Assistants:

Shengnan Wang
  Office:       5387 Computer Sciences Building
  Telephone:    890-0125
  E-mail:       shengnan@cs.wisc.edu
  Office Hours: 4:00 - 5:00 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays, and by appointment

Mark Chapman
  Office:       1301 Computer Sciences Building
  Telephone:    262-6600
  E-mail:       chapman@cs.wisc.edu
  Office Hours: 4:00 - 5:00 p.m. Mondays, and by appointment

Zhiting Xu
  Office:       3393 Computer Sciences Building
  Telephone:    262-0018
  E-mail:       zhiting@cs.wisc.edu
  Office Hours: 4:00 - 5:00 p.m. Wednesdays, and by appointment

Schedule

Lecture: 9:55 a.m. - 10:45 a.m. MWF, Room 1221 Computer Sciences Building

Prerequisite

CS 367

Textbook

Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach, 2nd edition, S. Russell and P. Norvig, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 2003

Grading

Midterm Exam: about 30%
Final Exam: about 30%
Homework Assignments: about 35%
Class attendance and participation: about 5%

Note: Typically, final grades have been distributed approximately as follows in recent semesters I have taught CS 540. Of course, interpret these as rough guidelines because scores cluster differently from semester to semester. The median student's course grade is usually a low B or high BC. The percentiles refer to ranking in the class based on the final weighted score.

    A   top ~15-20% of class
    AB next ~15-20%
    B  next ~15-25%
    BC next ~15-20%
    C  next ~15-20%
    D  next ~2-5%
    F  next ~2-5%

Examinations

Midterm: Wednesday, October 21, 7:15 p.m. - 9:15 p.m., Room B130 Van Vleck
Final: Tuesday, December 22, 5:05 p.m. - 7:05 p.m., Room 1221 CS

Exam grading questions must be raised with the instructor within one week after it is returned.

Homework Assignments

Homework assignments will include written problems and programming in Java. Accounts will be provided on the Computer Science Department's instructional Unix workstations located in rooms 1350, 1351, and 1370. Assignment grading questions must be raised with the instructor within one week after it is returned.

Late Penalties

All assignments are due in class on the due date. One (1) day late, defined as a 24-hour period from noon to noon the next day (weekday or weekend), will result in 10% of the total points for the assignment deducted. So, for example, if an assignment is due on a Wednesday and it is handed in between Wednesday 11 a.m. and Thursday 11 a.m., a 10% penalty will be deducted. Two (2) days late, 25% off; three (3) days late, 50% off. No homework can be turned in more than three (3) days late. A total of two (2) free late days may be used throughout the semester without penalty.

Academic Integrity

All examinations, programming assignments, and written homeworks must be done individually. Cheating and plagiarism will be dealt with in accordance with University procedures (see the UW Academic Misconduct Policies and Procedures). Hence, for example, code for programming assignments must not be developed in groups, nor should code be shared. You are encouraged to discuss with your peers, the TA or the instructor ideas, approaches and techniques broadly, but not at a level of detail where specific implementation issues are described by anyone. If you have any questions on this, ask the instructor before you act.

CS 540 - Introduction to Artificial Intelligence