Class Policies

Prerequisites

• CS 325 (Algorithms)
• Fluency in a programming language
• The ability to take simple derivatives

Learning Objectives

1. Analyze the dimensions along which agents and environments vary, along with key functions that must be implemented in a general agent.
2. Implement agents using search algorithms such as uninformed search, informed search or local search.
3. Develop strategies for agents in games of perfect and imperfect information.
4. Represent knowledge of the world using logic and infer new facts from that knowledge.
5. Use a Bayesian network to make quantitative (probabilistic) and qualitative inferences.
6. Implement a Bayesian network that solves a simple version of a problem such as text categorization or object recognition.

Accommodations

Community Statement

Every student should feel safe and welcome to contribute in this course. As the instructor, I will try to establish this tone whenever possible, but ultimately the responsibility for cultivating a safe and welcoming community belongs to the students-that means you!

Fortunately, being part of a safe and welcoming community is not too hard. A good place to start is to recognize (and continually remind yourself) of the following facts:

• Your classmates come from a variety of cultural, economic, and educational backgrounds. Something that is obvious to you may not be obvious to them.
• Your classmates are human beings with intelligence and emotions. This applies even if you are interacting anonymously on Canvas.
• Your classmates are here to learn. They have the right to pursue their education without being distracted by others' disruptive behavior, or made uncomfortable by inappropriate jokes or unwanted sexual interest.

If each of us remembers these facts and act with corresponding decency, respect, and professionalism, the course will certainly be better for everyone.

Some students might be inclined to shrug this off and perhaps crack a joke about safe spaces or political correctness. If that's you, please also know that if you make a fellow student uncomfortable by mocking them, making inappropriate jokes, or making unwanted advances, that is harassment and will be taken seriously. (If you are a victim of harassment, please see the brief list of resources below.)

However, I hope that we can all approach this positively. Treat your classmates as respected colleagues, support each other when needed, have fun without spoiling it for anyone else, and everybody wins.

What to do about harassment

If you are the victim of harassment in this class, there are several resources available to you:

• You may schedule a private meeting to talk to me.
• You may contact the University Ombuds Office for confidential guidance and advice.
• You may contact the Office of Equal Opportunity and Access to file an informal or formal complaint.

You may also want to read OSU's policies on bullying and on sexual harassment and misconduct.

Grading and Exams

An approximate weighting of the marks in the course is listed below. This may change slightly depending on the number and size of the assignments.

• Programming Assignments (3 of them) - 30%
• Written Assignments (4 of them) - 20%
• Pre-class Reading Quizzes - 10% (drop lowest ~20%)
• Midterm - 20%
• Final - 20%
• In-class Participation - extra credit up to 10% of the total points for the class

The midterm and exam are are open-book. Only print materials are permitted. Hand-held calculators are also allowed, but no laptops or phones. Do not rely too heavy on your notes during an exam! Use them as a safety net.

Policy on collaboration

In solo assignments, collaboration is limited to verbal discussion of general approaches and strategies for the assignment. You can give each other examples that are not in the assignment. If you collaborate in this way, you will be asked to declare your collaborators.

Things not allowed:

• No use of code, documentation, or other written media from sources other than yourself (eg. classmates, internet, etc. ) unless explicitly allowed by the assignment.
• Do not tell each other the answers

For assignments done in teams, team members within the same team may explicitly discuss answers. However, the rules above apply between teams. For further details, please refer to the OSU Academic misconduct policy and the College of Engineering Academic misconduct policy.

Late Policy

Written assignments are due online at the start of class. Programming assignments are due at 5pm. The late policy for both is:

• 0-24 hours late: 90% of the final score
• 24-48 hours late: 50% of the final score
• After 48 hours late: 0%

Canvas

I will use Canvas for the following purposes in this course:

1. Storing and distributing your grades. Let us know if there are any mistakes in your grades. Please check them after each assignment and exam.
2. Reading quizzes.
3. Discussion board. If you have questions about assignments or exams, the following options are available:
   • See the instructor or TA during their office hours.
   • Post to the discussion board. You will find that the discussion board has a much better response time than email because many more pairs of eyes will be monitoring it. You will get help from the instructor, the TA, and even other students.
   • If you're really stuck, email the TA or the instructor. If you send the instructor email, be warned that she receives well over a hundred email messages a day and she may not get to your email for a while.

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