Offices: ITE223 or MAPLE Lab ITE 339
Office Hours: TBD
E-mail:
Course Website: http://maple.cs.umbc.edu/~don/471/
Instructor: Don Miner
Offices: ITE223 or MAPLE Lab ITE 339
Office Hours: TBD
E-mail:
Teaching Assistant: Niels Kasch
Office: ITE340
Office Hours: TuTh 1:00pm-2:30pm
E-mail: 
UMBC catalog description: This course is designed as a broad introduction to artificial intelligence. Topics include an overview of Artificial Intelligence (AI), its subfields and applications; knowledge representation, techniques and issues; natural language understanding; search; logic and deduction; basic robot plan generation; expert systems; handling uncertainty and learning.
| Required Textbooks: | |
Stuart J. Russell and Peter Norvig, 2002. Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach, 2nd edition, Prentice Hall. ISBN: 0137903952. |
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| Paul Graham, 1995. ANSI Common Lisp, Prentice Hall. ISBN: 0-13-370875-6. | |
Prerequisite: CMSC 341.
A background in probability, statistics, and linear algebra would be helpful, but it isn't required. Those of you without this background might have to work a bit harder when we get to those sections of the course.
The course will be broken up into the following rough sections:
See the course schedule for more details.
CMSC 471 has a discussion board that will have individual forums for each assignment
Content you can talk about on the boards:
Content you can not talk about on the boards:
Some notes on posting etiquette:
Whenever you e-mail the instructor or TA, please use a meaningful subject line and include the phrase "CMSC 471" at the beginning of that line. Your e-mail will catch my attention and I will respond quicker if you do this. I make an effort to respond to e-mails within 24 weekday hours.
Questions may be directed to either the TA or the Instructor.
Grading concerns should be directed to the Instructor in person (not in email).
Your final grade will be composed of :
Your final grade will be determined according to the following criteria:
90% <= A <= 100%
80% <= B < 90%
70% <= C < 80%
60% <= D < 70%
0% <= F < 60%
These criteria may be adjusted slightly in your favor. Incomplete grades will be given only for verifiable medical illness or other such dire circumstances.
There will be 8 homework assignments (one is double, so 9), each worth 5 percent of your grade. Since each homework assignment is unique, the requirements and expectations are described in the assignment handout.
Homework assignments may not be turned in late without prior notice. To turn in something late, you must have a valid excuse (the instructor determines what is valid).
Homeworks are to be turned in at the beginning of the class the day that it is due. Although emailing the assignment is acceptable, please do not do it often, as it is inconvenient and often times the assignment gets lost. If an assignment has to be emailed, text files and pdf files only
You may discuss homeworks in depth with fellow classmates. When turning in your homework, list the people you collaborated somewhere on the assignment. Obviously, all writing and code must be your own.
You are expected to attend all classes. You are responsible for all material covered in the lecture (including material that is not included in the textbook), and all material in the readings (including material that is not covered during lecture). You are responsible for familiarizing yourself with the assigned readings before each class. If you miss a class, you are responsible for getting the notes and any verbal information given during class from a fellow classmate. If handouts were given out or assignments returned, you may come to my office to get them.
There will be five quizzes throughout the semester, each worth 4 percent of your grade. Topics and details of the quizzes will be given the class before the quiz is given.
There will be a final exam that covers all material disccused in the class. Details will be given before the final exam.
By enrolling in this course, each student assumes the responsibilities of an active participant in UMBC's scholarly community in which everyone's academic work and behavior are held to the highest standards of honesty. Cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, and helping others to commit these acts are all forms of academic dishonesty, and they are wrong. Academic misconduct could result in disciplinary action that may include, but is not limited to, suspension or dismissal. To read the full Student Academic Conduct Policy, consult the UMBC Student Handbook, the Faculty Handbook, or the UMBC Policies section of the UMBC Directory. [Statement adopted by UMBC's Undergraduate Council and Provost's Office.]
For additional details on university policies on academic integrity, see the UMBC Undergraduate Student Academic Conduct Policy and the Faculty Handbook, Section 14.2 -- POLICY ON FACULTY, STUDENT, AND INSTITUITIONAL RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES FOR ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
Any violation of the UMBC academic honesty policy will carry the following minimum penalty: the student will receive no positive credit on the assignment, and the assignment will count against the student's final grade by the full amount it was worth. For example, cheating on an assignment worth 10% of the final grade would result in the student getting no credit for completing the assignment and the assignment counting 10% against their final grade, giving them a maximum possible grade of 80% in the class.
Cheating in any form will not be tolerated. Cheating includes but is not limited to: copying a solution from another student or the internet (or providing your solution to another student), plagarism, working in collaboration with another student on individual work, and using resources prohibited by the assignment.
Instances of cheating will be reported to the UMBC Academic Conduct Committee. These reports are filed by the Committee and can be used for disciplinary action such as a permanent record on your transcript. You are expected to be honest yourself and to report any cases of dishonesty you see among other students in this class. Reports of dishonest behavior will be kept anonymous.
Thanks to Eric Eaton, Marie desJardins, Tim Finin, and Terran Lane for making their course materials available. Many of the course materials for this class have been adapted from those sources.