Answers to frequently-asked questions
Revised 21 September 2004

Should I take the subject this semester?
Should I buy a book?
Am I expected to attend lectures, tutorials, and recitations?
What is the collaboration policy?
Do I need to know how to program in Scheme?
Where is my tutorial?
Where is my recitation?
How are final grades to be computed?
What is the final grade distribution likely to be?

Should I take the subject this semester?

The following are the major differences between the fall and spring versions:

• Professor Patrick H. Winston is in charge in the fall; Professor Tomas Lozano-Perez and Professor Leslie Kaelbling are in charge in the spring.
• Grade distributions do not differ significantly.
• Much of the material covers the same ground. The most conspicuous differences are that the fall version focuses toward the end of the semester on models of aspects of human intelligence and the spring version includes a major section on formal logic.
• The fall version includes two one-hour lectures, one one-hour tutorial, and one one-hour recitation; the spring version offers two one-and-a-half hour lectures and one one-hour tutorial.

The 2003 version introduced a series of case studies, each of which showed how the material taught is used in contemporary practice. Because most students considered the case studies to be a good feature, we will use case studies again this year, modified and improved. Lectures, recitations, and tutorials will cover aspects of you need to know to handle the case studies.

The 2004 version will also include an expanded coverage of approaches to learning.

Should I buy a book?

No. A substantial fraction of the material in the subject is discussed in Artificial Intelligence, 3rd edition (Patrick H. Winston, available at Quantum Books, Amazon.com, ...), which may be helpful to those students who like to learn from textbooks, but the cost is outrageous, some of the material in the book is out of date, and most students in recent years have not touched it.

Accordingly, our plan is to use on-line resources, including selected chapters of Artificial Intelligence.

We believe the lectures, recitations, tutorials, and on-line material are ample resources.

Am I expected to attend lectures, tutorials, and recitations?

Yes. We believe that the lectures, tutorials, and recitations are all an important part of the MIT experience, and we work hard to make them interesting and useful.

• Lectures introduce powerful ideas and relate the material to the “big picture.” We often include questions on the quizes and final that you can answer only by faithful lecture attendance.
• Tutorials provide you with an opportunity to ask questions and to demonstrate your understanding. A substantial part of your grade is determined by your tutorial participation.
• Recitations play a major role in clarifying the material and demonstrating how problems are solved.

Can I collaborate with friends on the homework?

Yes. We create the homework to help you learn the material. For many, that means working together, and certainly when you get stuck, you should seek help. On the other hand, you are not to simply submit someone else's work, as this would be both unethical and detrimental to your own learning, which will be reflected in quiz performance. Also, we get very sore when we catch someone cheating.

Do I need to know how to program in Scheme?

The subject is not centered on programming, but a substantial fraction of the homework requires an understanding of Scheme and working out some small Scheme programs. The quizzes and final do not include questions that require any knowledge of Scheme programming. Veterans of 6.001 should have no trouble with the programming involved; students skilled in some other programming language will have to spend a couple of weekends reading the Scheme book and should work out a catch-up plan with their tutor; students with no programming experience are advised not to take the subject.

How are final grades to be computed?

We expect to form a weighted sum as follows:

• 25% Final
• 25% Quiz 1
• 25% Quiz 2
• 25% Homework and tutorial participation

What is the final grade distribution likely to be?

By institute rule, we do not grade on a curve. Instead, we calculate what we believe constitutes threshold performance for each letter grade. In principle, we could give 100% As (or, gasp, Fs), but traditionally, grade distributions have worked out as more or less as follows:

• 30% A
• 30% B
• 30% C

We discuss the bottom 10% and borderline cases at length at the end of the semester.