ASSIGNMENTS
This course is lab
oriented; that is, the work of the course is
done via a series of
laboratory
exercises. These will be handed out
once approximately every two weeks. There are no exams, in
particular, there will be no final exam. The final project will
involve an element of non determinism, i.e., so-called 'free
will', in that you will be
able to choose your own project and combine elements from the previous
laboratories,
or do something completely new. For the final project, we will
have
people work in teams of 2 or 3 (but not more, and at my urging, not
fewer
- solos are discouraged, but, like all labs, collaboration is
encouraged
- see below). In addition, new this year, there may be an
additional
'lab' project that will be an engineering-oriented exploration based on
an
extension of any of the laboratory topics in the course or
additional readings associated with that topic. The format will
be
a short, analytical paper (less than 10 pages). This is to be
done solo also,
like other labs, though this is 'under construction' and may be morphed
into
1 or 2-person reports. It can be completed at any time during the
term. I would exhort you to
try
to grapple with this before the very end of the term, when the final
project
will also be on your mind.
The laboratory exercises are designed to be carried out on Athena, but
this year we
may be able to
distribute packaged files for home/laptop use. The software, along with
related software you may find helpful, is listed under the
tools section of this site. If you
are clever and adventuresome, you are certainly free to download the
software used and get it running on your own PC/laptop, but this must
be
own 'your own nickel' - i.e., we cannot guarantee that you will
succeed, nor
can we offer technical support to do so. Stay tuned for further
announcements.
TURNING IN THE ASSIGNMENTS
When:
The assignments are due at the end
of class on the due date, i.e., 11:30AM.
How:
Please construct (simple) web pages for your lab
reports, and email the root URL to the TA. If you do not know how
to construct web pages like this one, this might be a good time to
learn.
POLICIES
Late assignments
You have up to 30 (thirty) late days to
use up, that can be distributed among your laboratory projects.
However, the last project must be turned during
the last week of class (5/10-5/14), even if you have not used all of
your
days by then.
Once you use up your late days, late projects will not earn any points,
even though they might be considered in borderline cases for the final
grade.
Thus try to turn in all projects, even though you might feel they are
not
to be counted. If you do not turn in a final (joint) project, you
will
receive an I (incomplete) for the class, and will have to make this up
by
next term (the incomplete will note that 80% of the coursework has been
completed).
Cooperative work and
plagiarism
Cooperative work is strongly encouraged;
you are free to work together on laboratory assignments. However,
aside from the final project, you must write up and turn in
your own
work. Please write the names of the people with whom you
worked
at the top of the first page. Exact copies of laboratory reports
will
not be
acceptable. (Something other than your name and those of your
co-workers
must be different!) The aim of the course (and its pedagogical
philosophy)
is to learn about natural language processing. You will
learn
more if you actually do the laboratory assignments.
GRADING
Final grades will be
determined on the basis of the following weighting scheme.
Laboratory
Assignments: 55%
Final Project:
35%
Class participation &
10%
discussion