481
Makeup Quiz
06/03/12 17:30
Since there should be some final exam activity during finals week, we’ll do a final quiz, which you can use to replace the score on another quiz you may have missed or not done so well in. This quiz will be cumulative, covering all the topics discussed throughout the quarter. If you’re not happy with your quiz score, you can also submit additional quiz questions; for details, see the earlier entry on Quiz Makeup Opportunity (Jan 23 Tag “Quiz”).
The final exam time slot is Tue, March 13, 4:10 - 7:00 PM. My plan is to make the quiz available from midnight until 7:00 PM. You don’t need to be on campus to take the quiz, all you need is access to Blackboard. The modus is the same as for the other quizzes: Notes, books, Web lookup is allowed, but collaboration with others and calculation of answers by computer programs are not. In particular, the use of question answering systems like Watson is not permitted.
The final exam time slot is Tue, March 13, 4:10 - 7:00 PM. My plan is to make the quiz available from midnight until 7:00 PM. You don’t need to be on campus to take the quiz, all you need is access to Blackboard. The modus is the same as for the other quizzes: Notes, books, Web lookup is allowed, but collaboration with others and calculation of answers by computer programs are not. In particular, the use of question answering systems like Watson is not permitted.
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Class Feedback
06/03/12 17:15
Please use the Web form at https://spreadsheets1.google.com/viewform?formkey=dGR4NTJ0bl92TnF2bUJmWU5zdzdtdnc6MA for feedback on course content, lectures, tools like Blackboard and TRAC Wiki, and a few more aspects.
Final Project Presentations Feedback
06/03/12 17:08
Please use the Web form at https://spreadsheets0.google.com/viewform?formkey=dHNiTDhfZHczTHowRklfQmJXX2p4R2c6MA for feedback on the final project presentations
Class Participation
06/03/12 17:02
Since class participation contributes to the overall grade, and I’m not keeping explicit attendance, I’m using a Web form at https://spreadsheets2.google.com/viewform?formkey=dC1HR0RaTzlXa01NcjZWbGMwcFNlQXc6MA to give you an opportunity to remind me of your contributions to class.
Team Member Feedback
06/03/12 16:59
Similar to what we did a few weeks ago, I’m using a Web form at https://spreadsheets1.google.com/viewform?formkey=dGtVSkZMUXZfWnRldTZ0UVBkakZlNVE6MA to collect feedback on the collaboration and work distribution in your team. This time, however, the feedback will be taken into account for the grade on the project part of the class; it contributes 20% of the project grade. I normally take the average of the scores submitted by the team members (including your self-evaluation), although I reserve the right to adjust this if I have evidence that the score does not reflect the actual performance of the team member.
Quiz Makeup Questions
23/01/12 18:31
As in similar classes, students will have the opportunity to improve their scores for the quizzes by submitting makeup questions.
Here are the guidelines for these questions:
- you need to submit your makeup questions within one week of the quiz availability date
- each question adds up to five points to your quiz score; if I need to revise the question or answers, you may get fewer points
- you can submit several questions for each quiz, but your overall quiz score won't be higher than 100 points
- please formulate the questions as plain text format according to the template below. Multiple-choice are my preferred option, but multiple-answers (where more than one answer is correct), fill-in-the-blank, calculated answers, and several others are also available. I've tried free-form text answers as well, but grading those in Blackboard is really tedious - far worse than the paper equivalent.
Question Template:
This is a template for a multiple choice question. Which of the following options is the correct or most suitable answer?
[ ] Answer 1 [Partial Credit: 10%] [Feedback: Why is it incorrect?]
[ ] Answer 2 [Partial Credit: 30%] [Feedback: Why is it incorrect?]
[X] Answer 3 [Feedback: Why is it correct?]
[ ] Answer 4 [Partial Credit: 0%] [Feedback: Why is it incorrect?]
Here are the guidelines for these questions:
- you need to submit your makeup questions within one week of the quiz availability date
- each question adds up to five points to your quiz score; if I need to revise the question or answers, you may get fewer points
- you can submit several questions for each quiz, but your overall quiz score won't be higher than 100 points
- please formulate the questions as plain text format according to the template below. Multiple-choice are my preferred option, but multiple-answers (where more than one answer is correct), fill-in-the-blank, calculated answers, and several others are also available. I've tried free-form text answers as well, but grading those in Blackboard is really tedious - far worse than the paper equivalent.
Question Template:
This is a template for a multiple choice question. Which of the following options is the correct or most suitable answer?
[ ] Answer 1 [Partial Credit: 10%] [Feedback: Why is it incorrect?]
[ ] Answer 2 [Partial Credit: 30%] [Feedback: Why is it incorrect?]
[X] Answer 3 [Feedback: Why is it correct?]
[ ] Answer 4 [Partial Credit: 0%] [Feedback: Why is it incorrect?]
Slides Available via Course Web Pages
11/01/12 20:49
I've given up on the use of Dropbox for the slides, and am reverting to my old scheme, hosting the slides on my Web site for the course. You can reach the PowerPoint version via the schedule (http://users.csc.calpoly.edu/~fkurfess/Courses/481/W12/Administration/Schedule.html) by clicking on the "Topic" entry for each week. Additionally, Keynote and PDF versions are in the directory
http://users.csc.calpoly.edu/~fkurfess/Courses/481/W12/Slides/
This has the drawback that I need to explicitly sync between my laptop and the Web server, so you're not guaranteed to have the most recent version. But once the slides are on the Web server, modifications are usually minor.
http://users.csc.calpoly.edu/~fkurfess/Courses/481/W12/Slides/
This has the drawback that I need to explicitly sync between my laptop and the Web server, so you're not guaranteed to have the most recent version. But once the slides are on the Web server, modifications are usually minor.
Research Paper instead of Quizzes
06/01/12 20:05
For those of you who prefer to do a research paper, please follow the instructions from last year’s 581 class. The formatting instructions can also be obtained from the International Joint Conference in Artificial Intelligence IJCAI 2011 site (instead of IJCAI 2009, as indicated in the 581 class). This might be especially interesting for those of you working on a thesis, and intending to submit the paper for publication.
[The conference info below is from last year, but there might be similar ones this year. I’ll update this later.]
If you’re looking for a potential venue, there are about 30 workshops at IJCAI 2011, with deadlines typically in March or April. The conference will be July 16-22 in Barcelona, Spain, and it is the premier conference in AI. An alternative is the Twenty-Fifth Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI-11) from August 7-11 in San Francisco. The deadline is Feb 3 for abstracts and Feb 8 for papers for the main conference, so this is a bit tight. Then there is a Student Abstract and Paper program, with a Feb 15 deadline. This student program is actually a great opportunity to get a chance to participate in such a conference. There are also workshops (there is no list available yet), with an April 22 deadline.
[The conference info below is from last year, but there might be similar ones this year. I’ll update this later.]
If you’re looking for a potential venue, there are about 30 workshops at IJCAI 2011, with deadlines typically in March or April. The conference will be July 16-22 in Barcelona, Spain, and it is the premier conference in AI. An alternative is the Twenty-Fifth Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI-11) from August 7-11 in San Francisco. The deadline is Feb 3 for abstracts and Feb 8 for papers for the main conference, so this is a bit tight. Then there is a Student Abstract and Paper program, with a Feb 15 deadline. This student program is actually a great opportunity to get a chance to participate in such a conference. There are also workshops (there is no list available yet), with an April 22 deadline.
Blackboard Available: KB Nugget Signup, Survey
06/01/12 20:03
Blackboard is now available for the 481 course. We will use it for the following:
- scheduling and repository for KB Nugget presentations (see AI-KB-Wiki on Blackboard),
- assignment submission,
- quizzes,
- possibly some course materials that I can’t put on my public course Web site.
Please take the survey under “Surveys and Quizzes”. It is not graded; I use it to get a better impression about the background of the students, and also to get you familiarized with the way the quizzes will be done.
If you’ve already selected a topic for your KB Nugget presentation, you can sign up on Blackboard. Throughout next week (Week 3), those students with topics selected will be able to sign up; if you haven’t made up your mind yet, you’ll have to wait until Week 4.
- scheduling and repository for KB Nugget presentations (see AI-KB-Wiki on Blackboard),
- assignment submission,
- quizzes,
- possibly some course materials that I can’t put on my public course Web site.
Please take the survey under “Surveys and Quizzes”. It is not graded; I use it to get a better impression about the background of the students, and also to get you familiarized with the way the quizzes will be done.
If you’ve already selected a topic for your KB Nugget presentation, you can sign up on Blackboard. Throughout next week (Week 3), those students with topics selected will be able to sign up; if you haven’t made up your mind yet, you’ll have to wait until Week 4.
A1: Concept Map Available
06/01/12 20:02
Project Description and TRAC Wikis Available
06/01/12 20:02
You can find the project description on the class Web page now. We also have a number of TRAC Wikis available; if your team already has decided on a topic, let me know and I’ll give you access to the Wiki.
KB Nugget Description Available
06/01/12 20:02
You can find the KB Nugget description on the course Web page now. There may be some modifications (such as the length of the presentation) depending on the decision about doing a term paper vs. quizzes.
A table where you can sign up for time slots will be available on Blackboard soon. If you already have a topic in mind, and would like to present early, let me know. If you do your presentation during Week 2, you’ll get a 10% bonus, and 5% during Week 3.
A table where you can sign up for time slots will be available on Blackboard soon. If you already have a topic in mind, and would like to present early, let me know. If you do your presentation during Week 2, you’ll get a 10% bonus, and 5% during Week 3.
Project Topic Proposal: Managing the Design Process in Architecture
02/01/12 18:57
This is a proposal by Brent Griffis, a graduate student in the College of Architecture and Environmental Design. It could also be the basis for a Senior project or Master’s thesis.
Greetings,
My name is Brent Griffis and I am a graduate student in the College of Architecture and Environmental Design.
My research is focused on managing the design process. It is my opinion that the overall design process can be broken up into many different but interconnected activities. Then after analyzing each activity, and weighting them, we can look at the links/dependencies between them and begin to optimize the design process through logic and mathematical models. In doing this, we will be able to identify the critical stages and activities of the design process, and begin to understand the sensitivity of the decision making path to various activities as well as begin to eliminate unnecessary design iterations. Essentially, I want to organize the design process in such a way that it maximizes the possibility of successfully completing the process in the most efficient way possible before the project even begins. I will be creating a set of “guidelines” or a theory that one should follow in order to successfully manage the design process. Then I will actually apply the theory to a couple of different projects and see how it works. I feel that the computer can be useful in this optimization approach. In my limited research of expert systems and constraint programming, I feel that my research is set up perfectly for utilizing the capabilities of these programming techniques. Also, I feel this is a great opportunity to work in an interdisciplinary manner to solve problems that can be applicable to all forms of design; rather it be buildings, software, machines, etc. They are all designed based on the logical completion of different interconnected activities. This description of my research is quite basic, and I feel that if anyone is interested in working with me on this project once you learn more of the specifics, it will hopefully peak your interest further and fit even better into the realm of expert systems and constraint programming than depicted here.
Since at many points during the design process, we as designers must design under uncertainty, the second portion of my guidelines will be focused on how to make design decisions under uncertainty. Again using mathematical models and statistical analysis to provide us with different levels of certainty and answers when there is a lack of information available. I feel that the computer can be helpful in analyzing and computing different levels of uncertainty during a multi-criteria design process. I feel that my abilities in using MATLAB are enough to tackle this portion of the project, but if you would be interested in this portion as well I am open to working with you on it. Thank you for you time, and I look forward to speaking with you in the future.
Regards,
Brent
Brent Griffis
Graduate Student, Researcher
Architecture Department
College of Architecture and Environmental Design
California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo
brentgriffis@hotmail.com (408) 489-3229
Greetings,
My name is Brent Griffis and I am a graduate student in the College of Architecture and Environmental Design.
My research is focused on managing the design process. It is my opinion that the overall design process can be broken up into many different but interconnected activities. Then after analyzing each activity, and weighting them, we can look at the links/dependencies between them and begin to optimize the design process through logic and mathematical models. In doing this, we will be able to identify the critical stages and activities of the design process, and begin to understand the sensitivity of the decision making path to various activities as well as begin to eliminate unnecessary design iterations. Essentially, I want to organize the design process in such a way that it maximizes the possibility of successfully completing the process in the most efficient way possible before the project even begins. I will be creating a set of “guidelines” or a theory that one should follow in order to successfully manage the design process. Then I will actually apply the theory to a couple of different projects and see how it works. I feel that the computer can be useful in this optimization approach. In my limited research of expert systems and constraint programming, I feel that my research is set up perfectly for utilizing the capabilities of these programming techniques. Also, I feel this is a great opportunity to work in an interdisciplinary manner to solve problems that can be applicable to all forms of design; rather it be buildings, software, machines, etc. They are all designed based on the logical completion of different interconnected activities. This description of my research is quite basic, and I feel that if anyone is interested in working with me on this project once you learn more of the specifics, it will hopefully peak your interest further and fit even better into the realm of expert systems and constraint programming than depicted here.
Since at many points during the design process, we as designers must design under uncertainty, the second portion of my guidelines will be focused on how to make design decisions under uncertainty. Again using mathematical models and statistical analysis to provide us with different levels of certainty and answers when there is a lack of information available. I feel that the computer can be helpful in analyzing and computing different levels of uncertainty during a multi-criteria design process. I feel that my abilities in using MATLAB are enough to tackle this portion of the project, but if you would be interested in this portion as well I am open to working with you on it. Thank you for you time, and I look forward to speaking with you in the future.
Regards,
Brent
Brent Griffis
Graduate Student, Researcher
Architecture Department
College of Architecture and Environmental Design
California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo
brentgriffis@hotmail.com (408) 489-3229
Project Topic Proposal: iFixit Recommender System
28/12/11 18:11
The ifixit Web site offers instructions for repairs of all kinds of devices, and has recently been expanded to allow the submission of user-generated instructions. The company, co-funded by a CSC alumnus, is interested in adding a recommendation facility that would offer user suggestions such as other devices or repairs they may be interested in, or parts and tools that are suitable for the repair. They currently have recommendations for the latter, but they are not very sophisticated.
Project Topic Proposal: Computers and Knowledge Educational Resources
27/12/11 11:46
The goal of this project is to provide educational resources for a course similar to this one, but intended for participants without a strong computer background.
Project Topic Proposal: Visualization of Ontologies and RDF Graphs
27/12/11 11:46
The underlying data structures for ontologies and RDF (Resource Data Framework) structures are graphs. While graphs in principle are well suited for visualization purposes, there are several challenges for these particular structures. Ontologies frequently have a multitude of relationships (links in the graph), and it is impractical to display all of them simultaneously. RDF graphs frequently are huge, and can’t be displayed in their entirety. In both cases, however, there are underlying principles that humans intuitively utilize to arrange the nodes in both a visually pleasing and easy to comprehend manner (although it may be very difficult or impossible to achieve both). The objective of this project is to examine existing visualization methods for ontologies and RDF graph, and identify their advantages and shortcomings. On the other side, there are packages available for displaying generic graphs. Our hope is that a combination of insights from the existing visualization tools with advanced graph display packages, together with heuristics that reflect organizational principles for ontologies and RDF graphs will result in better visualization tools. Ideally, a prototype of such an ontology visualization tool would be integrated with the Protégé ontology development environment.
Project Topic Discussions
27/12/11 11:46
I just realized that we could use the Comments feature of these pages for additional project proposals and discussions of the topic I mentioned yesterday. So I’m going to create a new entry for each topic. Please add a comment if the topic sounds interesting to you (this does not constitute a commitment to actually select it), or if you have questions.
I’ll also create another entry for additional project ideas. If you have one, add it there as a comment.
I’ll also create another entry for additional project ideas. If you have one, add it there as a comment.
Welcome to 481-W12!
27/12/11 11:46
Welcome to the Web site for the CPE/CSC 481 Knowledge-Based Systems class in Winter 2012! I’ll be using this page to post news relevant for the class. The page is also available as an RSS feed. To subscribe, copy and past the link from the sidebar on the right to your favorite RSS reader.
Additional Project Topic Proposals
05/01/11 12:24
If you have additional project ideas, please post them here as comments. If possible, they should
- involve outside customers
- incorporate knowledge-centric activities.
- involve outside customers
- incorporate knowledge-centric activities.