Syllabus for SSE 636

Advanced Computational Techniques

Spring Semester 2014 (14S)

Early version, changes are possible.

Texts	Software	Resources	Catalog Description
Course Objectives	Prerequisites	Class Location	Grading
Assignments	Additional Information	Schedule of Assignments and Events	Contact Information

Instructor: Dr. Paul E. MacNeil

Office: Suite 223a, School of Engineering

Phone: 478-301-2185

Email: macneil_pe@mercer.edu

Textbooks and Supplies:

Texts (including web sites):

AI Application Programming (2nd ed.), by M. Tim Jones, Charles River Media, ISBN 978-1584504214 (2005) (required)

Software (including web sites):

A software development environment for your language of choice (C++, C#, Java) (Required, but your choice.)
TBD - more information will be forthcoming
An Internet ftp client of your choice. Core FTP LE is free and works well http://www.coreftp.com/ . (Required, but your choice)

Other Useful Resources (including web sites):

Catalog Description (Course Purpose):

Applications of computational intelligence methods to solve problems.

The text and other sources may be written in C and in C/C++. Your implementation language may be Java, C#, or (object-oriented) C++.

This Online Learning course begins on January 6, 2014.

Course Objectives:

Breadth and Depth in Defining, Analyzing, and Solving Complex Problems:

After successfully completing this course, you should be able to demonstrate a basic capability to apply advanced computational intelligence methods to solve complex problems.

Communicate Technical Aspects of the Solution for Complex Software Engineering Problems to a Technical Audience:

After successfully completing this course, you should be able to demonstrate a basic ability to communicate regarding the application of advanced computational intelligence methods to a technical audience.

Class Location:

The Online Learning asynchronous "meetings" take place in Cyberspace; i.e., on the Internet.

Grading:

Item	Percent of Term Grade
Direct Activity Report 1	10
Direct Activity Report 2	10
Direct Activity Report 3	10
Project 1	15
Project 2	15
Project 3	15
Project 4	25

Credit will be given only for original work.

The Mercer University Student Handbook, including its provisions for academic honesty (including plagiarism), apply to all Mercer students.

Project reports are to be submitted complete, not as incremental partial submissions.

All course work is categorized as either Direct or Non-Direct (but not both). More information about the Direct and Non-Direct categories is contained in the Direct and Non-Direct and Report Logs. Please read these pages very carefully.

Instruction Time

Federal and regional accreditation requirements stipulate that a 3-credit hour course must include 150 minutes of direct instruction time per week. For this course, that direct instruction time includes"

Collaborative discussions with other students regarding the content of readings assigned for the course.
Collaborative discussions with other students regarding the content that goes beyond readings assigned for the course, but is not part of work on the projects assigned on the syllabus.
Collaborative development of generic technology that may be useful for your project(s), but is not, in its generic form, part of your project.

In addition to the 150 minutes of direct instruction time each week, students are expected to spend a minimum of 300 additional minutes per week completing reading and writing assignments:

Doing the assigned reading.
Working on the projects assigned on the syllabus.

More information about the Direct and Non-Direct categories is contained in the Direct and Non-Direct and Report Logs. Please read these pages very carefully.

Use the Report Logs to help you to manage your time and keep on schedule. You should schedule your work evenly throughout the term. If you fall behind schedule for your Direct Activities, and you "catch up" by your last Direct Activity Report, your previous Direct Activity Report grades can be raised to reflect your success in meeting this requirement, provided that your previous Direct Activity Reports were submitted in a timely manner. Direct Activity Reports not submitted in a timely manner will receive a grade of 0 (zero) unless the professor has approved an extension in advance.

The Non-Direct Activity reports do not receive a separate grade, but are used to help in evaluating your project reports.

More information about project grading is contained in the General Project Rubric .

If you have a question about any of this, please ask.

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Assignments:

Purpose of projects:

Use the projects to develop your capabilities, and
Use the projects to demonstrate your capabilities.

Deliverables for all projects:
All course work is categorized as either Direct or Non-Direct (but not both). Read Direct and Non-Direct and Report Logs before continuing. Please read these pages very carefully.
- All Direct Activity Reports include a Direct Activity Log, and may include additional supporting material at your discretion.
- All Project Reports include a Non-Direct Activity Log, in addition to your work on the project.
- Projects shall be delivered via the course FTP site.
- Project reports should each be a single, standalone .pdf document, with the Bookmark feature used to support easy document navigation. Note that both MS Word and LibreOffice (which is free open-source software) support bookmarks, and will carry the bookmarks over into the pdf document when they convert your .docx, .odf, or whatever file type to PDF.
- Project reports should focus on the development and/or maintenance that you actually do. Reports should not focus on summarizing or explaining the text or other materials.
- Inclusion of screenshots demonstrating your work, and code you actually wrote for the project, are appropriate. Long code listings can be placed in appendices if doing so does not interfere with you presenting your work on that code in the body of the text.
- Your report should be organized in such a way as to make the topics that you want credit for covering easy to find, and demonstrate your capabilities clearly and convincingly. Everything you want considered for credit, including code and tests (including test results), should be included in the report.
- Each project can be a single, integrated project that tries to actually do something, or a collection of exercises that demonstrate your capabilities but don't accomplish anything else, or any combination of these two alternatives that you find convenient
- You may include other material outside of the report (on the FTP site), if you wish, but this material may or _may not_ be considered in evaluating your work.
- For each capability that you demonstrate within a report or major section of that report, you may present only the final result of your work; you need not demonstrate every step in the development of that result.
Some suggestions for doing a project are contained in the One Way to Do a Project page.

Project 1 (solo or team):

Pick a computational intelligence topic from the text. Announce your selection via the listserv. If you have not previously done a computational intelligence course with me, choose Genetic Algorithms.
Develop an example application of this topic, using this development effort to both develop and demonstrate your capabilities in applying the techniques of this topic.

Project 2 (solo or team):

Pick one or more computational intelligence topic(s) from the text. (Please do not repeat topic(s) from Project 1.) Announce your selection via the listserv. If you have not previously done a computational intelligence course with me, choose Fuzzy Logic.
Develop an example application of this topic (these topics), using this development effort to both develop and demonstrate your capabilities in applying the techniques of this topic (these topics).

Project 3 (solo or team):

Pick one or more computational intelligence topic(s) from the text. (Please do not repeat topic(s) from Project 1 or Project 2.) Announce your selection via the listserv. If you have not previously done a computational intelligence course with me, choose Neural Networks.
Develop an example application of this topic (these topics), using this development effort to both develop and demonstrate your capabilities in applying the techniques of this topic (these topics).

Project 4 (solo or team):

Pick one or more computational intelligence topic(s) from the text. (You may repeat some topics from Project 1, Project 2 or Project 3, but please include at least one new topic.) Announce your selection via the listserv).
Develop an example application of this topic (these topics), using this development effort to both develop and demonstrate your capabilities in applying the techniques of this topic (these topics).

TBD

Please raise questions and issues via the course listserv.

Additional Information:

Asynchronous Learning Nets (ALNs)
- Self Study: You study the texts and any other course study material on your own(team).
- Collaborative Projects: After your self-study, you collaborate (via the Internet [email]) with your partner(s) to produce a team product. Your collaborative work is substantial, asynchronous, and rapid.
- This course is an online learning course. Please read this Online Learning web page regarding online learning in this course and this program.

What Do I Do?

Subscribe to the course email listserv. Your professor can tell you how to do this.
Study the assigned material.
Write and read email messages about ideas, problems and solutions to do with the assigned study material.
Do the assigned work, deliver the assigned deliverables.
Write and read email messages (to/from the listserv) about ideas, problems and solutions to do with the assigned homework.
Review the deliverables produced by other people.

Changes to this Syllabus:

There will be changes to this syllabus, so check back frequently, and don't forget to hit "Reload" or "Refresh".

Schedule of Events and Assignments:

Start Date	End Date	Activity/Event
January 6, 2014	April 25, 2014	Course in Progress
	NLT January 8, 2014	Identify your selected language for this course in an email message to the _course_ listserv.
January 6, 2014	February 3, 2014	Work on Project 1
	February 3, 2014	Direct Activity Report 1 due.
	February 3, 2014	Project 1 due.
	March 3, 2014	Project 2 due.
	March 17, 2014	Direct Activity Report 2 due.
	March 31, 2014	Project 3 due.
	April 25, 2014	Direct Activity Report 3 due.
	April 25, 2014	Project 4 due.
	April 25, 2014	Course ends. Firm date.

Notes:

tbd

Contact Information

My Name: Dr. Paul E. MacNeil
My E-mail: macneil_pe@mercer.edu .
My Office Phone: 478 301-2185
US Mail:

Dr. Paul E. MacNeil
School of Engineering
Mercer University
1400 Coleman Ave.
Macon, GA 31207

Important Additional Information:

“Students requiring accommodations or modifications for a disability should inform the instructor at the close of the first class meeting or as soon as possible. The instructor will refer you to the ACCESS and Accommodation Office to document your disability, determine eligibility for accommodations under the ADAAA/Section 504 and to request a Faculty Accommodation Form. Disability accommodations or status will not be indicated on academic transcripts. In order to receive accommodations in a class, students with sensory, learning, psychological, physical or medical disabilities must provide their instructor with a Faculty Accommodation Form to sign. Students must return the signed form to the ACCESS Coordinator. A new form must be requested each semester. Students with a history of a disability perceived as having a disability or with a current disability who does not wish to use academic accommodations are also strongly encouraged to register with the ACCESS and Accommodation Office and request a Faculty Accommodation Form each semester. For further information, please contact Carole Burrowbridge, Director and ADA/504 Coordinator, at 301-2778 or visit the ACCESS and Accommodation Office website at http://www.mercer.edu/disabilityservices.

Accreditation: Mercer University is accredited by SACSCOC.