Protocol of the Course

The course syllabus is our 'contract' and we will abide by it. You are welcome to suggest modifications to the syllabus.

The course consists of lectures by the instructor, 3 times per week.

Workload

Required and recommended reading (as indicated in the Class schedule)

AIMA (textbook) will be followed in a more or less linear fashion.  The content of the course will be dynamically adapted to students performance. Chapters to be studied may encompass:  Chapter: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (partially), 6, 7, 9, and 10 (quickly) and, time permitting, 11, 13, and/or 14. Sections from these and other chapters may be dropped or added during the course.  Regularly check the class schedule.

Programming, theoretical, and library-search assignments

• Programming assignments can be done in Java, C, or C++. If done in Common Lisp, a 10% bonus will be granted. (Advice: use Allegro Common Lisp on Linux) and turned in using the UNIX web handin program on cse.unl.edu.
• Pen+paper assignments must be given to the instructor in class.
• All assignments (including programming and pen+paper assignments)  must be turned in before the lecture on the due date.
• Late homework are subject to a 20% deduction per day (including week-ends), any second after the due date counts as an entire day. 
• Students are kindly requested to indicate how much time they approximately spend on each exercise; this information will be aggregated and used for load-balancing purposes. It does not affect grading and the evaluation of individuals.

Surprise quizzes

There will be surprise quizzes throughout the semester  (with a frequency inversely proportional to students'  attendance).  Quizzes will address all material covered during the lectures and/or appearing in the required reading.  No books or personal notes are allowed during the quizzes, unless explicitly specified. Quizzes cannot be made up.

Tests

• There will be a pre-test, a mid-term and a final. Tests cannot be taken in advance. Tests cannot be made up except by instructor's permission.
• Unless specified, tests are closed-book exams. Students may  however use a one 81/2"x11" sheet as crib sheet. Students may use both sides of the sheet and write as small as they like.
• Crib sheets may have only definitions, theorems, general comments. No proofs and no solutions of examples or of problems are allowed.
• Crib sheets must be handwritten. No photocopies, typewritten paper, electronic/mechanical reproductions will ever be allowed.
• Further, students must handin their crib sheet with their exam.

Attendance

• Attendance is not mandatory. But students are responsible for the material covered and announcements (such as lists of terms for glossary) made during the class.
Also, there will be surprise quizzes during the regular class and the recitation.
• Bonus points will be awarded to students who attend all lectures, interact lively, and participate in discussion in class.

Alerts

• It is the students responsibility to ensure an account on the department's unix server or PCs (with Linux), in order to run xemacs (editor) and Allegro Common Lisp (ACL), the programming environment.
• Discussions among students, instructor, and TA are encouraged. Homework however are a strictly individual activity: no sharing is permitted (unless when specified by instructor). Unethical behavior will be heavily sanctioned (e.g., a null grade on the task).
• Always acknowledge any help received from other individuals.
• Always fully reference material used (e.g., encyclopedia, book, paper, journal, web site).