Lectures:  MWF 10:30 - 11:20, 308 Stanger.

Teaching Assistant: Dan St. George, is the teaching assistant.

Review Sessions:  There will be optional weekly Q/A sessions in our 308 lab weekly on Tuesday nights from 6:30- 8:00.   If the times are not convenient for you, one on one meetings with Dan or myself are always available.

Texts: (Optional)  Computer Science Illuminated,  4th edition,  by Dale and Lewis, Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 2009, Paperback.  The text is a good reference for general computer science, and a nice coffee table book, but the coverage is broad rather than deep.  You can get by without the text if you take good notes and work hard.  There is also an online Logo text, free for personal use.  For Logo in class, use cs195,  Logo4242.

Goals:  To learn how computers work, from the technical issues associated with programming computers (software) down to the inner workings of the electronic components (hardware).  Emphasis is placed on gaining personal experience by programming graphically through Logo. This is not a course about how to work with computers.  It is a course about how computers work.  You will not learn how to use the most popular software products on the market.  You will learn how to build programs and how the computer makes those programs work.  

General Education Objectives:

• To learn how the computer works inside (hardware), and how it is able to perform the tasks you program (software).
• To learn how to write programs to make a computer perform your own designed tasks.
• To study the evolution and history of the computer from a mathmetical abstraction to the foundation of e-commerce.
• To appreciate and discuss the nature of artificial intelligence as discussed in primary texts.
• To understand issues of privacy and how to communication is encypted on the internet.

Exams:  There will be one midterm (20%) and one final examination (30%).  The final will be on on Friday May 13, 9:00 AM.

Groups:  All assignments, quizzes and the project will be done in groups of three people who will work together the whole semester.  Everyone in each group gets the same credit.  The idea is to promote discussion and experimentation in problem solving.  You should immediately organize yourselves into groups.  If you cannot find a group yourself, I will find one for you.

Assignments and Quizzes:  Homework assignments will be weekly.  There will also be a number of in-class quizzes/assignments. Together theese are worth 25% of your grade.

Resources and Lecture Notes:  All the programs we do in class are available in a shared directory called Logo_Stuff under F-ssimonson\Share.  The directory contains other useful things you can download.  For example, you may install Logo at home by downloading the appropriate files and directories.  Note that Logo does not run on newer 64-bit operating systems, so at home you may need to run a virtual machine to use it (ask me for help).  To access the folder, go to start->run->\\F-ssimonson\Share.

How to Submit an Assignment:  All programs should have your group members names listed in the comments, and should be submitted via email in one file (i.e. all your procedures should be in one file).  For a larger program assignment, please indicate in the subject of your email which procedure in the "main" procedure, i.e., the one used to start the program.  You should email assignments to cs195@stonehill.edu, and not to the TA's or my own personal email.  Use my personal email for course questions, setting up appointments, and projects, but not for the weekly assignments.  This ensures that no assignments will get lost.

Project:  There is a programming project that is due at the end of the semester and is worth 25% of your grade.  The project, like all the homeworks, is done in groups.  There will be a standard project handout, however any group is welcome to design their own project of comparable difficulty with my help and approval.  It is best to demonstrate your program for me in person.  Each group will exhibit their project in class during the last week.  Please email your final project to me directly at shai@stonehill.edu, and not to the TA account. 

Grading: You can guarantee an A with 90% a B with 80% etc.  I may curve these numbers in your favor, if I feel it is warranted.

Special Dates:  There will be no lecture on Wednesday, April 20 due to Passover.  The TA will run a lab session.

Please look at the Alan Turing homepage, to learn about one of the pioneers of computer science.  He was involved with cryptography, artificial intelligence, game playing programs, and the Turing machine - an abstract model of a computer which began the field of computational complexity.  You should read his famous article introducing the Turing Test and artificial intelligence, published in Mind magazine in 1950 shortly before he commited suicide. 

    Other AI-Related Links

• Here is Eliza, an early AI program related indirectly to the Turing Test. 
  
• Here is a page of more modern attempts at passing the Turing Test.
• This is the story of the greatest Checkers player in the world and his connection with Checker's programs and AI.
• A video of two "chat-bots" conversing. 
  

• Logo Quick Reference
• Cool Pics with Short Logo Programs
• Logo Projects
  
• Online Logo Resources
• Good Logo Text - Available free online for personal use.
• All lecture notes from class, and Logo for your own PC can be downloaded from the Share folder on F-ssimonson, as described above (Resources and Lecture Notes) and in class.