Assignments

Note on CPSC 489 vs. 589: This course is double-numbered, which means that it can be taken at either graduate- or undergrad-level. What’s the difference? CPSC 589 students will complete an additional, semester-long project.

Assignment weights are for (489/589)

Paper Reviews (25%/15%)

• Purpose: (1) Learn how to quickly and critically review papers. (2) Prepare yourself to contribute to and be engaged in the class discussion.
• Focus: One paper from the upcoming class
• Frequency: Due before every class
• Flexibility: Your lowest 3 review grades will be dropped.

Paper Presentations (25%/20%)

• Purpose: You learn best from teaching (trust me!). This is your opportunity to fully understand a research paper and practice your teaching skills.
• Frequency: 2-3 presentations
• Flexibility: None. It is very important that you present during your assigned date/time. If you know you have a conflict with your assigned presentation date, let me know as early as possible and I will try to reschedule you.

Programming Homeworks (50%/40%)

• Purpose: Give you hands-on experience with implementing and evaluating fundamental learning algorithms.
• Frequency: 1 introductory assignment (“Lab 0”) + 4 labs
• Flexibility: TBD.

Semester-long Project (0%/25%)

• Purpose: Apply the topics from our course to a research or personal interest of your choosing.
• Timeline: The project will be broken down into four written deliverables: a proposal, a literature review, an evaluation proposal, and a final technical report.
• Flexibility: Your mid-semester deliverables will be peer-reviewed to give you additional feedback, so meeting the deadlines is highly important. The final project deadline is set by Yale and cannot be moved.