Preface: Of the parables and other tales that have informed your style of interpersonal dealings, the way that you manage your relationships, which have had a prominent impact? For many, of course, there are the Torah, the Bhagavad Gita, the Dao De Jing and the Analects of Confucius, the Bible or the Qur'an. For interpretation and anecdotal commentary, there are the Talmud, the Mencius, and the Hadith. Better scholars of philosophy than I have produced many ages' worth of analysis, annotation, and metacommentary on these work, though, so rather than attempt another Jesus CEO: Using Ancient Wisdom for Visionary Leadership, I'm going to promote another book that conveys some messages about leadership, but that you may not have thought of very much as a good model: J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion.

( The Sons of Feanor and the Union of Maedhros )
( Maedhros: humility in strength, coalition leadership, building to last )
( Maglor: mentorship and mercy )
( Celegorm, Caranthir, and Curufin: do-it-yourself, enemies of enemies, and the power of oratory )
( Amrod and Amras: survivor type )
( Final assessment )

This is the first part of a seven-part series.

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Banazir

An introductory course in machine learning for development of intelligent knowledge based systems. The first half of the course will focus on basic taxonomies and theories of learning, algorithms for concept learning, statistical learning, knowledge representation, pattern recognition, and reasoning under uncertainty. The second half of the course will survey some basic topics in combining multiple models, learning from time series, learning to reason, and selected applications in knowledge discovery and data mining, especially in bioinformatics.

The course will include several written and programming assignments and a term project option for graduate students. Ancillary readings will be assigned; students will write a brief synopsis and review for one of these papers every other lecture.

This will be my sixth offering of machine learning (the first five being in 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2005). This time I'm cross-listing it with my Advanced AI course (CIS 830), and am giving approximately equal time to graphical models, genetic and evolutionary computation (especially genetic programming, but with some genetic algorithms coverage), and artificial neural networks.

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Banazir

Apropos of my discussions on attendance: it is important to speak up when one is confused, or needs help. Students aren't mind readers and, more to the point, neither are instructors.

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Banazir

n: 10 (this is not counting one distance student's grade)
Min: 70
Max: 173
Mean: 123.2
Median: 124.5
Standard deviation: 34.41

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Banazir

OK, if definitely seems as if the CIS 490/730 (Principles of AI) midterm exam was a bit long. People generally skipped half a problem to one full problem out of 5.

Edit, 06:00 CDT Mon 24 Oct 2006 - Here is the exam, and here is the solution.

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Banazir

It turns out that taking down notes from my whiteboards, and then erasing them both, was the one of the most productive things I did this fall.

Since I did so 2-3 weeks ago, I've erased my boards completely three times over. Instead of taking notes from my meetings with each student and giving him or her a copy, I use the boards, and delegate the responsibility to the student receiving instructions or suggestions. It's generally worked out quite well, with some slight latency.

In other news: scottharmon had his first of three depth orals today, a presentation on computer security. I'd normally try to attend such things, but I found out only about 3 hours before the event, and could only forward the announcement to my students and my colleague Simon Ou, whose research area is security. I'll see about getting the announcement pipeline a little better-oiled for next time.

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Banazir

Apropos of our continuing discussion treating adult students as such: how much do students really know what is good for them, as far as workload and expectations are concerned?

I ask because I'm sure that I've earned the reputation (for better or for worse) of having high expectations. On the plus side, this means I have acceptably high standards and am less likely to turn out "Jaywalker bait" into the CS/IT industry. I call this "keeping our name out of the dumb columns". On the minus side, I've been called a slave driver (though only in Chinese to my face, when the speaker didn't think I could understand; that was amusing).

rsmit212 showed me a comic strip once that concluded, "where knowledge is the commodity, the customer is always wrong". That's a clever notion, but how true is it?

I'm really looking for discussion, BTW, not just validation or critique. Some of the best insights I have gotten from my blog have been through dialogue, sometimes debates between second and third parties that I am only involved in as a bystander or facilitator.

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Banazir

My first evening hour exam was Fri 06 Oct 2006 - I moved it from class time (2:30 - 3:20pm) to afternoon (5:30 - 6:45pm) under the assumption that some or most could use an extra 25 minutes.

Afterwards, students told me I was right. "It would have been possible but a tight squeeze to finish it in 60 minutes and extremely hard in 50, but with 75 we had about 10 minutes left to clean up and check our work."

I've heard that exams should be written so that students get 3-5 times as long as it took the instructor to solve the problem. I usually allow about twice as long (60 minutes for an exam I work in 30 minutes, 75 for one that takes me 35-40 minutes), and it's been a tight squeeze.

What's your experience been, as a student or as an instructor? (Please say what you took or taught.)

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Banazir

So, about attendance.

What was your experience as a high school student? As an undergraduate? Did professors care whether people showed up?

Does it matter? Should we just assume every college student has adult responsibilities and treat them accordingly?

Do recorded lectures available on the web (e.g., Tegrity recordings) help more or hurt things more?

( My take on attendance )
( A side rant on cell phones and other technology )

In other news: Wei Wu took me and several of her other friends to go see the 2006 U.S. Army Soldier Show at McCain. It was surprisingly good: the choreography was fairly well done (in some cases they had to make do with the less-trained talent that they had, though one or two of the performers were excellent) and the singing was consistently very good. Thanks for the invite, Wei!

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Banazir

State of the courses: I'm hearing some positive (second-hand) feedback about the organization and content of my AI and database courses this fall, which is a good sign. People still say I'm going too fast. That's clearly true in CIS 730 (Principles of Artificial Intelligence), but I'm not sure what to do about that in CIS 560 (Database System Concepts). I've actually added a little content (on CSPs and Prolog) to AI, but I've pared the DB course down as far as it will go without being Video Professor Teaches DBMS.

I'm a little concerned about attendance and class participation, but that's a rant for another day.

In other news: We need a semiotician or classical linguist at Kansas State for the comptranslation project. I've been looking for someone from English, but perhaps I should be checking with Philosophy for a semiotics specialist? Someone who's been down Arts and Sciences way at K-State (or has a spouse or SO who has): any suggestions?

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Banazir

This fall, I am again teaching CIS 560 (Database System Concepts) and CIS 730 (Artificial Intelligence). The latter has an undergrad version, CIS 490 (to be listed as CIS 530 in subsequent years), with which it shares lectures.

I'm very excited about both courses this time: not only have I given AI an complete overhaul, but I've planned out three project topics that I think will keep students' attention. I've revamped the term projects and all homeworks in DB. The lectures are similar in content, but I have redistributed the lesson material and eliminated some advanced topics so as to spend more time working problems in class.

My first lectures of the year went rather well, though there were still a few kids in the back of my required course that didn't look too enthused. I have a plan to wake them up with some practical DB projects.

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Banazir

Seeing as I run a research group devoted to Knowledge Discovery in Databases, I thought I'd mine my IM contact list data. Here are some demographics I found interesting.

( Research students )
( Alumni on contact list )
( Affiliate students on contact list )

Moral of the story: get Trillian or GAIM, everyone! Multi-IM clients keep everyone interconnected and cut down on the overhead for those of us who are otherwise forced to relay messages from one service to another.

Also, which of my contacts have Skype or Google Talk? Please reply to this message (you can do it "anonymously", but please give your name or IM).

--
Banazir

I must say, things are looking up.

( Fresh versions of AI and Database Courses )
( On the new and previous crop of students )
( On the Gates )

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Banazir

So.

Grades are in.

Why is it that there are more thirteenth-hour questions than there were eleventh-hour ones?

I mean, I know I try to put students at ease when they needn't be alarmed, just because some of them are very antsy, and some are just a little insecure. Some students should be worried, though! To wit: grad students on the brink of a C or undergrads on the brink of a D or F should hit the books (or come and check on missing homeworks or their absolute standing) before the final. It's easy to say "I didn't see a grade posting, so I just guessed (read: assumed) I was okay"; it's quite another to know you only turned in half the assignments or turned the hour exams in half blank and then count on the curve.

... right?

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Banazir

This is a week for transitions. On Tuesday, I had my final Graduate Council meeting. (Welcome to the new Engineering members, our successors, Todd Easton from IMSE and Don Gruenbacher from EECE). Yesterday afternoon I received a certificate of appreciation from the dean and associate dean of the graduate school (Jim Guikema and Carol Shanklin).

Next week, I report in for Faculty Senate duty. The first meeting is on Tue 09 May 2006.

Today was also the last day of classes for the semester. Where did that entire semester go?

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Banazir

Miscellaneous updatery from Banaland:

• Grading: Well, I finished grading the first assignment in CIS 560 by class time on Thu 27 Apr 2006, and it's as I wrote: instructors' marks are not model solutions, nor are they stack traces, nor even segfault error messages. Sometimes a score is just a score. Let's face it, though: asking for marks is really just a way for some students to ask "where they lost points", which is really just a way to ask for more points. I know whereof I speak: I was neurotically grade-conscious as an undergrad, and while I may arguably have no room to talk about grade-grubbing, I know almost every line in the book, whether it came out of my mouth or someone else's.


• VOIP: Lycos Phone works from phone to computer, and quite well at that, giving me total of 5 VOIP solutions in addition to my cell phone: iTalkBB for voice-to-voice, SkypeOut for IP-to-voice, Lycos Phone for voice-to-IP, and Skype and Google Talk (plus Lycos and Yahoo) for IP-to-IP.


• Nanowrimo: Halfway between Nanowrimo 2005 and 2006, 100000 words (and two challenges in), I have finished the first two "books", but I'm not quite satisfied with the turns of events; the last few chapters in particular feel more like a series of vignettes with loose ends, and I'm not sure how to wrap things up for the 2006 sequel.


• Chat: There is no way in the Eleven Hells I can catch a person who sails in and out of the chat room within 30 seconds; sometimes we go that long between responses during an active conversation.


• WOW detox: Still wishing World of Warcraft would stop swallowing grad students whole. So, zengeneral, tell me about those withdrawal symptoms!

And how are you all?

--
Banazir

Today, I'd like to tell you a couple of brief stories that I hope will illustrate my feelings about grading and my rationale for favoring exams over homeworks (especially in grading) more and more over the years.

( First story: why I give homework a value greater than zero )
( Second story: why I've been giving homework less value each year )

--
Banazir

... to paraphrase a Talmudic quotation by Ben Kingsley's Itzhak Stern in the Spielberg film Schindler's List.

The Undergraduate Studies Committee has unanimously supported my initiative to seek a revamp the discrete math course on our campus.
Naturally, this means a straw poll!

So, tell me again, please:

• 1. When do you think a Discrete Math course should be taken by computer science majors at the latest?


• 2. Should all Information Systems (IS, not MIS!) majors take discrete math?


• 3. Should Math Secondary Ed majors take it?


• 4. What topic or topics are absolutely essential in a first course in discrete math?


• 5. What topics did you have in your first discrete math course, if any, that you could have done without?

Edit, 12:45 CDT Tue 02 May 2006: ( How it currently is at K-State )
Thanks!

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Banazir

Those of you in a position to confirm or refute some claims I have heard:

• 1. Is CIS 301 (Logical Foundations of Computer Science) thought of as a weed-out course by any of our undergrads? I have heard this stated as fact by a few students, but I can tell you that the claim is met with skepticism by the CIS faculty, so I'm looking for someone who can actually confirm it.


• 2. Are students presently scared to take MATH 510 as second-year students?


• 3. Is a course in database systems really foundational to Information Systems? Would IS majors nevertheless avoid it if it was a full-strength 500-level technical elective, covering database development and theory equally with applications?

In other news: I'm a little regretful to have had to give this year's Cultural Studies Symposium on Privacy and Security a miss. It seems almost perfect for a CS-Humanities interface, and I would have liked to have written that little essay on "Privacy in the Age of the Weblog: from Data Mining to Cybersecurity" that I've had brewing in the back of my head. Ah, but you see, that's been on my to-do list since October, 2005, and I never so much as sent in an abstract. Such is life when you're overcommitted.

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Banazir

banazir: Euler went blind, you know.
zengeneral: I plan to become deaf, so that I can ignore the cries of my students.

Don't make me break out this icon! ;-)

( My personal experience so far with undergraduate teaching this semester )
( CIS 560: Introduction to Database Systems )

Of course, if you listen to zengeneral, anything over 2 lectures spent on SQL is too much. ;-D

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Banazir