Course Structure
Contents
Course Structure¶
Each week will be a mix of reading about machine learning topics, discussing and debating concepts, implementing algorithms and ideas in code, and constant reflection about our learning and professional development. All best by dates are posted on the Detailed Course Schedule.
Note
The Detailed Course Schedule lists the best by dates for the course. To view it, please log into your Smith account.
Assignments¶
The work in this course can be broadly broken down into four types that build on each other:
Reading and Prep work for class - This is your first contact with the material. Just like meeting a person for the first time, you should pay attention to the big picture pieces, but not fuss over learning each detail perfectly. Instead, note questions you want to ask in your engagement journal the next time you come into contact with the material
In class Labs - The course is designed to be largely hands on. Each class meeting will be mostly working on labs and talking about the labs. The labs are in jupyter notebooks so that we can play with small pieces of code that don’t impact other pieces, take tons of notes, and make mistakes! This is our second contact with the material, and just like meeting a person for the second time, you should have follow-up questions about the material
Homework - Once we’ve read about the material and worked on highly structured labs, it is time to practice deploying concepts from end to end in the usual python setting (i.e. not in a notebook). Homework is one step beyond the labs in difficulty because only the last step (i.e. the result) is asked for. You might want to refer to your labs to do these assignments and note the steps that you got hung up on.
Projects - After three different interactions with each concept, it is time to start experimenting with mixing them and adding a bit of creativity. The projects in this course are very open-ended. The primary goal of these projects is to take the concepts from class and do something that stretches your knowledge.
Engagement Journal¶
As part of this course, you are being asked to keep an engagement journal on Google Drive. This engagement journal aims to be a tether point to bring together the ideas that we encounter in our readings and in our labs. Check out this google doc to start your engagement journal
You should use these journals in a way that makes sense to you. For some, that means doing one entry at the end of the week. For others, that means adding a little after each reading and activity. For some, this means deleting the questions that you don’t answer. For others, this might mean answering every question. Remember that the ultimate goal of the engagement journal is to help you engage with the course. You may have to experiment with how you do this, so that you get the maximal benefit from this tool.
Labs¶
The labs are designed to be completed in class with some work out of class to practice the ideas from our readings. The labs pull together a number of resources and require careful reading of the labs in addition to the code blocks. In addition to the interactive jupyter notebook format, a pdf version of each lab will be provided so that one can write notes by hand (or with a digital pen) on the labs directly.
Homework¶
Homework assignments are designed to stretch your new machine learning knowledge. There are six homework assignments throughout the semester, and they pull together ideas from a number of the labs.
Projects¶
There are 4 projects for the semester. The primary goal of these projects is for you to apply the concepts from this class to a topic that interests you. These are the most creative part of the course and as such, these projects have the least structure. It is highly encouraged that you start these projects early.
Weekly flow for the course¶
Each week, you will have readings to prepare for class as well as two labs. Spread over the semester are six homework assignments and two projects. The course will operate as follows:
Day |
Course Preparation and/or Activity |
Best by Date |
|---|---|---|
Monday |
Lab in class |
Lab from previous Wednesday |
Wednesday |
Lab in class |
Lab from Monday |
Friday |
(no class) |
Homework or Project |
Note
The Detailed Course Schedule lists the best by dates for the course. To view it, please log into your Smith account.
Workload¶
According to federal standards, each four-credit course should equate to at least 180 hours of work over the semester. If you are taking 16 credits, that equates to 720 hours of work over the 15 weeks of the semester, from the first day of classes until the end of the final exam period. In the case of this course, you will spend nearly 12 hours each week on my class alone (including our three hours of class meetings per week).1
In considering the work for this course, I believe that the approximate 9 hours per week outside of class will breakdown something along these lines:
2 hours of class prep - 90 minutes per class meeting reading the book and prep activities
2 hours per week of lab wrap up
3 hours per week on homework and/or projects
2 hours of “flex time” used to supplement any of the above areas and/or go to student hours
Notice that there are 2 hours of flex time. This is to accommodate weeks were you might want to spend more time on an assignment. For example, you might spend extra time working on a project in the weeks leading up to its best by date.
If you find that the time you are spending on this class is a lot more than 9 hours per week outside of class or a lot less, let’s check in.
Flexible Accountability¶
There are only two firm due dates for this course: the last day of classes and the last day of finals. Instead of firm deadlines throughout the semester, we will be using “best by dates.” These best by dates are my recommendation of when you should aim to complete work to continue making progress in the course. If you work best with firm deadlines, then you can treat these best by dates as due dates.
I will be marking assignments in batches as enough work is submitted for each assignment. I will communicate on slack when work has been returned.
Mid-semester Conferences¶
The week after spring break, we will have mid-semester conferences. I will be meeting with each student for 10 minutes to discuss their progress in the course. Please sign-up for these meetings using the link on the detailed course schedule.
Two firm deadlines¶
The only two firm deadlines of the course are the last day of classes and the last day of finals:
Due on the Last day of classes – All labs, all homework assignments, and the first two projects
Due on the last day of finals – The last two projects and your engagement journal
There are no extensions to these two deadlines without intervention from a class dean.
- 1
Each of our 75 minute meetings is “counted” as 90 minutes. Since we meet 2 times per week, our “in-class contact time” is counted as 3 hours.