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Welcome to the 2020 Edition of 6.034
6.034
6.034 introduces representations, methods, and architectures used to build applications and to account for human intelligence from a computational point of view. It covers problem solving and inference paradigms such as constrained search, constraint propagation, rule chaining, inheritance, and statistical inference. It also covers machine learning paradigms such as identification trees, neural nets, genetic algorithms, support-vector machines, and boosting.
In the fall semester of 2020, 6.034 will meet Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10am to 11am virtually via Zoom. The lectures, in which we introduce material and talk about the "big picture", usually will be on Monday and Wednesday. On many Fridays, and the occasional Wednesday, you will learn about what is happening in the field right now from someone who is doing work right now in an area related to the lecture topics. The lectures, and most of the right-now talks, will be recorded and made available for later viewing.
Four examinations, aka quizzes, will cover material from the lectures. Additional written assignments will cover material presented in lectures and/or the right-now talks. Labs are programming assignmentsLinks to an external site., released approximately every 7 to 10 days, in which you'll practice your newly acquired skills.
Recitations will meet weekly for an hour on Friday via Zoom and will provide you with a venue in which you can review lecture material, work practice problems, and have small-group discussions. Students will choose their recitation times the first week of class. All students taking this class for credit must sign up for a recitation; attendance during the term is strongly encouraged but not required. Recitation meetings will not be recorded, but a recorded review of the week's recitation material will be available for students unable to attend a recitation.
6.034 is no longer offered in the spring term.
We are pleased to note that Bloomberg has listed 6.034 as among "Five of the Best Computer Science Classes in the U.S."
6.844 (Graduate Version)
6.844 was created in response to requests from grad students who wanted to take 6.034, but needed graduate level credit.
It is a supplement to 6.034: You will take 6.034 as usual and do all of that work (lectures, labs, quizzes, etc.), and in addition attend the 6.844 session and do the work required there. That session will meet every Friday 11am-12pm virtually via Zoom. It will be recorded and available for later viewing.
For each 6.844 session, students read an assigned paper or papers from the research literature, write up a one page response to a set of provided questions, and come to class prepared to discuss answers to those questions.
Accommodations will be made for students in different time zones. To keep the class size manageable and to encourage active class participation, we do not allow listeners.
For more information, visit the 6.844 site 6.844_Info.
Fall 2020
6.034 will meet via Zoom for lectures at the scheduled time (MWF10). Lectures will include a combination of synchronous and asynchronous recordings and will be available for later viewing. TA-led recitations will meet via Zoom for an hour on Fridays; recordings of sessions may be available for later viewing. All students are required the first week of class to sign up for a recitation session; recitation times will be available throughout Friday in order to accommodate different schedules and time zones. Lecture and recitation attendance is encouraged, but not required. Required work includes written assignments, 10 programming labs, and 4 quizzes. If/when quizzes are given during class time, attendance is required, with accommodations for different time zones. Students may skip final exam if satisfied with quiz performance. Students are expected to have access to a tablet device and stylus or have an equivalent method for writing on and submitting electronic documents.
6.844 will meet via Zoom for at the scheduled time (F11). Lectures will be synchronous, recorded, and available for later viewing. Class participation is required; accommodation will be made for students in different time zones.
More details about 6.034 and 6.844 will be coming soon....
Logistical stuff
Programming: Lab assignments are programmed in Python. Here is a description of the first lab assignment, which is meant to give you an idea of what level of programming skill is required. The lab will be released the week before class starts and will be due the second week of class.
