SYMSYS 1 / LINGUIST 35 / PHIL 99 / PSYCH 35
Minds and Machines
Winter 2019, 4 units
Stanford University
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COURSE
INFORMATION
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| Instructor |
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| Teaching Assistants |
Note: office hours begin the second week of classes (from 1/14/19) |
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| Meeting times | Tuesdays and Thursdays 10:30-11:50 am, starting
January 8, 2019 plus sections (beginning week 2) |
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| Location | Cubberley
Auditorium |
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| Description | An overview of the interdisciplinary study of cognition, information, communication, and language, with an emphasis on foundational issues: What are minds? What is computation? What are rationality and intelligence? Can we predict human behavior? Can computers be truly intelligent? Lectures focus on how the methods of philosophy, mathematics, empirical research, and computational modeling are used to study minds and machines. Undergraduates considering a major in Symbolic Systems should take this course as early as possible in their program of study. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Contact information | For most course-related inquiries, your first point of contact will be your teaching assistant. For general inquiries use Piazza. Also be mindful when using Piazza to not post explicit answers to questions in the problem sets, or, whenever necessary, do so as a "private" post that is only visible to the TAs and course instructor. Except in case of emergency or sensitive personal issues, do not email the instructor directly. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Beginning with the
Class of 2018, students must take this course before
being approved to declare Symbolic
Systems as a major. All students interested in
studying Symbolic Systems are urged to take this course
early in their student careers. The course material and
presentation will be at an introductory level, without
prerequisites. NOTE: SYMSYS1P ("A Practical Introduction to Symbolic Systems") is offered as an optional 2-unit supplement to this course, aimed especially at prospective Sym Sys undergraduates and covering "nuts and bolts" topics related to majoring in Symbolic Systems: concentrations and course selection, advising, research opportunities, and career planning. It meets on Wednesdays, 4:30-5:50pm in 380-380C. For questions about SYMSYS 1P, please contact the instructor, Todd Davies (davies@stanford.edu). |
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| Assignments | There will be weekly assignments, starting the second Friday (Jan 18) and due every Friday thereafter. All assignments will be submitted via Canvas. See the assignment schedule on Canvas for details. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sections |
Sections meet every week beginning the
second week of class, on Monday January 14. They will cover the
material presented in the previous week's lectures. Section attendance
constitutes 9% of your final grade (1% per section.) Important! Only sign up for Sections on CANVAS! (Do NOT sign up for sections on Axess!) Signup window for sections on CANVAS will be announced sometime during 1st week. |
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| Readings |
Students should do all assigned readings in advance of the
class for which they are assigned. This is crucial for success in the
class, and lectures will assume prior familiarity with the contents of
the readings. The course will require the following book and reader:
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| Course contract: electronics in
class |
By enrolling in "Minds & Machines", you are signing up for the following contract: No laptop computers, smartphones, iPads, or other internet-enabled devices during class meetings. Students should bring a notebook/notepad and pen/pencil to class for note-taking purposes, as well as the course reader or Hillis book as applicable. This contract has been created in response to a large body of educational research demonstrating that laptop and phone use in class is detrimental to learning. We will discuss this research further in the first course meeting. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Grading |
Grading is still being determined, but will
be approximately as given below. There will be four components:
The final exam will be released the last day of class, March 15, at 5PM. It will be due exactly one week later, on March 22 at 5PM. No late finals will be accepted. All assignment submissions and gradings will be done through Gradescope. Late policy. Every student gets two penalty-free late days total for the quarter (Weekly assignments only, not the Final), where a day is charged for lateness between 0 and 24 hours after the time the assignment is due. After the two late days are used, late assignments will not be accepted, and a grade of 0 will be given for a late assignment. The homework grading policy is posted he re. |
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| Students with Documented
Disabilities |
Students who may need an academic
accommodation based on the impact of a disability must
initiate the request with the Office of Accessible
Education (OAE). Professional staff will evaluate
the request with required documentation, recommend
reasonable accommodations, and prepare an Accommodation
Letter for faculty dated in the current quarter in which
the request is being made. Students should contact the OAE
as soon as possible since timely notice is needed to
coordinate accommodations. The OAE is located at 563
Salvatierra Walk (phone: 723-1066, URL: http://oae.stanford.edu). |
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| Collaboration & plagiarism
policy |
The
SymSys1 Collaboration and Plagiarism Policy is posted here.
Download this document and read it carefully as these policies will be applied in Winter
2019.
You should also consult Stanford's plagiarism policy carefully. If you use ideas from someone else, you should cite a source. If you use someone else's words, you should indicate this by using a quotation and citing a source. Failure to follow the plagiarism policy is a serious offense and can lead to major sanctions, including failing the class and official sanctions through the Office of Community Standards. |
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| Preliminary Schedule (There Will Be
Changes!) |
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