CSCI 443/543
Evolutionary Computation
Fall, 2009
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COURSE PAGE
web.stcloudstate.edu/bajulstrom/cs443/home-f09.html
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This page is under construction.
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- Instructor: Bryant Julstrom
- Time and place: 2:00 - 3:15 Tuesday and Thursday in
ECC-135.
- Text: A. E. Eiben and J. E. Smith:
Introduction to Evolutionary Computing.
Berlin: Springer, 2003.
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Projects:
There will be several projects in this course, of which the last will be
a research project. All will require a significant amount of
writing, and the last three projects will result in papers in the style of
conference papers. You may use any document-preparation system you like,
but conference and journal articles are most often prepared in LaTeX,
which is available on csci and any Linux machine. There are
also versions for Windows.
There are many tutorials on LaTeX available on-line; follow
this link to a list of some of them.
- Project 1. Investigate and describe an
NP-hard combinatorial problem. Due Thursday, September 10.
- Project 2.
Design, implement, test, compare, and describe a k-ary-coded
genetic algorithm and a non-evolutionary heuristic for a suitable
combinatorial problem.
Progress report: A paragraph or two describing the problem you have
chosen and what you've done with it so far. Due Thursday, September 17.
Completed project: Due Tuesday, September 29.
- Project 3.
Design, implement, test, and compare an evolutionary algorithm that
encodes its candidate solutions as subsets, permutations, or a
representation of trees with a non-evolutionary heuristic for a
suitable combinatorial problem.
Describe your investigation in a conference-style paper.
Progress report: Due Thursday, October 8.
Paper: Due Tuesday, October 20.
- An evolutionary computation research project consisting of
the following steps and leading to a paper and a presentation to the
class. The steps and the dates they are due are:
- Develop and write up a proposal for
your research project. Due Thursday, October 29.
- Turn in a brief progress report that describes the state of
your project so far. Due Thursday, November 12.
- Turn in three copies of a draft of
your paper.
Follow these formatting instructions.
Other members of the class (and the instructor) will review your paper,
and you will review two other papers.
Though you will revise your paper, this version must be complete
and polished.
Also, on a separate piece of paper, turn in the name, dates, and
location of a conference and the name of a journal to which it
would be appropriate to submit your paper, with brief explanations
of why your paper would fit these forums. Due Tuesday, December 1.
- Turn in reviews of the papers you
were given to look over. You will receive reviews of your own paper.
Due Thursday, December 3.
- Turn in two copies of the final revised version of your paper.
This version too should
adhere to these formatting instructions.
You will receive a book of all the papers at the final exam. Due
Thursday, December 10.
- Present your project to the class. Plan to take no more than 15
minutes, including set-up, the presentation itself, and questions
(for which you should leave a few minutes). Prepare overheads or
PowerPoint slides to illustrate your presentation, but
do not read from them. Overheads or slides illustrate;
they do not replace or provide your words.
Projects are due at the beginning of class on their due dates.
Exams:
There will be one hour exam during the course and a comprehensive
final exam. The exam dates are:
- Hour exam - Tuesday, October 6.
- Final exam - Thursday, December 17, 1:00 - 3:30.
Exams will be based on the notes.
Calculators will be neither necessary nor allowed.
Make-up exams will be given only for documented emergencies and
with prior notice. Rides home, airplane flights, hunting season,
and wedding rehearsals do not constitute emergencies. Plan ahead.
Grading: Grades will be based on your projects
and exams in these proportions:
| Projects | 40%
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| Hour exam | 20%
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| Final exam | 40%
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Attendance: You are responsible for knowing
what happens at each class meeting, and that is most easily
and efficiently accomplished by being there. The instructor
will NOT repeat a presentation just for you.
Decorum: Conduct yourself to maximize your benefit from each class
session and to not distract others.
In particular:
- Arrive for class on time, and be ready to begin. If you must be
late, be quiet.
- If you are early, sit toward the middle of a row.
- Do not engage in distracting activities like reading a newspaper
or sleeping.
- Turn off all cell phones and similar devices.
- Use your computer only for activities associated with the presentation.
- Do not start packing up before class ends.
Academic honesty: Using other people's words or ideas as if
they were your own in written work, including programs and projects,
is theft, known in this case as plagiarism. Do not do it.
Getting other people's answers for exams is cheating. Do not do it.
Both are very serious, and will result in a grade of zero on the work
in question, probably an F in the course, and possibly other
disciplinary actions.
Accomodations: If anyone has a disability that may require modification
of seating, testing, or some other feature of the course, please see Dr. Julstrom
after class or during his office hours.
Complaints: Please bring any complaints to Dr. Julstrom.