University of Toronto - Winter
2006
Department of Computer Science
CSC 2542:
Topics in KR&R: Automated Reasoning
Class Projects
A major fraction of your course grade will be based on a course project.
The course project must be on the general topic of automated reasoning for
AI problem solving. A set of potential topics will be provided, but I
encourage students to choose their own topic and to use this as a vehicle
to jumpstart a new research project or to investigate a new aspect of ongoing
research. Come and talk to me early in the term about possible research
topics.
An initial 2-page project proposal is due no later than by 5pm,
Monday February 27. I encourage you to start thinking about your project
early and talking to me about it.
The proposal must comprise:
- a careful description of the problem your project will address;
- a set of approximately 2-4 research papers from which the projects will be drawn;
- a description of the approach you will take to addressing the project;
- a description of how you will evaluate the success of the project;
- a rough schedule for when you'll accomplish the work (to ensure completion
by the end of term).
Project Presentations:
Preliminary Schedule for Project
Presentations (April 18, 2006)
Your presentation is worth 10% of your mark.
Your presentation should be 20 minutes in length (leaving 10 minutes
for questions). 20 minutes = approx 10 slides. You should
try cover the following points:
-
Statement of the problem you are trying to address
-
Why the problem is interesting or important
-
What has been done in the area until now (can be short)
- Your approach
- How you expect to evaluate your work
- Progress you've made to date
Use this as a guide. You don't need to stick to this if doesn't seem
to fit your project.
I expect each of you to talk to me/Scott at least 4 days before your
presentation to go over the outline of your slides, and again the
morning of your presentation (or the day before).
Evaluation of the project (70 marks):
- (5 marks) Your project proposal.
- (10 marks) Your project presentation.
Your presentation will be given in a class towards the end
of term. As such, your presentation may have to be given before your
project is completed.
- (55 marks) For the overall quality of your project, based in part
on its level of difficulty, on the insights you exposed, and any novel
ideas of your own that you are able to explore, and your final analysis
of your project. A major proportion of
this mark will depend on the students' presentation of their final results.
This should usually be in the form of a formal written paper, perhaps
with a well-structured web site to show results, if relevant. A major
component of
the report will be a review and analysis of the related literature,
along with your assessment of the effectiveness and relative merits of
each approach. This will focus mainly on the 2-4 papers you chose,
but will also likely require several further sources in order to
provide sufficient groundwork.
The written report and/or website should will also include a detailed
description of any algorithms you implemented. This should include
problems you faced, the mathematical details of what was implemented,
and an assessment of any empirical results.
Due Date: The final written reports for projects is due the last day of
examinations, Friday May 12 at 5:00pm. (I will accept projects
on Monday May 15 by 5:00pm without penalty, but Friday is preferred.)