Lectures:  MWF, 9:30 - 10:20, Computer Lab - 228 College Center.

Teaching Assistants: Johana Papa is the teaching assistant. She will help you in lab with your programming assignments.

Lab and Help Sessions:  The lab in 228 College Center is open for your use anytime there is no class being held there. 
TA hours:  Wednesday evenings in the lab 5-7.

Goals:  To learn how computers work, from the technical issues associated with programming computers (software) down to the inner workings of the electronic components (hardware).  Emphasis is placed on gaining personal experience by programming graphically through Logo. This is not a course about how to work with computers.  It is a course about how computers work.  You will not learn how to use the most popular software products on the market.  You will learn how to build programs and how the computer makes those programs work. 

Texts: (Optional)  Computer Science Illuminated,  7th edition,  by Dale and Lewis, Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 2020, Paperback.  The text is a good reference for general computer science, and a nice coffee table book, but the coverage is broad rather than deep.  You can get by without the text if you take good notes and work hard.  There is also an online Logo text, free for personal use. 

General Education Objectives:

• To learn how the computer works inside (hardware), and how it is able to perform the tasks you program (software).
• To learn how to write programs to make a computer perform your own designed tasks.
• To study the evolution and history of the computer from a mathematical abstraction to the foundation of e-commerce.
• To appreciate and discuss the nature of artificial intelligence as discussed in primary texts.
• To understand issues of privacy and how to communication is encrypted on the internet.

Exams:  There will be one midterm (20%) and one final examination (30%).  The final will be Wednesday, May 8, 9:00 AM, in our lab.

Groups:  All assignments, quizzes and the project will be done in groups of three people who will work together the entire semester.  Everyone in each group gets the same credit.  The idea is to promote discussion and experimentation in problem solving.  You should immediately organize yourselves into groups.  If you cannot find a group yourself, I will find one for you.

Assignments and Quizzes:  Homework assignments will be weekly.  There will also be a number of in-class quizzes/assignments. Together these are worth 30% of your grade.

Resources and Lecture Notes:  All the programs we do in class are available in a shared folder on \\F-ssimonson01\Logo-Programs.  On a PC, type \\F-ssimonson01\ into the finder window (magnifying glass), or into the Run app.  On a Mac, go to "Go", then click "connect to server", then type "smb://F-ssimonson01".   When asked for username and password, make sure you are connected to Hillnet securely, use your full Stonehill name like ssimonson@students.stonehill.edu and your Stonehill password. You can set up a permanent link to the location (map a network drive) to avoid having to type it all in every time - ask me or Helpdesk or TA if you need help. 

Here are extensive class notes on hardware.  Here is a Logo Quick Reference.

Logo Versions:  We are using Terrapin-Logo.  It runs on both PCs and Macs.  If you want to purchase a personal copy so you can work away from school, you can buy a household license for $25. This could be split among your group -- a single license serves four people.

How to Submit an Assignment:  All programs should be saved in a single file with your group members' names listed in the comments. You should submit your programs via Canvas into the appropriate "dropbox."  For the longer programs, please indicate which procedure is your "main" procedure, i.e., the one used to start the program.

Project:  There is a programming project that is due at the end of the semester and is worth 20% of your grade.  The project, like all the homework assignments, is done in groups.  There will be a standard project handout, however any group is welcome to design their own project of comparable difficulty with my help and approval.  Each group will demo their project to me before the final, and then email me the final version.  Do not submit your project into ELearn.

Grading: There will be one midterm (20%) and one final examination (30%). The project is 20% and your assignments/quizzes are 30%. You can guarantee an A- or better with 90%, a B- or better with 80% etc.  I may curve these numbers in your favor, if I feel it is warranted.

Special Dates:  Wed. April 24 and Mon. April 29 are Passover and I will not be in class.  There will be a lab day with the TA. I will announce this in class as we get close to the date.

• Here is a video about The Turk, (1770-1854), an early AI hoax.  Although too early to be real AI, it showed the receptiveness of the public to the idea of AI.  This video includes a Chess game between The Turk and Napolean Bonaparte!
• Here is Eliza, an early AI program related indirectly to the Turing Test.  
• This is the story of the greatest Checkers player in the world and his connection with Checker's programs and AI.
• The Loebner prize is a modern version of the Turing Test.
  
• This award-winning documentary and this Nature article about machine learning and the game Go shows the amazing strides AI has made in the area of learning.
•  ChatGPT - the newest version of machine learning based Chatbots.
  

• Logo Quick Reference
• Terrapin Logo Resources: Documentation, Projects, etc.
  
• Cool Pics with Short Logo Programs
• Good Logo Text - Available free online for personal use.
• All lecture notes from class can be downloaded from the shared folder on \\F-ssimonson01\Logo-Programs, as described above (Resources and Lecture Notes).
• Here are extensive class notes on hardware.   Here is the example of  A 7-segment LCD Decoder Circuit; it can also be found in the notes.
• Here is a file that reviews  hardware terminology     

Brief Syllabus