STANFORD CS 228
Structured Probabilistic Models: Principles and Techniques
Winter 2009
Assignment In/Out Dates

There will be three programming assignments and two problem sets. The problem sets will consist of five to eight problems. Written assignments will be due two weeks after they go out, and programming assignments will be due two weeks and one day after they go out. The problem set and programming assignment descriptions are available on the handouts section of the webpage. Problem sets must be handed in to the submission box at the bottom of the Gates A wing (West) stairwell by the beginning of class on the day they are due. For instructions on submitting the Programming Assignments, see the submissions page.

  • Programming Assignment 1: Out 1/22, Due 2/5
  • Problem Set 1: Out 1/29, Due 2/12
  • Programming Assignment 2: Out 2/16, Due 2/26
  • Programming Assignment 3: Out 2/28, Due 3/14
  • Problem Set 2: Out 3/5, Due 3/17
    • Reading Assignments/Quiz Schedule

    Each week, readings will be announced on or around Tuesday. We will try to make the quiz available by Friday, and it will be due Monday night at 11:59 PM. We may sometimes include a couple light questions about material from the next week, and when we do, we'll announce what that material is.

  • Week 1 (1/6 and 1/8 lectures)
  • Readings: Chapters 2 and 3 (also make sure that you are familiar with the material in Chapter 1)
  • Quiz 1 available 1/9, due 1/12 at 11:59 PM
  • Week 2 (1/13 and 1/15 lectures)
  • Readings: Chapters 4 and 5
  • Quiz 2 available 1/16, due 1/21 at 11:59 PM
  • Week 3 (1/20 and 1/22 lectures)
  • Readings: Section 3.2.3 and Chapter 6 without 6.1
  • Quiz 3 available 1/23, due 1/26 at 11:59 PM
  • Week 4 (1/27 and 1/29 lectures)
  • Readings: Chapter 7, Section 8.3 (except 8.3.5) and Section 9.1, 9.2
  • Quiz 4 available 1/30, due 2/4 at 11:59 PM
  • Week 5 (2/3 and 2/5 lectures)
  • Readings: Sections 9.3 and 9.4, Chapter 10
  • Quiz 5 available 2/6, due 2/9 at 11:59 PM
  • Week 6 (2/10 and 2/12 lectures)
  • Readings: Chapter 11, 12 and Section 13.1, 13.2 and 13.5
  • Quiz 6 available 2/13, due 2/18 at 11:59 PM
  • Week 7 (2/17 and 2/19 lectures)
  • Readings: Section 13.3, Chapter 14 (except 14.2.3, 14.2.4 and 14.2.6), and Section 15.1
  • Quiz 7 available 2/21, due 2/25 at 11:59 PM
  • Week 8 (2/24 and 2/26 lectures)
  • Readings: Chapter 14 and Chapter 15 (except 15.2.1.5)
  • Quiz 8 available 2/27, due 3/4 at 11:59 PM
  • Week 9 (3/3 and 3/5 lectures)
  • Readings: Chapter 16 and Chapter 17 (except 16.4 and 17.3)
  • Quiz 9 available 3/6, due 3/11 at 11:59 PM

    • The main Quiz page is located at: https://www.stanford.edu/class/cs228/cgi-bin/quiztest.cgi (SUNet ID required).

    The quiz will consist of multiple choice questions, will be open book and notes, and there is no time limit. Each student must complete the quiz alone; collaboration is not allowed. The deadline for submitting is the Monday the quiz is due at 11:59pm. Note that you can only take the quiz once.

    There is a practice quiz ("Quiz 0") that you can take to familiarize yourself with the quiz software format -- of course, this will not count toward your grade. You can take the practice quiz multiple times. When you are ready for the real quiz, click on the appropriate link (e.g. "Quiz 1").

    Submission and Grading Details

    CS228 will have nine weekly quizzes, four problem sets, three programming assignments, and a take-home Final Problem Set (due dates are indicated above). The programming assignments should be relatively short, about 30 to 50 lines of Matlab code. Problem sets must be handed in to the submission box at the bottom of the Gates A wing (West) stairwell by the beginning of class on the day they are due. Programming assignments must be submitted electronically by 11:59 PM on the due date. Recognizing that students may face unusual circumstances and require some flexibility in the course of the quarter, each student will have a total of seven free late (calendar) days to use as s/he sees fit. Once these late days are exhausted, any homework turned in late will be penalized at the rate of 20% per late day (or fraction thereof). Under no circumstances will a homework be accepted more than five days after its due date. Furthermore, for some assignments less than five late days will be allowed. Late days are from 11:00 AM to 11:00 AM. Late homeworks should be turned in to the submission box. You must write the time and date of submission on the assignment. It is an honor code violation to write down the wrong time.

    Programming assigments may be completed in teams of up to 2 students, will be implemented in MATLAB, and will typically require around 30-50 lines of coding. We will provide starter code and stubbed out functions that you will be implementing. The actually coding will tend to be relatively straightforward, so even students with little MATLAB experience should be able to complete the assignments. Late days also apply to programming assignments, and will be applied to everyone in the team. If you turn in a programming assignment one day late and you have no late days left, you will be penalized 20% while your partner will be deducted one late day.

    There will be nine quizzes, which will be available online and due by Monday night of each week. Each student's top eight (highest scoring) quizzes will count in the grade.

    Quizzes will count for 32% of the final grade (4% each), problem sets will count for 34%, and programming assignments will count for 34% (the third assignment will be worth more than the first two and will have some extra credit associated with it). Some extra credit may be awarded for class participation.

    Please notify us immediately (by emailing cs228-qa@cs.stanford.edu) if there are any issues with the quiz or the website.

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