I101: Introduction to Informatics

Spring 2007

Instructor: Luis M. Rocha

Associate Instructors: Christian Beck, Bharat Dravid, and Mira Han.

Class Location and Time:Tuesday and Thursday, 01:00PM - 02:15PM

School of Informatics, Indiana University

1900 East Tenth Street, Bloomington IN 47408

Course Description
Syllabus
Course Evaluation
Infoport. The course's blog.
Office Hours
Course Materials
Lecture Notes

Lecture Slides

Labs

Projects

Individual Project 1: The Black Box. Study the behavior of the system. Propose a model of what it does. Due on February 9th , 2007 . Upload your findings to the Individual Project 1 folder in the assignments section in Oncourse.
Individual Project 2: The Black Box: Numerical Version. Study the behavior of the system. Propose a model of what it does. Due on March 2nd, 2007 . Upload your findings to the Individual Project 2 folder in the assignments section Oncourse.
Individual Project 3: The Black Box: Numerical Version. Study the behavior of the system using descriptive statistics. Propose a model of what it does. Due on March 30th, 2007. Upload your findings to the Individual Project 3 folder in the assignments section in Oncourse
Individual Project 4: The Black Box: Numerical Version. Study the behavior of the system using descriptive statistics. Propose a model of what it does by defining an algorithm with the notions presented in class. Due on April 20th, 2007 . Upload your findings to the Individual Project 4 folder in the assignments section in Oncourse
Group Project 1: Text Frequency Analysis. Due on March 9th, 2007 . Upload results to the Group Project 1 assignment folder in Oncourse.
Group Project 2: Text Statistics and Probability. Due on April 6th, 2007 . Upload results to the Group Project 2 assignment folder in Oncourse.
Group Project 3: Storing the Data Gathered. Due on April 27th , 2007 . Upload results to the Group Project 3 assignment folder in Oncourse.

Oncourse

Course Description

The course deals with foundational Informatics concepts such as Information, Knowledge, Modeling, and Uncertainty. We introduce all the conceptual building blocks necessary to understand the basics of Information Theory. We introduce those building blocks hand in hand with the practical dimension of Informatics, which focuses on solving real problems with information technology. We present informatics tools in various human domains, and discuss their implications for the practice of science, engineering, art, and society in general.

Aims: Students will be introduced to fundamental topics in Informatics while developing a basic understanding of Information Theory. They will build up their proficiency in Information Technology as detailed in the course syllabus, emphasizing its use in the modeling of nature and technology.

Syllabus

Lecture Outline

Introduction to Informatics (6 lectures)

The Nature of Information
From Information to Informatics
What is Technology and Information Technology?
Cyborgs and the History of Computers

Modeling and Problem Solving (2 lectures)

Modeling the World
The Hertz Modeling Relation
Example Problems: L-systems, boyds, bio-inspired computing, consumer behavior, etc.
First Installment of Individual Project

Data and Knowledge Representation (3 lectures)

Digital Number representation
Text Encoding
Multimedia
Real World examples
Second Installment of Individual Project

Deductive Model Building (2 Lectures)

Propositional Logic: Formalizing Natural Language
Sets

Inductive Model Building (4 Lectures)

First Installment of group project
Measuring the World
Summarizing data
Centrality and Dispersion
Fitting Data with regression
Real World Problems: Cryptography, text frequency analysis, "Freakonomics"
Third Installment of Individual Project

Information and Uncertainty (3 lectures)

Probability
Second Installment of Group Project
Information and Uncertainty: Hartley, Shannon

Computing Models: Algorithms (4 lectures)

Fourth Installment of Individual Project
Heuristics and algorithms
Flow chart representation
Examples: Sorting, Hanoi Problem, Artificial Intelligence, Human-computer interaction, robots, and cyborgs
Limits of Computation and Complexity of algorithms
Testing Models against reality: the individual project unfolded

Storing Data (2 lectures)

Databases
Relational Databases and SQL
Third Installment of Group Project

Course Evaluation

Participation: 5%.

Based upon attendance and participation (in class and online).

Continuous Evaluation: 30%

Comprised of two semester-long projects, an individual and a group one. Projects are designed to be tackled with different tools and concepts as they are presented in class.

Laboratories: 20%

Designed to present and familiarize students with various informatics tools. Several tasks are assigned to be completed by the following lab.

Mid-term Exam: 15%

Cumulative.

Final Exam: 30%

Cumulative.

Exam Schedule

Midterm Exam

Thursday, March 1st (Regular Class Time)

Final Exam

Thursday, May 3rd, 7:15-9:15 p.m.

Continuous Evaluation Schedule

Individual Project: Black Box

First Installment: Released on Thursday, February 1; Due Friday, February 9
Second Installment: Released on Tuesday, February 15; Due Friday, March 2
Third Installment: Released on Thursday, March 8; Due Friday, March 30
Fourth Installment: Released on Thursday, April 10; Due Friday, April 20

Group Project: Text Frequency

First Installment: Assigned on Tuesday, March 6; Due Friday, March 9
Second Installment: Assigned on Thursday, March 29; Due Friday, April 6
Third Installment: Assigned on Thursday, April 12; Due Friday, April 27

Office Hours

Luis Rocha

Tuesdays: 10:30am – 12:30pm, Eigenmann Hall, Room #905

Associate Instructors, Informatics Building, Room #306

Christian Beck

Thursdays 10:00-11:00am, and Fridays 11:00am-12:00pm

Bharat Dravid

Mondays 1:30-3:30pm

Mira Han

Tuesdays and Thursdays 3:00-4:00pm

Course Materials

Lecture notes

Course package

Von Baeyer, H.C. [2004]. Information: The New Language of Science. Harvard University Press, Chapters 1, 4, 10
Clark, A. [2003]. Natural-Born Cyborgs: Minds, technologies and the Future of Human Intelligence. Oxford University Press. Chapters 2 and 6
Englander, I [2003]. The Architecture of Computer Hardware and Systems Hardware. Wiley, Chapters 2 and 3
Klir, J.G., U. St. Clair, and B.Yuan [1997]. Fuzzy Set Theory: foundations and Applications. Prentice Hall. Chapters 2 and 3
Norman, G.R. and D.L. Streinrt [2000]. Biostatistics: The Bare Essentials. Chapters 1-5 and 13.

Additional Materials

Jorge Luis Borges, "The Library of Babel"
Igor Aleksander, "Understanding Information Bit by Bit", available in the Resources tab in onCourse.
Ellen Ullman, "Dining with Robots", available in the Resources tab in onCourse.