Question of the Week #4 - Due 10/5/2009

[Your answer should be at least 250 words in length. It is due by 11:59 PM on Momday, 10/5/2009.]

Background: If you only have a computer screen and keyboard for communication, how do you know if you are chatting with another computer or with a person? Well, that's one of the questions that the Turing Test tried to answer. The Turing Test is a test of a computer's ability to act like a human being. The Eliza programs were the first steps toward computer artificial intelligence and being able to pass a Turing Test. The test is: If you are chatting with someone and have only a keyboard and screen for communication, if you cannot tell if the individual on the other end is a computer or a human, then the computer has passed the Turing Test and may be said to be intelligent. For more info on the Turing Test, see the Wikipedia definition at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turing_Test The Eliza program is a kind of ChatterBot (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chatterbot for details).

Question: You will be designing your own Eliza program. What kinds of attributes should you program have in order to pass the Turing Test? When you are chatting with someone, what kinds of characteristics let you know that the other individual is a person or a computer? Can a computer really imitate a person? What about the social context for the use of words (which we will discuss in class)?

ICA-CP: 9/28/09 - Eliza

Good afternoon!

Since we have a 60 minute class period today, we are going to take a look a a program called Eliza. Then, you are going to work on your own Eliza program.

First, we will be running these online versions ofEliza:

http://www-ai.ijs.si/eliza/eliza.html

http://jerz.setonhill.edu/if/canon/eliza.htm

Question of the Week #4 - Due on 9/21/2009

[The question of the week is due by 11:59 PM on Monday, 9/21/09. Your response should be at least 250 words in length.]

Question: What are the differences between primitive/control commands and conditions in the Karel the Robot simulation. Using SEXI, first define what the primitive and control commands are. Then contrast them with the conditions about which Karel may know, like "facingNorth."

Good morning!

Today, we are going to work on Karel the Robot some more. We are going to look at assignment #3 in Karel more closely. Also, we have a short quiz today. The link to the quiz is here: http://www.quia.com/quiz/1925954.html

ICA-CP: 9/10/09

Greetings!

Today's Java assignment is to create a program that prints a cup of Java. Check our pp. 30-31 in our textbook, Fundamentals of Java, to see how it should display. We will review for our Monday quiz also.

In Karel the Robot, do the assignment #3 which is described in tutorial #7. Here's the link to our Karel the Robot resources: http://lesson.taskstream.com/lessonbuilder/v.asp?LID=pohnhrh2cozef1ck

Question of the Week #3 - Due Monday, 9/14/09

[Your reflection on the question of the week should be thoughtfully written. It is due by 11:59 PM on Monday, 9/14/09, and should be at least 250 words in length.]

Background:
When I polled our class this week, it seems that most of you text between 50 and 150 messages a day. Do the math, and that's 1500-4500 text messages a month. Do you text instead of talk to your friends? Check this links:

For Teens, Has Texting Replaced Talking?

Why Gen-Y Johnny Can't Read Nonverbal Cues

The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future?

Texting for Toddlers?

They’re Old Enough to Text. Now What?

Its Ovr: Breaking Up by Text Message


Questions of the Week:
On weekends when you can have your cell phone all day long, do you text instead of talk to your friends? Is breaking up easier (or harder) to do by talking or by texting? How young is too young for texting? Is technology making us dumb? Does text messaging make meaningful communications easier or harder, and why?

Good morning!

Today, we will write a program together that will print out all of our birthdays for the first half of class. The second half of class, we will work on Karel the Robot.

Now that everyone has completed the first two Karel the Robot assignments without picking up beepers, we will modify our programs to pick them up. When you save your programs, change the name by putting the word, "Beepers", at the beginning of the file name on your program source code. Please read Karel the Robot tutorial number 5, 6, and 7.

Again, Karel the Robot tutorials and worlds for the assignments are here: http://lesson.taskstream.com/lessonbuilder/v.asp?LID=pohnhrh2cozef1ck

ICA-CP 9/4/09 - Who is Karel the Robot?

Greetings!

On Friday, we will review what we learned about SEXI, algorithms, and our Hello World program. We'll learn a new command, print. Then, we will find out about Karel the Robot.

This is a reminder: You have a blog on the question of the week to do each and every week! Four people did not do last week's blogs. Please remember!!! Also, please remember to read the class blog before the start of class. For those three students who missed the secret word last week, here's your chance to make it up. The secret word is: algorithm. Write the word on a piece of paper with you name, and put it on my desk withing five minutes of the start of class bell.

Resources for Karel the Robot, the tutorials and the Karel World files, are here: http://lesson.taskstream.com/lessonbuilder/v.asp?LID=pohnhrh2cozef1ck

Oh, BTW, we have a quiz. The link is here: http://www.quia.com/quiz/1913893.html To do this quiz, you will need a container of pretzels and cheese.

Question of the Week #2 - Due Tuesday, 9/8/09

Greetings!

The dues dates for Question of the Week responses are switching to Mondays (or Tuesdays if Monday is a holiday). Please remember your response must be at least 250 words in length (longer is OK). To explain concepts, you must use SEXI.

Background for this week's Question of the Week:
I said that I would post a SEXI definition of the term, algorithm, in the ica-cp.blogspot.com class blog. Instead, I am going to post the best of your postings. Here is the wikipedia definition of an algorithm: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algorithm. Here is another definition from the Encyclopedia for Kids: http://encyclopedia.kids.net.au/page/al/Algorithm.

Here's a quick refresher on SEXI, using SEXI to explain SEXI:

State: SEXI is a method for explaining concepts to others in four steps: State, Elaborate, eXemplify, and Illustrate. State is the first step, and is a short definition of the concept you are explaining. It is similar to a quick dictionary definition.

Elaborate: The second step is Elaborate. In the Elaborate section, one gives more details about the concept. It is similar to an encyclopedia entry about the concept to be explained. SEXI is a method for explaining ideas invented by the Foundation for Critical Thinking. By elaborating on a topic in our own words, we demonstrate that we understand the concept well enough to explain it to others.

eXemplify: The third step is to eXemplify, or to give examples. If I were trying to explain chocolate to someone, I might write:
State: Chocolate is a sweet and creamy confection.
Elaborate: Chocolate is made from the cocoa bean. Cocoa beans are shelled, roasted, and then ground into a paste in preparation for making chocolate. Once the paste is prepared, different amounts of cream are added to create different intensities of chocolate flavor. Cocoa beans contain fat. If the fat is removed from the paste, the result is cocoa powder. There are human rights issues associated with growing and harvesting cocoa beans. The Global Exchange has educational material to raise awareness about childhood slavery used in harvesting and growing cocoa beans. Chocolate is used for cooking sauces, cakes, candies, pies, pasteries, and main entrees. Chocolate bars are often rated by the percent of chocolate paste, also known as chocolate liquor, contained in them. 80% chocolate bars are an example of dark chocolate, and have a very intense and less sweet chocolate flavor. Milk chocolate has the least amount of chocolate liquor and a lighter, sweeter chocolate taste. There are as many kinds of chocolate as there are chocolate lovers. Chocolate has also been used to represent love at Valentine's Day celebrations and to celebrate Spring at Easter.
eXemplify: Examples of food items made with chocolate include mole sauce for chicken, candy bars, and chocolate cakes. Here is a recipe for chocolate chip cookies: http://www.popularcookierecipes.com/Chocolatechip.html
Illustrate: Chocolate has been celebrated in food, poetry, and song. Perhaps one of the greatest similes about life and chocolate was uttered by the fictional character, Forest gump: "Life is like a box of chocolates."

Illustrate: The fourth and last step is to give illustrations of the concept. An illustration is not another example. Rather, it is a comparison to something else that is similar. It may use simile and/or metaphor. SEXI is like a recipe for success! You follow the steps, and something sweet and wonderful is the result!!!

Question of the Week:
You are visiting your great-great grandparents again. They ask what you are doing in school. You answer that you are studying algorithms! Use SEXI to explain the concept of algorithms to your great-great grandparents. Remember that your great-great grandmother is an excellent baker and that your great great grandfather is a master gardener. You may wish to use examples and illustrations familiar to them from activities which they understand. Big hint: Make sure you understand the concept of an algorithm first before you try to explain it to someone else.