CSCI 100
Can Computers Think?

Here is the syllabus for this course. It is a "contract" that defines what will be taught in the course and what you as students will be responsible for. It can be found on the web server at http://cs.clarku.edu/~jbreecher/Can_Computers_Think/ .

Basic Information

Course Description

Textbooks

Your Evaluation

Lectures

Basic Information

Course Description

This is what the catalog says:

Can Computers Think?

In this course we will follow several different lines of inquiry. We first need to explore what it means for a computer to "think". Is a computer "thinking" when you use it to play a game, or when you use it to calculate something? After that, we will figure out the methods we as humans use to "think" - specifically how we solve problems. A good part of solving any problem is putting it in a form that we can work with. So we will look at how we state problems in ways that make them solvable. We'll then concentrate on problems that can be approached with a computer and we'll program the computer to solve those problems. Fulfills the Formal Analysis Perspective. Prerequisites: No computer programming background is required, however previous experience in thinking is essential.

Textbook

Required:

Lewis, John and Loftus, William  "Java Software Solutions",  5th Edition, Addison Wesley,  ISBN 0-325-03824-3

Materials that will be handed out or available in the Library:

Minsky, Marvin, "Why People Think Computers Can't", AI Magazine, vol. 3 no. 4, Fall 1982.

Willingham, Daniel, "Cognition", 2nd Edition, Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-13-182447-3

Various articles and puzzles on the subjects of brains, creativity, consciousness, etc.

Your Evaluation

Your evaluation in this course is determined by:

Lectures

In the Table below is an outline of the topics we will be discussing during the course. Also included is the reading you will be expected to do in order to sound intelligent in class.