IntroductionTime commitmentFirst StepsIntroduction to MoodleClass Meetings and Office HoursBasic Technology and Computer SkillsSoftware You Will NeedSkills You Will NeedCourse StructureObjectivesReadingActivitiesLab assignmentsLab PartnersGetting and Giving a Code ReviewWhat to Do with the Code Review You GetWhat to Do If Something Goes WrongAdditional QuestionsOnline Course CommunicationMoodle Support
Welcome to this class!
Since the release of ChatGPT in November of 2022, AI has become an even hotter topic than ever. AI already had a big presence in our lives, but now the technology is rapidly progressing in a revolutionary way.
If you are planning on a career in IT that involves programming or software development, then it will be important (perhaps essential) to know how to incorporate AI models or algorithms into the code you write. That is the goal of this course.
You should set aside at least 12 hours a week for learning activities. This includes 4 hours in class (or for online students: participating live on Zoom or watching recordings of the lectures) plus at least 8 hours studying and doing lab assignments outside of class.
Here are the things you should do to get ready for this course:
Finish reading this guide.
Read the Syllabus.
Look at the Software You Will Need section below and install any software you don't already have on your computer.
Look at the week 1 section on Moodle:
Read the objectives.
Under the reading heading, take note of the assigned reading and schedule time to do the reading and exercises this week.
Under Activities:
Fill out the "Introduce Yourself" questionnaire.
Take note of the due dates for the rest of the activities and schedule time complete them.
Moodle is the learning management system used by Lane Community College. To learn how to use Moodle, go to the Moodle home page. Near the bottom of the page, click on "Training", then "Moodle for Students".
Come to class in person or via Zoom or watch the class Zoom recordings.
There are Zoom links in the syllabus.
The Zoom widget at the top of the Moodle page has links for class meeting, recordings, and office hours.
Come see me during office hours—Drop in! No appointment needed. Come get help with assignments, discuss programming and AI, or just to say "hi". If you would like to come to my office at another tiime you can message me to make an appointment.
A web browser.
Adobe Reader for reading PDF files.
QuickTime, VLC Media Player or some other means of viewing videos.
Office software such as MS Office, OpenOffice.org or GoogleDocs.
Zoom for participating in class or office hours remotely.
Discord for class communication and collaboration with your team.
Sign up for a free account, if you don't already have one.
Accept my invitation to the Intro to AI Discord server (click on the link) and join the class server.
If you haven't used Discord before, here's a 15 minute beginner's tutorial.
VisualStudio Code, a code editor for Mac OS, Windows and Linux. You will use this for writing Python code.
Python will be the programming language used for this class. There will be a quick intro to Python in the first week for those of you who don't know Python yet.
Jupyter Notebooks will be used for some of the programming examples and lab assignments.
Google Colab will be used for running and sharing Jupyter Notebooks online.
Google Gemini: Google offers students a free pro subscriptiion to their Gemini AI platform. We will use this in class when we incorporate calls to an LLM API in the apps we write.
Basic computer skills such as file management.
Experience navigating the Internet and using an Internet browser.
Basic knowledge of using office software such as a word processor.
Introductory level ability in programming in any computer language.
This course is broken into topical weekly modules. The weeks start on Monday and end on Sunday. Every week is broken into four sections: Objectives, Reading, Lecture Notes and Activities.
Each week includes a set of objectives that are helpful to read before starting your work for the week.
Links to the reading required for the week will be listed here
Activities include quizzes and lab assignments both of which have due dates.
Each week you will have a lab assignment. This is a hands-on programming assignment.
Each of you will be assigned to a lab partner in Moodle. There are two versions of each lab assignment. Each lab partner will be given a different version. This allows each student to look at the other’s work and give them help and feedback without seeing a solution to their own assignment.
When you have a beta (draft) version of you lab assignment ready, you will post it in the Lab Beta forum in the Moodle section for the current week. This must be done before the due date for the beta version. Your lab partner will then check your work and complete the "Beta" column of the code review form. This must be done before the due date for the code review.
After your lab partner gives you a code review, a you may revise your lab work and then fill out the "Production" column of the code review form to indicate your revisions. You will then upload the release version of your lab work to Moodle along with the completed code review form.
Q: What if my lab partner didn’t post a beta version for me to review?
A: Communicate with them and find out when they will have a beta version ready. Remind them that a beta version doesn’t need to be fully complete. Review their code for them when they send it. As long as you review your partner’s code before the due date for the final version, your review won’t be counted late.
Q: What if I have already communicated with my lab partner and they haven’t responded or they have said they won’t be posting a beta version anytime soon?
A: You can do a code review for someone else. Or, you can post an offer in the class Q and A forum to see if anyone wants an additional review of their most recent lab.
Q: What if my lab partner didn’t send me a code review by the deadline?
A: You can ask someone else to give you a review, or as long as you have already posted your beta version, you can review your own code and put a note in the comments section saying your partner didn't give you a review by the deadline.
Q: Can I do a code review for someone else in addition to my lab partner?
A: Sure, it is good experience for you and helpful for the other person. They just need to have done a different assignment than the one you did.
Q: Can I get more than one code review for a particular lab?
A: Sure, it’s fine for someone else, in addition to your lab partner, to review your code. As long as they didn’t do the same assignment that you did.
All course communication (via e-mail, Discord, Moodle Messages, discussion forums, video chat, etc.) should be clear, concise, and respectful. Do your best to use complete sentences with standard spelling, grammar and punctuation.
The Core Rules of Netiquette is a guide to the respectful an constructive communication online.
We will be using Discord for communication in this class. See the main Moodle page for more information on the class Discord server. Questions about the course should be posted on Discord in the Discussion channel. Questions that relate specifically to you, such as grades or extensions, should be sent to your instructor via e-mail. E-mails to your instructor or e-mails to another department regarding support issues should include your course number and section (online vs. hybrid/in person).
All course announcements will be posted by the instructor to the Discord Announcements channel. Students are expected to check for announcements regularly (at least every class day). Any questions about Announcements can be posted on the Discord Discussion channel.
Help links can be found by clicking on the ?HELP link in the top navigation bar on Moodle.
Support information is also available at https://library.lanecc.edu/shed.