Elements of Machine Learning

All work for this course is to be done in compliance with the standards of conduct set by Duke's Academic Integrity Council for both graduate and undergraduate students.

Using someone else's material in your work without giving credit is cheating, and will result in a failing grade in the exam or assignment involved in any case, and a failing grade in the course for more serious cases. The same holds for making materials available to others in the class: Who gives and who receives information will be treated the same way. "Using" or "making available" concerns any transfer of information, direct or otherwise. "Your work" is anything you turn in, including homework, project reports, and exams. As the sole exception, class materials, including textbook, handouts, slides, and homework assignments need not be cited when they are used.

The only communication allowed when working on a homework assignment is with your peer, if you choose to work in a group (see Homework below), and with the teaching staff of this course.

Homework assignments will be posted on the homework page about a week ahead of the due date.

All homework is to be submitted through Gradescope by 8:30am EDT on the due date. Important: Access Gradescope via a button on Sakai. Do not log in to the Gradescope site directly. If you do, your grade may not be recorded properly. Assignments will specify exactly what to submit, and what to call your files.

Homework is to be done either individually or in pairs on in triples. Working in pairs or triples is strongly encouraged: This helps you discuss concepts and get unstuck when you encounter difficulties. It also helps us return your graded work earlier, since we'll have to grade fewer papers. No other groupings are allowed.

Late homework is not accepted. While this policy may seem harsh, your two worst assignment grades (including zeros for no assignment returned) are eliminated before computing your final grade. A no-late-homework policy is necessary mainly because we cannot hand out sample solutions before all assignments are in, and it would be unfair and harmful to make a whole class wait on the stragglers.

There will be a midterm exam and a final exam on the dates listed on the home page announcements. Both exams are in person, closed-book, closed-notes.

All class notes, homework assignments, and solution samples are required reading. Appendices in the class notes are optional reading, and all videos are optional viewing.

The programming language for this course is Python 3. Python 3 tutorials are listed on the resources page.