What concepts or methods from the machine learning field interest you the most? This final assignment is your chance to explore these interests. Projects can include:

• Exploring variants of an algorithm studied in class. Such a project would compare the performance of the variants across a number of datasets (e.g. taken from the UCI ML repository).
• Duplicating a result reported in a publication.
• Applying ML techniques to a dataset that you have personal interest in. We can provide ideas from bioinformatics and EEG data analysis (Chuck Anderson who works on brain-computer interfaces would be happy to talk to you about that). See e.g. data from BCI competitions.
• Exploring algorithms not studied in class.
• Exploring issues such as over fitting, to obtain a better understanding of when it occurs for high dimensional data, and which algorithms are more susceptible.

You may work by yourself or in teams of up to two members. Three member teams will be allowed, but the need for the team should be justified to the instructor. A two member team will be expected to invest twice the effort of one person, a three member team must invest three times the effort. Teamwork is strongly encouraged; you can learn a lot from the interaction.

You or your team must submit one written report. Clearly define what the responsibility of each team member was.

Your team must also present in class the results of your work during the last week of the semester and perhaps in one meeting during finals week.

Submit via RamCT a two to three page proposal by November 5th describing

• the machine learning concept or method that you find interesting,
• the steps you will take to investigate it,
• who is on your team,
• what each team member will do, and
• a list of at least four key steps your team will complete and the dates by when they will be completed.

Only one person from your team should submit the proposal via RamCT.

Submit via RamCT the PDF file of your written report by December 17th. Remember, your report must clearly describe what each team member did and must reflect a level of effort directly related to the number of members on your team.

Only one person from your team should submit the final report. In grading, each team member's contribution will be taken into account.

This is only for students in the on-campus section.

By November 13th, send an e-mail to Asa stating your team members, a project title, and which day you would like to present. Pick dates from

• Tuesday, December 10th
• Thursday, December 12th
• A day during finals week.

Requested dates will be assigned in the order the requests are received.

Presentations will be 10 minutes for single-person teams, 15 minutes for two, and 20 minute for three-person teams. Leave 1 to 2 minutes for questions. Develop good presentation slides. Practice your talk. All members of your team must participate in the presentation.

Here is what the grade sheet will look like for this assignment.

CS545: Final Assignment                     Name: ________________________

Grade: ___ out of 100 points

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Proposal:  10 points

  (3 points): Good introduction and motivation for project.
  (4 points): Clear plan.
  (3 points): Clear team member responsibilities.

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Presentation:  40 points (only for on-campus students)

  (10 points): Presentation style:  how well are able to make yourself understood?
  (20 points): Slides: slides are clear and easy to follow; few complete sentences; not too many words; good quality figures.
  (10 points): Your contribution to project is clear.

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Written Report:  50 points (90 points for distance-learning students)

  (10 points): Good introduction and motivation for project.
  (10 points): Clear description of what you did and how you did it.
  (10 points): Good results and observations.
  (10 points): Spelling, grammar, organization.
  (10 points): Your contribution to project is clear.  Good effort.