Course Objectives

[TM-MLPParts] (375)

I can compute the forward pass through a two-layer classification neural network by hand (or in simple code) and explain the purpose and operation of each part.

Criteria

• I can identify the sequence of operations in a two-layer classification neural network.
• I can compute the output of the matrix multiplication and the activation function for each layer.
• I can define the following terms in the context of a neural network - input, output, weights, biases, activation function, activation value, logit, probability, and loss.

Assessed in

• notebook MNIST with PyTorch
• quiz Quiz 3

Notes

I'm considering this Met when a student has computed all of the pieces by hand, even if they've done it in isolation, even if they didn't do a whole forward pass by hand, if they also have a clear understanding of why nonlinear activations are needed.

[TM-LinearLayers] (375)

I can implement linear (fully-connected) layers using efficient parallel code.

Criteria

• I can write a correct linear layer computation (matrix multiply plus bias) given weight and bias tensors.
• I can explain why linear layers are called "fully connected."
• I can predict the shape of the output given input and weight dimensions.

Assessed in

• notebook PyTorch Warmup
• notebook Linear Regression the Hard Way
• notebook Multiple Linear Regression, the Hard Way (PyTorch version)
• notebook Multiple Linear Regression, the Hard Way
• notebook From Linear Regression in NumPy to Logistic Regression in PyTorch
• quiz Quiz 2
• quiz Quiz 3

[TM-ActivationFunctions] (375)

I can implement and explain elementwise nonlinear activation functions.

Criteria

• I can implement ReLU and explain what it does to negative vs positive values.
• I can explain why networks need nonlinear activations between layers.

Assessed in

• quiz Quiz 3

Notes

We're focusing on ReLU for CS 375. It would be nice if students also had some familiarity with other activations (GELU, Swish, etc.), but I'm not explicitly teaching that.

[TM-Softmax] (375)

I can implement softmax and explain its role in classification networks.

Criteria

• I can implement softmax and explain why it produces a valid probability distribution.
• I can explain when and why we use softmax in neural networks.
• I can identify the relationship between softmax and cross-entropy loss.

Assessed in

• notebook Softmax, part 1
• notebook From Linear Regression in NumPy to Logistic Regression in PyTorch
• quiz Quiz 2
• quiz Quiz 3

[TM-DataFlow] (375)

I can draw clear diagrams of the data flow through a neural network, labeling each layer and the tensor shapes at each step.

Criteria

• I can draw a diagram showing layers, activations, and the flow of data through an MLP.
• I can label the shapes of tensors at each point in the network (including batch dimension).
• I can distinguish between parameters (weights, biases) and activations in my diagrams.
• I can trace how a single input becomes a prediction and then a loss value.

Assessed in

• notebook Multiple Linear Regression, the Hard Way (PyTorch version)
• notebook Multiple Linear Regression, the Hard Way
• notebook MNIST with PyTorch

Notes

This overlaps with TM-MLPParts and TM-LinearLayers, so I'll be flexible about what Met means here.

[TM-DotProduct] (375)

I can compute and reason about dot products of vectors.

Criteria

• I can compute the dot product of two vectors by hand.
• I can explain that dot products measure similarity or alignment between vectors.
• I can explain what it means geometrically when two vectors have a dot product of zero.

Assessed in

• notebook PyTorch Warmup
• notebook Linear Regression the Hard Way
• quiz Quiz 1

[TM-TensorOps] (375)

I can reason about matrix multiplication and multi-dimensional tensor shapes.

Criteria

• Given tensor shapes, I can predict whether a matrix multiplication is valid and what shape results.
• I can interpret what each dimension of a tensor represents in context (e.g., batch, features, classes).
• I can diagnose and fix shape mismatch errors by tracing dimensions through operations.

Assessed in

• notebook PyTorch Warmup
• notebook Multiple Linear Regression, the Hard Way (PyTorch version)
• notebook Multiple Linear Regression, the Hard Way
• quiz Quiz 1
• quiz Quiz 2
• quiz Quiz 3

[TM-Embeddings] (375)

I can explain how neural networks represent data as vectors (embeddings) where geometric relationships encode meaning.

Criteria

• I can explain that similar items should have similar embeddings (high dot product or small distance).
• I can interpret a 2D visualization of embeddings and explain why clusters form.
• I can explain why learned embeddings can be more useful than hand-crafted features.
• I can describe how pretrained embeddings enable transfer learning.

Assessed in

• activity Homework 3: Open-Ended AI Project

[TM-RepresentationLearning] (375)

I can explain how a neural network learns useful internal representations through training.

Criteria

• I can explain that hidden layers transform data to make the task easier for subsequent layers.
• I can give an example of a representation that would make classification easier (e.g., linearly separable).
• I can explain why deeper networks can learn more complex representations.

Assessed in

• quiz Quiz 3

[TM-Autograd] (375)

I can explain the purpose of automatic differentiation and identify how it is used in PyTorch code.

Criteria

• I can explain that autograd computes gradients of the loss with respect to all parameters.
• I can identify which tensors require gradients and why (requires_grad=True).
• I can explain what loss.backward() and optimizer.step() do in a training loop.

Assessed in

• notebook Multiple Linear Regression, the Hard Way (PyTorch version)
• notebook From Linear Regression in NumPy to Logistic Regression in PyTorch

[TM-Implement-TrainingLoop] (375)

I can implement a basic training loop in PyTorch.

Criteria

• I can write a training loop that iterates over batches and updates parameters.
• I can correctly order the steps - forward pass, loss computation, backward pass, optimizer step, zero gradients.
• I can add validation evaluation at appropriate points in training.
• I can track and plot training and validation metrics over epochs.

Assessed in

• notebook Train a simple image classifier
• notebook From Linear Regression in NumPy to Logistic Regression in PyTorch
• notebook MNIST with PyTorch

[TM-LLM-Embeddings] (376)

I can identify various types of embeddings (tokens, hidden states, output, key, and query) in a language model and explain their purpose.

[TM-SelfAttention] (376)

I can explain the purpose and components of a self-attention layer (key, query, value; multi-head attention; positional encodings).

[TM-Architectures] (376-bonus)

I can compare and contrast the following neural architectures - CNN, RNN, and Transformer. (Bonus topics - U-Nets, LSTMs, Vision Transformers, state-space models)

[TM-TransformerDataFlow] (376)

I can identify the shapes of data flowing through a Transformer-style language model.

[TM-Scaling] (376)

I can analyze how the computational requirements of a model scale with number of parameters and context size.

[TM-LLM-Generation] (376)

I can extract and interpret model outputs (token logits) and use them to generate text.

[TM-LLM-Compute] (376)

I can analyze the computational requirements of training and inference of generative AI systems.

[OG-ProblemFraming-Supervised] (375)

I can frame a problem as a supervised learning task with appropriate inputs, targets, and loss function.

Criteria

• I can identify what the input features and target variable should be for a given problem.
• I can determine whether the task is regression or classification.
• I can select an appropriate loss function for the task type (MSE for regression, cross-entropy for classification).
• I can articulate what "success" means for the task and how to measure it.

Assessed in

• notebook Train a simple image classifier
• notebook Regression in `scikit-learn`
• notebook Linear Regression the Hard Way
• notebook Classification in `scikit-learn`
• notebook From Linear Regression in NumPy to Logistic Regression in PyTorch
• quiz Quiz 1

[OG-ProblemFraming-Paradigms] (375)

I can distinguish between supervised learning, self-supervised learning, and reinforcement learning.

Criteria

• I can identify which paradigm applies to a given learning scenario.
• I can explain what provides the learning signal in each paradigm (labels, prediction task, rewards).
• I can give an example problem suited to each paradigm.
• I can explain why imitation (supervised) differs from exploration (RL) in what can be learned.

Assessed in

• quiz Quiz 1

[OG-LossFunctions] (375)

I can select and compute appropriate loss functions for regression and classification tasks.

Criteria

• I can compute MSE loss given predictions and targets.
• I can compute categorical cross-entropy loss given predicted probabilities and true class.
• I can explain why we use cross-entropy rather than accuracy as a training loss.
• I can identify which loss function is appropriate for a given task type.

Assessed in

• notebook PyTorch Warmup
• notebook Regression in `scikit-learn`
• notebook Linear Regression the Hard Way
• notebook Classification in `scikit-learn`
• notebook Multiple Linear Regression, the Hard Way
• notebook Softmax, part 1
• notebook From Linear Regression in NumPy to Logistic Regression in PyTorch
• notebook MNIST with PyTorch
• quiz Quiz 1
• quiz Quiz 2
• quiz Quiz 3

[OG-DataDistribution] (375)

I can reason about how the distribution of training data shapes what a model learns.

Criteria

• I can identify ways a training distribution might differ from deployment (selection bias, domain shift).
• I can explain how data augmentation expands the effective training distribution.
• I can contrast supervised learning (distribution given) with RL (distribution shaped by exploration).
• I can give an example of how a model might succeed on training data but fail in practice.

Assessed in

• activity Homework 3: Open-Ended AI Project

[OG-Eval-Experiment] (both)

I can design and execute valid experiments to evaluate model performance.

Criteria

• I partition data appropriately (train/val/test) before any model fitting.
• I can explain why we need held-out data and what goes wrong without it.
• I can select metrics appropriate to the task and stakeholder needs.
• I can interpret learning curves (loss/metric vs epoch) to understand training dynamics.

Assessed in

• notebook Train a simple image classifier
• notebook Regression in `scikit-learn`
• notebook Classification in `scikit-learn`
• notebook MNIST with PyTorch

[OG-Generalization] (375)

I can diagnose and address generalization problems in trained models.

Criteria

• I can identify overfitting from learning curves (train loss decreasing while val loss increases).
• I can identify underfitting (both train and val loss remain high).
• I can propose appropriate interventions (more data, augmentation, regularization, adjust model capacity).
• I can explain the bias-variance tradeoff at an intuitive level.

Assessed in

• notebook Regression in `scikit-learn`
• notebook Classification in `scikit-learn`

[OG-Implement-Validate] (375)

I apply validation techniques correctly and proactively.

Criteria

• I split data into train/validation before fitting, without being reminded.
• I evaluate on validation data to select hyperparameters, not training data.
• I spot-check model predictions on specific examples to build intuition.
• I can explain why validation performance is a better estimate of real-world performance than training performance.

[OG-LLM-APIs] (375)

I can apply LLM APIs (such as the Chat Completions API) to build AI-powered applications.

Criteria

• I can construct appropriate API calls with system and user messages.
• I can process and use the model's response in an application.
• I can identify tasks where an LLM API is and is not appropriate.

Assessed in

• activity Homework 3: Open-Ended AI Project

[OG-Pretrained] (375)

I can explain the benefits and risks of using pretrained models.

Criteria

• I can explain how pretrained models provide useful features without task-specific training data.
• I can describe the "body + head" pattern (pretrained feature extractor with task-specific classifier).
• I can identify risks of pretrained models (bias, domain mismatch, licensing).
• I can explain when fine-tuning vs feature extraction is appropriate.

Assessed in

• notebook Train a simple image classifier
• activity Homework 3: Open-Ended AI Project

[OG-Theory-SGD] (375)

I can explain how stochastic gradient descent uses gradients to improve model performance.

Criteria

• I can explain that the gradient points in the direction of steepest increase of the loss.
• I can explain why we move in the negative gradient direction to reduce loss.
• I can explain why we use batches (stochastic) rather than the full dataset.
• I can identify the role of learning rate and what happens if it's too large or too small.

[OG-LLM-Prompting] (376)

I can critique and refine prompts to improve the quality of responses from an LLM.

[OG-LLM-Tokenization] (376)

I can explain the purpose, inputs, and outputs of tokenization.

[OG-LLM-Advanced] (376)

I can apply techniques such as Retrieval-Augmented Generation, in-context learning, tool use, and multi-modal input to solve complex tasks with an LLM.

[OG-LLM-Eval] (376)

I can apply and critically analyze evaluation strategies for generative models.

[OG-LLM-Train] (376)

I can describe the overall process of training a state-of-the-art dialogue LLM such as Llama or OLMo.

[OG-SelfSupervised] (376)

I can explain how self-supervised learning can be used to train foundation models on massive datasets without labeled data.

[OG-Theory-Feedback] (376)

I can explain how feedback tuning can improve the performance and reliability of a model / agent.

[OG-ICL] (376-bonus)

I can explain how in-context learning can be used to improve test-time performance of a model.

[Overall-Explain] (375)

I can explain basic AI concepts to a non-technical audience without major errors.

Criteria

• Given a technical concept (e.g., "training a neural network"), I can produce an accessible analogy or explanation.
• My explanations avoid anthropomorphizing AI systems in misleading ways.
• I can identify when a popular-press AI claim is misleading or exaggerated.

[Overall-Faith] (375)

I can articulate connections between Christian concepts and AI development, demonstrating genuine engagement.

Criteria

• I can identify at least one way a Christian concept (e.g., imago Dei, shalom, stewardship) informs how I think about a specific AI capability or application.
• I can engage respectfully with perspectives on faith and its implications that differ from my own.

[Overall-Impact] (both)

I can analyze real-world situations to identify potential negative impacts of AI systems.

Criteria

• Given a scenario, I can identify at least two distinct stakeholder groups who might be affected differently.
• I can articulate how training data distribution might differ from deployment conditions.
• I can identify feedback loops where model outputs might affect future training data or user behavior.
• I can flag concerns that warrant careful analysis before deployment.

Assessed in

• activity AI Implications - Topics

[Overall-Dispositions] (both)

I demonstrate growth mindset and integrity in my AI learning and practice.

Criteria

• I can identify a specific instance where I persisted through difficulty in this course.
• I can describe how I use AI tools in ways that support rather than replace my learning.
• I can articulate my own boundaries for AI assistance and why I hold them.

[Overall-PhilNarrative] (both)

I can engage with philosophical questions raised by AI systems.

Criteria

• I can articulate at least one philosophical question that AI raises (e.g., consciousness, intelligence, creativity, agency).
• I can distinguish between what AI systems do and what those capabilities might mean.
• I can identify assumptions embedded in how we talk about AI (e.g., "AI thinks", "AI understands").

[Overall-LLM-Failures] (376)

I can identify common types of failures in LLMs, such as hallucination (confabulation) and bias.