LiS 614
Information Theory and Transfer: Outline and Requirements
Fall, 1995
Prof. Martin Fricke


Information theory and transfer is a vast field. When studying it in a one semester course, there is a choice: to skip lightly over many topics, or to study a few central areas in depth. My preference is the latter. And one important research area of interest is the use of information represented across heterogeneous media for discovery and proof.

What this means is this. Information can be presented in writing. The same or similar information often can be presented in the form of a diagram. There seems to be an advantage for humans to use the diagrammatic representation. This appears to facilitate the extraction of information (consider, for example, reasoning about subway train routes as depicted in the famous map of the London Underground). Historically many authorities (eg Polya and Herb Simon) have thought this to be merely a matter of heuristics (discovering proofs or solutions). Very recently, though, others (eg Barwise) have suggested that it is genuinely a matter of proof (real proofs). Indeed, Barwise has a general theory of information flow in reasoning that accommodates heterogeneous media.

This is an important, stimulating, and topical area.

The course will consist first of a study of Barwise and EtchemendyUs Hyperproof, and then a consideration in a more general setting of information across media. The second part will look at such topics as information in problem solving, and the visual depiction of information (eg. TufteUs work). A typical example here is provided by the analytic section of GRE exams-- problems in this section often consist of some information presented in written form, and the student's best strategy is first to draw a diagram that portrays that information, and then to extract information implicitly present in either representation...

Hyperproof is a computer program, together with a book; this means that much of the first part of the course will take place in a computer laboratory. It is assumed that a student in this course has NO previous background in computing.

Requirements

The course requirements are: The coursework requirement will be two individual papers due about 4 weeks and about 8 weeks into the course, at times to be announced in class.

The final examination will be a take-home exam of three hours duration. The final examination will be handed out on Thursday December 7th and has to be returned to my mailbox at latest by Friday December 15th at 4.00pm.

Grading

I use the following scales: 
Internal        Internal     Graduate College

90-100          A+              A

85-89		A		A

80-84		A-		A

75-79		B+		B

70-74		B		B

65-69		B-		B

below 64  	C		C

Thus, for example, a mark of Internal: 82 A- External: A on a piece of work would be seen by outsiders as an A; however, the A- will convey to you that the work can be improved.
The coursework will count for 60% of the final grade, and the final exam for 40% of the grade.

Academic Code of Integrity

Students are expected to abide by The University of Arizona Code of Academic Integrity. The guiding principle of academic integrity is that a student's submitted work must be the studentUs own.U If you have any questions regarding what is acceptable practice under this Code, please ask an instructor.

Contacting me Please raise queries in class, or by email to Fricke@ccit.arizona.edu or in Room 16 during Office Hours (M,W,F 1-3).