From: ·····@ils.nwu.edu
Subject: PhD option in AI/Comp Sci at Northwestern
Date: 
Message-ID: <2f4u0r$8ps@anaxagoras.ils.nwu.edu>
INSTITUTE FOR THE LEARNING SCIENCES
 Artificial Intelligence Program

     The Institute for the Learning  Sciences was established in 1989, with
support from Andersen Consulting, to create automated learning environments. 
The main areas of Institute concentration are computer science, specifically
artificial intelligence; psychology, particularly cognitive and developmental
psychology; and education.  More specifically, research at the Institute
focuses on developing leading-edge computer technologies and methods, including
natural language processing,  
case-based reasoning, Socratic tutoring, multimedia technology, and simulated
worlds. 
     In the near term, the Institute has concentrated on applications for
commercial and industrial education and training.  The first programs developed
have been targeted to meet the training needs of Andersen  Consulting,  the
founding sponsor of the Institute.  A unique feature of  this partnership is
that Andersen employees have joined the Institute as an  integral part of the
development effort.   
    More recently, Ameritech Corporation made a second, three-year commitment
to the Institute, also aimed at the development of applications  of artificial
intelligence in corporate education and training.  Ameritech , like Andersen
Consulting, enrolls selected employees in an intensive, two-year fellowship
program at the Institute, during which interns help create education and
training  software based on the latest research in artificial intelligence and 
cognitive science.  Interns return to their corporate environment, a
collaboration which ensures the eventual transfer of both technology and
knowledge to the  Institute's corporate partners. 
     North West Water, a British utility, became an Institute partner in 1992. 
Four interns from North West Water are now at the Institute.  they are
assisting with two projects designed to meet particular needs of their company
in the field of customer service and education.	
    A long-term goal of the Institute is to redefine the ways in which 
computer hardware and software are used in elementary and secondary  education.
  A multi year grant of $1.4 million from IBM  facilitated  progress in this
area.  Researchers developed computer-based educational systems to teach
biology, geography and and reading and comprehension, in grades K-12.  The
programs embody theories of learning and understanding, specifically case-based
reasoning and failure-driven learning, developed in conjunction with research
in artificial intelligence.  In addition, these systems take advantage of
advanced computer technologies such as  
natural language interfaces, interactive video disks, and animated graphic  
simulations.  To complement these systems, the Institute also plans to
construct tools that educators with limited computer expertise will be able to
use in order to produce additional systems employing similar educational
techniques. 
   In addition to funding from corporate partners, Institute research funding
is augmented by grants from federal agencies, including the Office of Naval
Research, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the Advanced
Research Projects Agency.  
 
Director:  Roger C. Schank 
                  1890 Maple  
                  Evanston, IL  60201
                  (708) 491-3500   
	      FAX (708) 491-5258

The Institute for the Learning Sciences Faculty

Professors:
Allan Collins (Education and Social Policy), Kenneth D. Forbus  (Electrical
Engineering and Computer Science), Dedre Gentner (Psychology), Andrew Ortony
(Education and Social Policy), Roy Pea (Education and Social Policy), Roger C.
Schank (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Psychology and Education
and Social Policy; Institute Director)

Associate Professors:
Christopher K. Riesbeck (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; Associate
Director), Brian Reiser (Education and Social Policy); Louis M. Gomez
(Associate Professor of Education and Electrical Engineering & Computer
Science)

Assistant Professors: 
Ellis R. Bareiss (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science), Lawrence A.
Birnbaum (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science), Gregg Collins
(Electrical Engineering and Computer Science), Paul Cooper (Electrical
Engineering and Computer Science), Jeremiah M. Faries (Psychology), Richard G.
Feifer (Education and Social Policy), Alex Kass (Electrical Engineering and
Computer Science)

Affiliated Faculty
Daniel C. Edelson, (Learning Sciences); Peter W. Frey (Psychology), Karen Fuson
(Education and Social Policy), Louis Gomez (Education and Social Policy),
James W. Hall (Education and Social Policy; Psychology),  Lawrence Henschen
(Electrical Engineering and Computer Science),  Carol D. Lee (Education and
Social Policy); Marvin Manheim (Civil Engineering), Douglas L. Medin
(Psychology), 
William Revelle (Psychology), Lance Rips (Psychology), Dirk Ruiz  (Marketing),
David Uttal (Psychology), Sandra R. Waxman (Psychology), Edward Wisniewski
(Psychology)

The Institute for the Learning Sciences is an interdisciplinary center devoted
to research in artificial intelligence (AI), cognitive science, education, and
educational software. Reflecting its interdisciplinary nature, the faculty of
the institute is drawn from several departments and schools at Northwestern,
including the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, the
School of Education and Social Policy, and the Department of Psychology. The
institute was formed in September 1989 under the direction of Professor Roger
C. Schank and is currently home to approximately 25 research faculty, 50
graduate students, and 40 research staff.

     The Institute's mission encompasses both basic and applied research,
including a major focus on the application of artificial intelligence to
problems of education and training. Other key research areas include scientific
problems of language, thought, and memory; the construction of computer
programs that reason, learn, conduct conversations, display characteristics of
human memory, plan, and contain realistic models of the world; the
understanding of how children learn language and learn to think, plan, and
reason; education, especially the development of effective teaching methods;
computer vision; models of emotion, human problem solving, and decision making;
and qualitative reasoning about physical systems.

     The Institute coordinates a graduate program leading to a PhD in any of
three fields: computer science, education, or psychology. Graduate students
follow a core curriculum for the first year that is independent of the
particular PhD they have decided to pursue. In general, three to six quarter
courses will be taken in the first year, based on consultation with the student
and the student's advisor. The majority of the second year and remainder of the
graduate career are dedicated to research under the direction of the faculty of
the Institute. Inquiries concerning graduatestudy may be made directly to the
Institute (708/491-3500), or by e-mail to ········@ils.nwu.edu.

Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Psychology

The core curriculum consists of eight quarter courses, three additional courses
to be approved by the school or department in which the student will receive
the PhD, and a number of additional lecture courses, seminars, and research
courses chosen in consultation with the student's advisor to fulfill numeric
course requirements in the student's school or department. For example,
students working toward a degree in computer science would be required to take
four additional lecture courses or seminars and three special projects courses.
Students in educational processes would be required to take at least four
D-level courses from that department.

     The eight quarter courses include a three-quarter sequence in AI theory,
covering basic issues in knowledge representation, inference, memory
organization, planning, and language processing from a computer science
perspective; a two-quarter sequence in cognitive science, covering topics in
memory, attention, schema theory, thinking, and language processing from a
psychological perspective; one course in AI programming and system design; and
two other basic courses by Institute faculty.

Core Courses

727-C25-1  Introduction to Artificial Intelligence Programming (1)
Basics of Lisp, including Lisp syntax and semantics, built-in functions and
predicates, defining functions and macros, list and symbol manipulation
functions, conditionals, iteration and recursion, list-driven loops,
input/output, and record structures. Basics of knowledge-based AI, including
abstraction hierarchies, frames, partial matching, and indexed memory.

727-C37  Natural Language Processing (1)
A semantics-oriented introduction to natural language processing, broadly
construed. Representation of meaning and knowledge, inference in story
understanding, script/frame theory, plans and plan recognition,
counterplanning, and thematic structures.

727-D37-1  Advanced Natural Language Processing I (1)
Continuation of 727-C37. Techniques for natural language analysis, discourse
planning, generation, and advanced problems in NLP.

727-D37-2  Advanced Natural Language Processing II (1)
The role of memory in understanding and learning: remindings, expectation
failures, memory organization, and thematic structures.

205-D51  Topics in Educational Processes (1) 
Cognitive antecedents and motivational consequences of emotional states from a
cognitive science perspective. Basic emotions, qualitative and quantitative
differences, appraisal and arousal, and principal functions of emotions.

451-C28  Cognitive Psychology (1) 
An overview and brief historical review of major developments in cognitive
psychology. Theories, experimental techniques, distinctions, empirical
phenomena, and current debates.

Advanced Courses

205-D21  Teaching and Instruction

451-C34   Psychology of Language
451-D60   Special Topics in Cognition

727-C25-1  Introduction to Artificial Intelligence Programming
727-C44   Design of Computer Problem Solvers
727-D32   Advanced Topics in Computer Vision
727-E10   Seminar: Qualitative Reasoning about the Physical World
727-E10   Seminar: Planning and Problem Solving