The information contained on this page is designed to give students a representative example of material covered in

the course. Any information related to course assignments, dates, or course materials is illustrative only.

Course Syllabus
Computer Science and Engineering
CS-GY 6923-Machine Learning

Course Information
Course Prerequisites
● Basic understanding of probability, linear algebra, and computational
algorithms
● Basic facility in programming in Python

Course Description
This online course is aimed at developing practical machine learning and data
science skills. The course will cover theoretical basics of broad range of machine
learning concepts and methods with practical applications to sample datasets via
programming assignments.

Upon completion of this course you will have acquired the following
knowledge:
● Describe the principal models used in machine learning and the
types of problems to which they are typically applied.
● Compare the assumption made in each model and the strengths
and weakness of each model.
● Determine to which problems machine learning is applicable and
which model or models would be most appropriate in each case.
● Apply the principal models in machine learning to appropriate
problems

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Course Structure
This course is conducted entirely online, which means you do not have to be
on campus to complete any portion of it. You will participate in the course
using NYU Classes located at ​https://newclasses.nyu.edu​. Lectures will
become available at midnight each week and will be delivered through Active
Learning Modules* in NYU Classes. In addition to lectures, participation will
play a key role in this course. Students are expected to participate in weekly
discussion forums and webinar sessions.

Grading Breakdown
● 40% Weekly Assignments
● 20% Engagements
● 40% Final Project

Learning Time Rubric

Learning Asynchronous* Time on Notes

Time / Task for
Element Synchronous* Students
* (weekly)

Lecture Asynchronous 2 hours Video format. Expect

quizzes throughout the
module.

Weekly Asynchronous 1 hour Students are expected to

Discussion post initial response to
Board weekly topic questions. See
Interaction Policy.

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Programming Asynchronous 2 hours Students submit their

Assignment assignment

Project Asynchronous 1 hour

Reading Asynchronous 2 hours Reading assigned textbook

Assignment chapter

*Asynchronous learning is defined as any non-real time student learning,

such as recorded lecture, podcast, interactive module, articles, websites, etc.
This also includes any student-to-student or faculty-to-student
communication that may happen with an asynchronous tool, such as
discussion board, chatroom, e-mail, text, etc.

**Synchronous learning is defined as any real-time student-to-student

and/or faculty-to-student learning, such as a live webinar session or other
video/audio communication service.

Course Communication
Announcements
Announcements will be posted on NYU Classes on a regular basis. You can
locate all class announcements under the Announcements tab of our class.
Be sure to check the class announcements regularly as they will contain
important information about class assignments and other class matters.

Email
You are encouraged to post your questions about the course in the Forums
discussions on NYU Classes. This is an open forum in which you and your
classmates are encouraged to answer each other’s questions. But, if you

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need to contact me directly, please email me. You can expect a response
within 48 hours.

Weekly Discussion Forums

Discussion forums are an excellent way for you to engage with the course
material and with your peers. Each module will have an accompanying
discussion board question posted in the Forums tab. You are expected to
read the discussion boards and engage in thoughtful discussions. I will read
all discussion posts and provide content clarification and feedback when
necessary.

Weekly Virtual Meetings

Once a week, we will hold a virtual class meeting through the Meetings tool
on NYU Classes. This weekly meeting is an opportunity for you to ask
questions and gain clarification about the course content from myself and
your peers. You are highly encouraged to attend these meetings. I
understand that not all students will be available to attend these virtual
meetings. Due to this fact, the meetings will be recorded so you can watch
them when you are available.

Etiquette
When participating in an online class it is important to interact with your
peers in an appropriate manner. Always use professional language (no
netspeak) in your discussion board posts and emails. Please be respectful of
your classmates at all times even if you disagree with their ideas.

Interaction Policy
You are required to be an active online learner in this course and expected to
participate in the Active Learning Modules, weekly discussion boards, weekly
virtual meetings

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Readings
The required texts for the course are

1. Introduction to Machine Learning, Third Edition​, Ethem Alpaydin, MIT

Press, 2014
2. Python Machine Learning: Machine Learning and Deep Learning with
Python, scikit learn, and TensorFlow 2, Third Edition,​ Sebastian
Raschka and Vahid Mirjalili, Packt Publishing, 2020.

You can access NYU’s central library here:​ http://library.nyu.edu/

You can access NYU Tandon’s Bern Dibner Library here:

http://library.poly.edu/

Course Requirements
Participation is paramount to your success in this course. Be sure to log into
NYU Classes multiple times a week, read all announcements, complete all
Active Learning Modules and assignments on time, and participate in
Discussion Forums and Virtual Meetings.

Topics
Topic 1:
Introduction to the course and to machine learning
● Objective: Be able to describe, at a very high level, what machine
learning is and why it is becoming increasingly prevalent.

Readings:
● Alpaydin, Chapters 1 and 2. Read for the big picture. Don’t get stuck
on the details.

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Webinar Session
Discussion Forum
● Introductory post about yourself.

Programming Assignment:
● Set up your Jupyter notebook environment.

Topic 2:
The Perceptron and Adaline machine learning models
● Objectives: Be able to describe and implement the Perceptron and
Adaline machine learning models. Be able to compare the assumptions
of these two models and discuss their strengths and weaknesses.

Readings:
● Alpaydin, Ch. 11.1 - Ch. 11.4
● Raschka, Ch 2., pp 1-50; Ch 3., pp 51-58.

Webinar Session
Discussion Forum
Programming Assignment 2

Topic 3:
Logistic regression model, regularization. Multiclass
classification
● Objectives: Be able to describe and implement the logistic regression
machine learning model. Be able to describe regularization, determine

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to which machine learning situations it is applicable, and apply it. Be

able to apply binary classification models to multiclass problems.

Readings:
● Alpaydin, Ch. 10
● Raschka, Ch 3. pp 51-58.

Webinar Session
Discussion Forum
Programming Assignment 3

Topic 4:
Support Vector Machines and Kernel Machines
● Objectives: Be able to describe the support vector machines and
kernel machines. Implement SVM and kernel machine learning models.

Readings:
● Alpaydin, Ch. 10
● Raschka, Ch 3. pp 76-87

Webinar Session
Discussion Forum
Programming Assignment 4

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Topic 5:
Decision Trees and Decision Tree Pruning
● Objectives: Be able to describe and implement the decision tree
machine learning model and to determine when pruning is appropriate
and, when it is appropriate, implement it.

Readings:
● Alpaydin, Ch. 6 and Ch. 9.
● Raschka, Ch 3, pp. 88-97.

Webinar Session
Discussion Forum
Programming Assignment 5

Topic 6:
Bayesian Learning
● Objective: Be able to describe and implement Bayesian machine
learning models.

Readings:
● Alpaydin, Ch. 3

Webinar Session
Discussion Forum
Project Description

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Topic 7:
Ensemble Methods
● Objectives: Be able to describe the difference between strong and
weak learnings. Be able to describe the techniques of bootstrapping,
gradient boosting, and Adaboosting. Be able to describe and
implement the random forest machine learning model.

Readings:
● Alpaydin, Ch. 17
● Raschka, Ch. 7

Webinar Session
Discussion Forum
Programming Assignment 7

Topic 8:
Regression
● Objectives: Be able to describe how to use multiple machine learning
models to solve regression problems and to implement these
techniques.

Readings:
● Alpaydin, Ch. 7, 8
● Raschka, Ch. 10, 11

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Webinar Session
Discussion Forum
Programming Assignment 8

Topic 9:
Clustering and Nonparametric Models Including PCA.
Dimensionality Reduction
● Objectives: Be able to describe and implement clustering and
nonparametric models

Readings:
● Alpaydin, Ch. 7, 8
● Raschka, Ch. 10, 11

Webinar Session
Discussion Forum
Submit Project Topic

Topic 10:
Neural Networks and Backpropagation
● Objective: Be able to describe the technique of backpropagation. Be
able to describe and implement machine learning models based on
neural networks

Readings:
● Alpaydin, Ch. 11.5-11, 13

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● Raschka, Ch. 12

Webinar Session
Discussion Forum

Topic 11:
Other topics in Neural Networks
● Objective: Be able to describe and implement techniques utilizing
convolutional neural networks, recurrent and recursive neural
networks, and hidden Markov models.

Readings:
● Alpaydin, Ch. 15

Webinar Session
Discussion Forum

Topic 12:
Reinforcement Learning
● Objective: Be able to describe and implement reinforcement learning
machine learning techniques

Readings:
● Alpaydin, Ch. 18

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Webinar Session
Discussion Forum
Submit Project Report Draft

Topic 13:
Generative Adversarial Networks, Ethics and Fairness in
Machine Learning, and Concluding Comments
● Objectives: Be able to describe Generative Adversarial Networks. Be
able to describe ethical and fairness issues in machine learning.

Readings:
● Arvind Narayanan, Twenty one definitions of fairness and their policies,
ACM FAT* 2018, ​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIXIuYdnyyk
● Moritz Hardt, Eric Price, and Nathan Srebro, Equality of opportunity in
supervised learning, 2016.

Webinar Session
Discussion Forum

Topic 14:
Presentation of Final Projects

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University Policies
Moses Center Statement of Disability
Academic accommodations are available for students with disabilities. Please
contact the Moses Center for Students with Disabilities (212-998-4980 or
[email protected]) for further information. Students who are requesting
academic accommodations are advised to reach out to the Moses Center as
early as possible in the semester for assistance.

NYU Tandon School of Engineering Policies and

Procedures on Academic Misconduct1
A. Introduction: The School of Engineering encourages academic
excellence in an environment that promotes honesty, integrity, and
fairness, and students at the School of Engineering are expected to
exhibit those qualities in their academic work. It is through the process
of submitting their own work and receiving honest feedback on that
work that students may progress academically. Any act of academic
dishonesty is seen as an attack upon the School and will not be
tolerated. Furthermore, those who breach the School’s rules on
academic integrity will be sanctioned under this Policy. Students are
responsible for familiarizing themselves with the School’s Policy on
Academic Misconduct.
B. Definition: Academic dishonesty may include misrepresentation,
deception, dishonesty, or any act of falsification committed by a
student to influence a grade or other academic evaluation. Academic
dishonesty also includes intentionally damaging the academic work of
others or assisting other students in acts of dishonesty. Common
examples of academically dishonest behavior include, but are not
limited to, the following:
a. Cheating: intentionally using or attempting to use unauthorized
notes, books, electronic media, or electronic communications in
an exam; talking with fellow students or looking at another
person’s work during an exam; submitting work prepared in
advance for an in-class examination; having someone take an

1
Excerpted from the ​Tandon School of Engineering Student Code of Conduct

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exam for you or taking an exam for someone else; violating

other rules governing the administration of examinations.
b. Fabrication: including but not limited to, falsifying experimental
data and/or citations.
c. Plagiarism: intentionally or knowingly representing the words or
ideas of another as one’s own in any academic exercise; failure
to attribute direct quotations, paraphrases, or borrowed facts or
information.
d. Unauthorized collaboration: working together on work that was
meant to be done individually.
e. Duplicating work: presenting for grading the same work for
more than one project or in more than one class, unless express
and prior permission has been received from the course
instructor(s) or research adviser involved.
f. Forgery: altering any academic document, including, but not
limited to, academic records, admissions materials, or medical
excuses.

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