ACM41020 Maths of Machine Learning

Academic Year 2024/2025

The aim of this course is to introduce Machine Learning from the point of view of modern optimisation and approximation theory.

Show/hide contentOpenClose All

Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of the module the student should be able to:
- Describe the problem of machine learning from the point of view of function approximation, optimisation, linear algebra, and statistics.
- Identify the most suitable approach for a given machine learning problem.
- Analyse the performance of various machine learning algorithms from the point of view of computational complexity and statistical accuracy.
- Implement a simple neural network architecture and apply it to a pattern recognition task.

Indicative Module Content:

Material will cover the following mathematical topics relevant to Machine Learning:

Highlights from Linear Algebra
- Matrix multiplication
- The four fundamental subspaces
- Types of Matrix
- Matrix factorisation
- Eigenvalues and eigenvectors
- Symmetric, positive definite matrices
- Singular values and singular value decomposition
- Vector and matrix norms

Understanding data
- Linear regression
- Principal component analysis

Support vector machines
- Introduction to support vector machines
- Optimisation
- Lagrange multipliers
- Limitations
- Soft margins
- Kernel trick
- Multiple classes

Neural networks
- Introduction to neural networks
- Activation functions
- Architecture of a neural network
- Training a neural network
- Calculus on computational graphs
- Efficient matrix multiplication
- Backpropagation
- Universal approximation theorem
- Cross-entropy cost function

Optimisation
- Introduction to optimisation
- Gradient descent
- Newton's method
- Momentum
- Stochastic gradient descent
- Adaptive methods

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Specified Learning Activities

36

Autonomous Student Learning

36

Lectures

36

Total

108

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
Lectures, Problem Classes, Assignments 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Exam (In-person): 2 hour End of Trimester Exam End of trimester
Duration:
2 hr(s)
Standard conversion grade scale 40% No

40

No
Quizzes/Short Exercises: Weekly short quizzes Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9, Week 10, Week 11 Standard conversion grade scale 40% No

5

No
Assignment(Including Essay): Assignments Week 4, Week 7, Week 8, Week 10 Standard conversion grade scale 40% No

25

No
Practical Skills Assessment: Computer-based coding exam Week 12 Standard conversion grade scale 40% No

30

No

Carry forward of passed components
No
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Spring Yes - 2 Hour
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Group/class feedback, post-assessment
• Online automated feedback

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Not yet recorded.