QUESTION ONE:  Herbert Simon and Allen Newell explored human decision making, management science, and artificial intelligence.  In class we discussed Simon's rational decision making process.  According to Herbert Simon "The task of rational decision-making, said Simon, is thus to select the alternative that results in the more preferred set of consequences."   Describe how you would use the Simon-Newell rational decision making process to purchase a new vehicle.  Was there bounded rationality involved? What does that mean? Be specific about your final decision.   Is your decision satisficing"?  What does that mean?

QUESTION TWO:Fragmentation "(1) Refers to the condition of a disk in which files are divided into pieces scattered around the disk. Fragmentation occurs naturally when you use a disk frequently, creating, deleting, and modifying files. At some point, the operating system needs to store parts of a file in noncontiguous clusters. This is entirely invisible to users, but it can slow down the speed at which data is (sic) accessed because the disk drive must search through different parts of the disk to put together a single file."  Describe why files might be stored in non-contiguous locations and how defragmentation reduces the number of non-contiguous clusters on a hard drive.  Be sure to cite your research sources.

QUESTION THREE:  Describe your first contact with a computer including a complete description of the hardware and software (e.g. amount of RAM, external storage size).  What was the year and how old were you?  What generation was the computer hardware?  What generation was the computer software?  What is your current computer usage and how does it fit in computer history (e.g. generation of hardware and software)?  What do you anticipate your computing hardware and software to be like in 2023?

QUESTION FOUR:  The systems development life cycle (SDLC) is a step by step approach to implement (instigate) an information system, either new or improved.  The steps of SDLC include:  1) Announce the System study, 2) Project Definition, 3) Systems Study/Analysis, 4) System Design, 5) Programming, 6) Testing, 7) Implementation and Maintenance.Many suggest that the blackboard courseware system we use on campus has outlived its life cycle and needs replacing.  Describe the steps of the SDLC you (and your committee) would use to go about implementing a new course management software system (e.g.to improve or replace Blackboard) at Valparaiso University.  Be sure to specify your proposed committee membership and when (or if) you are able to stop the SDLC process should it prove unsatisfactory or unsuccessful. Don't forget to cite your research on courseware.

QUESTION FIVE: Speech recognition may be speaker dependent or speaker independent.  Two examples of speech recognition programs are:  Microsoft speech recognition engine and Dragon Naturally Speaking.  Research a speech recognition program (you may use one of the above or another that results from your research . . . be sure to cite your sources) providing a description.  Specify how you might make use of this program, indicating any significant advantages or disadvantages the program might offer.