Course Syllabus CS 1510 Introduction to Computing Section 3 Fall Semester 2014

Basics

Instructor: Eugene Wallingford

• Office: 305 ITTC
• Phone: 273-5919
• E-Mail: wallingf@cs.uni.edu
• WWW: http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/
• Click here for my office hours and schedule

Resources:

• The Practice of Computing Using Python, 2nd edition, by William Punch and Richard Enbody. ISBN-13: 978-0132805575.


• Electronic resources:
  • The course web page, http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/teaching/cs1510/
  • The course mailing list, cs1510@cs.uni.edu

  Note that to send messages to the course mailing list, you must send from the mailing address from which you are subscribed. By default, that is your uni.edu e-mail address. If you'd like to be subscribed from some other address, let me know or send a request to listserv manager.

Course Goals

This course serves as the first course for Computer Science majors. It is also appropriate for non-majors. We do not assume that students have any experience with computer science or computer programming.

This course has two primary goals. First, as its title indicates, the course introduces you to the study of computer science. We hope that you will leave this course with a sense of computer science is and what computer scientists do. We also hope that you leave with a sense of just how exciting and intellectually powerful the discipline is.

Second, the course aims to teach a bit about how to write computer programs. Programming is the way that computer scientists express their ideas and implement solutions to problems. Even if you never "program for a living", as a CS grad you will need to know how to program in order to appreciate the ideas you learn and to work in the industry. We hope that you leave this course with a sense of what programs can do and of how you can use programs to express ideas.

Our primary theme for reaching these goals this semester is data manipulation. We will look at the sort of problems people encounter in their personal and professional lives and consider how we can use computing to solve those problems. These problems will bring us into contact with many of the fundamental ideas of computer science: representing and transforming data; design, analysis, and experimentation; and the thrill of solving problems in any domain of human thought.

By the end of the term, you should feel comfortable:

• analyzing problems and developing solutions for them
• thinking about problems in terms of representing and transforming data
• writing basic programs that manipulate text, numbers, and other data
• working with some of the basic tools of computing, including abstraction and elementary data structures

Course Requirements

• Class sessions. Our class meetings will consist of a mixture of lecture, discussion, and in-class exercises. We will also spend time preparing for and reviewing lab sessions. Much of our lecture and discussion material will go beyond what you read in the suggested materials, so attendance is essential. I expect you to read assigned topics prior to the class session and to participate actively in class.


• Lab sessions. There are fifteen scheduled laboratory sessions, beginning the first week of class. Attendance of lab sessions is required; you will receive credit for a lab only if you attend. During each lab session, you will do exercises that complement the topics being covered in class, often that same week.


• Programming assignments. Over the course of the term, you will complete approximately twelve programming assignments. These assignments will involve applying techniques you learn in class and will occasionally involve extending or modifying code originally developed in class or a lab session. Some assignments will involve other sorts of writing and problem solving.


• Exams. Finally, we will have two fifty-minute midterm examinations during the semester and a comprehensive final exam at the end. The exams will be "closed book", though sample code will usually accompany the exam as a part of the questions.

Course Evaluation

You will earn your grade based on your performance on programming assignments, lab exercises, exams, and the final examination. I assign final grades using the following distribution:

Grades will be assigned using an absolute scale:

• 90% or above for an A,
• 80% or above for a B,
• 70% or above for a C,
• 60% or above for a D, and
• below 60% for an F.

This means that there is no curve.

Course Policies

• I try to accommodate student needs whenever possible, but I can only do so if I know about them. If you ever have to make alternate arrangements for a class session, an assignment, an examination, or even a lab exercise, please contact me in advance. The safest way to make such arrangements is by notifying me via e-mail or phone of your circumstances and of how I can reach you.


• My regularly-scheduled office hours are times when I am committed to provide assistance to you. No matter how busy I may appear when you arrive, the office hours are for you. You are welcome -- and encouraged -- to make use of that time. I am also available by appointment at other times if you cannot make an office hour.


• All assignments are due at their assigned date and time. In order to receive partial credit, always submit your best effort at that time. Late work will not be accepted.


• I encourage you to discuss programmingassignments, as a way to help you understand the problems better and to encounter different points of view about possible solutions. However, unless the assignment explicitly states otherwise, any work you submit must be your own. Discuss ideas, but write your own answers, including all code. You should acknowledge any collaboration explicitly in the work you submit. Undocumented or unacceptable collaboration is considered a form of academic dishonesty.


• UNI has an established policy of academic integrity. I will not tolerate plagiarism or any other form of academic dishonesty in this course. See the UNI catalog for details on the university's policy.

Computing Environment

We will use computing resources in this course for two purposes: to communicate with one another and to implement programs, in particular your compiler.

Most course materials will be made available on the course web page during the semester. I also frequently send e-mail to the course mailing list, to inform you of breaking news and to answer common questions. Be sure to check your e-mail and the web page often!

Our laboratory sessions will be held in 112 Wright, which contains 28 or so computers that boot to Linux and Windows. We will be using Windows 7 as our primary operating system this semester.

You may work in 112 Wright outside of lab sessions as well. However, other courses are scheduled there occasionally throughout the week, in particular on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. You may also in 339 Wright, a CS lab that is open for use during the day, and 335 ITTC, a lounge available to all CS students.

You will do your lab exercises and programming assignments in the Python programming language, using standard tools that are distributed with the language.

You may choose to do programming assignments on any platform you like, including Windows, Mac, and Linux. The Python compiler and tools are also available for free on all of these platforms. (My platforms for the course are Mac OS X 10.9 and the CHAS Linux system for students.)

You will submit programming assignments using a simple web-based system developed by Prof. Schafer. We will give you more details as you need them.

Tentative Schedule

The following schedule gives a rough sketch of the topics we will cover and the distinguished dates this semester. The exam dates are tentative. If I decide to re-schedule a exam, I will notify you at least one week prior to the scheduled date.

The FINAL EXAM is Thursday, December 18, from 3:00 PM - 4:50 PM.