Syllabus and general information for MCS-177: Introduction to Computer Science I (Spring 2003)

Overview

We will also use abstraction to make computational processes easier to think about. You will learn the relationship between the form of a procedure and that of the computational process it generates, including the resource consumption of that process. Also, you will learn how to prove that a procedure has the desired effect, and why such proofs are not always possible.

Prerequisites

Office hours

World Wide Web

Textbook

Tests

Exams will be closed-book and mostly closed-notes. You may, however, use a single 8 1/2 by 11 sheet of paper with hand-written notes for reference. (Both sides of the sheet are OK.)

Attendance policy

Regarding class days, the policy is that you will be responsible for all material, whether or not you are in attendance when it is covered or distributed.

Honor

Any substantive contribution to your solution by another person or taken from a publication should be properly acknowledged in writing. Failure to do so is plagiarism and will necessitate disciplinary action.

The same standards regarding plagiarism apply to team projects as to the work of individuals, except that the author is now the entire team rather than an individual. Anything taken from a source outside the team should be be properly cited.

One additional issue that arises from the team authorship of project reports is that all team members must stand behind all reports bearing their names. All team members have quality assurance responsibility for the entire project. If there is irreconcilable disagreement within the team it is necessary to indicate as much in the reports; this can be in the form of a ``minority opinion'' or ``dissenting opinion'' section where appropriate.

Mastery homework

• You must have submitted an initial attempt by the original due date.
• No revision will be accepted for homeworks 1 and 2 after 9am March 5th, for homeworks 3, 4, and 5 after 9am April 11th, or for homeworks 6, 7 and 8 after 9am May 21st. These cutoff dates are intentionally synchronized with the test review days; the point of the homeworks is to prepare you for the tests.

Note that if you turn in each homework problem as soon as you can do it, rather than saving them for the assignment due dates, you will have more opportunity for revision and resubmission before the cutoff dates listed above. Particularly for the last homeworks before each cutoff date (and test), I can't guarantee you'll have time for a revision cycle otherwise.

I may also announce an earlier cutoff date for any individual problem I consider important for us to discuss in class.

The homework portion of your course grade will simply be determined by the fraction of the homework problems you eventually mastered.

Late assignments

If you are too sick to complete an assignment on time, you will not be penalized. Simply write ``late due to illness'' at the top of the assignment, sign your name and hand it in. Other circumstances will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Grade changes

Grading

• 36% project assignments (6 @ 6% each)
• 16% homework
• 32% intra-term exams (2 @ 16% each)
• 16% final exam

Style guidelines

Each project assignment will include specific expectations for that project's report, including the audience for which it should be written. You should pay careful attention to this information.

Accessibility

Syllabus