Syllabus
[Note: this webpage last modified Monday, 27-Jun-2011 13:15:30 EDT]
Always remember...
Computers are stupid! (more on this later...)
Work smarter not harder! (Actually, work smarter /and/ harder)
Table of Contents
General Information
Announcements
Purpose and Focus of Course
Grading, Assignments, and Expectations
Blackboard
Academic Integrity
Special Needs
Lecture: TR 9:30-10:45am, in A009 Root Hall
First class: Tuesday January 11
Last class: Thursday April 28
Office hours: I am generally in my office and available
most MWF's from about 8:30am-4pm. My official office hours are
Wednesdays 9:30-11:30am. My office is A-156 Root Hall
Instructor: Jeff Kinne
Website:
http://cs.indstate.edu/~jkinne/cs151-s2011 (or
search for Jeff Kinne on google, bing, yahoo, etc.
and find a link to the course website from my personal webpage)
Required text: Introduction to Computing and Programming in Python, A Multimedia Approach, 2nd edition by Mark Guzdial and Barbara Ericson.
More information about Python: Official Python Web site, Python Tutorial, Python Language Reference, Python Language Library
More resources for our textbook: draft of the text that is fairly outdated but is online/free, what other students have done with JES, and some more, official PPT slides for the textbook
Another reference: Think Python: How to Think Like a Computer Scientist by Allen Downey. This is the text used by the other sections of 151 and is a good supplementary source of information to the Mark Guzdial text we are using.
Software/Programming Environment: For the majority of the course, we will be programming in a programming environment that was specifically designed for those who use the Mark Guzdial textbook. Called the Jython Environment for Students (JES) (Jython is a particular type of Python that is implemented in Java), this environment is freely downloadable and can be installed on Windows, Mac, or Unix/Linux computers. The software is installed on the computers in the 24hour lab of the student computer center. You can download the JES software from http://code.google.com/p/mediacomp-jes/ to run on your own computer. Instructions for downloading and installing the MediaTools Application that is referenced in the book are at http://coweb.cc.gatech.edu/mediaComp-teach/45.
Near the end of the course, we may also use the "standard" Python programming environment (that is implemented in C rather than Java and is not specifically directed at students using the Mark Guzdial text). This can be downloaded from http://python.org/download/.
Online Storage: You can use http://isecure.indstate.edu to store your files when you are switching between computers. You should get enough storage to store all of your files for this course. The site allows you to upload/download...
Announcements regarding the course will be made both during class and via email to your @indstate.edu email address. You should regularly check this email account or have it forwarded to an account that you check regularly.
This course is an introduction to programming in Python and is also the first course in computer science taken by those majoring or minoring in computer science. The primary goal of the course is that you learn the fundamentals of programming in Python. After taking this course, you should be able to write programs and solve problems using Python, and you should be able to read, understand, and modify Python code written by others.
Why Python? We have chosen Python as the programming language for this course because it is easier to learn than many other important programming languages such as C++ and Java. At the same time, Python is widely used in industry and a good language to know.
Why multimedia? The textbook for this course introduces programming through manipulating pictures, sounds, and videos. A traditional introduction to programming course typically uses examples that are further removed from the daily experiences and interests of today's average student. I have chosen to use this text to engage you in the joy of computer programming and computational thinking while at the same time learning very practical information such as how pictures are stored on computers.
Grading, Assignments, and Expectations
The students of this course have the following responsibilities: read assigned pages of the book before lecture, attend lecture, complete in-class quizzes/mini-tests, complete weekly homeworks, and complete a project. The final grade consists of:
Project: 20% of the final grade.
Weekly Homeworks: 35% total. There will be a programming homework assignment most weeks, and each will be weighted equally in adding up to 35% of the total grade. If you turn in the assignment late, I will grade it so you know how you did, but it will count as a 0. LATE HOMEWORKS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.
In-class Quizzes/mini-tests: 35% total. We will not have any exams in this course, but we will have quizzes/mini-tests on a regular basis (at least once per week). Each will be weighted equally in adding up to 35% of the total grade.
Class Attendance/Participation: 10% total. Attendance will be taken at the beginning of each class. Half of your attendance/participation score will consist solely of whether you were present when attendance was taken each day - the total number of days present divided by the number of lectures in the semester. The other half of your attendance/participation grade will be assigned at the end of the semester based on how attentive you were in class throughout the semester.
The class attendance grade serves the purpose of giving you credit for coming to class. You benefit from coming to class by seeing me present the new material, getting to ask questions, interacting with your classmates, keeping up on what is going on in the course, etc.
The quizzes/mini-tests give you motivation for making sure you know the material (to get a good grade), and give me feedback on what everyone still needs more work in understanding. In general, the quizzes will focus on material you have recently learned, but I will also ask questions about older material if needed (if people are forgetting important information).
The weekly programming homework assignments are designed to solidify your knowledge by having you write programs.
The final project will be discussed further after the first few weeks of the semester. Students will choose a larger programming project that will be completed by the end of the semester and presented to the class.
Expectations. My expectation is that an average student will spend 6-9 hours OUTSIDE of class each week (that is in addition to class time) WORKING PRODUCTIVELY/EFFICIENTLY (not just starring at the computer) to complete their coursework for this class. Some students may spend less time than this, and some students may spend more.
Classroom conduct. You may not use cell phones, iPods/music players, etc. during class. You should be civil and respectful to both the instructor and your classmates, and you should arrive to class a few minutes before the scheduled lecture so you are ready for lecture to begin on time. You may use your laptop during class if you are using it to follow along with the programming examples that are being discussed. You may not check email, facebook, work on other courses, etc. during class.
Important Note. If you wait until the last minute to begin your homework assignments, I will not be available to answer questions if you have problems. Programming assignments are notorious in the sense that oftentimes most of the time completing the assignment occurs after you thought you had the problem solved. This is called debugging (and testing), and is typically most of the effort in completing a program. So you MUST start your homework early. I suggest attempting the assignment the day it is given, or the day after, so that if you have a problem you can ask early. If you continue to have problems in trying to complete the assignment, you will have time to ask again. Working on programming assignments is much less stressful if you start early!
Grade cutoffs
I make no promise ahead of time what the exact cutoff will be in terms of the number of points to achieve an A+, A, A-, etc. These will depend on how the course goes. I will use the guidelines below in assigning letter grades. After the first few weeks, I will include a "letter grade if the semester ended today" in your grades. You can keep track of how you are doing in the course with the grades on the blackboard site for this course.
The following is roughly what I would expect by the end of the semester to earn a particular grade.
A+/A Superior. You are able to design and write a program to solve a problem even on paper without making many mistakes. At the computer, you are able to write correct programs fairly easily. Given a Python program, you can fairly easily trace the program to determine how it will execute.
A-/B+ Excellent. Similar to superior, but you will sometimes have minor mistakes in your first attempt at writing a program, and you will sometimes incorrectly be able to trace how a program works.
B/B- Good. You may not be able to correctly write a more complicated program, or trace the execution of a more complicated program. But you are able to do so very well for more basic programs.
C+/C/C- Adequate. You have greater difficulty with more complicated programs, but can still normally handle basic programs.
D+/D/D- Poor. You have demonstrated some ability at basic programs, but even these give you problems sometimes.
F Failing. You are not even able to complete basic programming assignments, or have missed so many assignments/quizzes that a passing grade is not possible.
The course has a blackboard site. Click here to go to blackboard. You should see CS 151 listed under your courses for the current term. The blackboard site is used only for giving you your grades. All course content, schedule, etc. is kept on the instructor's webpage (which you are currently viewing).
Please follow these guidelines to avoid problems with academic misconduct in this course:
Weekly Homeworks: You may work on the homework assignments together. But you should not turn in work that is not your own. To make sure you are not violating this, if you work with someone, you should DESTROY the file once you are done working together, go your separate ways, SPEND at least half an hour doing something completely unrelated to the assignment, and then you should be able to RECREATE the program on your own, then turn that in. If you cannot recreate the file on your own, then it is not your work, and you should not turn it in.
Note on sources: if you use some other source, the web or whatever, you better cite it! Not doing so is plagiarism.
- Quizzes/mini-tests: This should be clear - no cheating during quizzes. The quizzes will be closed-book, closed-notes, no computer, and no calculator.
- Project: You should not copy code from the internet or anywhere else. The project should be your own work. It will be fairly obvious to me if you do copy code from the internet, and the consequences will be at the least a 0 on the project.
If cheating is observed, you will at the least receive a 0 for the assignment, and I will file a Notification of Academic Integrity Violation Report with Student Judicial Programs, as required by the university's policy on Academic Integrity. A student who is caught cheating twice (whether in a single course or different courses) is likely to be brought before the All-University Court hearing panel, which can impose sanctions up to and including suspension/expulsion. See the Student Code of Conduct and Academic Integrity Resources for more information.
Please ask the instructor if you have doubts about what is considered cheating in this course.
If you have special needs for the classroom environment, homeworks, or quizzes, please inform the instructor during the first week of classes. If you have any such needs, you should go to the Student Academic Services Center to coordinate this. See Student Academic Services Center - Disabled Student Services for more information.