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CS151 - Introduction to Computer Science

Spring 2020

General Information

This is the website for CS151 - Introduction to Computer Science offered in Spring 2020 and taught by Jeff Kinne (section 301), Adam Davenport (section 001), and Ashwin Murali (section 004)

  • Class Hours: online (section 301) / MWF 9-9:50am (section 001) / MWF 10-10:50am (section 004)

  • Class Room: Root Hall - online (section 301) / A-019 (section 001) / A-017 (section 004)

  • Office Hours: Jeff MW noon-2pm and TR 10:30am-noon in A-140D, SW 8-10pm; Adam and Ashwin in A-015, see CS homepage for days/times


Click on the links on the left for information about the course.

Course Announcements

  • end of announcements

  • Jan 7 - for last semester's CS 151 course website, see http://cs.indstate.edu/~jkinne/cs151-f2019/

  • Jan 7 - course webpage created.

  • Jan 8 - how the online section (section 301) will function - see online.txt

  • Jan 14 - updated grading formula for the total grade to be - 20% each for attendance, assignments, quizzes, 40% exams

  • Jan 14 - assignment h1 is ready to be worked on, in person sections will get started in class Wednesday, online section will get instructions shortly.

  • Jan 14 - online section - mattermost chat - video will be in Link and Lectures, remember to use your portal id as your username and use your @sycamores.indstate.edu email.

  • Jan 14 - your CS server logins are in blackboard. Go to http://blackboard.indstate.edu, go to this course, go to My Grades. In your grades you have an entry 'cs151 login' and 'cs151 password' - this is what you will use to login to the server. Note - the first time you login, it will ask for your Full Name - put in your correct full name. You can leave the phone number, office, etc. blank. If it does not give you a chance to change your password, you can change your password to something easier to remember by running the passwd when you are logged in to one of the CS systems.

  • Jan 19 - due date for h1 updated to be Jan 22 11:59pm (for benefit of face to face sections, applies to online section as well)

  • Jan 19 - videos for online section are up for chapter 1

  • Jan 19 - h2 released, will be due Jan 27, video demo linked from assignment

  • Jan 20 - online section - grades are in for participation (mattermost - 3 posts/replies required per week) and login time on the CS server (1 hour per week required) are in blackboard. these won't count for the first week, but you can see where you stood. Note that for both of these, we will count the week as starting on Monday and ending on Sunday.

  • Jan 25 - online section - if you have any problems getting system setup, let Jeff know - we can do a video call and share screens to walk you through

  • Jan 25 - see end of h1.txt for some notes collected from grading h1. Also check out the h1 demo and explanation again to see how Jeff solved the assignment.

  • Jan 25 - see quizA.txt for some notes after grading quizA.

  • Jan 28 - online section - quizB will be Jan 29-30, sample quiz is linked off of Quizzes and Tests page (link on left).

  • Jan 28 - online section - quizB has been released, must be complete by 6am Jan 31.

  • Jan 29 - online section - the login-to-cs-server part of attendance will be 2 points/week and just require that you have logged into the server at least once from Monday-Sunday (at a minimum you should login at least once to handin the weekly assignment).

  • Jan 30 - h3 released, preliminarily due Feb 3, video demo linked from assignment

  • Feb 4 - h3 due Feb 10 for online section

  • Feb 8 - quizB answers at quizB_questions_answers.txt

  • Feb 8 - quizC answers at quizC_questions_answers.txt, video explanation

  • Feb 8 - h4 released and due Feb 17, video explanation

  • Feb 12 - online section - no quiz this week

  • Feb 16 - video for h3 solutions and notes

  • Feb 16 - videos showing how to install and use an FTP program, see Links and Lectures

  • Feb 16 - video on using the debugger in Python IDLE on your computer - video

  • Feb 17 - online section - sample exam is in blackboard, and sample exam with lockdown browser is also in blackboard to try out to make sure you'll be able to take the exam this way. Video demo/explanation.

  • Feb 18 - online section - first exam will be available at midnight and can be taken until Saturday midnight. See exams link on the left for rules.

  • Feb 26 - online section - videos up for Chapters 3 and 4. Note that these videos highlight the most important parts of Chapters 3 and 4, but do not cover everything.

  • Feb 26 - online section - h5 has been released and due in one week (Wednesday March 4)

  • Feb 26 - online section - quiz over Chapters 3 and 4 will be available to be taken Saturday through Monday

  • Feb 27 - online section - videos up for - explanation of h5, notes on grading exam1

  • Mar 3 - online section - for quizD, note Jeff's answers in blackboard of how we want you to keep track of your work on the play computer questions. Note that for a while loop iterating through a list, the index normally ends up being one past the end of the list.

  • Mar 5 - notes on what to expect on quizE - code/QUIZ/quizE.txt

  • Mar 5 - h6 released (see Homework link on the left for README and template, and video explanation)

  • Mar 13 - reading assignment posted on the readings page - Khan Academy Algorithms

  • Mar 13 - h8 is due on Mar 20 for all three sections

  • Mar 13 - quizF sample is available in blackboard. QuizF will be taken on Mar 18-19.

  • Mar 17 - a few new videos in the youtube playlist. Note that videos will just be posted to that playlist now, and there is a link to the playlist where the video links used to be kept.

  • Mar 30 - Jeff's plans for afterSpringBreak.txt

  • Mar 30 - Video explanations and solutions for much of h5, starting with this video in the youtube playlist. Note - you may find these to be fast-paced, so take time to digest while you watch - pause, check against your code, take notes, etc. If you find them fast, then stick to one at a time.

  • Mar 30 - Scratch - getting started video demo and links to check out, and note that you will have two Scratch programs as part of h9 (see the getting started link)

  • Apr 3 - Microbit - getting started video demo and links to get started, and note that you will have two Microbit programs as part of h9 (see the getting started link)

  • Apr 3 - assignment h9, due Apr 8, see Homework link on the left

  • Apr 5 - online section - all grades are up to date in blackboard. Remember to check your grading notes for an assignment using the format handin -g h8, also grading notes for h6 and h8 were sent to you in mattermost. For attendance, put mattermost 2/17-3/30 as out of 10 points and any interaction with me counted as a point (mattermost or email); put cs login 2/17-3/30 as out of 10 points as well, and counted each login as 2 points. Updated estimated letter grade.

  • Apr 5 - online section - I am putting bonus points as added on to HW, Quiz, or Attendence, whichever helps you the most.

  • Apr 5 - explanation videos for h6 and h8 will be posted today at some point.

  • Apr 5 - online section - remember that if you make a good faith effort to finish the course, I want to be able to pass you. And if you make a good faith effort to get up to the standard for C, I want to be able to give you at least a C.

  • Apr 5 - online section - I will give late credit for anything, for HW's just turn in your late work with handin and let me know to take a look. For quizzes I don't have a setup yet for doing this, stay tuned.

  • Apr 6 - solutions videos up for h6 and h8. Note that both are 'how to solve the problems' more than 'this is the answer' and also include key takeways.

  • Apr 7 - LMC simple computer - see Jeff's notes, which won't be quite enough for you to get started. Getting started video will be posted today. Assignment h10 will be to do an LMC program - any of the ones asked for in Jeff's notes, or anything else that is not exactly the same as one of the examples.

  • Apr 7 - Exam 2 - plan is to be content - h6, h8, quizE, quizF. Probably won't include Scratch, Microbit, LMC. Will be taken within the next week, precise date to be announced soon.

  • Apr 15 - new videos and h10 posted, h10 due Apr 20

  • Apr 22 - new videos and h11 posted, h11 due Apr 27

  • Apr 22 - final project available, listed under assignments, is optional, can be counted toward HW points and/or in place of final exam

  • Apr 22 - h10b posted, bonus HW points, 1 point per problem, relatively easy problems, everyone can find some they can solve (hopefully)

  • Apr 22 - python help/review sessions in Teams, see email from Jeff

  • Explanation video for h11. h11 is based on the videos on dictionaries and strings

  • Apr 28 - online section - if you had 3/4 good programs on h9, full credit

  • May 4 - online section - Quiz G over python dictionaries, strings, reading/writing files is availalbe, info linked from the Quizzes link on the left

  • May 5 - study guide for traditional-style final exam for online section is linked from quizzes and tests link on the left