CS 151 Spring 2024
CS 151 Introduction to Computer Science is taken by CS majors after CS 101 or passing a placement exam.
This page contains the syllabus for Jeff Kinne's section of CS 151 and is used to keep track of assignments, etc. as well for the most recent offering (fall 2023). For announcements, click the link in the table of contents.
For Devon Kinne's section of CS 151, check in Canvas - Devon's syllabus, assignments, etc. are kept in your section of the course in Canvas.
Note that both sections of the course will use the same homeworks and lab assignments. Quizzes and exams may be slightly different.
Contents
General Information
Course website - https://cs.indstate.edu/wiki/index.php/CS_151
Your Instructor
Jeff Kinne, jkinne@cs.indstate.edu
Office: Root Hall A-142 and in Microsoft Teams, phone 812-237-2126
Instructor Office Hours: MWF 10am-1pm, 2-3pm; TR 11-12:30pm, 1:30-3pm
Lecture, Exam
Lecture: MWF 9-9:50am in Root Hall A-019, over Zoom (link in Canvas, see below), and recorded
Mid-term exam: TBA
Final exam: Wednesday, Dec 13, 8-9:50pm
Prerequisites - B- or better in CS 101 or departmental placement exam.
CRN numbers - 50602
Required text We will use selections from the following free online sources.
- Automate the Boring Stuff with Python (available free at https://automatetheboringstuff.com/)
- Additional online sources as needed.
- turtle graphics
Class notes - Notes during class will mostly be kept in the CS 151 OneNote notebook. Note that you will need to authenticate with your ISU account to view the notebook. Some files from lecture may be kept at https://cs.indstate.edu/~cs151/ which can also be seen when you are logged into the terminal by doing: cd ~cs151/public_html/
.
Announcements/Assignments/Quizzes
This section will be kept up to date with information about assignments, quizzes, and exams. This will be kept as a "stack" with the most recent at the top of the list.
Assignments
HW and Labs
These are posted in Canvas and on the CS server. HWs are due Mondays at 7:59am, Labs are due Fridays at 11:59pm. All times are Eastern US time.
Quizzes
Will normally be taken Fridays at 9:30am. Some previous quizzes and tests are posted here.
- q11 - files - in class on Dec 4.
- q10 - algorithms - in class on Nov 17.
- q9 - bases and circuits - in class on Nov 13.
- q8 - Automate the Boring Stuff Chapter 6 - in class on October 27.
- q7 - Automate the Boring Stuff Chapter 5 - in class on October 20.
- q6 - Automate the Boring Stuff Chapter 4 - in class on October 13.
- q5 - Automate the Boring Stuff Chapter 3 - in class on October 11.
- q4 - Automate the Boring Stuff Chapter 2b - in class on Sept 22.
- q3 - Automate the Boring Stuff Chapter 2a - in class on Sept 8.
- q2 - Automate the Boring Stuff Chapter 1 - that is a link to the practice quiz. In class on Sep 1.
- q1 - linux terminal - that is a link to a practice quiz. Actual quiz is in Canvas. Due by Aug 25, and you can take it twice. Take the practice quiz as many times as you want to make sure you have the right answers.
- q0 - course policies - that is a link to a practice quiz. Can be completed any time once released, can be taken as many times as needed to get 100%. Required to get 100% on this quiz before Aug 28.
Announcements
- For next semester, things to consider or change - something due most days (could be in-class code typed up, or some modification of it), examples relevant to me. See also announcements for 203, 500 courses.
- Jeff remember to - unmute, record, say something about me.
- Some day - text adventure game.
- Dec 13 - 8-9:50am final exam slot - quiz retakes.
- Dec 11 - I will grade hw resubmissions for h10, h11, h12, h13, h14 this day, so those need to be finished and handed in before this date.
- Dec 4, 6, 8 - you pick any topics you would like, and you work on final project and fixing assignments.
- Dec 8 - h14 - notes from grading... stats - should allow negative numbers. head - should print lines just as they are (do not strip), better to read just the first 5 lines rather than reading the entire file. In general, if there is any chance that a program will be handling a really large file, then don't read it all at once (better to read line by line if it's a large file). Opening files - best to catch the exception if the file does not exist, and print a good error message.
- Dec 8 - let me know which quiz retakes you want.
- Dec 6 - reminder of academic misconduct policy - if caught copying from anywhere (internet, other people) then you get an F. So don't panic cheat, the only way to get an F while finishing the course is to cheat!
- Dec 6 - final project. I am changing how it is counted in Canvas. It will count as a third exam - around 250 lecture/content points, will go into the "Exams" score (which will increase by around 250 points), if you do better on the final project than the other exams, then it will count in place of them, breakdown for the final project will be about 2/3 what you hand in and about 1/3 for the interview.
- Dec 6 - letter grades - all who are participating should be able to get at least a C if you finish well. Do your best work on things here at the end, and do retakes or resubmit any quizzes/hws with really low scores.
- Dec 6 - Pick an interview time from https://cs.indstate.edu/jkinne-meeting. Last day that is available is Dec 15, and this needs to be face to face in my office.
- Dec 6 - h11 notes... cipherIt - need to worry about going past 'z' (and in decipherIt). wordCount - don't just split on spaces (because, newlines, tabs).
- Dec 6 - caught up on grading and letter grade estimates.
- Dec 6 - Quiz retakes during final exam slot - yes, we can do retakes for any quizzes from q6 through q11. Everyone let me know on Friday which ones you want. I will make up new quizzes on those topics - so it will be the same content, but not exactly all the same questions.
- Dec 6 - HWs - you can submit corrections still for h10, h11, h12, h13, h14; for all of those, need to be done before Monday, Dec 11.
- Dec 5 - potential extra topics - csv, xlsx, classes / object-oriented stuff, VS code, python notebooks, git, GUI, numpy/scipy/matplotlib/pandas/machine learning.
- Dec 4 - you can submit corrections for h10, h11, h12, h13 by the beginning of class Friday.
- Dec 4 - solutions to previous 2 quizzes.
- Dec 4 - quiz on files in python. Functions to know - open, print (can optionally specify a file to write to rather than the screen). File object methods to know - read, readlines, write. Syntax to know - for loop for reading file. You should be able to - read an entire file, read a file line by line, read a specific number of characters from a file, write to a file, open a file for either reading / writing / appending.
- Dec 1 - new content? work on h14, final project. h16 - optional... Plans for next week and final exam slot during exam week.
- Nov 29 - questions on project. h14. h13 - bring to hand in today if you have not already. Final exam slot during exam week - quiz retakes?
- Nov 27 - quiz from last week. Reading assignment - File Handling (w3schools), and also the next 2 pages there on reading and writing files. Open a file with open, file methods - read, readlines, write, close, can use a file with a for loop and print. Note - no recording for today (forgot to click record), so do the reading and work on the project.
- Nov 17 - h13 questions. Finish content for the week. Final project.
- Nov 15 - finish analysis of binary search (note connection to the guessing game), continue with algorithms. h12 questions?
- Nov 13 - quiz over base systems, logic, circuits. Reading assignment - Khan Academy - Algorithms, in particular up through insertion sort.
- Nov 10 - converting bases (method 2 for binary, and do octal and hex as well).
- Nov 8 - converting bases, memory hierarchy, logic gates, circuits. h12.
- Nov 6 - reading assignments - Khan Academy - Digital Information, Khan Academy - Computers. h12 assignment. Quiz Friday will be over the same content.
- Nov 6 - last day to drop or change to pass/fail, but would really not want to change a course to pass/fail that you need a C in.
- Nov 3 - exam 2.
- Nov 1 - review, work on hw's. Previous quizzes are posted here, the first few quizzes are in Canvas. Some programming patterns to have memorized - loop through a string/tuple/list/dictionary and do something (print, modify, look for an item, etc.), define functions that take arguments / return values / and do something, using if / elif / else to consider all cases in a scenario, try / except for error handling, checking command-line arguments, nested loops (to check all pairs of something, keep track of 2d world), loop to print the integers, loop to check if a number is prime, add up command-line arguments. See https://cs.indstate.edu/~cs151/the_classics.py
- Oct 30 - exam 2 on Friday. h11. exam 2 information... Will be similar format as exam 1 - on paper, must be taken in class on Friday, covers everything from first exam up until now (up through chapter 6), you can use notes, if there is any Linux it won't be much, if you do better on exam 2 than exam 1 then it replaces. Exams - you are supposed to study - read through the text, try the quizzes again (earliest ones were in Canvas, later ones are here), try the hw's again from scratch (on paper, and then type them in and see how you did).
- Oct 27 - quiz on strings, chapter 6. Note - see Jeff's chapter 6 cheat sheet. Working on h10.
- Oct 25 - this week's quiz will cover all of the strings chapter (but not the pyperclip part). Let's look at h10. There is no lab10 this week. Note - command line arguments.
- Oct 25 - notes on h9... gatherLoot function could manipulate the inventory dictionary directly or call the addToInventory function; which is better? addToInventory - should this function call displayInventory, or should that be called on its own after addToInventory finishes? Does the function addToInventory need to return the updated dictionary? Does gatherLoot need to?
- Oct 23 - lab9 comments - what the formatting looks like in the assignment and how to match that.
- Oct 23 - strings chapter. 2nd exam next week - Friday Nov 3. There will be a h10, check Canvas later.
- Oct 23 - text adventure, let's discuss...
- Oct 20 - something fun assignment - text adventure (5), GUI (6), game (poker, blackjack, chess (2), connect4), chatbot (2).
- Oct 20 - quiz on dictionaries, you can use a one page cheat sheet. lab9 comments. h9.
- Oct 18 - remember, quiz on dictionaries Friday. Answers from last week's quiz. Then, work on your lab9 and h9.
- Oct 18 - comments on h8... Global variables - don't use them unless there is a good reason; generally, it is bad style to use global variables. Careful of what happens if the longest streak is at the end of the list. For the last part (how many flips until BLANK many heads in a row) - you don't need to store the flips for this; if you do this will have an impact on the performance; consider how long it takes if you keep the coin flips and call countStreak, versus just doing the accounting in the flipsUntil function (the way is quadratic time, and the other is linear - a very big difference).
- Oct 16 - from here on out, second round of grading done 1 week after due date, so that's the last chance to turn something in.
- Oct 16 - notes on lab8.. Sorting takes longer than just needing to find max or min. Two different methods to print a list - what we had in mind. Getting largest and smallest from a list - two different ways, and it's better to not change the list unless that is part of the specification on the question. Functions should work regardless of the types in myList (if they're all integers, or all strings, or all tuples of integers).
- Oct 13 - quiz over chapter 4. Sowmya runs things today, working on lab8 and h8.
- Oct 11 - quiz over chapter 3. Working on lab8, h8. Has the internet been better in the room?
- Oct 9 - we'll have q7 on Wednesday, on paper, you cannot use anything for it, study chapter 3 - how functions work, vocab, be able to give code for defining and using functions. New this week - lists, chapter 4, lab8, h8.
- Oct 9 - pair and meet partners...
- Oct 4 - exam corrections, lab7, h7, h7i.
- Oct 2 - later exams that are higher score cancel out earlier ones.
- Oct 2 - exam corrections hw, come see me hw. On to the next thing in python (chapter 3) - functions, variable scope, exception handling.
- Oct 2 - exam grades, letter grades. Note on hw's - you're supposed to fix things after the first round of grading and handin again, I do want you to get them right (my definition of right, of course).
- Sep 29 - exam 1, you must be in class for this. It will be on paper, you cannot use anything except pen and pencil.
- Sep 27 - reminder that cheat sheet is due today. Exam Friday in class - on paper, no notes, no use of computer or anything. Practice the quizzes, review the lab and hw assignments, read through the book through chapter 2. Questions on sample exam questions? Copying over the final submissions of labs and hws, and let's look at my solutions to them.
- Sep 25 - sample exam. Checking labs and hw's. Cheat sheet assignment - due Wednesday.
- Sep 22 - quiz on loops, work on lab5 and h5. I'll look at previous labs and hw's on Sunday, so if you didn't have 100% points on any of those, you can get something submitted by then for me to check. Note - exam 1 is next Friday, you must be in class for it.
- Sep 20 - last chance on labs and hw's up through this week is next Wednesday (Sep 27). We'll do a review day next Wednesday where I can show you my answers to assignments, and we'll have the first exam on Friday. For today - lab5 and h5.
- Sep 18 - quiz Friday over loops (AtBS chapter 2). First exam next week. Introducing - loops. lab5 and h5.
- Sep 15 - for lab4 and h4, you have to - handin --checkout, sftp from the server to your computer, complete them, sftp from your computer to the server, handin/submit.
- Sep 15 - are you allowed to work together? Yes, if you ask and I say it's okay, and leave a comment in your code (Jane and I worked together). If you want to ask the internet for turtle shapes in python, you can use those and give a citation.
- Sep 15 - reminder that you can see files from class either in the browser or on the server (see General Information section). What I want for h4, and time for everyone to work on lab4 and h4. Reminder - lab4 and h4 will both have 3 grade entries - did you submit a reasonable attempt on time, did you have things correct on time, and do you have it correct eventually.
- Sep 13 - lab4 and h4, turtle main loop. Loops and functions. Note - no quiz this week.
- Sep 13 - grades - grade calculation, weighting of assignments, looking at class min/max/average in Canvas.
- Sep 13 - note about conditions for grades, spy - things like < 65 rather than <= 64.
- Sep 11 - for assignments, three grades - "final version" is the normal one, "submitted on time" is whether you submitted something reasonable on time (yes/no), "on time correct" is how correct your on time submission was.
- Sep 11 - transferring between your computer and the CS server - Linux - System Setup.
- Sep 11 - turtle graphics. Jeff's solutions to h2, lab1. lab2, mathChecker - better to pick the denominator to be random between 1 and the numerator. lab2, grades - better to make the conditions so they will also work right for decimal grades (e.g., 89.5), better to organize the code so you don't copy/paste the same exact line (e.g., "Way to go!", "You got a(n) "). lab2 - note again that there is a sample transcript, so your programs should match it exactly if possible. Why does that matter?
- Sep 8 - q3, lab2, h3.
- Sep 8 - some additional notes - canvas, our course, files.
- Sep 8 - reminder to read the book, try typing in some of the examples from the book, stop me in class when you don't understand or need to pause a second to let things sink in. Don't Panic.
- Sep 6 - introducing chapter 2 things - conditions, loops. Lab2 and h3. q3 on Friday.
- Sep 6 - lab1 and h2 grades up to date. Last chance to fix those is today. Please do so, everyone should get 100% on these. Make your print and input statements exactly match the sample transcript in the files.
- Sep 1 - Quiz q2. Lab1. Questions on homework. Note that the unix help lab is open now.
- Aug 30 - lab1 sent later today. quiz on chapter 1 Friday. Finish chapter 1 material, continue where we were in OneNote. Questions on h1.
- Aug 28 - note that the python transcript from class today is at https://cs.indstate.edu/~cs151/
- Aug 28 - note that quiz this week will be on Wednesday, maybe. Read chapter 1, review today's lecture material.
- Aug 28 - Questions about q0, q1, allAboutLinux? This week's lab, hw, and quiz material. Introducing Python. Note - you should be keeping notes and a "cheat sheets" for yourself - one for Linux commands and such, one for Python rules and such. Read intro, chapters 1 and 2 of Automate the Boring Stuff; try things out as you follow along.
- Aug 24 - If you're having trouble with logging in, check - https://cs.indstate.edu/wiki/index.php/Linux_-_System_Setup
- Aug 24 - If you're having trouble with h1, read through - https://cs.indstate.edu/wiki/index.php/Linux_Terminal_-_Files_and_Directories_and_Getting_Around and read the assignment again in Canvas from the beginning.
- Aug 24 - Reminder to take q1 by the end of the day (you can take it twice, and it will count the higher grade). You can do the q1 practice quiz first using the link above.
- Aug 24 - Make sure to get 100% on q0 by Monday (you can retake it as many times as needed, in Canvas). If you have any that you can't figure out let me know.
- Aug 22 - attendance for when you are not in the room... If joining by zoom, you need to post a comment in the chat to say if you have any questions about the current assignments, reading, the last lecture, etc. If watching the lecture, you need to watch it before the next lecture and send me a message by Teams or email saying if you have any questions or want any more examples about a particular topic. So, if not in the room, you have to participate at least as much as "no questions from me right now" to get credit for attendance. You should normally be here in person, and only joining remotely as needed.
- Aug 22 - quizzes assigned, see above. First hw assignment - see it in Canvas under Assignments. No lab assignment this week.
- Aug 22 - reading assignment - this webpage, links from q0 and q1 in Canvas. For next week will be starting chapter 1 in Automate the Boring Stuff.
- Aug 22 - first day of class - how the course will work, cheating policy (automatic F for the course), practice quizzes, math notation.
Course Description and Content
Course Description
The official description of this course from the catalog is
"Core concepts that are foundational in computer science, including programming, use of computers for dealing with files and programs, how data is stored, number systems. Focus on building skills needed for programming and further study of computer science, and intermediate mastery of a particular programming language."
Course Outline
This course outline is subject to change. We will follow along with the other section of CS 151 but may add some additional topics.
Weeks 1-6
- Setup accounts
- Intro to Linux
- Variables
- I/O
- Flow Control
- If-statements
- Turtle
- Loops
- Exam 1
Weeks 7-14
- Functions
- Chapter 4 - Lists
- Chapter 5 - Collections
- Chapter 6 - Strings
- Bits, Bytes, Base and Logic
- Intro to algorithms
- Chapter 9 & 10 (Files)
- Exam2
Week 15-16
- Final project and interviews
Learning Outcomes
- Able to use Linux systems and terminal - managing files, running code, using utility programs.
- Basic mastery of core programming concepts - data types, conditionals and loops, Boolean logic, functions, string operations, reading and writing files. In particular,
- Can take a specification and produce code implementing it.
- Can take code and "play computer" to determine the precise results of running the code on a given input.
- Can take a partially complete program and specification for how it should work, and complete it.
- Can take a program with syntax or logical errors and fix the errors.
- Understanding of good coding style and able to practice good coding style - use of functions to avoid redundant code, whitespace formatting, variable and function names, comments.
- Understanding of base systems, including ability to convert between binary, hex, octal, and decimal.
- Understanding of and ability to explain different file types - text versus binary.
- Able to read and write data with programs, including parsing simple file formats (e.g., csv).
- Understanding of sorting algorithms - able to "play computer" to execute sorting algorithms that were covered in class on small test cases.
Course Policies, Grading
See Jeff Kinne Course Policies for course policies and how your overall letter grade will be determined.
Assignments
Start Assignments and Quiz Studying Early - I suggest attempting an 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. Many of the assignments require thought and problem solving, which takes "time on the calendar" not just "time on the clock". By that I mean that spending an hour on 3 consecutive days is likely to be more productive than trying to spend 3 hours at once on the assignment.
Expected Amount of Work - If you take this class seriously and get what you should out of it, some weeks you will likely be spending around 6-10 hours or more on the class. The students who get A’s in their CS courses and have an easy time finding jobs do spend this much time on this course. Not everyone would need to spend this much time and not all weeks will be the same, but you should plan on putting in whatever time it takes. Note that the federal government definition of 1 credit hour as requiring 2 hours worth of time on the course for each credit hour of lecture, so you should think of this as the default for all of your courses.
Note - your classes should be more important than your part-time job.
Each week, you will be having 3 regularly scheduled assignments:
- Quiz – this is based off of the reading and Monday lecture material. It opens on Monday at 8:00 am and must be completed by Wednesday at 11:59pm. Quizzes cannot be made up.
- Smaller lab assignment – This lab assignment will be a smaller assignment and due by Friday at 11:59pm. This will typically be submitted on the CS server. This assignment counts towards your Lab grade.
- Bigger programming assignment – This programming assignment will be a little larger in content, and will be submitted on the CS server. This counts towards your Homework grade. It will be due by Monday morning at 7:59am
Checkpoint assignments – In CS 151, the first assignment (allAboutLinux) is a “checkpoint” assignment. This assignment must be completed and receive a 100% to pass the course. You must complete the first assignment by specified due date, and receive a 100% on the assignment. You may resubmit the assignment multiple times to try to receive 100%, but you must have 100% by the specified due date.
Why? There will be some key points where if you fall behind too much then there would not be much hope of passing. Key checkpoints are set to make sure you at least keep up the minimum amount needed.
Grade Meanings
The letter grades are intended to have the following rough meaning. The list of achievements needed for each was chosen with this in mind.
- A+/A: You understand everything and probably could teach the course yourself.
- B+/A-: You understand nearly everything, and should be all set to use this knowledge in other courses or in a job.
- C/C+/B-/B: Some things you understand very well and others you don't (more towards the former for a B and more towards the latter for a C).
- D-/D+/C-: You did put some effort in, and understand many things at a high level, but you haven't mastered the details well enough to be able to use this knowledge in the future.
- F: Normally, students that get an F simply stopped doing the required work at some point.
CS-Specific Items
This section contains items that are generally the same for all CS courses (and in particular those taught by this instructor).
CS Course Policies
Note that this course follows all standard CS course policies. In particular, (a) cheating/plagiarism by graduate students results in an F in the course, (b) and there will be no makeup exams. See http://cs.indstate.edu/info/policies.html for details.
Lab Help
We have a few lab assistants who are available to help students in beginning computer science courses. Please see https://cs.indstate.edu/wiki/index.php/Unix_Lab_and_Help for details. The lab hours are in a calendar on the CS homepage, at http://cs.indstate.edu/info/index.php#lab_hours. You can join the lab when working on your programs. You can ask the lab assistants to look at your programs, and you can work with any other CS students that are there (you could use the lab as a regular meeting place to work with your classmates).
Course Announcements
Announcements regarding the course will be made both during class and via email to your @sycamores.indstate.edu email address. You should regularly check this email account or have it forwarded to an account that you check regularly. You can set the account to forward by logging into your indstate.edu email online (if you aren't able to find the option, try a different browser or search online for things like - outlook online forward email setting).
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 computer during class if you are using it to follow along with the examples that are being discussed. You should avoid spending time on email, Facebook, work on other courses, etc. during the lecture for this class (be fully present wherever you are, make the most of each experience).
Academic Integrity
See also Jeff Kinne Course Policies for additional information for more specifics about how I am handling these things for this course.
Please follow these guidelines to avoid problems with academic misconduct in this course:
Homework: You may discuss the homework assignments, but should solve and finish them on your own. To make sure you are not violating this, if you discuss with someone, you should DESTROY any work or evidence of the discussion, go your separate ways, SPEND at least an hour doing something completely unrelated to the assignment, and then you should be able to RECREATE the program/solution on your own, then turn that in. If you cannot recreate the solution 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.
Exams: This should be clear no cheating during exams. Each instructor has different rules for what is allowed on exams in terms of notes, etc. If not noted otherwise, you should assume that a quiz or exam is closed notes, no computer, no calculator.
Projects: You should not copy 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 may receive an F for the course), 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 http://www.indstate.edu/sjp/docs/code.pdf and http://www.indstate.edu/academicintegrity/ for more information.
Please ask the instructor if you have doubts about what is considered cheating in this course.
Office hours (using Teams)
Office hours will be through Microsoft Teams by default. If you would like to meet in person you should reserve an appointment using http://cs.indstate.edu/jkinne-meeting to reserve an in person meeting with Jeff Kinne. I am normally in my office during my listed office hours, but by making an appointment you can be more certain. For meeting through Teams, you should start Teams in your browser or start the application. You should be logged in using your ISU credentials. Once you have Teams open you can message me to ask me questions or to ask to talk. We can use Teams to message (better than emailing back and forth repeatedly if you have questions about something that you just want to write about) or to talk and share screens (e.g., to take a look at your code). I normally have Teams open on my computer all of the time, including during my office hours. During my office hours I will normally reply right away; at other times I will reply when I get a chance.
Canvas
The course has a canvas site. Click https://indstate.instructure.com/ to go to canvas. You should see this course listed under your courses for the current term. If you don't you may need to click on the Courses icon and then click the "All courses" link. The canvas site is used for giving you your grades, for quizzes/exams, and for getting to online lectures (which are done using Zoom). Announcements will be sent through canvas and to your university email. Links and such will be kept on this website.
Lectures (using Zoom)
Here at ISU section numbers starting with the number 3 (e.g.3xx: 301, 302, etc.) are generally online sections. There are 2 types of online sections, synchronous online and asynchronous online. Sections that are synchronous should be joined at the regularly scheduled time of the course, whereas sections that are asynchronous generally keep up with the material independently without regularly scheduled meetings. In general async sections are more difficult to stay on top of, and require a great deal of self-discipline (it is much easier to think "I can watch the videos tomorrow" and just get behind). So if you are in one of these sections make sure you get off to a strong start, and ask for help sooner rather than later. If you are in an online section, check your course schedule for course meeting times; if you have a meeting time, then your section is synchronous, otherwise it is asynchronous (or there is an error in the system).
This course has a 301 section (synchronous online) and 001 section (face to face). Students in either section can participate in whatever way you need to.
For ISU's links to information on getting started with Zoom, see https://indstate.teamdynamix.com/TDClient/1851/Portal/KB/ArticleDet?ID=107534. You can also see the information linked at https://www.indstate.edu/services/student-success/cfss. You will get to the lectures for this course by going to Canvas, select this course, click Modules on the menu on the left, and click on the Zoom module. Once there you should see a schedule of lectures and be able to view recorded lectures. Note that you should install the Zoom application for your computer, and you will need to be logged into to Zoom with your ISU credentials to be able to connect. Also note that the lectures are recorded and only available to those in our class. Recorded lectures normally appear later the same day as the lecture.
Note that if you have not used Zoom with your ISU account previously, you need to go to https://indstate-edu.zoom.us and login with your ISU email address and password to get it setup.
Participating online
If you are participating online, please see the information at https://www.indstate.edu/services/student-success/cfss about participating in online courses. You are expected to either join lectures live through Zoom or watch the recordings once they are available. You will complete assignments, quizzes, and exams on the same schedule as the rest of the class. For quizzes and exams you will normally have a 24 hour period during which to take the quiz/exam (note that different students will have slightly different questions and any communication between students about quiz/exam content is academic misconduct).
For attendance when you are not in the room... If joining by zoom, you need to post a comment in the chat to say if you have any questions about the current assignments, reading, the last lecture, etc. If watching the lecture later, you need to watch it before the next lecture and send me a message by Teams or email saying if you have any questions or want any more examples about a particular topic. So, if not in the room, you have to participate at least as much as "no questions from me right now" to get credit for attendance. Also, if joining by zoom, please set a profile picture so that I will see a picture of you in the list of zoom participants (like mine); or leave your video on - in either case, so I can associate a face with the name; if you have a good reason to not do either of these let me know.
ISU Required Syllabus Items
The items in this section are required and are the same for every ISU course.
COVID-19 Information
Information specific to CS courses - Start of Term Announcements
Standard ISU language required in all syllabi (read this all once, then skim for your other courses)...
Students are expected to adhere to course attendance policies, as stated in the course syllabus. Documented COVID-related absences will be treated like any other serious medical issue. Following University policy, students with a documented, serious medical issue must contact the Office of the Dean of Students for assistance. The Office of the Dean of Students will supply documentation for faculty. Students with a documented serious medical issue should not be penalized and will be given a reasonable chance to complete exams or assignments. Once notification is made, faculty will make reasonable efforts to accommodate the student’s absence and will communicate that accommodation directly to the student. Please note that faculty are not required to accommodate a serious medical issue with virtual content options, like streaming or recorded lectures. To avoid the potential of missing significant class time, students are strongly encouraged to receive the COVID vaccination that has been made available on campus. For more information about the vaccines or to find a vaccination site, go to: https://ourshot.in.gov. The ISU Health Center also administers COVID-19 vaccines by appointment.
Students should contact the Office of the Dean of Students with questions by calling 812-237-3829.
The information provided in this section of the syllabus is subject to modification based on guidance by public health authorities. Changes to Covid-related policies or updated information will, as always, be posted on the ISU website and communicated in multiple ways.
Special Needs / Disability Services
Standard ISU language required in all syllabi...
Indiana State University recognizes that students with disabilities may have special needs that must be met to give them equal access to college programs and facilities. If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, please contact us as soon as possible in a confidential setting either after class or in my office. All conversations regarding your disability will be kept in strict confidence. Indiana State University's Student Support Services (SSS) office coordinates services for students with disabilities: documentation of a disability needs to be on file in that office before any accommodations can be provided. Student Support Services is located on the lower level of Normal Hall in the Center for Student Success and can be contacted at 812-237-2700, or you can visit the ISU website under A-Z, Disability Student Services and submit a Contact Form. Appointments to discuss accommodations with SSS staff members are encouraged.
Once a faculty member is notified by Student Support Services that a student is qualified to receive academic accommodations, a faculty member is obligated to provide or allow a reasonable classroom accommodation under ADA.
Disclosures Regarding Sexual Misconduct
Standard ISU language required in all syllabi...
Indiana State University Policy 923 strictly prohibits discrimination on the basis of: age, disability, genetic information, national origin, pregnancy, race/color, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, veteran status, or any other class protected by federal and state statutes in ISU programs and activities or that interferes with the educational or workplace environment.
Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 prohibits discrimination based on sex, including sexual harassment. Sexual harassment includes quid pro quo harassment, unwelcome verbal or physical conduct, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking.
If you witness or experience any forms of the above discrimination, you may report to:
Office: Equal Opportunity & Title IX; (812) 237-8954; Rankin Hall, Room 426
Email: ISU-equalopportunity-titleix@mail.indstate.edu
Online: https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?IndianaStateUniv&layout_id=10
Disclosures made to the following confidential campus resources will not be reported to the Office of Equal Opportunity and Title IX:
ISU Student Counseling Center: (812) 237-3939; Gillum Hall, 2nd Floor
Victim Advocate: (812) 237-3829; HMSU 7th Floor
UAP Clinic/ISU Health Center: (812) 237-3883; 567 N. 5th Street