CS-11 Course Information

On This Page Instructor Information Course Information Course Objectives Who Should Take This Course Student Readiness Textbooks and Other Materials Teaching Methods Grading Policies Alternate Grading and Incompletes Working Together Scholastic Dishonesty Assignment Policies Exam Policies Instructor Information Name Ed Parrish Email See instructor's homepage. Office location See instructor's homepage. Office hours See instructor's homepage. Phone See instructor's homepage. Contacting Instructor If you have any questions about the course or need assistance, please contact me during office hours in person or by telephone, or at any time by e-mail. When contacting by e-mail, be sure to include the course number and your name. ^ top Course Information Course title Introduction to Programming Concepts and Methodology, C++ Course Number CS 11 Section Number 47733 (Day) and 47732 (Evening) Course description Presents an introduction to computer programming using the C++ programming language beginning with basic principles and progressing to object-oriented programs. Includes: algorithms, data types, declarations, expressions, selection, repetition, functions, recursion, libraries, arrays, classes, objects, files and streams. Prepares students for CS 19 or CS 20J Course dates 08/28/06 through 12/16/06 Location Room 516 (Campus Map: JPEG or PDF) Meeting day(s) TTH (Day) and TH (Evening) Meeting time(s) 10:00 AM to 12:10 PM (Day) and 6:00 PM to 10:15 PM (Evening) Prerequisite(s) None. Recommended Preparation CS 1 or CS 2; MATH 4. Eligibility for ENGL 100 and READ 100. ^ top Course Objectives   At the end of this course, students will be able to: Apply the principles of software engineering to the design of introductory programs using structured top-down design. Apply the principles of software engineering to the design of introductory object-oriented programs. Write, document, test and debug C++ programs using functions. Use declarations, expressions, selection and looping statements, functions, classes, strings, enumerated types arrays, and structures at an introductory level. Read, interpret, analyze and explain introductory C++ programs. Design and write elementary sorting and searching algorithms. Research sorting and searching algorithms using Internet search engines. ^ top Who Should Take This Course   The following people will benefit from this course: Students who want to learn basic programming skills. Students who want to prepare for the advanced-placement test in programming Students preparing for CS-19: C++ Programming Programmers who want to learn C++ at a slower pace than CS-19. ^ top Student Readiness Email All students are requested to have an e-mail account. Internet Access You need Internet access to view course materials on my web site, to turn in assignments and to take quizzes. Internet access is available in the CTC for all students enrolled in this course. Technical Skills Students need technical skills in the following areas to be successful in this course: Binary number arithmetic and conversion to decimal Computer operation and program installation File and folder (directory) management Text editing E-mail usage Web browser usage Note that these skills are taught in CS-1. Patience and Time If you have enough time to sit in class and in lab, but don't have 8-12 hours a week to devote to homework, drop this class. You will need time to experiment with the details of the programming language, and to design solutions to assignments. ^ top Textbooks and Other Materials Required books Problem Solving with C++: The Object of Programming, 6/e, Walter Savitch, Addison Wesley, ISBN 0-321-41269-9. Note that we will NOT be using CodeMate (CodeMate Web-site). It is important that you buy this book because there will be required reading from the book, I will test on material from the book, and it will help you get a better grade in the course. Required materials You must purchase a CodeLab subscription. Cost should be $25 if you order online -- let me know if you are charged more as I negotiated a discount for my students. ^ top Teaching Methods Assigned reading Each week you have assigned reading, which you are expected to complete before class. During class, you will be expected to join in the discussions and answer questions about the reading when called upon. Lectures Important material from the text and outside sources will be covered in class. You should plan to take careful notes as not all material can be found in the texts or readings. Discussion is encouraged as is outside material relevant to topics being covered. Exercises After the reading and class meeting(s) each week, there are usually both in-class exercises and CodeLab exercises. You are expected to work on the in-class exercises during the time allotted in class. You are usually given enough time in class to complete the in-class exercises. However, if we run out of class time then you may need to complete them at home. CodeLab exercises are usually completed outside of the classroom. The CodeLab exercises give you practice with the programming concepts and skills from the reading and the classroom lectures. You should complete the CodeLab exercises before you attempt the programming assignment. Assignments The programming assignments let you apply what you have learned to new situations, analyze problems and see the patterns in the programming language. You will turn in your programming assignment using the Assignment submission tool in WebCT. Exams There are two tests during the semester: a midterm and a final exam. There may be quizzes as well. The midterm covers the material from the first half of the course and the final covers material from the second half of the course. However, the course is progressive and you will need to use material from the first half during the second half. Also, I may include questions from the first half where students had difficulty. Note that I will use WebCT to administer the tests. Project The last programming assignment is the Sampler Project. The purpose of the project is to use the knowledge and skills you have learned from this course to create a useful application. I specify several requirements and you must make many design decisions. Internet All material will be distributed on the Internet. Class notes, instructional material, and student assignments will be posted on the class web site. Assessments and assignments are turned in using WebCT. Students are encouraged to go to both the web site and WebCT in order to obtain file downloads, submit completed work and to view items of interest throughout the semester. Typical Class Session A typical class session is organized like the following: Day Section Time Event 10:00 AM Announcements and discussion of questions that have short answers or broad interest within the class 10:05 AM Lecture, discussion and exercises 11:00 AM Break 10:05 AM Lecture, discussion and exercises 12:00 PM Exit classroom (10 min. for passing time) 12:10 AM Class officially ends Evening Section Time Event 6:00 PM Announcements and discussion of questions that have short answers or broad interest within the class 10:05 AM Lecture, discussion and exercises 7:15 PM Break 10:05 AM Lecture, discussion and exercises 8:45 PM Break 10:05 AM Lecture, discussion and exercises 10:05 PM Exit classroom (10 min. for passing time) 10:15 PM Class officially ends ^ top Grading Policies Assessed areas Your final grade is weighted based on your performance in the following areas: Exercises 15% Assignments 30% Midterm exam 20% Final exam 35% Exercises Exercises are graded as the sum total of in-class exercises and CodeLab exercises. All exercises are generally turned in once per week, and are usually due by the beginning of class on the Thursday of the following week, unless otherwise shown on WebCT or CodeLab. I will not accept late exercises for any reason. However, I do throw out the lowest exercise score in determining the final grade. If you are going to miss class, then you should arrange to turn in your exercises before class starts. Since we turn-in exercises online, you can submit your exercises from any computer connected to the Internet. Exercises are graded on "best effort" basis. You will receive full credit if you clearly attempt to complete all exercises. For each exercise you do not complete, your grade for that exercise will be reduced by 10%, which is one full grade point. Assignments Programming assignments are usually due at the beginning of class on Thursday, but the date and time shown on WebCT is the official due date and time. I will not accept late assignments for any reason because assignment solutions are often discussed in class and posted. However, it is possible to improve assignment scores by completing extra credit work. Most assignments have some extra-credit suggestions. If you are going to miss class, then you should arrange to turn in your assignments before class starts. Since we turn-in work online, you can submit your programs from any computer connected to the Internet. The Sampler Project is graded as a double assignment. If you do not want to complete the homework because the assignments are not challenging enough, see the instructor for more challenging assignments. Midterm exam The midterm exam must be taken when scheduled, except by prior arrangement with the instructor. If you score below 75% on your midterm exam, you may request the instructor to weight the final exam more heavily and the midterm less heavily. For such requests, the instructor will weight the midterm at 10% and the final exam at 45%. You must make this request in writing, such as e-mail, before the final exam. Final exam The final exam is a practical exam given during finals week. You will need to complete a series of programming steps to pass the final. Some multiple-choice questions may be given as well. Grade interpretation Grading within each area is based on the following scale: Grade From To Description A 90% 100% Outstanding work demonstrating mastery of the subject. B 80% 89.9% Above average work with a solid understanding of the subject. C 70% 79.9% Satisfactory work meeting all minimum requirements. D 60% 69.9% Substandard work not meeting expectations in one or more areas. F 0% 59.9% Unsatisfactory work. If you have questions about problems you missed on any exercise or assignment, please see me right away. I want to ensure both that you understand the material and that your grades are accurate and fair. ^ top Alternate Grading and Incompletes Credit/No Credit Option By default, everyone receives a letter grade. If you request the Credit/No Credit Option, you must complete the course work at a satisfactory (that is a "C") or better level. For more information, see the Cabrillo Academic Policies and Procedures document. Incompletes You may request an incomplete from the instructor if you are "doing passing work and regularly attending at least 75% of a course, but are unable to take the final exam (or otherwise complete the course) because of illness or other unforeseeable emergency and justifiable reasons." (Quotation from the Academic Policies and Procedures document.) ^ top Working Together Pair Programming Pair programming is a practice that helps programmers improve program quality and productivity (see The Costs and Benefits of Pair Programming). In addition, some studies show that some students learn better when they work in pairs. Thus, I encourage all students to work with one other student on homework assignments following the rules of pair programming. Working in Groups If you decide not use pair programming, but still would like to work with other people, then there are restrictions on what you can do. Specifically, you must do your own work as discussed in the section on Scholastic Dishonesty. Group work can accelerate learning, but only when each student takes responsibility for mastering all the material. Little is learned if each student works only one or two problems and merely copies answers for the rest. In-class Exercises Money for education is in short supply in California due to the current budget problems. As a result, there are not enough computers for every student to have their own computer in this classroom. To work around this shortage of computers, you may need to work with others on in-class exercises. If there are more students than computers, you must be willing to work with one other student. If there are more computers than students, you may still work on in-class exercises together, if both students so choose. In any case, you are expected to work on the exercises during class. When working together, you and your partner must work collaboratively at the single computer. One person is the "driver" and types the work into the computer. The other person is called the "reviewer" and actively checks the work entered by the driver. Each partner spends about one-half of the time for each class as the driver and the other half as the reviewer. ^ top Scholastic Dishonesty   Scholastic dishonesty is any act designed to give an unfair or undeserved academic advantage. Students who are scholastically dishonest hurt both themselves and other students. They rob themselves of both the knowledge of the course and the experience of learning how to learn. They harm other students as well because nobody can trust that the graduates of a course know the material and because they may unfairly get a higher grade. Scholastic dishonesty includes: Cheating: Intentionally violating the rules of the course by possessing, communicating, using, or attempting to use materials or to take actions that the instructor has prohibited. Plagiarism: Use of distinctive ideas, words or code belonging to another person, without sufficiently acknowledging that person's contribution. Collusion: Unauthorized collaboration with another person in the preparation of an academic assignment offered for credit. Misrepresenting facts: Providing false information for academinc advantage such as for postponing an exam or extending a deadline on an assignment. For any work submitted in this course, you are not authorized to copy or use work from any source unless it is specifically stated in the assignment documentation. If you use distinctive ideas from another source, such as a book or the Internet, you must credit the source well enough so that it is easy for the instructor to find. Note that the instructor uses various services and tools to detect cheating by comparing your work with other students, books and the web. Any person caught cheating, colluding, plagiarizing or misrepresenting facts will be given a grade of zero for the assignment or exam. The second offense will result in a no-pass or failing grade for the course. These offenses will be reported to the Dean of Student Services for inclusion in your academic record. Assignment Policies   In this course, you must either use pair programming (when permitted), or personally complete the entire assignment yourself. To complete the entire assignment means that you must write all your own program code. You may discuss assignments with other people, but ultimately you must write the code yourself. Not writing all the code yourself is considered cheating. If the assignment seems too hard to complete without more help, whether pair-programming or not, then you should contact me. My job is to help you understand the material. As an option, you may discuss your assignment, and show your code to, another Cabrillo College Computer Science Instructor if they agree. We all have the knowledge and skills needed to help you understand the material. You may still help other students, and receive help from other students, and I encourage you to do so. The following lists are intended to help clarify the rules about appropriate assistance for assignments: Acceptable Help Showing others how to use, or solve problems with, computer applications such as compilers, text-editors and debuggers Discussing problems and ideas for solving problems with other students Describing your algorithms to other students using diagrams or natural-language statements Looking at another person's code and pointing out an error, as long as you do not write or type any information, or dictate what program code to type or write Unacceptable Help Typing or writing any code for another person, or allowing someone to type or write code for you Looking at another person's code while typing or writing your own program Listening to someone else dictate the program code while typing or writing, or dictating to some else the program code to type or write Providing a copy of your code, or any portion of your code, to any person other than the instructor, including posting your code online or emailing it to someone. Communicating your answer for an assigned problem to anyone by any means. These are not all-inclusive lists. If you have questions about what is permissible, please ask me. Exam Policies   During exams, I expect there to be no talking and no wandering eyes. You are responsible to make it abundantly clear to me that you are not cheating and that you are working alone. Cheating on exams includes, but is not limited to, the following: Communicating with anyone but the testing proctor during the test Failing to comply with instructions given by the testing proctor Possessing materials that are not authorized by a testing proctor, such as calculators, cell phones, pagers, lessons, books, or notes Copying from another student Using, buying, stealing, soliciting for, or transporting some or all of the contents of a test or test rubric Substituting for another person, or permitting another person to substitute for oneself, in taking a test This is not an all-inclusive list. If you have questions about what is permissible, please ask me. ^ top Home | WebCT | Announcements | Day Schedule | Eve Schedule Course info | Help | FAQ's | HowTo's | Links Last Updated: September 28 2006 @13:34:40