INTRODUCTION TO PROGRAMMING SYLLABUS

Course

Introduction to Programming, Spring 2009

Instructor

Stephen J. Hartley, office 3^rd floor Robinson, phone 256-4500 ext. 3895
E-mail: hartley@elvis.rowan.edu
Home page: http://elvis.rowan.edu/~hartley/index.html
AOL Instant Messenger: PrfHartley

Meeting Time and Place

CS 01.102, Introduction to Programming.

• Section 3: TR 10:50--12:05, T Educ 3110, R Robinson 325.
• Section 4: MW 9:25--10:40, M Bunce 303, W Robinson 312.

Office Hours

During the spring 2009 semester, my formal office hours are

• Monday, Wednesday, 10:50--12:05 (meetings possible);
• Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, 12:15--15:00;
• and by appointment.

If you need to make an appointment, or if you have a question, you can reach me by telephone at extension 3895 and by electronic mail at hartley@elvis.rowan.edu. My AOL Instant Messenger name is PrfHartley and you are welcome to try contacting me that way with questions instead of through e-mail or telephone. If you cannot connect, send e-mail to hartley@elvis.rowan.edu to remind me to start the AIM program (I use Linux pidgin or an equivalent).

Textbooks and Other Materials

Required

The following book is for sections 3 and 4 only and is our only required textbook.

Wanda P. Dann, Stephen Cooper, Randy Pauch, Learning to Program with Alice, second edition, Prentice Hall, 2009, ISBN 0-13-208516-X.

Two (2) or more flash (jump, keychain, thumb, USB) drives at least 128 megabytes in size each. You will be turning in all exams and projects on one of your USB drives. The other one is for keeping a backup copy of whatever you turn in. Write your name on a label and glue it to the outside of each of your flash drives.

Recommended

Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture, Hyperion, 2008, ISBN 978-1-4013-2325-7.

Online Resources

Class Web pages start here:
http://elvis.rowan.edu/~hartley/Courses/IntroProgramming/2009/Spring/index.html

Class Announcements Web page:
http://elvis.rowan.edu/~hartley/Courses/IntroProgramming/2009/Spring/announcements.html You need to check this page regularly! Announcements, corrections to assignments, adjustments to the syllabus, etc., will be made there.

Class notes. Please read these as we go along.
http://elvis.rowan.edu/~hartley/Courses/IntroProgramming/Handouts/index.html

General Course Description

From the Rowan Undergraduate Catalog: (CS 01.102, 3 s.h.) This course acquaints students with the logical structure of a computer, the algorithmic formulation of problems, and a modern high-level programming language. Extensive programming experience is included in the course. Proficiency equivalent to Intermediate Algebra (MATH 01.121) is expected for this course.

Goals and Objectives

By reading the textbook, using the Alice programming platform in class, and doing projects outside of class, you will gain skill and experience in computer programming and become familiar with its fundamental principles, techniques, and terminology. Examples of the latter are algorithm, abstraction, and elegance.

Your progress in attaining these goals will be measured by five in-class closed-book exams, a comprehensive final exam, six outside-class group (team) projects with in-class group presentations, one office visit, and a written ``last'' assignment (URL below).

Office Visit

The office visit occurs in my office on the 3^rd floor of Robinson building. It lasts 5--15 minutes and is not painful. Schedule an appointment if formal office hours are not convenient.

You must also fill out and hand in the questionnaire (found in the class Web pages) at the time of your office visit. Note the requirement to put a portrait (head-shot) picture of yourself in a file named exactly picture.jpg (all lower case) in the public.www folder of your Rowan H: drive.

You may answer the questions on a separate sheet of paper and turn that in at the time of your visit, or you may print out the questionnaire and answer the questions on it, using the back if needed.

Your office visit will earn you points according to the following timetable.

• 100 points if completed by 3:00pm Tue Feb 3 (Sec 3), Wed Feb 4 (Sec 4) 2009.
• 90 points if completed by 3:00pm Tue Feb 10 (Sec 3), Wed Feb 11 (Sec 4) 2009.
• 80 points if completed by 3:00pm Tue Feb 17 (Sec 3), Wed Feb 18 (Sec 4) 2009.
• 40 points if completed by 3:00pm Tue Feb 24 (Sec 3), Wed Feb 25 (Sec 4) 2009.
• 20 points if completed by 3:00pm Tue Mar 3 (Sec 3), Wed Mar 4 (Sec 4) 2009.
• 0 points otherwise.

Evaluation and Grading

The course grade will be determined as follows:

Item		Percentage of final letter grade
Office visit		10
Five in-class closed-book exams		30
Six group projects and presentations		30
Written ``last assignment''		10
Comprehensive final exam		20

Your lowest exam score, such as a zero for one you miss, will be dropped, leaving four exam scores used to compute your semester average. Your lowest group project score, such as a zero for one you miss, will be dropped, leaving five group project scores used to compute your semester average. You must be present in class when your group presents in order to receive any credit for that group project.

Final letter grades for the semester will be based on the usual 10-point scale where avg is your semester average calculated using the above scheme.

93 1/3 ≤ avg < 100	A
90 ≤ avg < 93 1/3	A-
86 2/3 ≤ avg < 90	B+
83 1/3 ≤ avg < 86 2/3	B
80 ≤ avg < 83 1/3	B-
76 2/3 ≤ avg < 80	C+
73 1/3 ≤ avg < 76 2/3	C
70 ≤ avg < 73 1/3	C-
66 2/3 ≤ avg < 70	D+
63 1/3 ≤ avg < 66 2/3	D
60 ≤ avg < 63 1/3	D-
avg < 60	F

An ``incomplete'' grade will be assigned only under extremely unusual exceptional circumstances, as determined by the instructor.

The Computer Science Department does not allow any of its courses to be taken Pass/No Credit.

Last Assignment

See http://elvis.rowan.edu/~hartley/Courses/lastHW.html for more information on the written ``last'' assignment.

Attendance

Regular attendance in class is required. Please inform the instructor in advance, preferably by e-mail, if you must be absent from a class.

All in-class exams and the comprehensive final exam must be attended to earn any points. No makeups will be given! Repeat after me, ....

Students who are absent continuously for two weeks will be reported to the Dean of Students. Also a continuous two-week absence without contacting me (before the end of the continuous two-week absence) will result in an automatic F for the semester final letter grade.

Projects, Exams, and Final Exam

Group projects are done outside of class and presented in class by the group. One group member will turned in the project on a flash (thumb, USB) drive on the specified due date for grading. No late projects will be accepted! Repeat after me, .... No USB drives will be accepted without a readable external label containing your name! Repeat after me, ....

The five in-class exams and the comprehensive final exam are not written in nature, but will be primarily ``practical,'' that is, done on the computer using Alice. Some questions might require written answers. No makeups will be given.

At the end of the exam period you will turn in a flash (USB) drive containing your work to be graded and handed back. No USB drives will be accepted without a readable external label containing your name. You will be reminded to put a copy of your exam on your backup USB drive.

The outside-class group projects with group presentations and in-class exams are graded on the basis of 100 points total each. Because your lowest exam score and lowest group project score are dropped, you can miss or totally mess up an exam or project without trashing your final letter grade for the semester.

Withdrawal From Class

Drop/add ends Monday, January 26, 2009. Until then, you can easily drop and add courses (assuming there is room) to adjust your course schedule. A dropped course will not show up on your transcript.

During the first half of the semester (through March 9, 2009), a student may withdraw from a class by filling out the appropriate form and obtaining the instructor's signature. A grade of ``W'' is received on your transcript.

The Department of Computer Science policy on withdrawing after that date is that it will be approved only in extenuating circumstances beyond the control of the student, such as serious illness. In addition, after March 9, 2009, the department chair must also sign the withdrawal form. A grade of ``WP'' or ``WF,'' as determined by the instructor, is received on your transcript.

No withdrawal forms will be signed after April 7, 2009, except for extremely unusual exceptional circumstances, as determined by the instructor. In addition, after April 7, 2009, the department chair and dean must also both sign the withdrawal form. A grade of ``WP'' or ``WF'' is received, as determined by the instructor.

Acceptable Use Policies

Rowan has two policies about acceptable use of its computers and networks, one for everybody and another specifically for students. By registering for and taking this course, you are agreeing explicitly to abide by them.

• www.rowan.edu/ir/policy/index.html
• www.rowan.edu/ir_info/res/Policies/index.html

Students Accommodation Statement

Your academic success is important. If you have a documented disability that may have an impact upon your work in this class, please contact me. Students must provide documentation of their disability to the Academic Success Center in order to receive official University services and accommodations. The Academic Success Center can be reached at 856-256-4234. The Center is located on the 3^rd floor of Savitz Hall. The staff is available to answer questions regarding accommodations or assist you in your pursuit of accommodations. We look forward to working with you to meet your learning goals.

Academic Integrity

Anything you turn in with your name on it must be your own work, that is, written or programmed by you and not copied from anyone or anywhere else. You must do anything you turn in with your name on it individually. For outside-class projects (that is, not exams), you may consult with other students and the course instructor to clarify points of confusion and share ideas. However, everything you turn in with your name on it must be your own work. Copying from others is expressly forbidden. Allowing others to copy from you is expressly forbidden.

Plagiarism and academic honesty guidelines: Each student does his/her own project although you may ask other students and/or me about clarifying the project or for ideas about how to approach doing something in the project. You will do all the computer work yourself (including typing and mousing) and not allow another student to copy your work and not yourself turn in work copied from someone else. You will not ``dictate'' mousing and typing to another student nor be ``dictated'' to yourself.

Penalties for violation of this will range from a grade of zero on the assignment to a grade of F for the course, effective immediately, and a letter to the Office of the Dean. By registering in this course, each one of you is explicitly agreeing to abide by and adhere to the above statements on academic integrity.

If you use materials that you've obtained on the Internet, from a book, etc., you must include an appropriate reference. To use such materials without proper attribution is a form of plagiarism.

See page 73 of the Student Information Guide, available at http://www.rowan.edu/studentaffairs/infoguide/, for the University's policies on using Turnitin.com. Other University policies are available on the Provost's Web page http://www.rowan.edu/provost/policies/.

Classroom Decorum

Be on time. Do not eat in class. Do your best to remain in the room during class. Turn off or put into vibrate mode cell phones, PDAs, and pagers. You will receive a warning the first time your cell phone, PDA, or pager goes off in class or lab. If it happens again, you will be asked to leave for the rest of that class meeting.

home page: http://elvis.rowan.edu/~hartley/index.html
e-mail: hartley@elvis.rowan.edu