Foundations of Computer Science, Spring
2009 Syllabus
Class Web Page: http://www.rowan.edu/~kay/classes/found
General Information about the Class
Course Title: Foundations of Computer
Science
Catalog Description:
0707.210 3 s.h.
Prerequisites: 1701.122 (Precalculus
Mathematics), 1703.150 (Discrete Mathematics) and Co-requisite:
0704.222 (Data Structures and Algorithms)
This course provides an introduction
to the theoretical foundations of computer science, including finite
automata, context-free grammars, Turing machines, and formal logic.
Instructor:
Dr.
Jennifer S. Kay,
Department of Computer
Science
3rd floor, Robinson Building
Email: kay@elvis.rowan.edu
Phone: (856) 256-4593
Office Hours:
Tuesday & Thursday 10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Or by appointment.
Class Meeting Times and Location:
TR 1515 1630 EDUC 2103
Required Book:
James Hein, Discrete Structures,
Logic, and Computability, second edition.
Prerequisite Guidelines:
You should be comfortable with the material in
all of the
prerequisites. In particular, you should be familiar with all of the
following concepts
from discrete math which are covered as noted in chapter 1 of our
textbook
- 1.1 A proof primer
- 1.2 Sets (1.2.1 through 1.2.3)
- 1.3.1 Tuples
- 1.4 Graphs and Trees (1.4.1 through 1.4.4)
A note about missing exams or class:
In my class
(and all of your other classes) class time is very important. Missing
class means missing out on new material, quizzes, labs, etc.
In general, there is no specific penalty for missed
classes. However, by missing a class you may miss a quiz or a
deadline, for which you may be penalized.
If you need to miss a class for religious or other reasons and you
know in advance, please talk to me as early as you can. I may be able
to arrange to make
other accomodations for you.
If you do not let me know in
advance of an absense, I will always require some sort of
documentation to make up missed quizzes etc. Get a note from student
health or your doctor, or show me a receipt from the tow truck.
If you have to miss an exam (and I hope you
will not) re-tests will be given only in cases of extreme hardship as
defined by the rules of Rowan University, and I always require
documentation of your reason for your absence.
You
will still be responsible for any material taught during missed
classes. You should get the names and email addresses and/or phone
numbers of some other students in the class so that you can get
notes, etc. if you miss a class. Missing a class will put you behind in
the material and you will need to work hard to catch up.
I will periodically send email messages
to the class
rather than use the class web site. I will send this email to your
Rowan
University Web Email account. You are required to read this email daily
(If you are unable to read your email from home, please let me know immediately
and we'll work something out). The Rowan Web Email system will allow
you
to forward your email to another account and if you read your mail
somewhere else more frequently, I encourage you to forward your Rowan
email there. Early in the semester you will receive an assignment via
email that WILL NOT BE ANNOUNCED IN CLASS to ensure that you are
reading
your email.
To read your Rowan email, go to
http://cp.rowan.edu
and you can log in to NetMail using your Rowan userid and password.
After you log in you can also forward your email to your home account
if
you prefer. (To learn more about forwarding your Rowan email to another
address, and other Rowan technology help topics, visit
http://www.rowan.edu/toolbox/ )
Grading:
In Class Quizzes (your lowest quiz grade will be dropped) and
"Assignments for Points": 60%
Final Exam: 40%
Quizzes:
A large percentage of your grade is
based on your performance on quizzes in class. At the beginning of the
semester we will probably have a quiz every
Tuesday. Generally I will
not allow you to make up a quiz that
you've missed unless you have
made arrangements with me ahead of time. However, I will drop the
lowest of your
quiz grades, so if you do miss one quiz, that grade (of zero) will be
the one that I drop.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Some quizzes will be open book and some will
be closed book. Some open
book quizzes will allow you to use any material you've brought with
you. For this reason it is a good idea to always bring your
textbook to class on Tuesdays.
While there will be a significant
amount of homework in this class
(mostly in the form of problem sets from the book) I will NOT collect
NOR grade most of that homework. The purpose of that work is to prepare
you for the quizzes, which, together with the occasional assignment I
do require, make up 60% of your grade in my class.
It is essential that you not only finish each assignment, but
that you really understand
it. Understand the homework, and you should do well on the quizzes.
Working Together
I encourage you to work together with
other students in the class on the labs and assignments. Often, you
find you don't understand something as
well as you think when you try to explain it to someone else.
Unless I tell you otherwise, you may work on any of the labs and
assignments in a group. Remember that you must understand the
material to prepare for the quizzes and exams. Quizzes and exams you
must complete on your own.
Workload:
This is a 3 s.h. class, which means
that you should expect to be spending 6-9 hours a week outside of
class on homework assignments, readings, etc. If you find that you are
genuinely spending more than 9 hours outside of class on your work,
please let me know.
Policy
on Plagiarism:
To
submit someone else's work as your own
is plagiarism, a form of academic dishonesty. It is college policy that
students who commit an act of academic dishonesty may be subject to
failure in the course, suspension from the College, or both.
If you use materials that you've obtained
on the Internet, from a
book, etc., for example as part of an assignment for points, you must
include an appropriate reference. To use such materials without proper
attribution is a form of plagiarism. The only exception is that you may
use the class textbook without providing a reference.
I will make a reasonable effort to catch
plagiarizers, and it will
not be tolerated.
Using the Tutoring Center
Policy on Late Homeworks
Most of the homework that you will be
assigned in this class will not be
graded, and I won't be checking in any given week whether you've done
all of the problems or not. However, because the quizzes virtually always
depend on the material assigned as homework, it's extremely important
for
you to keep on top of the material.
Most professors are
reasonable people. If, for some reason, you
believe you will not be able to turn in a "required" homework on time,
or if you have special circumstances that leave you unprepared for a
quiz, let me know
ahead
of time and I may give you an extension. If an emergency
means that you can not complete your homework on time, again, let me
know, and I may allow you to take a quiz late without penalty.
Any question that you may want to ask
during
class is most likely shared by someone else, so ask it! The only
‘dumb question’ is the one that is not asked. Ask the question!!
Classroom Decorum:
In order to show proper respect for the
instructor and for your fellow students, please observe the following:
- Be on time. Class will begin promptly at the scheduled
time.
Allow yourself enough time to park and get to class, ready to learn,
before the period begins.
- Do not eat in class.
- Do your best to remain in the room during the lectures. Exiting
and
entering during a lecture breaks the concentration of your fellow
students, and makes it hard for you to get the full value of the class.
- Turn off all cell phones, pagers, and anything else that would
cause a distraction to yourself or others around you. In particular, it
is very distracting for me as an instructor to watch you send
text messages or emails while I'm trying to teach. Please try and be
courteous.
- Please please please please please do not send text messages in
class. It really is incredibly distracting for me to watch you staring
at your phone clicking away!!!!!!!
Getting Help:
I have scheduled office hours for your
convenience; please take advantage of them. In addition, I can always
be
reached quickly via email or telephone (see contact information
above). If you are having a problem with the course, the sooner we
discuss it the more likely we'll be able to deal with it.
Special Notes:
Be
sure that you are aware and read the following policies: attendance,
student behavior, academic integrity, and disabilities. All policies
are located in the provost web site (www.rowan.edu/provost/policies) as
well as in the Student Handbook.
Students with disabilities are encouraged to speak with me as early in
the semester as possible about their needs for special
accommodations. If you have not already done so, you should also
speak with the Academic Success Center/Disability resources in
Savitz 339 (x4233).
Last modified: Thu Jan 15 16:11:24 Eastern Standard Time 2009