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Course description
In this course we will explore some fundamental concepts in Computer Science, including
problem solving, algorithms and programming in the high level programming language, C++.
The course will also cover debugging, some simple data structures and the fundamentals of
program style.
Instructor
Constance Royden
Office: Haberlin 308
Extension: 2472
Email: croyden@cs.holycross.edu
Office Hours: Tues: 10 - 11 a.m., Wed 1 - 4 p.m., or by appointment.
Lecture times
Lab times
You must be registered for both the lecture section and the lab section.
Textbook
Required: Programming in C++, 3rd edition, by Nell Dale, Chip Weems and Mark Headington,
Jones and Bartlett, 2005.
Laboratory Manual
Required: Computer Science 131, Techniques of Programming Laboratory Manual, Spring 2014,
by L.A.S. King, R.E. Noonan, R. Prosl, et al.
Course Requirements
1. Laboratory Assignments
Laboratories will be held weekly on Monday afternoon.
Attendance at the lab sections is
mandatory. There will be 12 laboratory assignments. Each will be due at the end of the lab
section.
2. Programming Projects
There will be 5 or 6 individual programming projects and one group project
during the semester. You will have one to three
weeks to complete each one. Please consult the schedule for due dates.
Exams
There will be two midterm exams held in the evening
on the following dates
from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.:
Exam 1: Thursday, February 27
Exam 2: Thursday, April 10
Mark your calendars now!
Final Exam
The final exam will be held at the scheduled time during exam week
Friday, May 9, 8:00 - 10:30 a.m.
Final Grade
The final grade will be computed as follows:
Laboratory Assignments | 10% |
Programming projects | 30% |
Midterm Exams | 40% (20% each) |
Final Exam | 20% |
Late Policy
1. Lab assignments
Lab assignments should be turned in at the end of each lab. However, generally
the final due date for the labs will be at the beginning of class on Wednesday following the lab.
Please refer to the assignment schedule
for a list of lab due dates.
2. Programming Projects
Programming projects are due at the beginning of class on the dates specified on the assignment
schedule. You have ample time to complete these projects, so you should plan to have
your project finished several days in advance so that a last minute illness or
computer crash does not interfere with the due date.
3. Penalties for late work
Projects or labs submitted within 24
hours of the time when they were due will be penalized 10%. Penalties
will accumulate for each day late, losing 10% per day late. The late
penalty is determined by the time of the electronic submission and the time when the
assignment is physically transferred to the instructor or "signed in" by any
Math/CS faculty member or the departmental secretary (whichever is later), so turning
in an assignment in the wee hours will be difficult. Once an assignment/project is returned
to the class, no late work will be accepted.
Collaboration Policy
In doing any work in this course (e.g. assignments/programming projects/tests) it is
expected that the work you turn in is your own work. The amount of collaboration allowed
differs between laboratory assignments and programming projects, so please read the following
guidelines carefully. If you are in doubt, be sure to ask the course instructor.
Please read the
Math and CS Department Statement on Academic Integrity.
Laboratory assignments
Collaboration is allowed on lab assignments.
- You may refer to your texts, your class notes and your course instructor for help.
- You may talk to your TA's, instructors, and fellow students about how to go about
solving the various problems presented.
- You must write and type in your own code.
- If you receive help from some source, e.g. a book, an instructor, or a fellow student,
please acknowledge that collaboration in your discussion log.
Programming projects
Collaboration on assignments is acceptable, although you must write the code for your
programs entirely by yourself. You must also acknowledge the people you worked with
on an assignment. If your program includes code that you obtained from
another source, please acknowledge it. Specifically:
- You must compose your own solution to each assignment. You may discuss
strategies for approaching the programming assignments with your classmates and you
may receive general debugging advice from them, but you must write all your own code.
- You may not write a program together and turn in two copies of the same code.
- You may not copy another student's code.
- If you work with another student, you must acknowledge that student on your
assignment.
- You may borrow code from textbooks or from lecture material, as long as you cite
your sources.
- You must turn in a discussion log indicating who you worked with, what you discussed, and
when, with every assignment.
Discussion Logs
For each assignment, you must keep a log detailing every collaboration you
had with someone else and every source you consulted when completing the
assignment. Each log entry must include: the date, the source, the length of
time spent talking or reading, and a summary of discussion or material read.
You don't need to include the course textbook, the lab manual, the lab
assistants, or the instructor, since it is assumed you will consult these
sources. Here is an example—you should use a similar format:
Even if you did not discuss anything with anybody and never consulted any
other sources, you must still submit a discussion log that says just that, like
so:
Because time is limited during labs, your lab discussion log can be
brief—just keep a list of students you collaborate with and/or web sites
you consult, and then write brief mention of what topic you were discussing or
reading about. For programming projects, be more detailed. Here is a lab
example:
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Constance Royden--croyden@mathcs.holycross.edu
Computer Science 131
Last Modified: January 20, 2014
Page Expires: August 10, 2014
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