CS1371 Spring 2004 Class Syllabus

Instructors

Dan Colestock, Instructor (danc@cc.gatech.edu)
Office Hours (CoC room 104b):
- TBA
Frank Dellaert (dellaert@cc.gatech.edu)
Office Hours (CoC room XXX):
- TBA
Jim Rehg (rehg@cc.gatech.edu)
Office Hours (CoC room XXX):
- TBA
David Smith, Instructor (dmsmith@cc.gatech.edu)
Office Hours (CoC room 121):
- TBA

Open Door Policy

Each of the instructors maintains an open door policy. You are free to visit us during the posted office hours or, if you prefer a different time, arrange an appointment with us. It is very important to contact us as soon as you feel that you might need to. Problems, unlike fine wines, don't improve with age.

Grading Policies

There is no curve in this course. The grading breakdown is as follows:

Homeworks	15%
Labs	5%
Quizzes	45% (3 quizzes at 15% each)
Final	35%

Letter grade assignments are given according to the following cutoffs with no rounding:

90.0 <= A <= 100

80.0 <= B < 90.0

70.0 <= C < 80.0

60.0 <= D < 70.0

0 <= F < 60.0

You have the right to question your grade on any assignment, but you must initiate discussion about the grade within two weeks of receiving the grade. Should you find yourself having an issue with a grade, contact your TA. If the issue remains, contact your Head TA and/or your instructor.

Text and Reading

"Matlab^® Programming" by David C. Kuncicky

"Programming with Java" by J.R.Hubbard

GET YOUR GT ACCOUNT ACTIVATED IF IT IS NOT ALREADY ACTIVE!!!

Course Website

http://www.cc.gatech.edu/classes/AY2004/cs1371_spring/

Email Policy for this Course

You are encouraged to conduct all official email correspondence for this course using your official GT email account; that is, your prism-based email. This is to protect your privacy. Email with HTML formatting should be avoided. Email from outside sources such as hotmail, yahoo, and other personal accounts should also be avoided - many Spam killers automatically reject mail from these accounts. For a quickest response, put CS1371 in the subject of your e-mail. Most of the people involved with 1371 filter their mail in some way, and having CS1371 in the subject will help them see your e-mail sooner.

Lectures

For the first time this semester, lectures will be in two forms:

two large, one hour lectures a week intended to cover the core material for the course, and
one small two hour lecture in which more interactive discussion can take place. The first hour of the small lecture will be led by a professor or instructor. The second half will be led by one or two Teaching Assistants (TAs).

TA Access

TA Office hours will be announced. This time is used to return graded work and address any questions.

Help

TAs are available Monday - Thursday at set times and locations to be announced. Watch the Announcements page for details.

It is also common for us to offer help sessions for homework and (more frequently) for quizzes. The best way to know of these help sessions and their details is to read the class announcements page.

Due Dates/Times

Assignments are due electronically as indicated on the class Web site or the announcements. Typically this is noon on the date the assignment states it is due (and this is also indicated on the course calendar.) There is a 6 hour grace period that begins at the due time. You are free to turn things in early before the due date, but once the grace period after the due date/time is over, no more submissions are possible.

There are no redos allowed on any assignment!

Late Work Policy

No late homework, labs, quizzes or exams are accepted in this class. Any request for exceptions to this policy due to incapacitating illness, death in the family, or something similarly serious must be accompanied by supporting documentation.

CAUTION: the preprinted note from the infirmary stating that you visited the infirmary is not sufficient documentation.

Please contact the Dean of Students with your excuse and they can provide you with the proper documentation. http://www.deanofstudents.gatech.edu/contact.html

Final Times and Places

Be aware that the final exam time shown at this point on Oscar is tentative— Do not make travel plans around it!!! The date and/or time are subject to change. GA Tech announces the actual final exam schedule much later in the semester.

Course Expectations

Attend lecture on a regular basis and keep up with the reading. These are the ONLY sources of new material to be learned.

Participate in all discussions and ask questions about the material. This is your best opportunity to review the material and see examples to solidify your understanding.

Visit your TA's office hours with questions about grades and the course materials. This is your chance to have one-on-one contact with your TA to take care of individual questions and issues.

Refer to the course newsgroups to have discussions about course material with your classmates and the TAs. This is where you can have general-interest questions answered outside lecture and office hours. You are also expected to follow good newsgroup etiquette, as per the newsgroup lab. This keeps the newsgroups usable in a large class like CS 1371.

Complete every homework assignment and use it as a learning opportunity; use collaboration in order to gain a better understanding, not to get the work done faster. This is your chance to learn the material in preparation for the test; not having a solid understanding of the homework *will* lead to poor performance later (i.e. tests, other homework and the final exam).

Take responsibility for your coursework submissions; it is your job to make sure that you successfully turned in what you meant to turn in and verify your submission by retrieving and checking your files. This is how you make sure that you get credit for the work you do.

Be prepared when you go to get help from a TA or your instructor with specific questions. Bring your work (on computer media) and any other relevant materials to the meeting.

Take initiative. You will only get out of this class what you put into it. Begin your assignments early and if you think you need help, come prepared. Use the resources that are provided for you, and be determined to succeed from the start.

Course Components

Large lectures - Attend, listen and learn. This is usually where we will introduce new material.

Small lectures - Example questions with discussion. Questions about the homework and interactive solutions, taking advantage of the small group setting.

TA Office Hours - Individual questions about grades and homework. The primary focus for individual office hours: the students in this TA's section. All other students are second priority.

"Help Desk" - group-oriented help for *specific* hw and lab questions, and more general help on other topics.

Homework - learn ins and outs of the topics. Apply the stuff learned in lecture to programming problems. Collaboration encouraged here especially.

Tests - should demonstrate your *understanding* of the course material. Focus on applying concepts and skills learned in hw to novel problems.

Labs - self-paced exercises in assorted computer-related topics.

Final Exam - cumulative assessment of everything in the course.

What to do in case of problems

If you need help, you should contact the following people:

Your TA / Newsgroups (when appropriate)

Your Head TA

Your Instructor (e-mail addresses at the top of this syllabus)

Miscellaneous Reminders

You are responsible for turning in assignments on time. This includes allowing for unforeseen circumstances.

You are also responsible for insuring that what you turned in is what you meant to turn in. WebWork includes a retrieve submission feature. USE IT. This allows you to retrieve exactly what you submitted and insure that the submission process was complete. Every semester students manage to lose credit for assignments because they unknowingly fail to complete the submission process. Following every submission with a retrieval of that same submission will allow you to be sure this does not happen to you.

Finals and quizzes must be taken at the scheduled date and time. Please do not ask for special treatment because you (or your parents) have purchased non-refundable airline tickets. The safe time to travel is after finals week. The finals schedule published at the beginning of the semester is TENTATIVE. The official schedule is published very late in the semester.

If you have any personal issues (family/illness/etc.) please go to the Dean of Student's office located in the Student Services Building (Flag Building) next to the Student Center. They are equipped and authorized to verify the problems and will issue a note to all your instructors making them aware of the problem and requesting whatever extension, etc. is necessary.

The announcements page must be read every day. Official announcements about course matters will be posted there. The general course newsgroup is for posting technical questions about assignments, tests etc. Complaints, questions about your personal problems, etc. should be discussed with your instructor in person or via email.