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. However, we may elect to include extra credit assignments at various times during the semester.  The grading breakdown is as follows:

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 in the following ways:

• Homework grades may be appealed within two weeks of receiving the grade.
• Regrades for tests must be requested before you leave the meeting when the test is returned.  Do not write on the test itself.  Write the reason for the regrade request on a separate sheet, attach that sheet to the test and return both to your TA.

Course Website

http://www.cc.gatech.edu/classes/AY2008/cs1371_spring/

Collaboration Policy

Homework and labs are designed to be learning experiences; they are graded only to encourage students to complete the assignments correctly.  Collaboration is permitted and encouraged when working on your homework and labs.  However, the material you turn in must be essentially your own work.  Submitting large bodies of material written by others without specifically attributing the authorship is plagiarism, and is not permitted on this course, or anywhere else at Georgia Tech.  

The tests and the final are our primary means of assessing your understanding of course material. They will be taken in a supervised environment during lecture periods.

Email Policy for this Course

You are encouraged to conduct all official email correspondence for this course using your official GT email account. This is to protect your privacy. Email with HTML formatting should be avoided. Email from outside sources such as gmail, 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. Never attempt to submit homework via e-mail - it will not be graded.

Lectures

Class meetings will be in two forms:  

• three large, one hour lectures a week intended to cover the core material for the course, and 

• one small 90 minute recitation in which more interactive discussion can take place 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 will be available to help in room CoC 347.  Watch the Announcements page for details.

It is also common for us to offer help sessions for homework and (more frequently) for tests. 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 around midnight 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. Since every assignment should be set up to permit multiple submissions, you should submit your work frequently - we suggest that you do so after you successfully solve each problem. 

There are no redos allowed on any assignment!

Late Work Policy

No late homework, labs, tests or exams are accepted in this class. Any request for exceptions to this policy due to illness, death in the family, or something similarly serious must be accompanied by supporting documentation. If you miss your test / exam period without prior approval or a valid excuse, you may take the test at a period following yours.  However, you will be penalized 25% of your test score.

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

Appealing Grades

You may request a re-grade of a test up to 2 weeks from the time the test is returned to you.  However, no re-grade will be done on papers with indications of erasure or alteration.  When you receive your test from a TA and you think it might need to be re-graded, if there are erasures and alterations on it, have your TA mark and initial them.

Any discussion of your grades after the final exam cannot occur until the 3rd week of the next semester you are in school.

Final Times and Places

1. 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

This course is about programming, and is more closely related to creative writing or learning a musical instrument than to any "science."  As with writing or music, you cannot learn by watching or reading a book, even a great text book like ours!  The only way you learn to program is by programming.  It will be difficult at first, but will get easier as you gain experience.  Get started.  Now.  The following guidelines are supplements to, not replacements for, your practicing programming skills yourself.

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


2. 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.


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


4. 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.


5. 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).


6. 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.


7. 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.


8. 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

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


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


3. 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.


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


5. Homework - learn ins and outs of the topics. Apply the material covered in lecture to programming problems.


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


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


8. 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:

Miscellaneous Reminders

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


2. You are also responsible for insuring that what you turned in is what you meant to turn in. The course support software includes a retrieve submission feature. USE IT. This allows you to retrieve what you submitted and ensure 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.


3. Finals and tests must be taken at the scheduled date and time. Any change to your Test or Final time must be approved in writing by your instructor.  Please do not ask for special treatment because you 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.


4. 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 your instructors making them aware of the problem and requesting whatever consideration is necessary.


5. The class announcements should 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.

Last Modified January 21st, 2008: by David Smith