Course Objectives:

CS 159 introduces the tools of software development that have become essential for innovating and creative problem solving in Engineering. Educators and employers agree that it is important for future Engineering professionals to be able to function as part of a technical team and CS 159 will require students to work in assigned teams for lab assignments. Educational research informs us that structured collaboration leads to increased learning gains for students participating in an introductory programming course.

• Collaboration is a requirement of the course.  You will be assigned to your teams by the course instructor.  Do not view CS 159 as an "independent study" effort.
• The dates for all assignments listed below are firm and the course will progress accordingly.

CS 159 explores programming concepts in computing environments that are new to most students and will require implementation of solutions in more than one programming language. Our goals are for you to recognize how programming concepts are common to a variety of programming languages and how those fundamental concepts can be used to solve a problem.

Pre-requisites/Preparation:

The University expects students to place 4-6 hours outside of class per week (for an eight-week session) in preparation for each credit hour of a course. It is critical to being successful in this course that you invest in preparation. The most successful students in previous offerings of CS 159 report habits such as reading the text, attending every lecture, reviewing material made available on-line, and daily code writing that goes beyond the minimum of completing assignments.

• CS 159 does have a pre-requisite of ENGR 131. Authorized equivalent courses or consent of instructor may be used in satisfying the course co-requisite.
• What does the co-requisite imply? A large majority of students in CS 159 will be enrolled concurrently in (or have previously completed) ENGR 132 and allows this course to assume that you are (1) enrolled in a course that will expose you to the fundamentals of MATLAB or (2) have had some previous programming experience in a language such as C, C++, or JAVA.

Course Staff:

Course Required Materials:

• Computer Science, A Structured Programming Approach Using C, Forouzan and Gilberg, THIRD EDITION, ISBN: 0-534-49132-4

Important Dates:

• Please schedule your proctor accordingly.

Blackboard Vista:

All relevant class information, updates, and announcements will be available on the CS 159 Blackboard site.

In the event of a major campus emergency, course requirements, deadlines, and grading percentages are subject to changes that may necessitate a revised semester calendar or other circumstances.

• In case of campus emergency, check Blackboard, do not email or call course staff.
• The instructor reserves the right to revise the syllabus with notice.

Assignments:

Lab Assignments (12 total, 5 points each):

Lab assignments are to be completed collaboratively in your assigned lab groups and every lab assignment this semester will be due at 11:00pm on Wednesdays and Fridays this summer.

• Collaborative groups are expected to communicate who will submit the assignment and how successful submission will be confirmed with all participating group members.

Lab Quizzes (12 total, 5 points each):

Before each lab is due you will complete an individual assessment of your knowledge relating to the topics implemented in the lab assignment.  The best way to preparefor lab quizzes is to actively participate with your team during the development of the lab solution.  You are advised not to attempt the lab quiz until your group has submitted the final lab assignment effort.  Each lab quiz will be time limited (10 minutes) and questions will vary from multiple-choice to small code writing problems.  You will not be able to revisit a lab quiz question and only have one attempt to save and submit an answer for grading.  Lab quizzes questions will be representative of the type of questions you will encounter on the midterm and final exam and can serve as an indicator of how you are progressing in the course.

• Knowledge of course standards and good programming practices will be evaluated throughout the semester.

Homework Assignments (7 total, 5 points each):

Discussion Leading and Participation (25 total points, due on Thursdays):

Every student will be assigned to a discussion group. Groups will be composed of 4 or 5 students. Each student will be asked to respond to several questions or to solve problems based on the current topic of the course. Group members will be required to review and revise the answers/responses given by other students in the group. The goal with each discussion is to encourage regular course participation and to provide each student with a good set of notes that can be used in assignment and exam preparation. The discussion document will be posted on Google Docs and you will be invited to collaborate by the instructor through your Purdue e-mail address. Register for your Purdue University related Google account here: https://www.google.com/a/purdue.edu/

Exams (one midterm 100 points, one final exam 150 points):

Exams will be individual assessments of your knowledge. Exams will consist of multiple-choice problems covering programming concepts, best practices, and the interpretation of code. Note from the point distribution of the course that we feel being successful on exams is very important.

• For both the midterm and final exams:
  • You must have an approved proctor of your exam.  You may not take the exam without the supervision of an approved proctor.
  • The proctor approval form can be found here: http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~wcrum/cs159/summer13/proctor2012.pdf
  • It is advisable that you obtain approval of your proctor no later than the end of first week of the summer session (June 15, 2012). You may begin to submit your proctor information at any time. Return your proctor application to:
    • The instructor's Purdue e-mail address: William Crum
    • Or fax to the Department of Computer Science, be sure to reference CS 159 and the instructor's name (William Crum): 765-494-0739
  • Students on or near the West Lafayette campus will schedule their exam with the instructor of the course.
  • You may consult resources such as your book or notes, but you will be limited to one hour for the midterm and two hours for the final.

Grading:

Grades:
 

• An equivalent number of points to earn a C are needed to receive a Pass if taking the course Pass/No Pass.  It is recommended that graduate students in the course elect this option (see your advisor).
• The instructor reserves the right to lower the minimum score required for each letter grade. If such a move is made it will not be announced until after the final exam. At no time during the semester will it be speculated on if this will be done or "how much" any given cutoff will be lowered.  You should have no expectation that all cutoffs if moved will be moved by an equal amount.
• If you want to guarantee yourself a letter grade then earn more points than required as listed above.

Re-grade Request Policy:

To request a regrade on any assignment you must formally make your request in writing to the instructor (via e-mail). You have five days to appeal any grade from the day the assignment is returned to you. After that period the grades are frozen and no appeal will be considered.

A regrade must include the following:

• The originally graded assignment that was returned to you (forward e-mail if applicable).
• The reason you feel a regrade is warranted. (What do you feel was overlooked in the original evaluation of your work?)
• A regrade isn't a second chance to complete an assignment. It is not a means to challenge posted policies or assignment requirements, such as the acceptance of late work or the requirement to make good use of user-defined functions.

Absences:

Only documented serious hardships will be considered for any make-up work.

If you have documentation of what you consider to be a serious hardship then you should contact the instructor in a timely manner. Any student who knows in advance of a coming absence must make a request for consideration one week prior to the planned absence.

• The Unversity policies on absence and absence reporting are available here: http://tinyurl.com/classabsence
• Do not expect assignment deadlines to be altered for reason of personal travel or vacation.
• Make-up requests for reasons of illness MUST be accompanied by a physician’s note stating the dates you were under their professional care and the date you were cleared to return to school/work.

Important Assignment Guidelines:

All assignments must abide by the programming and documentation standards of the course.  In ALL cases no credit will be given for programs that do not compile (that is, execution is suppressed due to compilation errors) or are un-testable (MATLAB). Programs that execute and meet minimum assignment requirements but are not correct or complete will be considered for partial credit. To receive full credit, your program must produce correct results, be well-designed, be efficient, follow assignment requirements, and adhere to course programming and documentation standards.

An assignment that is not submitted as expected cannot be considered for a grade. Only work submitted correctly prior to the assignment deadline can be considered for grading. Late work is not accepted.

Resources and course staff may become heavily loaded as an assignment deadline nears. Waiting until the last minute to complete significant work on any assignment is not recommended! Our policy is NOT to extend deadlines unless campus resources (not your local ISP) are unavailable for an extended period near the deadline for an assignment.

You are responsible for knowing how to use the technology utilized by the course, this includes but is not limited to UNIX and related course tools such as the assignment submission script.

Academic Integrity:

CS 159 applies very strict set of criteria regarding academic integrity and the consequences for violating course policies are serious.

You are encouraged to discuss any CS 159 topic including ideas about how to complete assignments. But, under no circumstances will exchange of code via written or electronic means be permitted between teams for collaborative assignments or individuals for individual assignments. It is considered dishonest either to read another team's solution or to provide anyone with a copy of your work.  Be very careful when working with others on individual assignments as this is discouraged.  The work you submit on such assignments must be your own original effort.

Every student is responsible for protecting his/her own work.  Do not make the assumption that roommates, neighbors, significant others, or other "trusted" individuals would not take advantage of knowing your password, having access to your computer (use a password protected screen saver, logout when done), or finding a stray copy of your work left on a printer.  You are responsible for such events that leave your work unprotected.

Do not make the mistake of thinking that superficial changes in a program (such as altering comments, changing variable names, or interchanging statements) will avoid detection. If you cannot do the work yourself, it is extremely unlikely that you will succeed in disguising someone else's work as your own. We are adamant that violations in any form will not be tolerated. Even the most trivial assignment is better not done than if you violate course integrity policies to complete it.

As easy as it is to share an electronic copy of a file, to gain access to a file through account sharing, or sharing a hard copy of your work, it is as just as easy to analyze and detect such sharing as it results in similar efforts being submitted.

Assume that every submission you make during the semester will be analyzed by a software similarity service.  This service will return the percentage of similarity between your solution and those submitted by others in the course.  Additionally, the service indicates the number of lines matched among submissions.  You will be solving problems this semester that have no unique solution and your solution is expected to be uniquely your own.  Concerns regarding any of the academic integrity policies should be addressed during office hours.

The software service utilized is not for profit.  The service does not retain your file.  The course will retain your files for the purpose of record keeping for the current semester and may retain your files for similarity comparisons in future semesters.

Minimum consequences for violating course policies will include:

• First offense, a zero for the assignment, a reduction of one letter grade at the end of the semester, AND a referral to the Office of the Dean of Students for disciplinary action.
• Second offense, a zero for the assignment, a failing grade for the course, AND a referral to the Office of the Dean of Students for disciplinary action.
  • Penalties for being found in violation from the Office of the Dean of Students will typically range from disciplinary probation, to probated suspension, to dismissal from the University.

• Any violation on an exam will result in a failing grade for the course and a Dean of Students referral.
• Acts such as a misrepresentation of identity will result in a failing grade for the course and a Dean of Students referral. (This includes lecture quizzes.)
  • You MUST refuse to assist another student by participating for them in a lecture quiz. The consequences listed above, for most students, aren’t worth the risk of being caught and most would rather disappoint their “friend” by refusing to comply with their request.
  • A process is already in place to deal with requests for make-up work. Students missing lecture for unexpected circumstances are to bring their situation to the office hours of the instructor.

Collaborative Learning/Teaming/Participating as a Member of a Technical Team:

Here are our expectations of you and your group:

1. Make time to communicate with your group regularly.  There are 168 hours in a week, finding some common time for two or three people to communicate should not be a difficult task.
   • A group will exclude the name of a member from the lab assignment header as a means of indicating a lack of satisfactory contribution to the group assignment.
   • When a group member becomes unresponsive to communication or fails to update the other members of the goup then those continuing to contribute must do so without unresponsive member.
2. Allow everyone an opportunity to express their ideas on how to approach an assignment.  One benefit of collaborative teaming is that everyone brings a different idea to the group and the resulting effort should be a stronger one than if it was completed individually.
   • Individual members who are too controlling of a group can really deprive the other members of the opportunity to contribute and gain from the collaborative problem-solving experience.
   • Members who decide not to contribute ideas to the development of the solution can hinder the group effort which can benefit from the additional opinion and review of the work being developed.
   • Most importantly, failing to participate in the development of a solution should be viewed as a lost opportunity to learn the material of the course!
3. All group members must be satisfied with the final submission.  It is not acceptable for a group to submit an assignment that is not approved by all group members.  "It is good enough" may be true for you but it is unfair for the others in the group who aspire for the strongest grade possible.
   • Likewise, every group member must be satisfied with your contribution to the group effort.
4. Each group member must fully understand the entire assignment submitted.  Do not start your group efforts by trying to delegate the tasks to the different group members.  Everyone must understand and contribute to every aspect of the assignment development process.
   • Assignments are an opportunity for you to demonstrate your knowledge of the topic. Additionaly, an assignment can be a measure of what you don't know.
5. Designate who will turn in the assignment, when it will be turned in, and how successful submission will be communicated with the rest of the group.  Only one person from each group will submit the lab assignments.  Set a goal to submit the assignment well in advance of the due date to avoid any last minute problems related to group communication.
   • All groups are encourage to exchange that work which is being developed on a regular basis.  Should a group member be unresponsive the remaining group members can proceed without starting over.
   • Set a firm date for the next expected communication from each member. If a member doesn't comply with this agreed upon expectation that the member may be excluded from the remainder of the process and the group must continue without their contribution to submit the assignment on-time.
6. You will work with the group assigned.  There is no other option in this course.  Please see us with concerns you may have with your group.  Take a professional approach with your group experience as similar to what you may experience at an internship or co-op experience.
   • Groups may be assigned as enrollment and/or performance dictates.

Schedules:

• All chapter references are to the Forouzan and Gilberg C Programming text.

Course Syllabus Subject to Change with Notice