Department of Computer Science
Last Edited: March 20, 2017	CS 159 - Programming Applications for Engineers, Summer 2017 Distance Education Offering - May 15th - August 4th
Updates: The "dynamic schedule" of classes lists a limit of students for this offering. Students interested in enrolling once the limit has been reached can petition the Department of Computer Science through the Requesting Access to CS Courses page. See image on right. When asked for the CS course number enter the following for the distance section: 15900Y Demand for this option will be high while the capacity for adequate student support is the factor that limits increasing the enrollment. Students are advised to continue to monitor MyPurdue for space to become availabe should another student drop. Please create a plan with your advisor to fulfill the CS 159 requirement for your program that does not include enrollment in this section. The process and requirements for exam proctors will be revised for 2017. Students will be responsible for arranging exam proctors which may include an additional expense with a third-party testing service. Remaining concerns should be addressed to William Crum (wcrum at purdue dot edu) from your Purdue University e-mail account.

Course Required Materials:

• Computer Science, A Structured Programming Approach Using C, Forouzan and Gilberg, THIRD EDITION, ISBN: 0-534-49132-4
• Programming Applications for Engineers Course Packet (Spring 2017 edition), William Crum
  • Available in local bookstores. Please obtain a copy before leaving campus for the summer.

What is the time commitment for the distance offering of CS 159?

CS 159, whether you enroll in the distance education or the on-campus summer offering, is in an accelerated format.  With CS 159 being a 3 credit course it is quite possible that you could spend 10-15 hours a week on the course preparing assignments, communicating with the instructors and lab partners, reviewing on-line demonstrations, and reading the text.  If your availability this summer limits your ability to make this time commitment then you should consider enrolling during the academic year (fall or spring semester).

• How do I know if distance education is the right format for me? This is a difficult question to answer. A number of students in the past have taken this option because they thought it would be easier and shorter than the regular session. I believe this is a huge mistake that has resulted in a higher percentage of lower grades as previous students underestimated the challenges associated with a distance learning format.

  • Most students know their academic habits well. If you consider yourself the type of student that would never let an assignment go incomplete, who is great at communicating with instructors and lab partners, and would go out of their way to never miss an opportunity to learn, then distance learning may be a good format for you. It is often those with poor academic habits that find themselves earning poor grades in a distance learning format.

How often do I need to be on-line?

It is expected that you have a reliable and readily available Internet connection.   Assignments will be due at a high frequency and many will require collaboration with partners who are not physically in the same location or available at the same time as you are.  This will require regular (perhaps exclusively) electronic communication.

Most students are on-line and involved with CS 159 work on a daily (including weekends) basis.
 

If you anticipate intermittent or unreliable Internet availability then you should NOT consider the distance offering of this course.   For example: Every summer it occurs that a student returns to their home country and during the time of the course the region of their country has limited Internet access and/or electrical power service due to concerns ranging from weather to high demand that cannot be met. If you know that where you will be for the summer has a history of such service interruptions then it is probably in your best interest not to enroll in a distance education experience.

What software and computer resources do I need?

1. A web browser compatible with Blackboard.
    
2. Obtain terminal (secure shell) software that will allow you to connect remotely to the server that we will use this summer to program and submit work for grading. Most students who use the Windows operating system will download and install PuTTY.

When are assignments due? 

When are exams? 

• Midterm #1 - 12:00pm (Thursday) June 15 through 8:00pm (Friday) June 16
• Midterm #2 - 12:00pm (Thursday) July 13 through 8:00pm (Friday) July 14
• Final Exam - 8:00am (Thursday) August 3 through 8:00pm (Friday) August 4

What can I expect in terms of time limit and exam format?

• Each exam will permit a single attempt and have a limit of one hour for each midterm and two hours for the final exam. 

• Problems will be multiple-choice with an emphasis on programming terminology, good programming practices, and interpreting code.

• You are permitted to utilize your resources including your computer, text, and code you have previously written on the exam.  Time will be a limiting factor as to how much you can use those resources and still complete the examination.

What is required in terms of exam proctoring?

• Summer 2017 exam proctoring policies are being revised. Students are responsible for any fees associated with professional proctoring services.
   
• It is expected that students able to commute to the West Lafayette campus will use course staff members without additional charge.

What resources will be made available to lead you through the material of the course?

• Readings will be assigned from the C programming text.  The course notes packet, we will re-use the version from the spring semester, will serve as a great resource for sample code and will serve as your guide through the on-line demonstrations.

• To foster discussion on topics, assignments, and other technical challenges regarding the compiler and UNIX, we will likely make use of piazza.com. An invitation to join the course on Piazza will come as we get closer to the start of the term.

  • Relying on the community of learners in the course is a great way to get another perspective on a topic from someone at (or near) the same level of understanding as yourself and a reply to a request will probably come faster from someone else in the course than waiting for a single individual such as the instructor to respond.

• Demonstration videos will be provided on topics throughout the semester.  These videos will be relatively short and include several examples on each topic.  Some of the topics of these videos are known in advance and others will be responses to observed struggles on assignments, the topic discussions on Piazza, and interaction with the instructor (student requests for specific demonstrations will be accepted).

• Course staff will do their best to respond to all e-mail inquiries within one business day.

  • You MUST always use your Purdue e-mail account when interacting with the course staff.  Be sure to include an appropriate subject to your e-mail and a detailed (and check spelling) message so your concern can be addressed.