COP 3502: Introduction to Computer Science

Spring 2002

Sections 5 to 8

Instructor: Ashok Srinivasan Office hours: TW 1:00 - 2:00 pm, or by appointment, Location: 169, Love Building Phone: 644-0559, Email: asriniva@cs.fsu.edu Course web site: Go through campus.fsu.edu

Teaching Assistant: TBA Office hours: TBA Location: TBA Phone: TBA, Email: TBA

Grader: Goce Jakimoski Office hours: Fri 1 pm - 2 pm Location: TBA Phone: TBA, Email: jakimosk@cs.fsu.edu

Lecture hours: TR 5:15 pm - 6:30 pm, SAN 108

Recitation hours: Section 5: F 8:00 am - 8:50 am, MCH 128 Section 6: F 9:05 am - 9:55 am, MCH 128 Section 7: F 10:10 am - 11:00 am, MCH 128 Section 8: F 11:15 am - 12:05 am, MCH 128

Text books:

1. Just enough Unix, Third edition, P. K. Andersen, McGraw-Hill, 2000, (JEU).
2. The Analytical engine, R. Decker and S. Hirshfield, PWS Publishing company, 1998, (AE).
3. A gift of fire, S. Baase, Prentice-Hall, 1997, (GOF).

Prerequisites:

Course rationale:

Course description:

This course introduces the basic topics in computer science, including theory of computation, programming languages and their structure, computer architecture, operating systems and networks, artificial intelligence, and social, ethical, and professional issues. This course will also introduce students to the UNIX operating system. This is an introductory course for majors as well as students in other disciplines.

Course objectives:

Honor code:

Grading criteria:

Weekly Assignments	90
Attendance and class participation	10
Midterm Exam	50
Final Exam	50

Weekly assignments

Individual assignments will vary in weight according the amount of student effort required. The assignment grade will be the total points received divided by the maximum possible score, and multiplied by 90 to get a score in the range 0 to 90.

Exams

The Midterm and Final Exams will be closed book, closed notes exams, and will be proctored. The midterm will include topics covered before the midterm, and the final exam will include topics covered between the midterm and the final exam.

Attendance and class participation

You will be given a grade for class participation toward the end of the semester, with a maximum obtainable score of 10. In particular, I will ask questions during lectures and recitations, and you should perform well in these. However, there may be deductions from your class participation score, for poor attendance, as explained below.

Attendance will be taken at the beginning of lectures, Tuesday and Thursday. You should not miss more than three of these. You will lose 4 points for 4-5 absences, and all 10 points for more. The three misses are permitted to deal with valid reasons, such as sickness. Please do not assume that these are "free" misses, and that you will be permitted extra, excused absences for "valid" reasons. In rare cases, such as extended medical needs or jury duty exceeding three classes, absences may be excused with appropriate documentation. You should let me know in advance, when possible, and submit the documentation I seek.

Attendance will be taken when class begins, and so you will be marked absent if you come late. (Note: Your signature on the attendance sheet should match that on your FSU ID.) You will also be marked absent if you leave before class ends! Furthermore, you are responsible for making up for any materials missed due to absences. A missed exam can be made up only in extremely rare circumstances, and you should discuss it with me well ahead of time.

While attendance will not be formally taken during the recitation sessions, your absence may be noted, and may affect your class participation grades. You will have a greater scope for class participation during recitations, and so your grades will be affected through lower grades on class participation, if you do not attend recitation regularly.

Examples:

1. You get 6/10 for class participation, and have missed only three lectures. You have no attendance penalty, and so your score for class participation and attendance will be: 6.

2. You get 6/10 for class participation, and have missed four lectures. You have an attendance penalty of -4, and so your score for class participation and attendance will be: 2.

3. You get 2/10 for class participation, and have missed four lectures. You have an attendance penalty of -4, and your score for class participation and attendance will be: 0. (Note: Your score cannot not go below 0!)

4. You get 6/10 for class participation, and missed three lectures because you wanted to attend parties. You then get sick and miss one more class, provide documentation on it, and hope that it will be excused. You will still have an attendance penalty of -4, since you had a valid reason for missing only one lecture and so your score for class participation and attendance will be: 2.

Course letter grade: Your grade will roughly be determined by the following procedure. The grades for assignments (maximum 90) and class participation (maximum 10) will be added together to give the total non-exam score (maximum 100). The midterm (maximum 50) and final exam (maximum 50) scores are added to get the total exam score (maximum 100). The grade for the course will be based on the lower of the grades of the exam and non-exam portions.

1. You get 6/10 on class participation, 80/90 on assignments, 30/50 on the midterm, and 25/50 on the final exam. Your score for the course will be considered 55/100 (the lower of 86/100 on non-exam and 55/100 on the exam).

2. You get 6/10 on class participation, 40/90 on assignments, 30/50 on the midterm, and 25/50 on the final exam. Your score for the course will be considered 46/100 (the lower of 46/100 on non-exam and 55/100 on the exam).

Course average	Letter grade
92 - 100	A
90 - 92	A-
88 - 90	B+
82 - 88	B
80 - 82	B-
78 - 80	C+
72 - 78	C
70 - 72	C-
60 - 70	D
0 - 60	F

Course policies:

• Deadlines: Assignments will typically be due at the beginning of the recitation section for which you are registered. Please check the instructions for each assignment, in case there is a change. If you are late, you will get a 20% reduction in points for up to one day late (ignoring weekends and university holidays), and no points after that. Please do not depend on our watches being exactly synchronized; do submit a few minutes early. (In order to help you deal with sickness or other emergencies, we will excuse your first late submission from the 20% penalty, provided it is not late by more than two working days. All late submissions must be made to me, the TA, or the grader, in our respective offices.)

• Cheating: You should not collaborate with anyone in any way while working on the assignments. Students are expected to uphold the academic honor code published in "The Florida State University Bulletin" and the "Student Handbook". Please read the provisions of the Academic Honor Code: http://www.fsu.edu/Books/Student-Handbook/codes/honor.html.

• ADA: Students with disabilities needing academic accommodation should (1) register with and provide documentation to the Student Disability Center, and (2) bring a letter to the instructor indicating the need for accommodation and what type. This should be done during the first week of class. This syllabus and other class materials will be made available in alternative format upon request.

What I expect from the student:

• I am particularly strict about deadlines and following instructions. Please read instructions carefully, and schedule your activities so that you submit assignments well in time. You should check your garnet email account and the class web page regularly, and note other announcements, online and in class.

• I expect you to complete any reading assignments when you come to class, since I will assume you have learned the material. (You should read the entire reading assignment, and not just the topics we discussed in class. In fact, you should probably read the material not discussed in class even more carefully!)

• You should participate in the class by asking questions, suggesting ideas, etc.

• In exams, I test knowledge, understanding, and creativity. When you learn some topic, you should not just try to understand the material, but also analyze what would happen if some things were different.

Lecture plan: