 Graphic by Keith Ohlfs |
CS111 Home Page: Computer Programming and Problem Solving |
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Graphic by Keith Ohlfs |
CS111 Home Page: Computer Programming and Problem Solving |
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Constance Royden (please call me "Stanzi") |
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Friday 1:00pm - 3:00pm |
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Franklyn Turbak (please call me "Lyn") Note: my office is located behind the Mini-Focus consultant's desk |
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Wednesday 1:30pm - 3:30 pm Thursday 8:00pm - 10:00pm |
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Jean Herbst (please call me "Jean") |
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and by appointment |
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Elaine Yang (please call me "Elaine") |
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You may go to any of the instructors for help. Note that faculty meetings and seminars sometimes conflict with the above-listed office hours. We will keep you informed each week about any changes in our office hours.
All classes are held in SCI E101. The lecture is team-taught by Stanzi and Lyn.
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9:50am-11:00am |
Monday, 8:30-10:20 |
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11:10am-12:20pm |
Monday, 1:30 - 3:20 |
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Monday, 3:30 - 5:20 |
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Monday, 10:30 - 12:20 |
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CS111 drop-in teaching assistants are available in E101 from on the following nights and times:
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Time |
Tutor |
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Monday |
6 - 8 p.m. |
Agnes Ampadu |
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Tuesday |
7 - 9 p.m. |
Erin Stadler |
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Wednesday |
7 - 9 p.m. |
Nausheen Eusuf |
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Thursday |
4 - 6 p.m. 6 - 8 p.m. 7 - 9 p.m. 9 - 11 p.m. |
Prudence Tsang Yukari Wada Martha Cheng Lin Hsu |
Some hints on drop-in teaching assistants:
If you need more personalized attention than a drop-in teaching assistant can provide, please consider applying for a one-on-one tutor from the Learning and Teaching Center (LTC) . This service is confidential and free of charge; please take advantage of it if you need some extra help! Contact us or LTC for more information about this service.
CS111 is an introduction to the problem solving foundations of computer science. Computer science is the study of imperative ("how to") knowledge, which is at the heart of any problem solving activity. Imperative knowledge is expressed via algorithms, which are descriptions of computational processes that can be encoded as programs written in a programming language. Programs communicate imperative knowledge between people; they can also be executed by computers.
In this course, you will learn "big ideas" about solving problems, developing algorithms, and organizing programs. These ideas include:
You will get hands-on experience with these ideas by reading, modifying, debugging, designing, writing, and testing programs. Example programs will involve graphics, user interfaces, games, text manipulation, and data analysis.
This semester we will be using the Java programming language as our main tool for exploring the above ideas. Although you will learn a significant amount about Java along the way, the focus of the course will be on the big ideas, not on the details of Java programming.
See the Course Syllabus for more detailed topic information and schedules.
CS111 assumes no previous computer experience. The only mathematical background assumed is high school algebra and geometry.
CS111 is for students who:
If you (1) want a broader introduction to computer science with less emphasis on programming and (2) are not likely to take other computer science courses, you should consider taking CS110: Computer Science and the Internet. Contact Stanzi Royden, Randy Shull, or LeeAnn Tzeng for more information.
If you are not interested in computer science, but want to learn how to use the Internet and various software applications to do you work, you should take CS100: Introduction to Internet Research and Resources. Contact Pattie Orr for more information. For learning particular applications, be on the lookout for ITS mini-courses that teach how to use these applications.
If you already have substantial programming experience, consider taking CS230: Data Structures. Contact Ellen Hildreth for more information. CS230 is taught in Java.
There are two 70-minute lectures each week, which will introduce the main content of the course. Each week there is also a mandatory 2-hour laboratory session. Optional tutorial and review sessions may be scheduled during the semester as the need arises.
There is no formal textbook for the course. However, the material presented in lecture will be summarized in lecture notes accessible from this web site. Students are also expected to attend all lectures and take their own notes of material covered in lecture.
E101 Library: The CS department has purchased a collection of books relevant to CS111 and CS110 that will be kept in the bookshelves near the front door of E101. See the E101 library page for a listing of the holdings and the rules for borrowing from the collection.
Science Center Library: A number of Java programming books are on reserve in the Science Center. You may borrow them for use within the library.
CS111 will be taught using the Macintosh computers in room E101 of the Science Center. Most of the software needed for CS111 resides on other Macintoshes on campus, although you may need to install some additional software yourself; see Software Installation for more detail.
We plan to use two different development environments for Java this semester. We will start this semester programming in the Symantec Cafe Java development environment for the Macintosh. (Although there is a PC version of the Symantec Cafe Java development environment, we do not officially support the PC version.) After the first few weeks of class (when we are convinced that it is stable), we plan to change our development environment to Metrowerks Code Warrior. Code Warrior will fully support both Mac and PC versions, and will also allow us to switch to a more current version of Java. (Code Warrior supports Java 2.0. Our version of Symantec only supports Java 1.0.2, which is "ancient" as far as these things go.) Details about Code Warrior will be announced as the become available.
Throughout the course, you will need to use standard applications like Netscape, Fetch, email, and FirstClass. The Documentation has pointers to documentation for all the software packages used in CS111.
Each CS111 student will be given a password-protected account on the CS111 file server (cs111.wellesley.edu). You will have a limited amount of space on the cs111 server to store your course-related files.
You are also expected to keep copies of all your course work on floppy disks or zip disks. Removable disks are a frail medium that you should handle carefully.Store and transport them in suitable protected containers. Do not subject them to temperature extremes, put them near magnetic fields, store them unprotected in your pockets, etc. Even if you handle floppy and zip disks carefully, they are still prone to failure. For this reason, you should regularly back up your floppy or zip disks!
Every time you insert a disk into a computer, you may be transmitting a computer virus! Viruses are nasty software fragments that can erase information on your computer or cause other malfunctioning. In order to reduce the spread of computer viruses, make sure that any personal computers you use have appropriate virus protection software installed.
A weekly problem set will be assigned to give you a working knowledge of the concepts presented in class. Assignments will typically be due at 4:00 p.m. on Fridays. See the Course Syllabus for detailed information on assignments and due dates.
Most assignments are due at 4 pm on Fridays. After that time, you may receive 75% of your total score on the assignment if you turn it in by 4 pm the next day (Saturday). Work will not be accepted after that time. If you have not completed an assignment, you should still turn in whatever you have for partial credit. In extenuating circumstances (e.g., sickness, personal crisis, family problems, religious holidays), you may request an extension. The instructors in the course will decide as a group whether to grant extensions. Such extensions are more likely to be granted if they are made before the due date.
Many of the assignments will be challenging. Keep in mind that programming often consumes more time than you think it will. Start your problem sets early! This will give you time to think about the problems and ask questions if you hit an impasse. Waiting until the last minute to begin a problem set is a recipe for disaster.
While planning your computer usage, keep in mind that computers do break down and Wellesley's are no exception. Also remember that outside of laboratory hours, you may have to compete with other students for a machine.
Instructions for turning in an assignment will be include with that assignment.
The weekly, 2-hour laboratory sessions consist of both written and programming problem-solving exercises. The exercises provide hands-on practice with new material and with problems similar to the weekly homework assignments.
Each laboratory will have a pre-lab component that you will be expected to complete before the lab session. The pre-lab is intended to prepare you for the laboratory exercises, should take < 1 hour to complete, and must be completed prior to the laboratory session.
The pre-lab will be submitted to the instructor at the start of the laboratory session, and will be evaluated along with laboratory attendance to determine your laboratory grade.
We believe that collaboration fosters a healthy and enjoyable educational environment. For this reason, we encourage you to talk with other students about the course and to form study groups.
Unless otherwise instructed, feel free to discuss problem sets with other students and exchange ideas about how to solve them. However, there is a thin line between collaboration and plagiarizing the work of others. Therefore, we require that you must compose your own solution to each assignment. In particular, while you may discuss strategies for approaching the programming assignments with your classmates and may receive debugging help from them, you are required to write all of your own code. It is unacceptable (1) to write a program together and turn in two copies of the same program or (2) to copy code written by your classmates. However, it is OK to borrow code from the textbooks, from materials discussed in class, and from other sources as long as you give proper credit.
In keeping with the standards of the scientific community, you must give credit where credit is due. If you make use of an idea that was developed by (or jointly with) others, please reference them appropriately in your work. E.g., if person X gets a key idea for solving a problem from person Y, person X's solution should begin with a note that says "I worked with Y on this problem" and should say "The main idea (due to Y) is ...'' in the appropriate places. It is unacceptable for students to work together but not to acknowledge each other in their write-ups.
When working on homework problems, it is perfectly reasonable to consult public literature (books, articles, etc.) for hints, techniques, and even solutions. However, you must reference any sources that contribute to your solution. Assignments and solutions from previous terms of CS111 are not considered to be part of the "public'' literature. You must refrain from looking at any solutions from previous terms of CS111 (unless, of course, we explicitly tell you it's OK to do so). It is our policy that consulting problem set solutions from previous terms constitutes a violation of the Honor Code.
There will be three CS111 exams, all open book and open notes:
Please mark these dates in your calendars. If you have any conflicts regarding the exam dates, you must contact your instructor as soon as possible.
The final grade in the class will be computed as a weighted average of several components. The relative weight of the each component is shown below:
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Assignments (total) |
40% |
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Laboratory |
10% |
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Exam 1 (in-class) |
10% |
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Exam 2 (take-home) |
20% |
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Final |
20% |
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Total |
100% |
All problem sets assignments are weighted equally. Assignments account for the largest percentage of the grade. If you do not do these assignments, you will not pass the course!
For each assignment, one of the instructors or teaching assistants will grade the assignments for all the students in both sections. We will select at least one of the problems at random to be graded. The remaining problems will simply be checked off as completed (note, you must complete all problems on the assignment in order to be able to receive full credit). You should check your solutions to these problems for correctness using the detailed solutions that we provide for each assignment. If you have questions about the solutions, please see Stanzi, Lyn, Jean, Elaine, or one of the teaching assistants for clarification. If you have questions about your grade on an assignment, you should first contact the person in charge of grading that particular assignment. If you have further questions about your grade, please contact Stanzi or Lyn.
Often students would like to know how we assign final letter grades for the course based on the numerical average that you earn. What we usually do is: >= 93.33 is an A, >= 90.00 is an A-, >= 86.67 is a B+, >= 83.33 is a B, >= 80.00 is a B-. >= 76.67 is a C+, >= 73.33 is a C, >= 70.00 is a C-, >= 60.00 is a D and < 60.00 is an F. Note - We may certainly curve this such that you earn an A with a grade lower than a 93.33 (for example). This decision will be based on the overall performance of the class. We will never curve in the opposite direction.
The CS111 course folder is located on cs111.wellesley.edu in the same directory as all the CS111 student accounts. This directory contains material relevant to the class, including course software, and on-line versions of lecture notes, assignments, and programs. From Netscape, all this information is available via links from the document you are currently reading:
From Fetch or Winsock-FTP, the CS111 directory can be accessed by connecting to cs111.wellesley.edu and navigating to /usr/users/cs111.
There is a CS111 folder on FirstClass. This folder has several purposes. We will use it to make class announcements, such as corrections to assignments and clarifications of material discussed in class. We encourage you to post questions or comments that are of general interest to the course. Stanzi, Lyn, Jean, Elaine, and the tutors will all read the folder on a regular basis and post answers to questions found there. The course folder is also a good place to find people to join a study group. You should plan on reading this folder on a regular basis.
Announcements concerning the course will be posted on the CS111 home page. You should check this page regularly for important course information.
If you have any questions at all about the class (whether big or small, whether on labs, problem sets lectures, reading, or whatever) please contact one of the lecturers, lab instructors or TAs. That's what we're here for!
Simple questions can often be answered via the class folder or email. Questions of general interest (e.g. clarifying ambiguities in an assignment, wondering why posted programs don't work as expected) should be posted to the CS111 folder.
If you have a complex question or need help in understanding the material, you are encouraged to see us or a CS111 teaching assistant. The best time to see us in person is during our scheduled office hours (listed at the top of this document). If these times are not convenient, we can schedule an appointment for some other time. You can schedule an appointment in person, via phone, or via email.
Drop-in teaching assistants are available to answer your questions during certain hours. The names and schedules of the drop-in teaching assistants are given above. If you are having trouble with the course, you can request a one-on-one tutor from the Learning and Teaching Center (LTC) . This service is confidential and free of charge; please take advantage of it if you need some extra help! Contact us or LTC for more information about this service.
Finally, when looking for help, don't overlook other students --- not only those who have taken the course in the past, but your classmates as well. Get to know your classmates early in the term so that you can help each other out!
We are eager to hear your feedback on CS111! You can talk to either of the instructors in person, send email to us, or post a message in the CS111 folder.
If you have any disabilities (including "hidden" ones, like learning disabilities), you are encouraged to meet with Stanzi or Lyn to discuss accommodations that may be helpful to you.
CS111 counts for one Mathematical Modeling (MM) distribution credit. Even though CS111 has a 2-hour weekly laboratory, it does not count as an MM laboratory unit.