Syllabus

This document and others linked within it should be your PRIMARY source for understanding the expectations of this course. Be sure to read it carefully. You must contact the instructor for clarification if you receive information from any another source that is in contradiction to what is provided below.

Course Title:  Problem Solving with Computers I

Description

Fundamental building blocks for solving problems using computers. Topics include basic computer organization and programming constructs: memory CPU, binary arithmetic, variables, expressions, statements, conditionals, iteration, functions, parameters, recursion, primitive and composite data types, and basic operating system and debugging tools.

Prerequisites

Mathematics 3A or 2A with a grade of C or better (may be taken concurrently), CS 8 or Engineering 3 with a grade of C or better, or significant prior programming experience.

Materials & Resources

Textbook is available for purchase at the UCSB Bookstore (department: CMPSC): http://www.ucsbstuff.com/SelectTermDept.aspx

Textbook: Problem Solving with C++
Author: Walter Savitch
Edition: 9th (2015) or 10TH (2018)
ISBN:   9780133591743 (2015) / 9780134448282 (2018)

The computing platform for this course is Fedora and is hosted on the CSIL machines. Students find it convenient to use their own computer for the course. If you do not have adequate access to a personal computer, we encourage you to use the College of Engineering CSIL Labs. More information on the following pages: Instructional Labs and Where are the ECI Labs?

* Computer Science Teaching Lab (cstl)  in Phelps 3525   (cstl-00  through cstl-35)
* Computer Science Instructional Lab (csil) in Harold Frank Hall 1138  (csil-01 through csil-48)
* Virtual machine:  csil.cs.ucsb.edu

Support

You are not alone in this course; the teaching staff are here to support you as you learn the material. It is expected that some aspects of the course will take time to master, and the best way to master challenging material is to ask questions. For online questions, use Piazza. We will also hold office hours and open lab hours for in-person discussions. See more information here.

Diversity and Inclusiveness

We (the instructor and the mentors) strive to create an environment in which students from diverse backgrounds and perspectives can be well-served in this course, where students’ learning needs can be addressed both in and out of class, and where the diversity that the students bring to this class is viewed as a resource, strength, and benefit. It is our intent to present materials and activities that are respectful of diversity: gender identity, sexuality, disability, age, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, race, nationality, religion, and culture. Your suggestions are encouraged and appreciated. Please let me know ways to improve the effectiveness of the course for you personally, or for other students or student groups.

We (like many people) am still in the process of learning about diverse perspectives and identities. If something was said in class/section (by anyone) that made you feel uncomfortable, please, don’t hesitate to talk to me about it. Help us create a welcoming, inclusive atmosphere that supports a diversity of thoughts, perspectives and experiences, and honors your identities (including gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, neuro(a)typicality, physical appearance, age, race, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, nationality, culture, or religion (or lack thereof)).

(Inspired by and adopted from Mine Çetinkaya-Rundel and Hacker Hours).

Disabled Students Program (DSP)

UCSB provides academic accommodations to students with disabilities. Students with disabilities are responsible for ensuring that the Disabled Students Program (DSP) is aware of their disabilities and for providing DSP with appropriate documentation. DSP is located at 2120 Student Resource Building and serves as the campus liaison regarding issues and regulations related to students with disabilities. The DSP staff works in an advisory capacity with a variety of campus departments to ensure that equal access is provided to all disabled students. If you have a disability that requires accommodation in this class, please go see the DSP very early on in the quarter. I will only honor these types of requests for accommodation via the DSP. More information about the DSP is found here: http://dsp.sa.ucsb.edu

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What this course is about

This course is the first in a three course sequence, CS16-24-32 that provides a foundation in data structures and algorithms for deeper study of Computer Science.

This is not an introductory programming course. This is an intermediate programming course.

What you need BEFORE you take this course

This course will present C++ from the beginning; no prior knowledge of C++ is assumed. However, it IS assumed that you already have successfully completed CMPSC 8, or have an equivalent background in programming. You should be comfortable with all of the following:

What you should have learned by the end of this course to be ready for CS24

Here’s the list of just a few things you’ll need to know to be ready for CS24 (the next programming course). You’ll have the opportunity to learn all of these things (though not necessarily in this order).

• A few of the basic data types of C++, including at least int, double, char, bool, string
• The basic control structures of C++ (if/else, while, for, etc.)
• Defining functions in C++, and passing parameters to functions in three different ways (by value, by pointer, and by reference)
• Scope and lifetime of variables in C++
• The use of const with parameters to functions
• Using arrays in C++, and C-strings (null-terminated character arrays)
• How arrays are passed to functions, and the relationship between arrays and pointers
• Defining and working with structs in C++
• Using structs to create singly-linked lists where the space for the list nodes is allocated on the heap
• The difference between space allocated on the stack (e.g., local variables) and space allocated on the heap (with the new and delete operators)
• Converting from binary to decimal, octal, and hex, and back again—and how this relates to how C++ programs store various kinds of data in memory.
• The basic principles of recursion, and some idea of when a recursive solution is appropriate.

The swimming/guitar/painting analogy

You cannot learn to swim, play guitar, or paint from a textbook or a lecture. You can only:

• learn to swim by spending many hours in the pool,
• learn to play guitar by spending many hours playing the instrument,
• learn to paint by spending many hours putting brush to canvas.

The same is true of programming. Programming is not a series of facts to be memorized—you cannot "cram" for a computer science exam. You must practice, practice, practice. Here are some additional tips on what you can do instead of cramming: Why You Cram for Exams (and How to Stop) and How to Enjoy Studying.

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Course policies

Disclaimer

The rest of this page details the policies that will be enforced in the Spring 2019 offering of this course. These policies are subject to change throughout the remainder of the course, at the judgement of the course staff (with a potential announcement on Piazza).

Grading

Grade breakdown by evaluation component

Grades will be assigned using the following weighted components:

• Quizzes and participation: 5%
• Homeworks: 10%
• Lab assignments: 25%
• Midterm Exams: 30%
• Final Examination : 30%

This course moves quickly. So attendance is very important. We’ll sometimes cover two or even three chapters in a given week. We need to go at that pace, because during the last week of the quarter, you can’t really start anything new, because there isn’t time to put it into practice with programming assignments. If you don’t put it into practice, you aren’t very likely to learn it in any way that is going to stick with you.

Graded components

There are six components to this course, each of which has a special job to do:

• (1) Reading—Between each class, you'll have reading to do in the textbook. There is too much information you need to learn in this course for you to get all of it in lecture, so the readings are essential. The reading assignments can be found in each homework assignment and on the course website. Occasionally, we might have brief, **in-class quizzes** to augment the homeworks. If you are tardy or are not present during the lecture, it will count as a zero for that quiz. In lieu of makeup quizzes, the lowest two quiz scores will be dropped (i.e., if you miss a quiz, you'll receive a 0, and it will be one of the scores that will be dropped).
  
  
• (2) Homework (lowest *two* are dropped)
  Homeworks are typically submitted individually. The homeworks are practice for the exams. Each student must submit each homework independently, but are allowed to discuss problems with the course staff *only*. These are typically pencil/paper type problems, though sometimes you'll need access to a computer to solve them. If you don't have reliable access to a computer at home (or in your dorm), please plan your schedule so that you can spend time in the CSIL computer lab between classes.
  
  Homework assignments will be completed on paper. If you miss submitting your homework by the deadline, it will count as a missed homework (the lowest scores will be dropped). The instructions on the homework will specify how to turn it in (likely, before the lecture time or during the lab).
  
  
• (3) Programming Assignments (Labs) (lowest score is dropped)—Programming assignments (also called labs) are given once a week. Weekly labs are a required part of the course. You can work on them during the lab session, especially, since you can easily ask for help during that time. We do not expect you to complete the entire assignment during that time, so you can finish them on your own time outside of lab. You must however, read the assignment and attempt the parts that you can do with little assistance as soon as the assignment is released. The assumption is that you at the very least read the assignment *before coming to your section*.
  We will be taking attendance during labs. **It is your responsibility to make sure that you sign the attendance sheet**. Even if you are present in the lab but did not sign-in, you will receive a 0 for the attendance for that lab. Signing-in for another person is considered as a violation of academic integrity (i.e., cheating) and are grounds for receiving a 0 for that entire lab. To accommodate unforeseen circumstances, you have one “sick-day/personal day” per student, per quarter: this means that missing a lab just once during the entire quarter will not affect your grade.
  
• (4) Lectures—Learning is something that you do as a student, not something that is "done to you" by a teacher. Therefore, most of the learning you will do in this course takes place when you are actively involved in doing something challenging, i.e., during the homework assignments and labs. Most of the information you will need to do those assignments will come from the reading and the in-class discussions.
  
  Therefore, you may ask, what is the purpose of the lectures?
  
  The purpose of the lectures in this course is to guide you through the readings, homeworks, and labs:
  • to provide an overview of how everything fits together
  • to provide hands-on demonstrations of things you'll do on your own later
  • to provide additional information that is not in the textbook
  • to provide additional explanations about things in the text that might not be clear
  • to provide an opportunity to ask questions, and hear answers to questions asked by others.
    
    
• (5) Participation—Lectures are designed to be interactive, so come prepared with questions. Additionally, participating by answering or clarifying questions on Piazza is highly encouraged. Pair programming is another way that you might be participating in this course. I expect everyone to be reliable, prepared to work and to follow the proper pair-programming rules. _Disrespectful, unprofessional, and otherwise inappropriate behavior can be grounds for receiving a zero for participation in this course._
  
  
• (6) Exams—There are three exams in this course— two midterms and a final. Unless you have accommodations as determined by the university and approved by the instructor, you must take the midterms and the final at the dates and times provided on the course calendar. **No Makeup Exam** will be given for the final exam. Please check your course schedule and make sure that you have no conflicts with these exams. If you have a conflict with either exam, please post a private note on Piazza visible to Instructors _before the end of the **second week of classes**._

Late Submission

Late submissions will not be accepted. The same goes for homework, unless you have relevant DSP accommodations that provide a two-day extension on homework assignments and you contact the instructor before the assignment is due. The policy is based on the idea that the primary purpose of the deadlines is to allow the graders to manage their workload: all labs must be graded in one sitting, or they just won’t be able to keep up with the workload.

In lieu of offering exceptions or extensions, your lowest two homework scores and your lowest lab score will be dropped in the calculation of your overall grade.

Reminder: If you are registered for another UCSB course that overlaps with this one, you MUST HAVE specific written permission from both instructors, or I am within my rights to give you a failing grade on any work you miss as a result, and will NOT make any accommodations for you. This includes exams.

If you miss a class, you miss the opportunity for the points on the in-class activity. Period.

Excused absence

There is no make-up, except for excused absences that are arranged with and agreed to by the instructor in advance, for official UCSB activities.

In rare cases, if there is a documented family emergency, documented extended illness, documented required court appearance, or other situation beyond the students’ control (with appropriate documentation) the instructor may extend an assignment deadline, entirely at the instructor’s discretion—but this is not a guarantee or a right.

Grade assignment policy

Curving: The grade scale above represents the minimum letter grade you will be assigned at the instructor's discretion, the grading scale may be altered in the students' favor if this will better reflect the students' mastery of the material. Thus, if there is a "curve", it will be applied at the end, not to individual assignments.

A+ grades: These may be awarded to the very best performing students in the class—but the cutoff for A+ grades will be determined at the end of the course at the discretion of the instructor (there is no pre-determined cutoff---an average of 97 or more doesn't guarantee you an A+ grade.)

Everything is cumulative—that's just how CS is.

Finally—note that just as in a math class, everything we do builds on all the work that came before. So, everything is cumulative—so, you can't afford to miss any classes unless absolutely necessary. Miss two lectures in a 10-week two-lecture per week course, and you've already skipped exactly 10% of the course—it wouldn't be surprising if your performance (i.e., final grade) in the course dipped by a similar amount.

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About Collaboration

One of the things we really want to convey in this course is that real-world software development is very seldom an ‘individual sport’—it is much more often a ‘team sport’. Companies want to hire CS and CE graduates that know how to collaborate with others on producing software.

In the CS Department at UCSB, we understand the value of this. We want to encourage working together in ways that help you develop your skills and teamwork, and help you understand that programming can be a social, collaborative, creative activity. The sooner you start with activities such as pair programming, code reviews, and other collaborative software development activities, the more skill you’ll develop, and the sooner you’ll be ready for the real world. Plus, for many people, working together with others is a lot more enjoyable and fun.

We do, however, need to avoid any situations where freeloaders are “coasting” through courses by leaning too much on others and never developing independent skills as programmers. This situation creates huge problems. Mostly it is damaging to the freeloaders themselves, who eventually crash and burn, perhaps, not just on exams but also later in their careers.

Our emphasis on collaboration means:

• We will try to create opportunities for you to work in pairs on assignments—in some cases, we may even require it.
• We will try to create opportunities for you to develop the ability to think critically about software development by talking about and reflecting on your own code within your group
• Some in-class assignments will permit discussion with other students.

However:

• You may not use homework or code from others and claim it as your own work.
• You may not work together on assignments, unless you’ve been specifically told that it is allowed.
• You may not directly share your solutions or completed work with others.

Make a serious attempt at the assignment yourself, and then discuss your doubts with others. In this way you, and they, will get more out of the discussion (not solution-sharing). If you are not sure about whether some kind of collaboration is permitted or not, it is your responsibility to verify with the instructor and ask questions.

The emphasis on collaboration in this course does not necessarily extend to other CS courses you may take in the future.

• Each course will have its own policies, and the default policy is still: no collaboration.
• Collaboration is only permitted when specifically allowed for—otherwise, you must do your own work.
• Please be sure you understand each instructor’s policy on collaboration carefully, and don’t assume it will be the same as that from previous courses.
• And, finally, be sure to review the UCSB Academic Honesty Policy. You should read and understand the UCSB policy on academic honesty listed below. You should also understand that I take academic honesty and personal integrity very seriously, and will do my best to uphold and enforce this UCSB policy.

UCSB Policy on Academic Honesty

It is expected that students attending the University of California understand and subscribe to the ideal of academic integrity, and are willing to bear individual responsibility for their work. Any work (written or otherwise) submitted to fulfill an academic requirement must represent a student’s original work. Any act of academic dishonesty, such as cheating or plagiarism, will subject a person to University disciplinary action. Using or attempting to use materials, information, study aids, or commercial “research” services not authorized by the instructor of the course constitutes cheating. Representing the words, ideas, or concepts of another person without appropriate attribution is plagiarism. Whenever another person’s written work is utilized, whether it be a single phrase or longer, quotation marks must be used and sources cited. Paraphrasing another’s work, i.e., borrowing the ideas or concepts and putting them into one’s “own” words, must also be acknowledged. Although a person’s state of mind and intention will be considered in determining the University response to an act of academic dishonesty, this in no way lessens the responsibility of the student.

(Section A.2 from: http://www.sa.ucsb.edu/Regulations/student_conduct.aspx, Student Conduct, General Standards of Conduct)

Each student is responsible for knowing and abiding by UCSB’s policies on Academic Honesty. Any student violating these policies will earn an ‘F’ in the course and will be reported to the Academic Integrity Office. Committing acts that violate Student Conduct policies that result in course disruption are cause for suspension or dismissal from UCSB. The Office of Judicial Affairs has policies, tips, and resources for proper citation use, recognizing actions considered to be cheating or other forms of academic theft, and students’ responsibilities, available on their website at: http://judicialaffairs.sa.ucsb.edu.

Rather than copying someone else’s work, ask for help. You are not alone in this course! The course staff is here to help you succeed. We expect that you will work with integrity and with respect for other members of the class, just as the course staff will work with integrity and with respect for you.

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Last major revision: April 4, 2019