CS 101
Fall 2023
Instructor:
- 103 - Dr. David Babcock, dbabcock@ycp.edu
- 101 - Prof. Deepti Jindal djindal@ycp.edu
- 102 - Dr. Krishna Kambhampaty, kkambhampaty@ycp.edu
Section(s) Instructor Office hours 103 (9:30-10:45AM KEC119) David Babcock dbabcock@ycp.edu KEC 117 M 1-3PM, T 2-3PM, W 1-2PM, R 11AM-12PM, or by appointment 101 (11:00AM-12:15PM KEC119) Deepti Jindal, djindal@ycp.edu TBD 102 (2:00-3:15PM KEC119) Krishna Kambhampaty, kkambhampaty@ycp.edu KEC115 TBD
Course description
This course introduces the fundamental techniques of algorithm design and program construction using procedural constructs. Topics will include problem analysis; algorithm design; and implementation and debugging strategies using good programming practices. The course will cover basic data structures including variables, arrays, strings, records, and pointers; and control structures including decisions, iterations, functions, and file I/O. The course will focus on applications from computer science and engineering using C/C++.
Prerequisites
None
Textbook
Kochan. Programming in C. Sams Publishing, 4th Edition, 2014, ISBN 9780321776419
Course Structure and Expectations
Class meetings will be primarily a discussion of various programming concepts illustrated through sample code in C. It is important to come to class prepared to ask questions related to the topic and/or work on practice exercises in CloudCoder and lab exercises which are designed to reinforce the concepts from the lecture notes. There will be a series of homework programming assignments to be completed individually.
All the programming assignments are cross platform using C, see the Resources page for instructions on installing the necessary components if you wish to use your own machine.
There will be three midterm exams, and an optional comprehensive final which may replace your lowest midterm exam score.
We will be covering a significant amount of material in the course at a rapid pace, so it is imperative that you keep up by participating in the class meetings.
Learning outcomes
The basic objectives of this course are to provide the student with enough programming tools and methods to feel comfortable writing C / C++ / C# programs that solve problems encountered in computer science and engineering. The following topics will tentatively be covered:
- Be able to create, compile, and run C programs using the Gnu C/C++ compiler
- Be able to declare variables of various types and write programs that do basic arithmetic operations
- Understand and apply control structures such as conditionals and loops
- Understand and use arrays
- Understand and be able to write functions
- Understand and be able to define and use structure types
- Understand and be able to use character strings
- Understand and be able to use pointers
- Use top-down design to decompose complex problems into simpler problems
Policies
Grades
Your course grade will be determined as follows:
- Labs: 10%
- Required CloudCoder exercises: 5%
- Homework (programming assignments): 20% (*)
- Exams (3 midterms and 1 optional cumulative final exam, lowest score dropped): 65% (†)
(*) You must demonstrate significant effort on all homework assignments in order to receive a passing grade the course regardless of your overall course average. The very important Outcome CO12 (Use top-down design to decompose complex problems into simpler problems) cannot be assessed based on exams alone. This will be demonstrated via homework assignments. Failure to demonstrate this outcome on homework assignments will be grounds for failure even with a high exam average.
(†) You must pass (receive a grade of 70 or higher) on at least one exam, and have an average of 60 or higher on your three highest exam grades, in order to receive a passing grade for the course regardless of your overall course average.
Grading scale
The grading scale for the course is given below. Please note that this grading scale represents the most stringent criteria the students will have to meet to get a particular grade. Each instructor reserves the right to reduce (i.e. curve) the grade scale based on the final course performance.
Grade Range 4.0 (A) ≥ 90 and < 100 3.5 (B+) ≥ 87 and < 90 3.0 (B) ≥ 80 and < 87 2.5 (C+) ≥ 77 and < 80 2.0 (C) ≥ 70 and < 77 1 (D) ≥ 60 and < 70 0 (F) < 60
Course website
Please check the course web page, https://ycpcs.github.io/cs101-fall2023/, regularly for important announcements.
Reading assignments
It is strongly recommended that you look over the material for each day before coming to class, see Course Schedule.
Posting and submission of assignments and labs
Assignments and (some) labs will be posted as zip files on the course web page.
Assignments will be submitted using the Marmoset server. You will receive an email containing the username and password for the Marmoset server. NOTE: This server DOES NOT use your YCP credentials.
Some labs will be done online using CloudCoder. You will receive an email containing the username and password for the CloudCoder server. NOTE: This server DOES NOT use your YCP credentials.
Late policy
Assignments may be submitted up to two days late, with a penalty of 20% per day late. No credit will be given for assignments submitted more than 2 days late.
Important: As mentioned above in the Grades section, you must make a good faith effort to complete all of the homework assignments in order to receive a passing grade for the course.
Homework policy
Programming assignments will be assigned periodically. Discussing programming assignments with other students is acceptable and encouraged only for high level conceptual design. You must write and understand all of the code you include in your program. Verbatim copying of someone else’s code (including electronic transmission or using code from websites) is STRICTLY FORBIDDEN under any circumstances. You must actively contribute to the process of understanding and solving the problem posed in the homework assignment. Tutoring will be available if you need assistance in writing code.
When you collaborate with another student, you must add comments to the code you turn in stating
- who you worked with, and
- what the nature of your collaboration was
For example, if you worked with Alice Smith, you might add a comment as follows:
// I worked with Alice Smith. We worked together on
// constructing the loop in the compute_temperatures function.
When you collaborate with other student(s), you must make sure that everyone involved in the collaboration properly acknowledges everyone else who collaborated. In the example above, Alice would need to acknowledge working with you.
Violations of the policy, such as failing to cite collaborators or electronic copying of code, will be considered a violation of academic integrity subject to sanctions described below.
Exams
Exams will be closed-book, closed-notes and will include a programming component.
No make-up exams will be given without approval of the instructor prior to class unless proof of extreme emergency or illness is provided.
You must receive a score of 70+ on AT LEAST ONE exam and an overall exam average of 60 or higher to earn a passing grade for the course.
The optional comprehensive final may be used to replace your lowest midterm exam score.
Labs
Students will work on labs during most class meetings.
To receive credit for a lab, you must:
- Get a sign-off for completing the lab’s design artifact; make sure you have this at the beginning of class on the day we work on the lab
- Get a sign-off on the completed program; full credit if you get this sign off by the end of the next week (after the day we work on the lab), 80% of full credit if you get the sign-off before the next exam, and no credit after the exam.
Attendance and participation
Do not miss class! If you do not attend class, show significant effort on the lab assignment by the end of the day, or if you are seen doing non-lab activities before finishing a lab, you will be considered absent. The first absence will result in a 1 percentage point deduction from your final grade. The total percentage point deduction for 2 or greater absences will be calculated using the following formula:
2(absences - 1)
where absences is the number of times you were absent. Therefore, with 5 absences (2.5 weeks), you will have a 16 percentage point deduction, which will automatically drop you 1.5 to 2 letter grades. If you have an emergency and cannot attend your section, you may come to another section with permission from the instructor of that section. Always notify the instructor before the class if you have to miss class. It is the student’s responsibility to get notes, announcements, and homework assignments from other students or the instructor if a class is missed. An absence will be excused only with written proof of an illness or other emergency.
Professionalism
I expect you to conduct yourself as a professional in this course. Professionalism includes:
- Respect for and courteous interaction with peers, faculty and facilities;
- Integrity, which includes at its core honesty, responsibility and accountability for one’s own actions;
- Sensitivity and appreciation for diverse cultures, backgrounds, and life experiences;
- Constructive evaluation, which means that criticism is offered and accepted in a productive manner;
- Self-reflection and identification of one’s own strengths and weaknesses;
- Responsibility for one’s own education and learning;
- An attitude that fosters professional behavior in colleagues and peers;
- Punctuality at meetings and class sessions;
- Attentive behavior during class sessions, avoiding personal or social use of cell phones, laptops, or other electronic devices;
- Acknowledgement of the Kinsley Engineering Center as a professional workplace, and treatment of this facility as a business or office space, not as an informal space.
I reserve the right to enforce this code through the York College Code of Student Conduct.
Academic Integrity Policy (Philosophy Statement)
York College of Pennsylvania, as an institution of higher education, serves to promote and sustain the creation, acquisition, and dissemination of knowledge. In order to fulfill this purpose, an environment of integrity, dependability and honesty must be maintained by all members of the York College community. Without a foundation based on intellectual honesty and integrity, the very ability to uphold the academic endeavors that York College strives to pursue is inhibited. The Spartan Oath embodies the expectation that all members of the York College community foster an environment of integrity and responsibility. Recognize that adhering to an ethical standard of honesty leads to professional, mature and responsible citizens, and enables society at large to trust our scholarship, research, and conferred degrees. Thus, each member of the York College community must be truthful, honest, personally and professionally responsible, and respect the intellectual contributions of others.
The following policy pertains to all graded work in this course:
All graded (individual) assignments are to be completed individually. I encourage you to discuss high level concepts with other students, but any work you submit must be yours alone.
Direct copying of solutions or work from other students, web sites, or other sources is absolutely forbidden under any circumstances.
Any sources (books, websites, articles, fellow students, etc.), except for the course textbook and lecture notes, that you consult in completing an assignment must be properly acknowledged. In general, I strongly discourage you from using any resource not explicitly listed in the course syllabus or on the course web page but rather asking the instructor or tutors for assistance.
Exams must be completed individually using only the resources from the course.
You may work with other students on labs. However, we do expect you to complete and submit them, and they count towards your participation grade: see “Lab Policy”.
Definition of Academic Dishonesty
Engaging in academic dishonesty is a violation of the school’s academic integrity policy and is not tolerated at York College. Examples of academic dishonesty include, but are not limited to, cheating on assignments or examinations, plagiarism (i.e. passing someone else’s words or ideas off as one’s own without proper attribution), improper paraphrasing, fabricating research, falsifying academic documents, handing in material completed for another course, and submitting work not done independently (unless part of an explicitly collaborative project).
Academic Integrity Procedure – Reporting
- When a faculty member believes a student has violated the Academic Integrity Policy, the faculty member is encouraged to discuss the incident in person with the student promptly, identifying the sanction he or she is going to apply. The faculty member should then reiterate the charge and sanction in writing to the student.
- The faculty member has full discretion to determine a suitable sanction, such as a “0” on the assignment in question, up to a course grade of “0”. In the case of an egregious first offense, the faculty member may request that the Student Welfare Committee conduct a hearing and determine a sanction, which may involve academic probation, suspension, or dismissal from the College.
- The faculty member has ten days from the written notification to the student to report the incident to the Department Chair and Associate Provost of Academic Services. The faculty member must submit as part of the report: 1) a detailed description of the incident, 2) a course syllabus, 3) an assignment sheet or assignment instructions, 4) the assignment in question, and 5) supporting documentation, such as copied material. The documentation will be kept on file in the student’s permanent record.
- Students cannot withdraw from a course in which they have been accused of academic dishonesty, until the accusation is withdrawn by the faculty member, or is overturned by the Student Welfare Committee or the Associate Provost of Academic Services. Academic Integrity Procedure – Appeals
- Students who believe they have been unjustly charged or sanctioned have ten days after receiving written notification from their instructor regarding the incident to file an appeal with the Student Welfare Committee by submitting a formal letter to the Associate Provost of Academic Services.
- If an appeal is filed, the Student Welfare Committee will schedule a hearing which includes inviting the student and faculty member to attend to provide additional information or clarity regarding the incident. The Student Welfare Committee will then review the charge and/or sanction.
- If the Associate Provost of Academic Services determines that the incident of academic dishonesty is the student’s second or subsequent offense, he or she will provide written documentation to the student, faculty member, and Department Chair. The Student Welfare Committee will automatically conduct a hearing to review the charge and decide on an appropriate sanction: academic probation, suspension or dismissal from the College.
- Academic Services will receive written notification of the Student Welfare Committee’s decision. Students who are unsatisfied with the decision may submit a second and final written appeal to the Associate Provost of Academic Services within 72 hours of receiving notification of the Student Welfare Committee’s decision. All decisions made by the Associate Provost of Academic Services will be final.
Use of Personal Technology in the Classroom
While York College recognizes students’ need for educational and emergency-related technological devices such as laptops, PDA’s, cellular phones, etc., using them unethically or recreationally during class time is never appropriate. The college recognizes and supports faculty members’ authority to regulate in their classrooms student use of all electronic devices.
Communication Standards
York College recognizes the importance of effective communication in all disciplines and careers. Therefore, students are expected to competently analyze, synthesize, organize, and articulate course material in papers, examinations and presentations. In addition, students should know and use communication skills current to their field of study, recognize the need for revision as part of their writing process, and employ standard conventions of English usage in both writing and speaking. Students may be asked to further revise assignments that do not demonstrate effective use of these communication skills.
Student Accessibility Services
York College of Pennsylvania offers a variety of academic accommodations to students with documented disabilities to ensure their success. To request accommodations, please contact Student Accessibility Services at (717) 815.1717 or sas@ycp.edu. Student Accessibility Services will discuss the confidential process of requesting accessibility services and establish the accommodations for which the student is eligible.
There is a possibility that during this course, classroom lectures may be recorded in accordance with York College of Pennsylvania policies for Student Accessibility Services.
Disclaimer
This syllabus is subject to change by the instructor.
