CSC171: Introduction to Computer Science
Summer 2024

General Information

Instructor: Prof. Ted Pawlicki <pawlicki@cs.rochester.edu>

Office: 2101 Wegmans Hall (see instructor website for office hours)

Lectures:

Website: The UR's BlackBoard system

Course Goals

This course is a hands on introduction to computer programming using the Java programming language. You will learn to program computers by writing computer programs. Topics covered include:

We learn by doing. Students should expect to spend time outside of lecture, lab, and workshop in order to master this material.

Prerequisites

No prior programming experience is required.

Textbook & Resources

Required Textbook

We will use an online interactive textbook CSC171 : Introduction to Computer Science this term. Readings and online activities associated with this textbook will count for your grade.

In order to get access to this textbook :

  1. Sign in or create an account at learn.zybooks.com
  2. Enter zyBook code: ROCHESTERCSC171PawlickiSummer2024
  3. Subscribe

Recommended Textbooks

Deitel & Deitel: Java: How to Program, ninth edition or more recent.

The text book is a good reference for code examples. You may or may not need the textbook. Assignments are not taken from it.

Additional readings and resources:

Course Work

There is homework for almost every day. These are short exercises that you can complete on your own time.

Projects are larger programming assignments, typically taking a week to complete.

There online text book contains interactive execercises and quizzes.

There will be six open book online multiple choice exams. The exams will be available all day each Saturday. You can begin them any time. Once begun you will have aproximately 90 minutes to finish. There is no backtracking for the questions. You must complete the exams in one sitting.

Make up quizzes and exams and extensions on projects are only allowed with a suitable prearranged excuse.

Medical excuses will require documentation from a legitimate health care provider.

Excuses related to college sport participation will require documentation from your coach.

Excuses related to religious observance will require documentation from a legitimate religious leader (reverend, pastor, priest, rabbi, imam, etc.).

Grading

Late assignments without suitable prearranged excuse will not be accepted. Missed or late homework will receive a grade of zero.

Final course grades will be based on the following components and weights:

Online Exams 33%
On line Zybooks Excercises34%
Programming Assignments33%

This scheme is subject to change in response to changing circumstances. Any changes will be announced in class and posted on the class web site.

Letter grades will follow the Official University of Rochester Grading Scheme. Note that the University scheme puts average somewhere between C and B. The following table is an estimate of how the numeric grades will map onto the letter grades (subject to change):

A- to A+ : Excellent >=90%
B- to B+ : Above Average >=80%
C- to C+ : Minimum Satisfactory Grade >=70%
D- to D+: Minimum Passing Grade >=60%
E: Fail <60%

All appeals of grades for any component of the course (homework, project, quiz, exam, etc.) must be made within one week of the grade being posted.

Course Policies

You are expected to view all the recorded lectures.

Late assignments without suitable prearranged excuse will not be accepted. Missed or late homework will receive a grade of ZERO.

Computer, crashes, malfunctions, and loss of files is NOT an excuse. Backup your files regularly to at least one external drive and/or cloud storage.

Students with an appropriate excuse for missing a quiz, workshop, homework, or project deadline must make arrangements in advance.

Students with an accommodation for any aspect of the course must make arrangements through the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) IN ADVANCE. Then, as instructed by CETL, contact the instructor to confirm your arrangements. Do not leave this until the last minute either.

Students who are unable to attend or complete any part of the course due to illness should contact the instructor as soon as possible. Please note that the University Health Service (UHS) does not provide retroactive excuses for missed classes. Students who are seen at UHS for an illness or injury can ask for documentation that verifies the date of their visit(s) to UHS without mention of the reason for the visit. Students with extended or severe illness should contact the College Center for Advising Services (CCAS) for advice and assistance.

Academic Honesty and Collaboration

All assignments and activities associated with this course must be performed in accordance with the University of Rochester's Academic Honesty Policy. More information is available at: www.rochester.edu/college/honesty

You will learn the most if you do all the work in this course on your own.

Homework is individual work and you must complete it individually. Your TAs and are available in ZOOM session to help you with homework. You may verbally discuss assignments with tutors and other students. You may consult libraries and on line references, but you must write all the code individually. All work must be your own. Never cut and paste any code that you did not type yourself.

If you use a tool like ChatGPT you must give proper citation in the comments of your code and in any associated documentation. You must indicate which lines were written by you and which lines were written by ChatGPT.