Syllabus

Contact information

Skype ID: brian.m.odonnell@outlook.com

bodonne3@cdm.depaul.edu

Office hours

Please make use of my office hours!  Asking questions about the assessments, lecture notes, labs, or the readings can improve your understanding enormously.  It will also let me know if I need to review a topic with the class. If you want to talk to me during my office hours but are unable to do so for any reasons, please contact me to make an appointment outside those hours.

Course web sites

The web site used for this course is Desire2Learn (D2L). To log onto the D2L page visit https://d2l.depaul.edu/. Lecture notes, programming assignments, lab assignments, study guides for the midterm and final exam, and other course materials will be available through the D2L site. There will also be links to course recordings.While you are expected to attend all classes, the recordings can be useful for review.

Prerequisites

Ordinarily the prerequisite for this class is MAT 130: Precalculus or an equivalent high-school or college course covering algebra and precalculus. This will be waived for this section, but students without algebra and precalculus are responsible for working with the instructor, the course TA, and tutors in order to make up any material needed for the course assessments.

Course topics and learning goals

This course is the first of a two-course sequence introducing computer science.  The focus of the course is on problem solving, algorithm development, and structured and object-oriented programming using Python and the Python API (application programming interface), all in the context of building computer applications.

In the first course we will focus on structured programming and learn how and when to use conditionals, loops, and functional and modular abstractions.

After you have taken this class:

1. You will understand that a main focus of computer science is developing applications for computer systems.
2. You will have stronger problem solving skills.
3. You will know how to develop algorithmic solutions for basic computational problems.
4. You will understand fundamental programming structures such as expressions, assignments, decision and iteration structures, functions and modules.
5. You will have basic Python programming skills.
6. You will be prepared for the second course in the sequence, CSC 242: Introduction to Computer Science II

Course calendar

The following gives all the important dates for this course.  The topics covered are subject to change.

Textbook

The required textbook for the course is Introduction to Computing using Python: An Application Development Focus, Ljubomir Perković,  John Wiley & Sons, 2012, ISBN 978-0-470-61846-2.

If you would like additional references, check the links in the Content area of the D2L site.

Grading policy

Course assessments include lab attendance, programming assignments, and a midterm and final exam.  The course grade will be computed as follows:

All students will be required to sign and return an Academic Integrity pledge at the start of the quarter. The Academic Integrity pledge will be posted on the D2L site. The pledge must be signed and returned as a part of the first homework assignment. Students that violate this agreement are violating the Academic Integrity policy of DePaul University. See the section on Academic Integrity below for more information about that policy and penalties for violating it.

In order to do well in this class, you must attend the lectures and labs regularly, participate in class discussions, read the chapters in the book as indicated in the homework assignment, start work on the assignments early, and ask questions early and often. The answers to the programming assignment and the lab and exam questions should be written in a way that is rigorous, clear, and concise.

Lab attendance and exercises

Each week you will have a lab session conducted by our teaching assistant Scott Mores.  Your attendance at the lab session and completion of lab exercises is required and will count for the portion of the grade indicated above.  No late lab submissions are accepted for any reason.  Your lowest lab score will be dropped in the calculation of your course grade.

Programming assignments

Each week you will have a programming assignment. You can consult with your homework partners, the lab assistant, the instructor, and the CDM tutors on the programming assignments, but you may not under any circumstances submit code that you have not helped to write nor may you consult anyone beyond those specified when completing your assignments. Each programming assignment will have a posted deadline, specified on the assignment. No late assignments are accepted for any reason. Your lowest assignment score will be dropped in the calculation of your course grade.

Midterm and final exams

The midterm and final exams will be cumulative.  The midterm exam will take place on February 11, 2015, 6:00 - 7:30 pm. The final exam will take place on March 18, 2015, 5:45 am - 9 pm. Both exams will be conducted in a lab and will require you to write Python code.

Make-up exams will not be given.  f you wish to petition for a make-up exam, you must notify me in advance and provide documented evidence of the emergency that will cause you to miss the exam. Failure to contact me in advance of the exam date and time will disqualify you from being allowed to take a make-up exam. If a make-up exam is granted, it will be of a form of my choosing.

Academic integrity

Cheating is any action that violates university norms or instructor's guidelines for the preparation and submission of assignments. This includes, but is not limited to, unauthorized access to examination materials prior to the examination itself; use or possession of unauthorized materials during the examination or quiz; having someone take an examination in one's place; copying from another student; unauthorized assistance to another student; or acceptance of such assistance.  Plagiarism involves the presentation of the work of another as one's own. Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to the following: the direct copying of any source, such as written and verbal material, computer files, audio disks, video programs or musical scores, whether published or unpublished, in whole or part, without proper acknowledgment that it is someone else's; copying of any source in whole or part with only minor changes in wording or syntax, even with acknowledgment; submitting as one's own work a report, examination paper, computer file, lab report or other assignment that has been prepared by someone else (including research papers purchased from any other person or agency); the paraphrasing of another's work or ideas without proper acknowledgment; working so closely with another person so as to produce identical code.

The use of others' web/publication content (text, graphics, code) is regarded as plagiarism if credit is not given (see the above description of plagiarism). When you directly quote someone's work, you must put it in quotation marks.Without such quotations and reference, it is regarded as an act of plagiarism (see the above description of plagiarism). Using materials that the student prepared for other purposes (e.g., for another course or for his/her work) needs the course instructor's prior permission.

A charge of cheating and/or plagiarism is always a serious matter. It can result in an automatic F in the course and possible expulsion.

Incomplete

An incomplete grade is given only for an exceptional reason such as a death in the family, a serious illness, etc. Any such reason must be documented. Any incomplete request must be made at least two weeks before the final, and approved by the Dean of the College of Computing and Digital Media. Any consequences resulting from a poor grade for the course will not be considered as valid reasons for such a request.