CS302 Lecture 5 Information, Fall 2006

Instructor: Matt AndersonEmail: mwa@cs.wisc.edu
Lecture 5: 9:55 - 10:45 am MWF, 3359 Engineering Hall
Office: 1301 Computer Science Office Hours: TBA
Office phone: 262-6600 Dept Office Phone: 262-1204
Course Home Page: http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~cs302/
Lecture 5 Home Page: http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~mwa/cs302/

Registration The only way to add CS302 or to change sections is through the web enrollment system.
Changing sections must be done by using the web enrollment's Swap a Class feature.
Auditing Auditing is not allowed for CS302, but you may sit in the course with your instructor’s approval.
Pass/Fail Pass/Fail is allowed by some departments. NOTE: Many departments require a grade of C or higher for a grade of Satisfactory and for credit. See your academic advisor.
Course Difficulty CS302 can be a very challenging course.
Don't be misled by the course name, Introduction to Programming. Consider CS302 to be like a 300-level math course. The course requires students to have strong algebra and problem solving skills and takes considerable time outside of class.
Course Format  
Large Lecture Lectures 1 and 2 are a large lecture format (~100 students each).
There are 150 minutes of lecture and 75 minutes of lab per week. A single curve is used to grade students in lectures 1 and 2.
Small Lecture Lectures 3 through 8 are a small lecture format (~25 students each).
There are 150 minutes of lecture and 75 minutes of lab per week. Each small lecture instructor has a separate grading curve composed only of the students in her or his section.

Either format prepares students for the next programming course, CS367.
Course Work  
CodeLab (5%) All students are required to purchase and register for CodeLab, approximately $30.
CodeLab will give you practice with the terminology and syntax that Java uses to implement high level program control structures.
Lab Attendance (5%) Each student is registered for one 75-minute lab section per week.
During each lab section, students work in pairs on a lab problem that is presented to them.
Instructor Discretion (5%) Each instructor determines this part of the grade.
For Lectures 5, this will consist of active class participation. If you participate actively in class (asking/answering questions) on average of every other day expect 5/5, on average once a week expect 3/5, or if you participate rarely expect 1/5 or lower. Attendence also factors into this measure.
Assignments (22%) Assignments are comprehensive projects that require substantial time and effort.
Assignments are intended to help students learn the material in the course by giving students substantial practice using and implementing each of the programming constructs presented in the course. Assignments are graded on correctness, technique, and documentation. Late work is not accepted for a grade. Extensions are given for circumstances, such as illness, when we are notified well in advance of the due date. Students are responsible for: protecting their work from access by other students; performing frequent backups; verifying that they have correctly handed in their work (we'll show you how).
Exams (63%) Exams are a primary evaluation tool used to evaluate student performance in this course. It is critical that students complete CodeLab and programming assignments and participate in lab to do well on exams where they must be able to demonstrate the knowledge and skills they have gained. Make-ups for exams are only given for verifiable emergencies.

Clear your schedules now:

Midterm 1 (18%)Thursday, October 12th, 2006, 7:15 - 9:15 pm
Midterm 2 (20%)Thursday, November 16th, 2006, 7:15 - 9:15 pm
Final Exam (25%)Monday, December 18th, 2006, 10:05 am - 12:05 pm
Computer Labs There are three instructional Windows XP labs available for you to complete your programming assignments.

There are two labs on the first floor of the CS building in rooms 1351 and 1368 and there is one in the basement in room B240. They are open from 7am to 1am each day.  Rooms 1351 and 1368 are also used to hold the lab sections and are not available for general use when lab sections are in session.

Lab consultants (many of whom are also lab instructors) are scheduled during popular times to assist students with a variety of computing system issues.

Pair Programming Pair programming on programming assignments is allowed.
Pair programming or other collaboration  is not allowed on CodeLab or on quizzes.

The programming assignments are intended to give you the practice and experience necessary to understand the course material. We will expect that you have done your own work, and we will be testing your knowledge of the programming assignments on the exams. History tells us that most students who get extensive help from friends, classmates, or tutors do not perform as well on the exams as those students who do not get such extensive help. However, pair programming with a single classmate is allowed and even encouraged.

Be sure to read the online Pair Programming Guidelines before viewing or allowing another student to view, or have electronic access to, any portion of your code. Meet with your instructor or lab instructor if you have any questions regarding the guidelines or procedures for pair programming. Giving access to your code or using any portion of code written by anyone other than your partner, in your programming assignment, is NOT allowed.

Academic Conduct Academic misconduct will not be tolerated. 

We expect that all students will conduct themselves with honesty and integrity and complete their own work as it is assigned and described in this course. Students are responsible for doing their own work as well as securing their work so that it is not available in any form to any other students. Failure to do either of these actions may result in an academic misconduct investigation. If you are unsure if something is allowed or not allowed, ask a CS302 instructor or lab instructor before you do it. 

All academic misconduct investigations will result in a report being filed with the Dean of Students' Office. Grade penalties will also be levied if warranted.

Information about University Academic Misconduct policies and procedures can be found at http://www.wisc.edu/students/conduct/uws14.htm

Reminders  
  CS302 can be a very challenging course. There are many similarities to learning a foreign language. Plan on having time in your schedule to do a substantial amount of programming outside of class. Completing the programming assignments is critical to your success in the course.
  • Notify us within the first two weeks of classes if you participate in religious observances that may interfere with course requirements. It is unlikely that we will be able to accommodate such observances unless we know about them at the start of the semester.

  • Notify us as soon as you become ill if you want to request an extension. Extensions are NOT given if notice is within the last 3 days of an assignment. NO late work is accepted for a grade.

  • YOU are responsible for all course material:
    • Stay up-to-date on assigned readings. The syllabus can be found on the course website and is subject to change. Be sure to check it routinely.
    • Attend lectures and lab sections.
    • Complete CodeLab exercises prior to the due date and time.
    • Backup all programs frequently to avoid major losses.
    • Hand in assignments early (and often) and before the due date/time.
      There is no credit for late work.
    • Check course web pages routinely (daily).
    • Check the CS web pages for announcements routinely (daily).
    • See your instructor or lab instructor and consider getting a tutor if you start to fall behind. Getting help sooner is better than later.
Finally! Have fun learning to program! It can be hard work learning to write computer programs, but there is great satisfaction when your program works.