Fall 2007 Syllabus
CISC105: General Computer Science (honors)
CISC106: General Computer Science for Engineers (honors)
Sections 105-080, 106-080,106-080,106-081,106-082

Instructor	Phillip T. Conrad, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Office	414 Smith Hall
Postal Address	Department of Computer & Information Sciences, 103 Smith Hall, Newark, DE 19716 USA
Phone	(302) 831-8622 (email is preferred).
Fax	(302) 831-8458
Email	pconrad@udel.edu (Please cc your TA unless you have a specific reason not to, and try to send from your udel email address; mail from AOL, Yahoo etc. often gets blocked as spam)
Web	http://www.udel.edu/CIS/106/pconrad
Office Hours	TBA Or by appointment (send email to pconrad@udel.edu request an appointment, To avoid delays, put "CISC106 Appointment Request" in the subject line. No office hours on days when UD classes do not meet or are cancelled due to weather, etc. Any other adjustment to office hours will be announced via email to the class.

TA(s):

• 8am T,R labs: Colin Kern <kernco@udel.edu> or <colin.kern@gmail.com>
• 6pm T lab: Andy Sacher <andytuba@udel.edu>

Course Objectives

Provided you participate fully in the assigned readings, lab exercises, projects, and other course activities, by the end of course, you should be able to do all of the following:

Goals for the first 10-12 weeks:

1. Write MATLAB programs (M-files) to do simple calculations, including prompting for input and printing output
2. Use MATLAB commands to create and maintain a basic directory structure (mkdir, cd, pwd)
3. Write MATLAB programs to plot functions or data
4. Write more complex MATLAB programs using control structures
• if/else
• for loops
• while loops
• switch statements
  
5. Write MATLAB programs that read data from files on the disk, and write results to files on the disk
6. Write MATLAB functions that take parameters
7. Work with MATLAB matrix operations
8. Explain and demonstrate the importance of writing source code that demonstrates good style and helpful documentation, so that it can be maintained and updated easily by oneself and by others.
   

In addition, we will try to also include the following two goals not related to MATLAB, but also important

1. [Early in the semester] Use the emacs text editor on Unix to create simple web pages directly in HTML. These web pages will not be "works of art", but they will allow you to disseminate results of experiments on the web.
2. Learn how to include graphics created in MATLAB in these web pages.
   
3. [Last 3-4 weeks of the semester] Write, compile and run simple C++ programs that illustrate basic I/O, as well as some of the same control structures we studied in MATLAB.
• You will not be C++ experts, but you will be able to see that your MATLAB skills carry over into C++, and you'll have a starting point for further study of C++ if your future studies include CISC181.
• We'll also highlight a few important differences between MATLAB and C++, including parameter passing and how arrays are treated.
  

Required Textbooks

Grading:

Midterm Exam 1	15%
Midterm Exam 2	15%
Final Exam	20%
Lab work, Homeworks, Quizzes, Projects	50% (assignments will be of varying point values; the total points earned will be added together, divided by the total possible points, and this will form 50% of your final course grade).

See the course calendar for scheduled dates of exams (available on the web site).

Special Rules: Your final grade cannot be more than one letter grade higher than your exam average.  This ensures that your final grade reflects your mastery of the basic concepts of the course.

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Course Policies

Lab Policies are at the following link, and are included herein by reference:
http://www.udel.edu/106/pconrad/07F/labs/lab_policy.html

A summary is as follows:

1. Show up for lab.
2. Bring your lab homework to lab
3. Observe due dates
4. Respect late penalties.
5. Do honest work.
6. Treat people with respect.

Reading Assignments are posted on the course calendar. The assignments are listed on Sundays on the course calendar (to avoid cluttering the course days in the week). You are responsible for checking the calendar periodically and staying on top of the reading; additional announcements/reminders about the reading assignments might or might not be made in lecture.

Exams are closed book; however I allow one sheet of notes to be brought into your exam. This should be one 8.5x11 sheet of paper only, you must write your name on it, and you must turn it in with your exam. You may not use any notes whatsoever for quizzes, unless otherwise announced.

Quizzes Both pre-announced and unannounced quizzes may be given at any time. Quizzes will be counted Missed quizzes due to unexcused absences will be counted as a zero. For excused absences, the instructor will substitute a default grade which is the nearest integer approximation of the students average so far at that point in the course (i.e. the quiz neither helps nor hurts the grade). A perfect score will be substituted if a quiz is missed before any other grades are recorded.

Lab attendance is required. Attendance will be taken. If you have a standing conflict with the lab time, you need to transfer into a different section... one with which you don't have a standing conflict (because the rule won't be any different there!)

Follow instructions in assignments regarding submission. For homework assignments, some work must be submitted on paper, while electronic submission may be acceptable for other work. However, you must follow the submission instructions in the assignment; you may not submit electronically if the assignment specifically requires paper submission. Paper submission may only be done in person in lecture for lecture hwk, and in lab for lab homework and lab assignments, (unless you have prior permission from the TA via email with a CC to me; this should be done only in unusual, rare, special circumstances.)

No makeup for in class assignments except for "official excused absences". When there is an in-class quiz or in-class assignment, there is no make up except for official excused absences.

Official excused absences include those where there is a note from the athletic department (e.g. for intercollegiate sports teams) or from the Dean's office (e.g. for serious illness or family emergency). For occasional cold or flu, one or two missed assignments are not going to seriously impact your grade, since the point values are relatively small compared to other course components—as long as you don't make it a habit.

Academic Honesty: You are required to comply with all University policies regarding Academic Honesty and to familiarize yourself with those policies. Read the official policy at the UD website: http://www.udel.edu/stuguide/06-07/code.html, and then read this the do honest work section of the lab policy page (at the link listed above) for more detail.. Suspected violations of academic honesty are prosecuted through the office of Judicial Affairs, and may result in probation, deferred suspension, suspension, or expulsion. We catch people all the time. Do honest work; to do otherwise will cheapen your own self-image, and it isn't worth the risk.

ADA Accommodations: If you have a disability that requires special accommodation, please contact me by email (pconrad@udel.edu) or by phone (831-8622) within the first week of classes.

Disclaimer: Information in the syllabus is subject to change as the instructor sees fit, or as required by Departmental, College, or University policy, provided that reasonable notice is given to the class.

Invitation: Please contact me by email, phone or during my office hours if you would like to discuss any aspect of the course; I welcome the opportunity to be of assistance.

Phillip T. Conrad, Fall 2007