Instructor |
Phillip T. Conrad, Ph.D., Assistant Professor |
Office |
447 Smith Hall |
Postal Address |
Department of Computer & Information Sciences, 103 Smith Hall, Newark, DE 19716 |
Phone |
(302) 831-8622 (email is preferred). |
Fax |
(302) 831-8458 |
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) |
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Web |
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| Office Hours | Monday and Wednesday, 2:30-3:30PM. No office hours on days when UD classes do not meet or are cancelled due to weather, etc. |
TA: Keith Monihen, <kmonihen@udel.edu>, UPDATED OFFICE HOURS (as of 9/21/05) Tuesday/Thursday 5-6PM, Wednesday 2-4PM, UPDATED LOCATION: 219 Mitchell Hall (yes Mitchell, believe it or not... but not the auditorium part... an obscure side entrance that leads to the little TA cubby holes).
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:
The bookstore might offer a discount on a package deal for all four books, or you can buy used books separately. If you need to defer one of the purchases, book number (4) above (JavaScript level two) will not be used until after the fourth week of classes. The ISBN number for the "package deal" is 0132217139
Principles of computer science illustrated through programming in scripting languages such as JavaScript and VBScript. Topics include control structures,arrays, functions, and procedures. Programming projects illustrate web-based applications.
[Note: we will likely focus exclusively on JavaScript and omit VBScript this semester.]
| Midterm Exam 1 | 15% |
| Midterm Exam 2 | 15% |
| Final Exam | 20% |
| Lab work, Homeworks, Quizzes | 50% |
| Participation | +10% to -10% (see explanation below) |
Students were offered an opportunity to take a Midterm 2 exam anyway, and be graded under the original syllabus, but no student chose this option. The new grading option is shown below (and was distributed by email on 11/16/05
I will calculate your final grade in two
ways, and give you the higher of the two grades.
Calculation 1: (this puts the extra 15% into the lab work, hwk, quiz grade)
Midterm Exam 1 15%
Final Exam 20%
Lab work, Hwk, Quiz 65%
Calculation 2: (this puts the extra 15% into the final exam).
Midterm Exam 1 15%
Final Exam 35%
Lab work, Hwk, Quiz 50%
That way, those of you that do very well on the final have a chance to
salvage your grade, even if you did poorly on the first midterm exam.
And, for those who might be afraid of the final exam, this decision
means that the final is worth _no more_ that it was before this exam
was cancelled... and you have an opportunity to pull up your grade by
working on labs and homeworks over the next three weeks.
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.
Your final grade may be raised or lowered by one letter grade based on participation. This is not a "subjective" measure of class participation, but is measured by completion of various activites, as explained in the section on "participation grading", below.
Letter grades will be determined by the following scale, which may be altered (in your favor) at the discretion of the instructor, depending on the final grade distribution.
| grade >= 93 | A | 73<= grade < 77 | C | |
| 90 <= grade < 93 | A- | 70<= grade < 73 | C- | |
| 87 <= grade < 90 | B+ | 67 <= grade < 70 | D+ | |
| 83<= grade < 87 | B | 63<= grade < 67 | D | |
| 80<= grade < 83 | B- | 60<= grade < 63 | D- | |
| 77 <= grade < 80 | C+ | grade < 60 | F |
Some course activities will count as a participation grade: you will receive either a "check", a "check plus", a "check minus" or a zero. This style of grading will be used for activities that are necessary to teach basic skills, but usually don't involve much creativity or intellectual challenge. (Later assignments that involve creativity or challenge will be graded in more detail.)
A "check" means the activity was completed in a satisfactory manner. This is recorded in WebCT as a "2".
A "check minus" means that the activity was completed, but was less than satisfactory. This is recorded in WebCT as a "1".
A "check plus" is a rare grade, assigned only when a student has done something truly above and beyond the call of duty. A check plus grade can "cancel out" the negative effects of a check minus---two check pluses can cancel out a zero. However, this is no guarantee that any check pluses will be awarded---for many assignments, there will be none, and in no case will the number of check pluses for any single assignment exceed 10% of the entire class. A check plus is recorded in WebCT as a "3".
A "zero" ("0" in WebCT) is recorded when the student failed to complete the assignment at all, or completed it in a way that was entirely unsatisfactory.
The participation grades will be averaged at the end of the semester, and can be used to raise or lower your final course average (the average of your exam and portfolio grades) by up to 1 full letter grade. For most students, the effect will be smaller than that; the exact translation from numerical average of the class particpation grades to the adjustment to final course grades is left to discretion of the instructor, but will be applied consistently across the class. If you consistently earn a "check" for your participation grades means that your participation is satisfactory, and your final course average will neither be raised nor lowered from what you earn on your exams and your portfolio.
Attendance may affect your participation grade. From time to time, there will be in-class activities during lectures that will count for a participation grade. Students with excused absenses will receive a "satisfactory" participation grade for those activities (one that will neither increase nor decrease their overall course grade.) Students with unexcused absenses will receive a zero for those activities. If you must miss class due to minor illness, court appearance, or a University offically excused absence, please notify me in advance by email, or as soon as possible after the absence. If you miss an activity, and I do not hear from you, I will assume that the absence is unexcused.
Lab Policies are at the following link, and are included herein by reference:
http://copland.udel.edu/~pconrad/cisc103/05F/labs/lab_policy.html
A summary is as follows:
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. Pencil/Paper homework must be submitted in lab. 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 daily homework except for "official excused absenses". 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, 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. See the lab policy page (at the link listed above) for more detail, and academic honesty page for more details (also found at the policy link shown below). Suspected violations of academic 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..
Additional Course policies may be found at this link, and included herein by reference: http://copland.udel.edu/~pconrad/cisc103/05F/policy
ADA Accomodations: 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.
Phillp T. Conrad, Fall 2005