By the end of this course, you will have
developed the following knowledge and skills:
Above all, the goal of this course is to instill a deep understanding
of how to think
Grading
Grades will be tentatively weighted as follows:
45% Homework Assignments
5% Classroom and Lab participation
25% Midterm Exam
25% Final Exam
Most lab assignments will consist of in-class exercises and will
not be graded. Expect roughly ten homework assignments during the
semester. You'll be able to work with a partner with several but
not all of them; each homework assignment will specify if working
with a partner is allowed.
Homework Policy
Written homework will typically go out Friday afternoon and be
due at 10AM the next Friday. We should have around 10 homework
assignments. Some will be individual assignments; others you'll
be able to work with a partner. Unless stated otherwise, you can
submit either typed LaTeX solutions or hand-written notes.
Extra Credit Policy. In many of the homework
assignments, there will be one or two extra credit problems.
These problems are completely optional -- do not feel obligated in
any way to complete these problems. Extra credit will not be
directly applied to your overall grade; at best, they will be used
to make up some credit lost by not handing in assignments on time.
Please contact me if you have questions about the extra credit
policy.
Late Policy. Each individual will be given 2 late
days for the semester. This will encompass any
reason---illness, interviews, paper deadlines, etc. You must
notify me 24 hours in advance of the original lab deadline
that you plan on using a late day. When handing in late group
assignments, each partner must use a late day. Once you
use up your late days, further late assignments will not be
accepted except in very unusual extreme circumstances. Even if
you do not fully complete a lab assignment you should submit what
you have to receive partial credit.
If you believe that you need accommodations for a disability,
please contact Leslie Hempling in the Office of Student
Disability Services, located in Parrish 130, or
e-mail lhempli1 to
set up an appointment to discuss your needs and the process for
requesting accommodations. Leslie Hempling is responsible for
reviewing and approving disability-related accommodation
requests and, as appropriate, she will issue students with
documented disabilities an Accommodation Authorization
Letter. Since accommodations may require early planning and are
not retroactive, please contact her as soon as possible. For
details about the Student Disabilities Service and the
accomodations process,
visit the Disability Services Webpage.
You are also welcome to contact me privately to discuss your
academic needs. However, all disability-related accommodations
must be arranged through Leslie Hempling in the Office Of
Student Disability Services.
To receive an accommodation for a course activity, you must have
an Accomodation Authorization letter from Leslie Hempling and
you need to meet with me to work out the details of your
accommodation at least two weeks prior to any activity
requiring accomodations.
Academic Integrity
Note: in the following paragraphs, "code" refers to all
homework solutions, including written programs but also proofs,
analysis, written reports, etc.
Academic honesty is required in all your work.
Under no circumstances may you hand in work done with (or by) someone
else under your own name. Your code should never be shared with anyone;
you may not examine or use code belonging to someone else, nor may you
let anyone else look at or make a copy of your code. This includes, but
is not limited to, obtaining solutions from students who previously took
the course or code that can be found online. You may not share
solutions after the due date of the assignment.
Discussing ideas and approaches to problems with others on a general
level is fine (in fact, we encourage you to discuss general strategies
with each other), but you should never read anyone else's code or
let anyone else read your code. All code you submit must be your own
with the following permissible exceptions: code distributed in class,
code found in the course text book, and code worked on with an assigned
partner. In these cases, you should always include detailed comments
that indicates on which parts of the assignment you received help, and
what your sources were.
Failure to abide by these
rules constitutes academic dishonesty and will lead to a hearing of the
College Judiciary Committee. According to the Faculty Handbook:
"Because plagiarism is considered to be so serious a transgression, it is
the opinion of the faculty that for the first offense, failure in the
course and, as appropriate, suspension for a semester or deprivation of
the degree in that year is suitable; for a second offense, the penalty
should normally be expulsion."
Please contact me if you have any questions about what is
permissible in this course.