Syllabus

Critical Information, at a glance

We will be using Participatr in class to account for your participation. You must sign up for a Participatr account here. There is a free 30 day trial from the start of class and then the cost will be $5 for the quarter.
You MUST bring to every lecture your laptop, tablet, or other electronic device. You must not engage in any activities on your electronic device that is not directly related to the lecture or discussion at hand or we will ask you to leave the class.
Any violation of the academic integrity agreement for this course results in a 0 for the assignment and can result in an F for the course. It is your responsibility to read and understand this policy. Students have been caught violating academic integrity in the past; do not let this happen to you!
Be familiar with all required resources for this course.
Starting in Week 1, you will complete weekly in-class online review quizzes every Friday in class. These review quizzes cover materials from the corresponding week. Together these quizzes are worth 5% of your grade.
You will have reading assignments with interactive exercises on zyBooks, generally due before every class MWF @ 2:00 PM, and are worth 15% of your grade.
Exams may NOT be made up and must be taken during the scheduled time. Please check the midterm and final exam dates now and let us know if there are any issues upfront.
Programming Assignments (PAs) are normally due by 11:59 pm on Fridays. Count on having new PAs almost every week.
It is your responsibility to ensure that you have correctly submitted the correct code for your homework assignment. Assignments that are submitted late, do not compile or do not run, or are misnamed, will be given 0 points.
Homework assignments may be done alone or using pair programming, except for PA0 which you need to do alone. If you choose to use pair programming, you must engage in TRUE PAIR PROGRAMMING, as described in the Pair Programming Policy for the course. You are strongly encouraged to do Pair Programming in this course. You can change partners for different PAs. All pair programming MUST be true pair programming. Splitting the work on an assignment where you are working with a partner is a violation of the academic integrity agreement for this course.
All questions for the class should be posted to Piazza except for in-class questions, which are to be posted in Canvas. But DO NOT POST CODE PUBLICLY via Piazza. If you must post code (not recommended), make the post private. Emails to the instructor must be about personal and confidential matters only. Please email the TAs or Lead Tutors first before contacting the instructor with any questions. If the they cannot answer the question, they will forward the email to the instructor.

Grading:

Participation (Participatr for lectures and discussion session, etc.): 5%
In-class Quizzes: 5%
Zybooks Activities: 15%
PAs: 30%
Midterm exam: 20%
Final exam: 25%

We will use a standard scale for assigning letter grades: 90-100 = A; 80-89=B, 70-79=C, 60-69=D, <60=F. Pluses and minuses will be given at the instructor’s discretion.
Important grading policies:
- You have 48 hours from the time a grade is posted to request a correction to it. Once a grade has been posted, it is set in stone after 48 hours.

Note: Assignments that are submitted late, do not compile or do not run, or are misnamed, will be given 0 points.

Course Components

1) Class Sessions (a.k.a. Lectures)

These are instructor-led class periods, but they will not be traditional lectures. During class you will work alone and in groups to work through problems and answer questions using Participatr. Many tutors will be at lecture to help you and lead small teams with discussion and questions. You must bring a laptop, mobile device, or any other electronic device with which you can access Participatr to every class session. Notes for class sections will be available on the course website.

If you have questions during lecture, please post immediately in Canvas. Tutors will be answering your questions in-class in Canvas and then we will highlight important questions/answers in class towards the end of class (last 10 minutes).

2) Participation

Participatr participation points start counting towards your grade in Lecture and Discussion Session on Wednesday, April 4. If you miss lecture and discussion session and there are Participatr polls, there is no way to make it up. You should try to attend as many lectures and discussion sessions as possible to maximize your grade. We will drop your lowest 4 participation scores.

3) Programming Assignments (PAs)

PAs will normally be due on Fridays at 11:59pm. Assignment guidelines will be linked from the Course Schedule Page. If your code does not compile, for whatever reason, you will get a 0. For more details, see this PAs page. Count on having new PAs almost every week.

4) Discussion Section

If you would like help getting started on your PAs, or just want a little extra practice with the material, you should attend discussion section. It is important that you attend discussion sessions to maximize your learning and ask questions.

You will get points for showing up to discussion and answering Participator questions that are part of your in-class participation points.

You must bring to every lecture your laptop, tablet, or other electronic device for participation.

If you have questions during discussion, please post immediately in Canvas. Tutors will be answering your questions in-class in Canvas and then we will highlight important questions/answers in discussion session towards the end of class (last 10 minutes).

Discussion session starts this Friday, April 6.

5) Zybook Readings/Assignments

Normally due MWF at 2:00 PM before lecture starts. Check ZyBooks for exact due dates.

6) Exams

There will be one midterm exam and one final exam. Midterms and final exams are in-class. All exams are closed-book, closed-notes. We will provide you with a reference page where appropriate so you don't have to memorize small details.

Exams cannot be made up or rescheduled. If you have an issue with any of the exam dates in the course calendar, please contact the instructor immediately.

Note that the Final Exam is on Friday, June 15th at 3 PM! The midterm exam is on Friday, May 4th during lecture.

7) Quizzes

We will have an in-class quiz every Friday during lecture using Canvas. These quizzes can not be made up, and are closed-book, closed-notes, unless otherwise specified. We will drop your lowest quiz score.

Required Resources

1) Textbook

Before every class you MUST complete the selected Zybook readings and Zybook Participation Activities so we can have discussions during class. To access the e-book (zybook), go here. More details see the Important Links under Resources tab.

If I am on financial aid, how do I purchase my Zybook subscription?

The first chapter is available for free, so you can immediately sign up for your course zyBook without making a payment. zyBooks are much lower-priced than typical textbooks, so the vast majority of financial aid students initially pay out-of-pocket, receiving their financial aid disbursement several weeks into the class term (thus effectively being reimbursed). In rare hardship cases, zyBook may defer payment for a few weeks; email support@zybooks.com to request a deferment.

2) Laptops in Lecture

You must bring to every lecture your laptop, tablet, or other electronic device for in-class Participation using Participatr and Zybook activities.

Open Lab

You are encouraged to do your programming assignments in CSE B240, which is in the basement of the CSE building. The lab will be staffed with tutors who are there to help you during scheduled hours. However, if the lab is full, you may work in any of B220-B260. If you need tutor help, just put your name in the Autograder and note where you are working.

Piazza (Discussion Forum)

All announcements will be posted on Piazza (Sign up here first). Hence, you must sign up for it. There you may also post (almost) all your questions.

Make sure to check it often.

Regrade Policy

You will have 48 hours to submit any regrade requests after grades are out. Grades are finalized after 48 hours. See this page for more details.

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

Students requesting accommodations for this course due to a disability must provide a current Authorization for Accommodation (AFA) letter issued by the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) which is located in University Center 202 behind Center Hall. Students are required to present their AFA letters to faculty and to the OSD Liaison (Ana Lopez, Student Services Advisor, cse-osd@eng.ucsd.edu) in the CSE Department in advance so that accommodations may be arranged.

Contact the OSD for further information:

858.534.4382 (phone)

osd@ucsd.edu (email)

http://disabilities.ucsd.edu (website)

Note: Syllabus is subject to change.

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