CS 115 Programming I: Fall 2009
Course Information

Links: [Course Home] [Course Info] [Schedule] [Resources] [WebCT] [CS 115W]


Prerequisites

To take CS 115, you must have satisfied the entry-level math (ELM) requirement. If you have not satisfied this requirement, you may enroll in CS 115 only if you obtain consent from the instructor.

Course Goals

Course goals are posted on the CS 115 homepage, http://rivoire.cs.sonoma.edu/cs115/.

Scheduling and Logistics

Course Meeting Times

Lecture: MW 2:30-3:45 PM Darwin 29
Lab: T 10:00 AM-12:50 PM Darwin 28
W 4:00-6:50 PM Darwin 28

Students are required to attend the weekly lab session for which they are registered.

Important Dates

Exam 1: Oct. 5 (Mon.)In lecture
Exam 2: Nov. 2 (Mon.)In lecture
Exam 3:Dec. 14 (Mon.)2:00-3:50 PM

Students who have scheduling conflicts on these dates should not take this class.

Course Schedule

The full CS 115 course schedule is available online at http://rivoire.cs.sonoma.edu/cs115/schedule.html. The schedule is subject to change; check the website for the most recent version.

Faculty Furlough Information

CSU faculty are required to designate a certain number of days as furlough days for the 2009-2010 academic year. We must certify in writing that we will not work on these days. Policies on the scheduling of these furlough days are still evolving, but some of my furlough days are likely to fall on instructional days for this class. You will still be responsible for learning the material scheduled for these days. As the furlough agreement states, "cuts of this magnitude will naturally have consequences for the quality of education that we can provide." You can read the full furlough agreement online at http://calfac.org/allpdf/Budget_09_10/FurloughSideLetter.pdf.

Your patience and understanding of inconveniences are very much appreciated. The Governor's budget finalized the CSU budget deficit for 2009-10 at $564 million, and employee furloughs are one element of a plan to address the cuts that also includes enrollment reductions, increased student fees, and other cost cutting measures. Should you wish to contact your legislator regarding this issue, there is a link on the SSU home page.


Course Materials and Resources

Textbook

Cay S. Horstmann and Timothy Budd, Big C++, 2nd edition. ISBN-13: 978-0470383285

This textbook covers the course topics with specific attention to the typical mistakes that students make when learning the material.

People

Instructor: Dr. Suzanne Rivoire
Email: suzanne.rivoire@sonoma.edu
Website: http://rivoire.cs.sonoma.edu
Office phone: 707-664-3337
Office location:Darwin 116H
Office hours: Mon. 4:00-5:00 PM
Tues. 3:30-5:00 PM
Wed. 1:00-2:00 PM
Or by appointment.

Office hours are blocks of time specifically set aside for helping students. You should always feel free to come to office hours and get help.


CS Department Advisor: Dr. Lynn Stauffer
Email: lynn.stauffer@sonoma.edu
Office location:Darwin 116D
Office phone: 707-664-2268

If you have a question about careers in computer science or need advising for the CS major or minor, talk to Gina (information below) to schedule an appointment with Dr. Stauffer.


CS Administrative Coordinator: Ms. Gina Voight
Email: gina.voight@sonoma.edu
Office phone: 707-664-2667
Office location:Darwin 116

CS Tutor: Ben Morrison
Email: morrisbe@sonoma.edu

Ben is a senior CS major who tutors CS 115 for FREE through the SSU tutoring center. He will hold open tutoring sessions in the Darwin computer labs; scheduling details will be announced a few weeks into the semester.


CS 115 Lab Assistant: Ashley Campbell
Email: campbeas@sonoma.edu

CS 115W Student Instructor: William Batt-Freitas
Email: freitasw@sonoma.edu

Online Resources

Website

WebCT Gradebook

The course gradebook will be kept on WebCT (http://webct6.sonoma.edu) so that you can check your grades and compute your average at any time. Grades will be posted shortly after assignments are returned.

Email List

Announcements will be sent via the automatically generated course email list, so you should check your sonoma.edu email account frequently.

University Resources

Disability Accommodations

If you are a student with a disability and you think you may require accommodations, please register with the campus office of Disability Services for Students (DSS), located in Salazar Hall - Room 1049, Phone: (707) 664-2677, TTY/TDD: (707) 664-2958. DSS will provide you with written confirmation of your verified disability and authorize recommended accommodations. This authorization must be presented to the instructor before any accommodations can be made. Visit http://www.sonoma.edu/dss for more information.

University Policies

There are important University policies that you should be aware of, such as the add/drop policy, cheating and plagiarism policy, grade appeal procedures, accommodations for students with disabilities, and the diversity vision statement. Go to this URL to find them: http://www.sonoma.edu/uaffairs/policies/studentinfo.shtml.


Coursework and Grading

Course Activities

Lecture

Students are responsible for all material presented in lecture and are expected to get the notes from another student if absent. Most students will need to spend additional time outside of class to master the lecture material; the lecture guides linked from the course schedule provide information about reading material in the textbook as well as selected exercises to check your comprehension and get further practice.

Quizzes

Quizzes, announced and unannounced, may be given during the semester in both lecture and lab. Missed quizzes cannot be made up.

Lab

The weekly lab allows you to practice programming with immediate feedback from the instructor and other students. Each week's lab assignment will be posted on the course schedule website by Monday at 5:00 PM. Students are allowed to work on the lab early, but all students must still come to the scheduled lab session. Lab writeups and code are usually due at the end of the following week's lab session.

Programming Projects

Programming projects require students to take the skills you've learned in lecture and lab and apply them at a larger scale. They are a rewarding and challenging part of the course, and they require perseverance and time management skills. Four programming projects will be assigned over the course of the semester. Projects must be a student's individual work, and the collaboration policy will be strictly enforced.

Exams

The exams cover the material from lecture, lab, and the textbook. Exams are cumulative, although they will emphasize recent material. You may bring one 8.5 by 11-inch handwritten sheet of notes (front and back); no other aid will be permitted. Makeup exams will be given only in extraordinary circumstances, and the instructor MUST be notified in advance.

Grading Policies

Grade breakdown:

Lab attendance and exercises20%
Programming projects35%
Exams and quizzes45%

To pass the course, you must also pass each of these three components individually.

Grading scale:

AA-B+BB-C+CC-D+DD-F
93-100%90-92%87-89%83-86%80-82%77-79%73-76%70-72%67-69%63-66%60-62%Below 60%

CS majors must take this course for a letter grade.

Up to 3% may be added to your final grade at the instructor's discretion for constructive participation in the class. Constructive participation includes in-class participation; asking good questions in class and during office hours; helping others in lab (when appropriate); participating in CS department activities; and doing outstanding or extra work on assignments. No other adjustments of borderline grades will be considered.

Late projects and extensions:

Labs: Late labs will be accepted at the instructor's discretion with a 5-point penalty (out of 10).

Projects: Each student may take up to one 24-hour extension per semester on a programming project of their choice without penalty. Other than this extension, late programming projects will incur a penalty of 20% if submitted within one week of the original deadline and will not be accepted thereafter.

Late submissions will not be graded promptly.

Regrades:

Regrade requests will be accepted for up to 7 days after an assignment or exam is returned. The reason for the regrade request must be explained in writing and submitted as a hard copy along with the assignment or exam to be regraded. Note that all regrade requests, except for those pointing out mistakes in the totaling of points, will cause the entire assignment or exam to be regraded. The adjusted grade may therefore be higher or lower than the initial grade.

Collaboration Policies

Lab Collaboration Policy

You are encouraged to work with other students in the labs. However, your lab writeups and code must be turned in individually, and you must be able to explain and stand by all of the work you turn in for credit.

Programming Project Collaboration Policy

Programming projects must be your own work, and academic misconduct is taken very seriously. You may discuss ideas and approaches with other students and the course staff, but you should work out all details and write up all solutions on your own. The following actions will be penalized as academic dishonesty:

Exam Collaboration Policy

Exams must be your own work. You are allowed to consult only your own brain and your 8.5x11" handwritten cheat sheet. Quiz policies will vary and will be announced when the quiz is given. On both exams and quizzes, giving or receiving unpermitted aid will be penalized as academic dishonesty.

Penalties for Academic Dishonesty

Academic dishonesty will be severely penalized; at a minimum, you will receive a 0 on the assignment. For more information, see SSU's cheating and plagiarism policy (http://www.sonoma.edu/UAffairs/policies/cheating_plagiarism.htm) and the Fairness Board website (http://www.sonoma.edu/Senate/FairnessBoard/FairnessBoard.html).