CS 110 Course Policies
Prof. Richard Eisenberg
Fall 2016
| Assignments | 45% |
| Citizenship | 10% |
| Exam 1 | 20% |
| Exam 2 (final exam) | 25% |
| Total | 100% |
All assignments are graded along two axes: correctness and style.
The correctness grade indicates how well the assignment meets its specification – that is, does it work? In correctness grading, I care more about seeing your logic than about precisely what the program does when it runs. For example, a program might have everything correct except for an errant call to translate that makes everything appear off the screen. Such a program will do nothing when run, but it is essentially correct. I might take off just a bit of credit for the incorrect translate, but you will earn the rest of the credit for having an otherwise-correct program. This is true even though nothing at all appears on the screen! The moral of this policy is this: just because it doesn’t work doesn’t mean you’ve failed. Computers like to say “right” and “wrong”, but as a human, I can see the many points in between.
A style grade assesses how well you’ve conformed to the Style Guide, which dictates how you should write your code. Programming is an act of communication both between you and a computer and between you and another human. In some sense, your correctness grade is about the former, while the style grade is about the latter.
Both grades will be given on a 5-point range, corresponding to Bryn Mawr’s 4-point grading scale. Grades above a 4.0 are precisely equivalent to a grade of 4.0, but allow me an opportunity to recognize exceptional work that exceeds the expectations of the course.
This component of your grade is a reflection of how you have contributed to this class. It includes participation, attendance, and engagement. I expect every student to contribute to the class environment, both to improve your own experience and to improve the experience of others. For example, you can be an active partner when working in pairs, you can post to Piazza, you can raise your hand in class, and you can visit my office hours – but there are other ways to exhibit citizenship, as well.
This course has two exams: a mid-term on Wednesday, October 5 (right before fall break), and a self-scheduled final exam during the final exams period. These exams will be on paper and will consist of several questions analyzing and writing Processing code. They will focus more on the algorithmic aspects of coding and less on the visual aspects. Exams will be closed-book and closed-note, but they will include a brief reference to remind you of the functions and commands we have covered.
More details will be discussed as the exams approach.
Assignments are due by the beginning of class on the due date written on the assignment. You will submit assignments via Dropbox, as explained and demonstrated during the second class.
Late assignments will lose 1 points (out of the 5-point scale) for every day late (or portion thereof).
You are encouraged to work with others on assignments, but your submission must be your own:
All the code you submit must be written by you alone.
This means that, while it’s a great idea to discuss general algorithms or approaches with your classmates, never share code, and never submit code you found online. Violators of this policy will be asked to report themselves to the Honor Board.
If you have a question, post on Piazza.
Piazza is an online forum where students can post questions and anyone can answer questions. It is a great place to ask a question about how to code up an idea you have. Your fellow students, the TAs, and I can all answer questions here. If you know the answer to a question, post it!
During the first week, please sign up for our course’s Piazza page by following this link. Posting on Piazza is a great way to show your citizenship.
Posts on Piazza can be made anonymously, and the Piazza forum is private to this class. Piazza has been certified as a service that respects students’ and instructors’ privacy. (That is, it is FERPA-compliant.)
Bryn Mawr College is committed to providing equal access to students with a documented disability. Students needing academic accommodations for a disability must first register with Access Services. Students can call 610-526-7516 to make an appointment with the Coordinator of Access Services, Deb Alder, or email her at dalder@brynmawr.edu to begin this confidential process. Once registered, students should schedule an appointment with me as early in the semester as possible to share the verification form and make appropriate arrangements. Please note that accommodations are not retroactive and require advance notice to implement. More information can be obtained at the Access Services website.
I use email heavily as a way of communicating with students and colleagues. Accordingly, I expect all my students to check email daily at their college email address. There may be important announcements / corrections / other messages there. Please read them!
As an avid emailer, I also am happy to receive email from all of you. During business hours, you can expect a response from me within a few hours of your email – often much sooner. After 5pm or so, I tend to take a break from technology for several hours, either until 9pm or even until the next morning. Do not expect me to respond to an email in the evening. Similarly, entire weekends go by without my checking my email, and so it’s possible that something you send on a Friday evening won’t reach me until Monday morning.
In an emergency, you may call me at home at 484-344-5924 or on my cell at 201-575-6474. No texts, please.
Another small point about email: I have two Bryn Mawr email addresses: rae@cs.brynmawr.edu and raeisenber@brynmawr.edu. Both email addresses go to the same place, though, and both work. You do not need to worry about which one you send to.
My office hours for Fall 2016 are Tuesdays, 10am-12noon. This means that, at these hours, I am guaranteed to be in my office and expecting visitors – and I really do want visitors. During class, it’s hard to get to know all of you, and I’d love to know more about what brought you into my class, what else you’re interested in (in computer science and more broadly), and how your college experience is going generally. Come with a question, come to say hi, or come to play one of my puzzles. You can even use your curiosity about my puzzle collection as an excuse to get in the door.
If you have a conflict with my office hours, please email to schedule an appointment. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday mornings are usually pretty open; Thursdays and Fridays are more difficult but likely possible.
Beyond my office hours, I aim to have an open-door policy. If you see my office door (Park 249) open, please interrupt me: that’s why the door is open!
For a broader discussion than just homework questions, I’d be happy to join you for lunch in the dining hall. Just email or ask!