CS 222: Computer Programming for Engineers

Each lecture will be divided in half: 1 hour and 15 minutes of lecture and discussion followed by a 15 break and then another 1 hour and 15 minutes of lecture. We will discuss programming concepts and I will provide demos of programming relevant to assignments. In addition to attending the regular meeting times, you are strongly encouraged to visit the professor and teaching assistant(s) during office hours to further your understanding of the material: we are here to help you learn.

Attendance of lectures is expected but not mandatory. Lectures are meant to assist students in learning the material and meet expectations on homework and exams. However, no formal attendance will be kept. When attending lecture and discussion, students are expected to arrive on time, avoid disruptions to presentations and discussion, and be respectful to the instructor and fellow learners. During lecture, new material will be introduced and discussed. Also, example problems will be solved which have the same character as those on homework. Participating in lectures are also the source of bonus credit. If you experience difficulty in lecture either understanding or with the conduct of other students, see the instructor during office hours or make an appointment.

Readings from the textbook relevant to each lecture are listed in the schedule. You will increase your understanding of lectures by reading associated textbook sections ahead of time, though this is not assumed. I may provide additional reading material to supplement the textbook which will be posted on the course web page.

The textbook has a series of online exercises. Doing these exercises is required and comprises a small portion of the overall grade.

There will be a number of programming assignments during the semester. Each assignment will involve writing programs and answering questions about them to illustrate an understanding of course material. The programming assignments will be electronically submitted to Blackboard on dates specified in the assignment by 11:59 p.m. Students may submit assignments as many times as needed up to the deadline.

There will be a series of hour-exams during the semester and a mandatory final exam.

All exams will be open book, open notes, open computing devices but no network access will be allowed. Exam questions will be designed such that learning a concept on the fly will take too long. Do not let the availability of resources fool you into preparing for exams inadequately.

Grading disputes on assignments should first be addressed to the grader either via e-mail. Only if you are unable to resolve the issue, should bring it to the instructor. Grading disputes on exams may be taken up with the instructor.

If you have not raised a dispute within 1 week of receiving a grade, the chance to contest it has closed.

Computation of the final grade will be done according the following weights on graded materials.

Grades for each assignment and exam will be input into Blackboard and may be viewed by students as the course progresses.

Final grades will be assigned without rounding according to the following criteria.

Bonus credit will be awarded based on participation in class discussions in lecture. Students may elect to sit in the first 2 rows of the room ("hot seats") and answer questions. Reasonable effort on answering questions in class will garner class participation credit. Participation points may also earned for involvement in the class discussion board such as giving suggestions to students with questions (but not revealing answers wholesale). The highest point winner at the end of the semester will receive a 3% bonus to their overall score in the course. All other students will receive a bonus proportional to the highest point winner. For example, someone tied with the highest point scorer will also receive a 3% bonus while someone with half the participation points will receive a 1.5% bonus.

• Homework is due via electronic submission by 11:59 p.m. on the dates specified. You can submit work to BlackBoard as many times as desired. Only the last submission will be graded.
• Each student starts the semester with three Day-Late Tokens. Whenever a student turns in a project late, tokens are automatically applied to the assignment. Late tokens prevent the below late penalties from taking effect.
• At the end of the semester, each unused Day-Late Token is worth 0.25% in overall bonus credit for the course.
• Late work will be penalized by the min-25 system
• A penalty of 25% is assessed each 24-hour period entered after the deadline (when late-tokens are gone). For example, if you turn in work half a day late and score 87%, you will receive min(87,75) = 75% (and not 87-25=62%).
• Work turned in more than three 24-hours periods late will earn zero points and will only be graded as time permits. To clarify, you can't use tokens and penalties to turn work in 4 days late; this would earn zero points.
• You can submit work to BlackBoard as many times as desired. Only the last submission will be graded. If you anticipate being rushed around the submission deadline, be sure to submit a version before the deadline as a backup, in case you find yourself only moments late in meeting a deadline.
• The graduate grader grades the programming HW and should be contacted first about disputes
• On-time submissions will generally be graded and available a week from submission, though exceptional circumstances may cause delays. Late submissions will be graded in as timely a fashion as schedules allow.
• Contact the professor as soon as possible if health or family emergencies occur that would interfere with completing course work.

• Your Mason ID is required for the midterm and final exams.
• Missing an exam results in a zero score and make-up exams will be considered only in situations involving death and near death. Proof of such circumstances will be required for a make-up to be considered.
• Failing the final exam will result in an F in the entire course. Failing is defined as receiving less than 50% of the available points on the exam.

PRIME DIRECTIVE: Be able to explain your own work including homework code and exam solutions.

Nearly all cheating in programming can be averted by adhering to the 7.1. Students may be asked at any time to explain code or exam solutions they submit. Inability to do so will be construed as evidence of misconduct. More specific guidelines are given below.

For the purposes of this course, the following actions constitute scholastic misconduct (cheating):

• Directly copying someone else's solution to a homework problem, including student solutions from a previous semester
• Directly copying an answer from some outside source such as the Internet or friend for a homework problem
• Making use of an Instructor Solution manual to complete homework problems
• Paying someone for a homework solution or submitting someone else's work as your own
• Posting solutions to any web site including our course web site
• Collaborating or copying someone else's answer during an exam
• Aiding or abetting any of the above
• Witnessing any of the above and failing to report it the instructor immediately

Refer to the following links for additional information.

• Computer science specific policies on scholastic dishonesty: http://cs.gmu.edu/wiki/pmwiki.php/HonorCode/CSHonorCodePolicies
• University Honor Code: http://academicintegrity.gmu.edu/honorcode/

Any instance of misconduct that is detected will be referred to the honor board and will likely result in failing the course. Be advised that the teaching team will be employing electronic means to detect plagiarism. This is extremely easy with computer code so keep your nose clean.

The purpose of this course is to learn about programming and learning from one another is a great help. To that end, the following actions will NOT be considered cheating in this course.

• Talking to other students in the course about HW problems and informally describing how a problem may be solved.
  • Be very careful as you do this that you do not share any sort of code as this will be detected.
• Getting or giving help fixing a small bug or two: a second set of eyes is a great boon to finding that misplaced semicolon that is preventing your code from compiling.
• Searching the Internet for alternative presentations of a programming concept.
• When unsure whether collaboration is fair or not, stop the activity until it can be cleared with instructor.

At all times keep the 7.1 in mind when studying with another student. The above collaborations should be limited to getting someone over a hurdle, not carrying them across the finish line.

About half your grade will depend on programming projects. Doing them individually prepares you for the exams in which no collaboration of any kind is allowed.