Email:
Phone: 285-8661
Office: RB 442
See instructor's Web site for office hours.
Spring Semester 2009
Instructor: Chris Lüer, PhD
Email:
Phone: 285-8661
Office: RB 442
See instructor's Web site for office hours.
Teaching assistant: Mary Fleming, BS
Lecture: Mo, We, Fr 9:00 am - 9:50 am, RB 104
Lab Section 1: Fr 11:00 am - 11:50 am, RB 355
Lab Section 2: Fr 2:00 pm - 2:50 pm, RB 355
Description - Materials - Policies - Schedule
Catalog description:
110 Introduction to Computer Science. (3)
A broad survey of computer science including its history, local and Internet applications,
programming languages, and computer architecture. Internet examples will be used throughout.
Includes use and writing of programs. A first exploration of the study of computing.
Prerequisite: MATHS 108 or 125 or 201 or the equivalent.
Not open to students who have credit in CS 120 or the equivalent.
Additional description:
Javascript and HTML are used for programming exercises.
Course rationale: The course serves as a first course in computer science for various computer-science related minors and for a general audience.
Required Textbook: Reed, David, A Balanced Introduction to Computer Science, 2nd ed., ISBN 0136017223.
Course Web site: http://www.cs.bsu.edu/homepages/chl/110-09S/
Posting of grades: Grades are posted to Blackboard. However, we do not use Blackboard for grade calculations.
Cheating. Consequences of cheating in this class: the course grade is lowered, possibly to F. No team work is allowed in this class unless explicitly stated. Material that is copied from books or Web pages needs to be quoted and the source must be given. It is OK to discuss general solution strategies with your classmates, but it is not OK to copy programs, parts of programs, or other written answers. Be aware of the Ball State University Student Academic Ethics Policy. Use the paper shredder in the lab to keep others from copying your printed solutions.
Assignments. Assignments are due at the beginning of lecture on Mondays, usually a week after they have been posted. Late assignments will be subject to a deduction of 20% and are accepted up to the beginning of lecture on the following Monday.
Attendance. There is no grade for attendance; however, there are unannounced quizzes. There is no make-up for missed quizzes.
Email. Emails to the instructor and the TAs must be sent from a BSU account; this is the only way for us to verify your identity. Emails from other accounts may be ignored.
Grading.
Final Exam 30%
Tests 30%
Quizzes 5%
Lab work and homework 35%
If you receive 93.3% of the total course credit, you will get an A. If you receive 90.0%, you will get an A- or better. If you receive 86.7%, you will get a B+ or better, and so on. The grading scale will be shifted so that the median grade is at least a B-.
If you have a question about a particular grade, please discuss it with the taching assistant first. If he/she can't help you, you are welcome to discuss it with the instructor.
Tests. There will be three non-comprehensive midterm tests plus a comprehensive final exam. Each test will cover both the material presented in class and the related material from the textbook. Missed tests can be made up only for documented medical reasons.
Students with special needs or disabilities. If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, if you have emergency medical information to share with me, or if you need special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please make an appointment with me as soon as possible.
| Week | Topic Mo | Topic We | Topic Fr | Readings (chapters in the textbook) | Assignments due |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction | Computer Basics | Computer Basics | 1 | |
| 2 | Holiday (Mo) | HTML | HTML | 2 | HW 1 |
| 3 | HTML | The Internet | The Internet | 3 | HW 2 |
| 4 | The Internet | JavaScript | JavaScript | 4 | HW 3 |
| 5 | JavaScript | Test 1 (We 2/11) | Numbers and Expressions | 5 | Prepare for Test 1 |
| 6 | Numbers and Expressions | Numbers and Expressions | History of Computers | 6 | HW 4 |
| 7 | Event-Driven Pages | Event-Driven Pages | Event-Driven Pages | 7 | HW 5 |
| 8 | Algorithms and Programming Languages | Algorithms and Programming Languages | Abstraction and User-Defined Functions | 8-9 | HW 6 |
| 9 | Abstraction and User-Defined Functions | Test 2 (We 3/18) | Abstraction and User-Defined Functions | Prepare for Test 2 | |
| 10 | Computer Science as a Discipline | Conditional Execution | Conditional Execution | 10-11 | HW 7 |
| 11 | Data Representation | Data Representation | Conditional Repetition | 12 | HW 8 |
| 12 | Conditional Repetition | Inside the Computer I | Inside the Computer I | 13-14 | HW 9 |
| 13 | Strings | Inside the Computer II | Arrays | 15-16 | HW 10 |
| 14 | Arrays | Test 3 (We 4/22) | Computers and Society | 17 | Prepare for Test 3 |
| 15 | Computers and Society | Selected Topic | Selected Topic | 18 | HW 11 |
Final Exam: Wednesday, May 6, 7:30 am - 9:30 am.