1 Administrativia
1.1 Course work
The course will have (about) five programming assignments and one final
project. The final project is either a large design and implementation project
done in a group, or a research project, that can be individual.
Assignments will be managed and turned in
electronically (preferably via CSNET). You may be required to demonstrate
your programs to the instructor.
Some assignments, as well as the final project, will be done in
groups of two or three students.
You may form groups on your own,
but you will be in the same group for the entire semester. For the
problem sets, each group will turn in one copy of the assignment, with
the names of all group members on it.
Each programming assignment will cover a major course topic and may (will)
involve a significant amount of programming. Do not wait until the
night before an assignment is due to start working on it!
Late work will be accepted, but a penalty of 20% per calendar day
late will be assessed. Assignments are due at 11:59PM on their due
date, unless otherwise instructed.
For information about tools
and software you need for the assignments, see 6.1.
1.2 Grading
Your course grade will be based on assignments (50%), and term projects (50%).
Class presentations affect the grading of term projects.
After assigning the grade based on the above criteria,
not participating in classes can reduce your grade by up to 10 percent points.
A perfect attendance is not required, but expect this clause to be in effect if
I rarely see you in class.
A grade of 90% or above guarantees an A, 80% or above a B, 70% or
above a C, and 60% or above a D.
This grading formula implies that there is no curve; your grade will
depend only on how well you
do, and not on how well everyone else does. (If everyone does
exceptionally badly on some assignment, I may decide the assignment
was at fault rather than the students, in which case I'll adjust the
grade cutoffs as I deem appropriate. But I won't adjust in the other
direction; if everyone gets an A, that's great).
All grade assignments are final—unless there was a mistake made in
recording your semester grades or in computing your final grade. If
all numbers are correctly recorded and computed, I will not discuss
changing the resulting letter grades.
There are situations that may warrant regrading a particular
assignment. For example, making addition errors in computing your score,
not seeing an answer that you gave, or not understanding an answer that
you gave. Requests for regrading of assignments must be made within one
week after the graded work has been handed back.
1.3 Policies
Academic Integrity Policy: *An Aggie does not lie, cheat, or steal or
tolerate those who do.* The Honor Council Rules and Procedures are
available on the web http://www.tamu.edu/aggiehonor.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Policy: The Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal anti-discrimination statute that
provides comprehensive civil rights protection for persons with
disabilities. Among other things, this legislation requires that all
students with disabilities be guaranteed a learning environment that
provides for reasonable accommodation of their disabilities. If you
believe you have a disability requiring an accommodation, please
contact the Department of Student Life, Services for Students with
Disabilities, in Room 126 of the Koldus Building or call 845-1637.
1.4 Course Wiki
We will use this
Wiki for scheduling project presentations etc.