Course Syllabus

Basic info

Course: CS 162 – Introduction to Computer Science II

Credits: 4

Instructor: Tim Alcon

Email: timothy.alcon@oregonstate.edu

Office: KEC 2121

Office hours: MW at 1 or by appointment

 

Two fundamental rules

1. You are responsible for knowing the contents of the syllabus and all of the information about the course provided on Canvas.

2. You are responsible for knowing the contents of any instructor emails sent to you, instructor messages sent to you via Canvas, and instructor announcements made on Canvas, which means that you should make sure you receive such communications, that you check for new ones at least once a day, and that you read them.
   

 

OSU catalog course description, including pre-requisites/co-requisites
Overview of fundamental concepts of computer science. Introduction to problem solving, software engineering and object-oriented algorithm development and programming. Lec/lab. PREREQS: CS 161 or EECS 161.

 

Course content

• searching and sorting, algorithm analysis
• copy constructors
• operator overloading
• inheritance, overriding base class functions
• polymorphism
• recursion
• exceptions
• templates
• basic data structures

 

Textbook (required)

C++ Early Objects, 8^th or 9^th ed. by Gaddis et al.

  

Coursework and Grading Policies

• For accurate results, you must test your code on the school server ("flip").  It is possible for code to compile and run properly in another environment, but not on the school server.  Since the school server is where your code will be tested for grading purposes, you must make sure you test it in that environment.
• If your program doesn't compile on the school server, it will get a zero, even if it works perfectly in some other coding environment.
• Your code will be tested to make sure it works correctly.  It is your job to make sure that your code will behave correctly for any possible tests.
• Late submissions are not graded. All submissions are time-stamped.  It is better to submit an incomplete (but compiling) program on time for possible partial credit than to not have your program graded at all.  The Canvas phone app always displays times for the time zone the phone is in.  This is important to keep in mind if you do any traveling.
• Always ask first before using any commands or constructs that we haven't covered yet, otherwise you may lose points.  The main reason for this is that I don't want you to circumvent things the assignment was designed to make you do.
• Whenever you re-submit an assignment to TEACH make sure you include all files you want graded in your final submission because only the files in your last submission will be graded. If your final submission is missing any files, we will not look in previous submissions for them.
• You are required to bring a laptop to the lab sections.
• You must attend the lab and recitation sections that you registered for.  You will receive a zero for any lab or recitation for which you are absent or more than ten minutes late.
• If you disagree with a score on any coursework, contact your TA by email within one week of receiving your grade. If you are dissatisfied with your TA's response (or if they neglect to respond at all), then you should contact me about it.
• There is no extra credit.
• I don't plan to “curve” the grades, but that's something I'll re-assess at the end of the term.
• Makeup exams take considerable effort to schedule, so they will not be given under normal circumstances. If you learn about an event that may cause you to alter your exam scheduling, then contact me and your proctor (or the testing coordinator) as soon as you can so that accommodations may be considered.
• Incompletes will be given very rarely. If you have been doing well in the course so far, but an emergency comes up that prevents you from continuing according to schedule, let me know as soon as you can.

 

Weights for Grading

Assignments	40%
Exams	30%
Labs	15%
Recitations	15%

 

Letter Grade Percentages

93-100%	A	80-83%	B-	67-70%	D+
90-93%	A-	77-80%	C+	63-67%	D
87-90%	B+	73-77%	C	60-63%	D-
83-87%	B	70-73%	C-	0-60%	F

 

Proficiency Demo (Ability to Keep a Passing Grade (C or above)!)

You will take a pass/fail live proficiency coding demo during the last hour of lab in week 10.  A practice demo will be given in week 5 with material from the first half of the class. In the practice demo, you will be scored on a pass/almost/no-pass score to give you feedback.  If you do not have a passing grade in the class (below C), then failing the proficiency demo cannot hurt your grade because you are expected to be proficient (C or above) in the class to move forward. However, if you have a passing grade in the class (C or above), then you are expected to pass the proficiency demo in order to keep your passing grade in the class, i.e. you cannot receive higher than a C- without passing the proficiency demo.  Don't be too anxious about this. If you have a passing grade for your assignments and YOU have been the one to do the work, then you should be able to pass the proficiency demo program.  If there is some unavoidable schedule conflict, you must notify the instructor BEFORE the final demo to schedule a make-up.

 

Academic Integrity

For this class, it is encouraged for students to discuss course content with each other, even including general discussion of homework assignments and how to fix specific issues. However, each person must develop her or his own individual solutions (except of course in group assignments, where each group must develop its own solutions). In particular, a student may not copy (by any means) another's work (or portions of it) and represent it as her/his own. Plagiarism can result in drastic consequences for both the person who copied and the person who allowed them to copy. These may include a zero for the assignment or failure from the course.

 

Students  with Disabilities

Accommodations for students with disabilities are determined and approved by Disability Access Services (DAS). If you, as a student, believe you are eligible for accommodations but have not obtained approval please contact DAS immediately at 541-737-4098 or at http://ds.oregonstate.edu. DAS notifies students and faculty members of approved academic accommodations and coordinates implementation of those accommodations. While not required, students and faculty members are encouraged to discuss details of the implementation of individual accommodations.

 

Student Conduct Code

This program strives to prepare students for careers in computer science, which includes preparing students to communicate professionally. Therefore, students in this class are expected to communicate in a professional manner in discussion forums, email messages and all communications for this course. Critiques, disagreements, problems, or other topics of a sensitive nature can be addressed, but should be addressed civilly and professionally. If a student's communications become unprofessional, disruptive, abusive, inflammatory, or if they otherwise obstruct the learning process of the class, the instructor may restrict the student from participating in the electronic forums associated with the class and notify Ecampus and the OSU Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards. Productive learning communities and workplaces depend on civil, professional discourse. It is our hope that this policy strengthens your learning community and prepares you for the professional workplace.

Statement of Expectations for Student Conduct