Syllabus

CSCI 109: Introduction to Computer Science (Fall 2019; 2 units)

Lecture: Monday: 1200-1350                                                  Lecture Location: SGM 123

No separate discussion or quiz sections will be utilized; the only formal class meetings are in the regularly scheduled lecture slot listed above.

Instructor: Dr. Andrew Goodney

Office: PHE406
Office hours: M: 3-5pm, Tu: 4-5pm, W: 2-4pm
Contact: goodney@usc.edu

Teaching Assistants:

	Artem Molchanov		Max Pflueger
Office hour:	F: 1-3pm		W: 2-4pm
Location:	RTH 426		RTH 426
Contact:	molchano@		pflueger@

Computing is a broad scientific and engineering domain that centers on information and its transformation (i.e., computation). This course, introduces undergraduate students to computing as a discipline, a body of knowledge, and a domain of science/engineering. The focus is on ideas and concepts, with significant amounts of reading but no programming. Coordinated with the concurrent programming course CS 103L.

Learning Objectives: Upon course completion students will understand Computing:

1. as a discipline including its subareas, and their relationship to each other;
2. as a body of knowledge including its principal abstractions, structure, and fundamental contributions; and
3. as a domain of science/engineering including information and its transformation.

Prerequisite: None                                                                  Corequisite to: CSCI 103L

Textbook(s):  (Required)

            Computing for Ordinary Mortals, St. Amant, R., Oxford University Press;

Other Materials: Lecture notes will be made available on the course website after each class meeting.

Piazza Discussion Board: We will use Piazza for our discussion board. Piazza is the way to ask and answer questions related to the course material. Please use Piazza instead of e-mailing the professor or TAs. This ensures that answers to previously asked questions are available for all students. https://piazza.com/usc/fall2019/csci109/home

Grading: Grades will be based on: 4 homework assignments, in-class quizzes, 1 midterm, and a final. The midterm and quizzes will be given in class; the final exam will be held during the regularly scheduled exam period.

5 highest scores on quizzes (1% each) 4 homework assignments of equal weightage Midterm exam Final exam (cumulative and comprehensive)

5% 30% 30% 35%

 

There will be no makeup exams or quizzes.  Be sure you make it to the ones scheduled. Only your best five quiz scores will count. One reason behind allowing you to drop your lower quiz scores is to create some slack in case you need to be away from class during the semester either for a planned activity (e.g., for a sports event or a family commitment) or an unplanned activity/emergency (e.g., illness or a doctor’s visit). Therefore, if you miss class (and hence score 0% on the associated quiz) please do not request a make up quiz. Note also that the quiz will be administered in class but it is impossible to predict exactly when during the lecture it will occur. If you come to class after the quiz has been administered or leave before it is administered, you are not entitled to a make up or to have the quiz re-administered for you.

Activities: Students are expected to come to class ready to think, ask questions, and work with fellow students; a curiosity about computing and a willingness to read and discuss is essential. The homework assignments are intended primarily as a learning experience, although they will be graded and contribute to the overall course score. Collaboration on homework assignments is welcome, but copying someone else’s answers defeats their purpose as a learning tool and is not permitted. In contrast, no collaboration will be allowed on the quizzes, midterm or final exam. These must reflect the work of the individual student, with no outside help (except for questions asked of the instructor and TAs).

Homework assignments: There will be four written homework assignments that must be submitted via Blackboard. Assignment submissions must be typed ‑ handwritten answers are not permitted. Students will be allowed a total of two late days that can be used on the assignments. This means e.g., that a student may turn in one assignment two days late, or two assignments one day late, with no penalty. Once the two late days have been used up, one additional day late will result in a 25% reduction in the total score and two additional days late will yield a 50% reduction. While no credit will be given for three or more additional days late, the student will continue to remain responsible for turning in the assignment.

Project: None

Programming assignments: None

Policies:

Statement for Students with Disabilities

Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure the letter is delivered to the course staff (instructor or TAs) as early in the semester as possible. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open 8:30 a.m.‑5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. The phone number for DSP is (213) 740-0776.

Statement on Academic Conduct

Plagiarism ‑ presenting someone else’s ideas as your own, either verbatim or recast in your own words ‑ is a serious academic offense with serious consequences. Please familiarize yourself with the discussion of plagiarism in SCampus in Section 11, Behavior Violating University Standards https://scampus.usc.edu/1100-behavior-violating-university-standards-and-appropriate-sanctions/. Other forms of academic dishonesty are equally unacceptable. See additional information in SCampus and university policies on scientific misconduct, http://policy.usc.edu/scientific-misconduct/.

Discrimination, sexual assault, and harassment are not tolerated by the university. You are encouraged to report any incidents to the Office of Equity and Diversity http://equity.usc.edu/ or to the Department of Public Safety http://capsnet.usc.edu/department/department-public-safety/online-forms/contact-us.

This is important for the safety of the whole USC community. Another member of the university community ‑ such as a friend, classmate, advisor, or faculty member ‑ can help initiate the report, or can initiate the report on behalf of another person. The Center for Women and Men http://www.usc.edu/student-affairs/cwm/ provides 24/7 confidential support, and the sexual assault resource center webpage sarc@ describes reporting options and other resources.

Statement on Support Systems

A number of USC’s schools provide support for students who need help with scholarly writing. Check with your advisor or program staff to find out more. Students whose primary language is not English should check with the American Language Institute http://dornsife.usc.edu/ali, which sponsors courses and workshops specifically for international graduate students. The Office of Disability Services and Programs http://sait.usc.edu/academicsupport/centerprograms/dsp/home_index.html provides certification for students with disabilities and helps arrange the relevant accommodations. If an officially declared emergency makes travel to campus infeasible, USC Emergency Information http://emergency.usc.edu/ will provide safety and other updates, including ways in which instruction will be continued by means of blackboard, teleconferencing, and other technology.

Statement on Academic Integrity

USC seeks to maintain an optimal learning environment.  General principles of academic honesty include the concept of respect for the intellectual property of others, the expectation that individual work will be submitted unless otherwise allowed by an instructor, and the obligations both to protect one’s own academic work from misuse by others as well as to avoid using another’s work as one’s own.  All students are expected to understand and abide by these principles.  SCampus, the Student Guidebook, contains the Student Conduct Code in Section 11.00, while the recommended sanctions are located in Appendix A: http://www.usc.edu/dept/publications/SCAMPUS/gov/.  Students will be referred to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs and Community Standards for further review, should there be any suspicion of academic dishonesty.  The Review process can be found at: http://www.usc.edu/student-affairs/SJACS/.

Statement on Diversity

The diversity of the participants in this course is a valuable source of ideas, problem solving strategies, and engineering creativity.  I encourage and support the efforts of all of our students to contribute freely and enthusiastically.  We are members of an academic community where it is our shared responsibility to cultivate a climate where all students and individuals are valued and where both they and their ideas are treated with respect, regardless of their differences, visible or invisible.

Emergency Preparedness/Course Continuity in a Crisis

In case of a declared emergency if travel to campus is not feasible, USC executive leadership will announce an electronic way for instructors to teach students in their residence halls or homes using a combination of Blackboard, teleconferencing, and other technologies.