Course syllabus

CSC 112 – Introduction to Computer Programming (Python) 

Section 001, TR, 2:00PM-3:15PM, 

Bear Hall 165

Course Syllabus - Fall 2021

"This syllabus is subject to change, but only with sufficient notification"

The zoom link on Canvas is only for those who have a medical reason and are unable to join the in-person class. Everyone else must attend the class.

 

Welcome to Dr. Saeidi’s Introduction to Computer Programming class! This course will focus on problem-solving methods and algorithms in a modern high-level programming language. Dr. Saeidi Introduces one or more programming environments. The emphasis is on a programming style and the design, coding, and testing of complete programs. This course is recommended primarily for non-computer science majors.  The students who successfully complete this course will:

• Demonstrate program development techniques to describe and understand the problem statement, think through input/process/output, leading to problem representation, and finally coding.
• Demonstrate an understanding of basic programming concepts including data types, variables, modularity, parameters, conditional statements, iteration, and arrays.
• Develop and use algorithms to solve a variety of problems, for instance, those related to array processing, statistical calculations, image and audio processing, and text processing.
• Practice modular programming by developing, debugging, and integrating modules into a larger program.
• Demonstrate the ability to use programming language-specific software libraries.
• Demonstrate the ability to use basic file input and output.
• Demonstrate the ability to use software development tools from the command line to compile and run commands to an integrated development environment.

 

What else do I need to know about this course? A grade of ‘C’ (2.00) or better is required for taking any course for which CSC 112 is a prerequisite.  Satisfies University Studies I: Foundations/Mathematics and Statistics. Satisfies University Studies IV: Building Competencies/Quantitative and   Logical   Reasoning.   Partially satisfies   University   Studies III: Transdisciplinary Cluster/Modeling. Prerequisites: MAT 111 or MAT 115.

 

What do I do when I need help? If you need help, talk to me or shoot me an email. I will do all I can to help you understand the materials. Teaching Assistant:  Mr. Trevor L. Longmire,  email: tll8912@uncw.edu

How to contact Dr. Saeidi? E-mail: saeidih@uncw.edu Office hours: Mondays and Wednesdays, 10:45am-11:45 am and by appointment Office: 2038 Congdon Hall Phone: (910) 962-7572 You can email me at any time but I only respond to emails from 8 am to 5 pm. All the emails regarding CSC112 must be in the following format otherwise I might not open them in time:   CSC112 – proper title   For example "CSC112 – Lab 2"

 

Textbooks (Optional)

• Starting out with Python, 4th edition, by Tony Gaddis
• Introduction to Computer Science Using Python: A Computational Problem-Solving Focus, by Charles Dierbach
• Fundamentals of Python: First Programs, 2nd edition, by Kenneth Alfred Lambert.

 

Other Resources (More resources will be posted in different modules as well)

• https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/index.html 
• The search engine of your choice
• ...

 

Grading

A modified 10-point scale will be used to compute your course grade. Pluses and minuses will be assigned based on the following chart.

Exams: 

Test 1:         Thursday, Sept 23nd

Test 2:          Thursday, Oct 28th

Final Exam:        Thursday, Dec 9th, 3:00pm-6:00pm

 

There will be NO make-up exams. If you miss a midterm exam (for a good reason, documented illness, etc.) then the equivalent average score that you obtain in the final exam will be used in its place. Prompt notification is required in advance for missed midterms. No exemptions form the final exam will be given.  All exams are closed book. 

Attendance: 

Regular attendance is expected. This course proceeds at such pace that class absence can have an impact on student performance and final grades. Each student is responsible for all the work, including tests and written work, in all class sessions.

 There will be extensive in-class activities and some questions and problems in the exams will be from the lecture notes. Unavoidable schedule change may be announced in class and class participation and in-class activities may impact final grade determination in some cases. 

Students are expected to wait for 15 minutes if the professor is late for class.

Anticipated Absences. Anticipated absences should be reported to the instructor at least seven days before the absence is scheduled to occur. Situations in which an instructor is encouraged to approve a documented anticipated absence include:

• Attendance at university-sponsored activities in which the student is representing UNCW, e.g., a professional meeting in which the student presents his or her research, required varsity athletic events for team members, or required events for SGA officers. Instructors may require certification of the student’s participation from the administrator in charge of the activity. Absences for university-affiliated, but not directly sponsored, activities (such as a club or Greek life events) do not qualify under this policy.
• Required court attendance as certified by the Clerk of Court.
• Required military duty as certified by the student’s commanding officer.

Unanticipated Absences. Students are encouraged to communicate with instructors in a timely fashion after unanticipated absences from class. Each faculty member determines how to treat such absences but typically will excuse absences due to health emergencies, death in the family, or a comparable emergency when supported by verifying documentation from the student. 

Four unexcused absences will result in a F grade in class.

 

Lab Assignments, and Quizzes

There will be 8-10 lab assignments.

Labs are due 5pm on Thursdays of the weeks that they are published. Each lab might be broken into parts done on Tuesdays and Thursdays during class (after an introductory lecture and in-class examples). 

You have one token that you can use for missing a lab submission. If for any reason, you miss the deadline for a lab submission, I will ignore that lab's grade in your total lab grades. Alternatively, you might use this token for dropping the lowest lab grade. 

After using the token, missing lab assignments will result in a zero grade for that lab.

 

Academic Integrity

University Policy on academic integrity will be followed for this course. Cheating will be taken very seriously, resulting in harsh penalties. Since the skills required in this class are also required in the next class, cheating in this class will seriously hamper your ability to pass the next class. Please refer to this page for more information about the Univerity policies. 

Any dissemination of class notes, lecture slides, recordings, handouts, copies of exams, or any other course materials without permission of the instructor is prohibited by UNCW policy.  UNCW Copyright Use and Ownership Policy (http://www.uncw.edu/policies/documents/01210.copyrightpolicy.pdf) specifies that class notes and related materials are considered derivative of the original intellectual property of the course instructor. Therefore, the instructor (not the student) owns the copyright and must provide specific permission to distribute and/or reuse those materials for anything other than personal use and scholarship by the student. Commercial use, display, or dissemination of such notes, copies, or recordings—as well as posting to websites--will generally constitute an infringement of copyright and the Honor Code.  Materials that qualify as student-owned are listed in the policy.

Health and Safety Protocols:

As of August 2nd, the university has required the use of face coverings indoors. You will not be permitted to join an in-person class without a face covering. Failure to comply will result in referral to the Dean of Students. Any student who has a medical concern with wearing a face covering should contact the Disability Resource Center at (910) 962-7555. If you are not already vaccinated, please consult with your healthcare provider and consider getting vaccinated. Vaccines are available through the UNCW Student Health Center. Effective August 23, any student on campus who has not provided proof of vaccination will be required to participate in weekly surveillance testing.

Week	Topic (tentative)
1st week 8/19	Introduction to computer programming and Python
2nd week 8/24, 8/26	Data and Expressions
3rd week 8/31, 9/2	List, Tuple, Boolean, and Operators
4th week 9/7, 9/9	Selection control
5th week 9/14, 9/16	Iterative control: While loops
6th week 9/21, 9/23	Review on 9/21, and Exam 1 on 9/23
7th week 9/28, 9/30	Iterative control: For loops
8th week 10/5	Functions, no class on 10/7 (Fall break)
9th week 10/12, 10/14	Modular design
10th  week 10/19, 10/21	Files
11th  week 10/26, 10/28	Review on 10/26, and Exam 2 on 10/28
12th  week 11/2, 11/4	Exceptions
13th  week 11/9, 11/11	Dictionaries and sets
14th  week 11/16, 11/18	Basics of object oriented programming
15th  week 11/23	no class on 11/25, Examples of Python in Machine learning and computer visions
16th  week 11/30	Final notes and exam review
Final Exam	Thursday, Dec 9th, 3:00pm-6:00pm.

 

Final Exam  Thursday, December 9th 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm