Course syllabus

CSC 131 – Introduction to Computer Science 

Section 005, TR, 9:00 AM-10:40 PM, In-person

CIS General Classroom Building 2006

Course Syllabus - Fall 2023

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

 

Welcome to Dr. Saeidi’s Introduction to Computer Science 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 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 131 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.

 

NO PRIOR PROGRAMMING EXPERIENCE IS REQUIRED FOR THIS COURSE! 

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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.

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Teaching Assistant: 

 

 

How to contact Dr. Saeidi?

E-mail: saeidih@uncw.edu

Office hours: Mondays, 2:00 pm-3:00 pm, and only by appointment

Office: 2038 Congdon Hall

Phone: (910) 962-2094

You can email me at any time but I only respond to emails from 8 am to 5 pm during the work days. All the emails regarding CSC131 must be in the following format otherwise I might not open them in time:

  CSC131 – proper title

  For example "CSC131 – Lab 2"

 

Textbooks (Optional)

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

 

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

 

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.

 

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Exams: 

Test 1:          Thursday, 9/21/2023

Test 2:          Thursday, 10/26/2023

Final Exam:        Tuesday, Dec 12, 8:00 am- 11:00 am. (taken from the university-wide schedule in https://uncw.edu/myuncw/academics/registrar/faculty-staff-resources/exam-schedule)

 

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 from the final exam will be given.  All exams are closed book. 

Attendance: 

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

 There will be extensive in-class activities and some questions and problems in the exams will be from the lecture notes. Unavoidable schedule changes 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. 

Three missed lab submissions or four unexcused absences will result in an F grade in the class.

Examples of  unexcused absences (not limited to these): 

- I went camping and missed some classes.

- I had a hairdresser's appointment and did not come to class.

- I suddenly realized that I have to go to my cousin's wedding instead of the class/exam.

- It was raining and I missed the exam/class.

- I did not read the syllabus/emails etc and missed a class/deadline/exam.

- I was on a family trip.

- I had a quarrel with my roommates and I did not feel like coming to class.

- My dad/mom said that I can ignore class policies. 

so on and so forth.

USING CELL PHONES DURING CLASS COUNTS AS AN UNEXCUSED ABSENCE!!!!!!

Lab Assignments, and Quizzes

There will be 10-12 lab assignments.

Labs are due by midnight 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.

 

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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 University 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.

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Health and Safety Protocols:

 Please do not come to class when you are not feeling well or experiencing any COVID-19 symptoms. Inform the instructor so that proper measures can be taken for you to keep up with the class pace. If you have been exposed to COVID-19 or are concerned about exposure, please contact the Student Health Center at (910) 962-3280 for specific information about testing, contact tracing, and quarantine/isolation requirements, which differ for vaccinated and non-vaccinated individuals, according to CDC guidance. Remember, keeping healthy is essential to keeping campus open! Thank you for your help and compliance.

Week

Topic (tentative)

1st week

8/24

Introduction to computer science and Python, Getting started with the tools  

2nd week

8/29, 8/31

Input, Processing, and Outputs

3rd week

9/5, 9/7

List, Tuple, Boolean, and Operators

4th week

9/12, 9/14

Selection control

5th week

9/19, 9/21

Review on 9/19, and Exam 1 on 9/21

6th week

9/26, 9/28

Repetition structures (while loops)

7th week

10/3, 10/5

Repetition structures (for loops)

8th week

10/10, No classes on 10/12 (Fall break)

Functions

9th week

10/17, 10/19

Modular design

10th  week

10/24, 10/26

Review on 10/24, and Exam 2 on 10/26

11th  week

10/31, 11/2

More about functions and modules

12th  week

11/7, 11/9

Files

13th  week

11/14, 11/16

Exceptions

14th  week

11/21,  No classes on 11/23 (Thanksgiving break)

 

Dictionaries and sets 

15th  week

11/28, 11/30

Examples of Python in Machine learning and computer visions

16th  week

12/5 (last day of class)

 

Final notes and exam review

 

Final Exam

 

Tuesday, Dec 12 8:00 am- 11:00am.

 

Final Exam 

Tuesday, Dec 12

8:00 am - 11:00 am