CS 241 Course Information (Spring 2004)

CS 241 Course Information (Spring 2004)

Prerequisites: CS 101G. Also, CS 201 (or some basic discrete mathematics background) is strongly recommended.
Time/Place: Tuesday and Thursday 1-2:30pm, Lopata 101
Professor: Dr. Sally A. Goldman (sg@cs), Bryan 515, 935-7545.
The Course TAs are: Bill Chang (bc6@cec), Rumana Hussain (rsh2@cec), John Krettek (jk3@cec).
Office Hours :
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  To be announced by the end of the first week of classes.
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Dr. Goldman is also available by appointment. If there is interest in a weekly help session, let me know and one can be added.
The text book for this course is Thomas H. Cormen, Charles E. Leiserson, Ronald L. Rivest, and Clifford Stein. Introduction to Algorithms. MIT Press/McGraw-Hill, 1990 (2nd edition). The most recent release comes with a CD that has Java code for most of the algorithms covered in the text book. If you have the first edition of the text, that is fine. A copy of the second edition will be put on reserve at Olin Library.
Assignments: There will by 4 labs and 5 homeworks. You must either turn in your assignments at the beginning of class on the day it is due or in Professor S. Goldman's box in Bryan 509 by 12:50pm on the day it is due.
- Labs: There will be 4 labs. Don't wait until a few days before the lab is due to start -- you should be thinking about the design early on. For the two week labs, you will have the option of turning in a portion of the lab one week early. If you do turn in part of the lab early, your score on that part will be multiplied by 1.1 as an incentive to get started early. Whenever there is a problem with your lab you should point it out and discuss what you think is causing the problem. There is always an additional deduction for having a problem and not checking your output or testing your program carefully enough to notice the problem.
- Homeworks: There will be 5 homeworks. As with the labs get started early! Be as clear and precise as possible in your presentations. Understandability of the solution is as important as correctness. Homeworks should be neat and should not be done in red ink.
Exams: There will be a midterm exam and a final exam. You will be allowed to bring a one-page crib sheet to the midterm and two one-page crib sheets to the final.
Late Policy: A single late lab will be accepted with a penalty of 1/3 of a letter grade per work day with a maximum penalty of one letter grade. The latest day to submit a late lab is the last day of class. For those who submit all labs in on time, there will be an optional extra credit lab that you can submit instead of a late lab.
No late homeworks will be accepted! Solutions will be handed out at the end of the class period on which the homework is due. If you have compelted some of the problems but not all, you are much better off turning in the problems you have completed versus turning in nothing.
Policy on Collaboration: All work you submit should be the result of your own effort. For ALL assignments problems you ARE NOT permitted to consult the solutions from another student (former or current), or copy/consult the provided solutions from previous years. Each assignment must be submitted with a signed cover sheet
In solving your homework problems, you may discuss high-level approaches to solving the homework problems with your classmates (with no more than 3 students in any discussion), HOWEVER, you are to work out all details of any solutions discussed and write up the solution completely on your own. In particular, when working with a student on an assigned homework problem you should do so verbally -- Nothing should be written prior to at least one hour after your discussion. Remember to keep your discussion at a high-level so that everyone can work out the details on their own. You must clearly acknowledge anyone (besides me or a class TA) with whom you discussed any problem (whether you were receiving the help or giving the help) and say briefly what you discussed.
For lab assignments, you may discuss design issues with other students, but you must write your own code. Copying part or all or part of a student's lab (or homework), with or without the student's knowledge, is prohibited. Electronically sending any code or homework solutions is strictly prohibited. Finally, any code that you use (from the web or from any other source) other than the provided code and the code on the CD that comes with the course text book must be acknowledged on the cover sheet. When you modify the provided code or code from the provided CD then clearly annotate (with a highlighter or different color) the changes you made and clearly indicate that the other portions were provided. You should not use any code found from the web or some other source (except from the text's CD or provided) if it solves the course related part of our assigment. As one example of code you could use is the CS 101 Terminal class. But even then you should acknowledge it in your cover sheet. Talk to Dr. Goldman if you have any uncertainties.
Violations of any of the above rules will be dealt with harshly! These assignments are designed to help you learn the material being taught. They won't achieve that goal if you don't do the work.
Computation of the Final Grade: The total number of lab points you receive will count for 35% of your grade, the total number of homework points that you receive will account for 30% of your grade, the midterm will count for 15% of your grade, and the final will count for 20% of your grade. An "A" will be awarded for an overall percentage of 85% or better, a "B" is given for an overall percentage between 75% and 84%, a "C" is given for an overall percentage between 65% and 74%, a "D" is given for an overall percentage between 55% and 64%. No credit (i.e. an "F") will be given an overall percentage less than 55%.

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