CIS 575, Introduction to Algorithm Analysis, Spring 2021

Summary

This semester, this course is fully online!
Lecture notes and video lectures will be posted on Canvas, as will quizzes, homework assignments, and exams.

Content

Course Schedule (click on link)

Prerequisites

• CIS 300 (Data and Program Structures)
• CIS 301 (Logical Foundations of Programming)
• MATH 510 (Discrete Mathematics)

Specifically, students are expected to have the following background:

• Significant programming experience in some high-level language
• Familiarity with standard data structures such as lists, stacks, trees, graphs, etc.
• Understanding of basic concepts of propositional and predicate logic and their use in program verification

Expected Outcome

Students should attain competency in the following:

• Analyzing algorithms and data structures, with respect to
  • running times and space usage
  • correctness properties
• Recognizing and applying algorithmic design techniques.

Textbooks

While it is possible to successfully complete the course by studying only the material posted on Canvas, we recommend some deeper reading (the lecture notes contain references to specific sections):

• Introduction to Algorithms by Thomas H Cormen & Charles E Leiserson & Ronald L Rivest & Clifford Stein, 3rd Ed., MIT Press, 2009.
  This renowned book is a useful reference which could be very helpful even in your future career.
• Algorithms: A Top-Down Approach by Rodney Howell, 9th draft.
  This online textbook is designed to provide motivation that will help you to learn and appreciate the various topics.

Logistics

• lecture notes on the given topic(s) have been posted (by Friday in the previous week), together with short video lectures
• quizzes on the given topic(s) will be due Tuesday night in the following week
• a homework assignment may be due on Thursday night, on topics covered the previous week (it will have been posted by Wednesday in that week, together with a short lecture explaining it)
• the instructor, and the TAs, will each have multiple Zoom office hours (requiring passwords which will be posted on Canvas) at various days and times. Depending on the number of students attending, the waiting room facility may be used.

Personnel

• Instructor: Torben Amtoft, tamtoft hat ksu dot edu
• Teaching Assistant: Bishwas Mandal, bishmdl76 hat ksu dot edu
• Teaching Assistant: Soudabeh Taghian Dinani, soudabehtaghian hat ksu dot edu

Weekly Schedule

Communication

We make efforts to keep up with email, even though we may not check our inboxes all the time (to decrease disruption of productivity, the instructor usually reads his email only twice or thrice a day). It is our goal that you should expect an email answer no later than on the next business day. So if you send an email on Friday, we will aim to get back to you the next day the university holds classes (which will typically be Monday), and often even earlier.

For questions (or comments) of general interest, we strongly encourage that you post in the Canvas discussion forum so that also other students will benefit from the answers. We even encourage you to answer questions from other students (of course you should not give more hints towards solutions than you would reasonably expect the instructor to give).

Grading

Exams

will be given as Canvas quizzes:

• there will be some flexibility on when in the week to take a given exam (likely Tuesday and/or Wednesday)
• but once you start the exam you must finish within a certain time
• the third (final) will be comprehensive, but with emphasis on the last part of the course
• details about proctoring will be provided later.

Weighting

• Homework assignments: 25%
• Quizzes: 15%
• Exam 1: 15%
• Exam 2: 15%
• Exam 3: 30%

Letter Grades

are not based on strict percentage cutoffs but are "curved" by taking into account the difficulty of the exercises and exams.
As a rule of thumb, however, you should expect

• to earn an A will require a bit more than 85%
• to earn a B will require somewhat more than 70%
• to earn a C will require close to 60%

In general, my approach to grading is expressed well by this piece by S.A. Miller.

Lateness

Late deliverables will not be graded, with one exception: if you submit a homework assignment less than 12 hours after the deadline, we will grade it, but afterwards subtract up to 20% (proportional to the delay) of the score you earned.

Missing Deliverables

Given the highly unusual circumstances during also this semester, we will not ask for documentation for medical conditions, family emergencies, official university activities, etc.

If you do not submit a deliverable, we will disregard it, that is, it will not influence the final grade (which will be determined by the scores on the deliverables that you do submit).

However, if you miss a number of deliverables that together count more than 8% of the total grade, please contact the instructor. Depending on the situation, he may in such cases assign a score of zero for some or all of the missing deliverables, or (if the bulk of course work has been completed in passing fashion) assign you an Incomplete (I) for the course.

Drop Policy

It is your responsibility to drop the course if you are enrolled but decide not to complete the course; there are no "automatic" drops due to nonattendance.

Academic Honesty

Kansas State University has an Honor and Integrity System based on personal integrity, which is presumed to be sufficient assurance that, in academic matters, one's work is performed honestly and without unauthorized assistance. Undergraduate and graduate students, by registration, acknowledge the jurisdiction of the Honor and Integrity System. The policies and procedures of the Honor and Integrity System apply to all full and part-time students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate courses on-campus, off-campus, and via distance learning. A component vital to the Honor and Integrity System is the inclusion of the Honor Pledge which applies to all assignments, examinations, or other course work undertaken by students. The Honor Pledge is implied, whether or not it is stated: "On my honor, as a student, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this academic work." A grade of XF can result from a breach of academic honesty. The F indicates failure in the course; the X indicates the reason is an Honor Pledge violation.

You are very welcome to discuss the course material, as well as specific questions, with your fellow students. However, all submitted answers must be your own work:

• You are not allowed to consult previous model solutions that may be around, or solicit the Internet for solutions to specific homework problems (but you are very welcome to search for general material that gives alternative presentations of the topics of the course!)
• You are not allowed to show your answers to, or look at the answers of, any other student.

Students with Disabilities

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