Lecture instructor: David Schmidt (219A Nichols Hall; phone: 532-7912)
Course web page: http://www.cis.ksu.edu/~schmidt/200s08 Check this page regularly for announcements, assignments, and notes.
Optional textbook: Python programming for the absolute beginner, by Michael Dawson, Premier Press. This text is recommended if you have no prior computing-programming experience. Also, lecture notes will be posted each week at the web page, http://www.cis.ksu.edu/~schmidt/200s08/Lectures.
Course Structure: We meet for lecture Mon-Tues-Wed, and you attend a two-hour lab on Thursday or Friday, where you do exercises. You can look at last semester's course, at http://www.cis.ksu.edu/~schmidt/200f07, to see how things work. There will be about 9 out-of-class programming assignments and 3 in-class written exams (scheduled about September 26, November 7, and finals week). Your letter grade will be based on lab exercises (10%), assignments (45%), and the exams (45%). Final grades are not based on strict percentage cutoffs but are ``curved'' by taking into account the difficulty of the assignments and exams.
Prerequisites: To take CIS200, you must already have general computer expertise (e.g., CIS 101-104). It is also recommended that you have some simple experience with computer programming or scripting. If you have never done these activities, please speak with the instructor. You are not required to own a computer; you can do your course work in the CIS200 laboratories. See the handout sheet, Getting started in CIS200, for information about computing facilities and accounts.
Objectives and Topics: We will learn what computers are, what goes on inside them, and how to ``talk to'' (program) them. In addition to ``computing linguistics,'' which is the primary topic of the course, we will learn how to design and engineer our work, and we will briefly examine the mathematical foundations of computing. The skills learned in this course will be useful to you for the rest of your life. Here is a summary of the topics covered in the course:
Academic honesty policy: The letter grade you receive for the course is meant to reflect your own mastery of the course material. You must read http://www.ksu.edu/Honor for the University's policy regarding academic honesty. In particular, the out-of-class assignments in this course are individual activities. CIS200 is like an English Composition course --- the solutions you write are like essays and poems, and what you submit must be written by you. In particular, it is dishonest to submit a solution based on a computer file that someone else partially or totally wrote. ``Team projects'' (where multiple people collaborate on one solution) are not allowed unless indicated explicitly by the instructor. (You will work in teams in later courses.)
Attendance policy: You are responsible for the material presented during the lectures. If you miss a lecture, consult a fellow student or the instructor to learn what you missed. Lab attendance is required, and nonattendance will affect your letter grade.
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. February 21 is the last day to drop a course without a "W" recorded on your transcript; March 24 is the last day to drop a course (with a "W"). KSU allows a retake of a course with removal of the prior grade, at most once per course, for a maximum of five courses.
Free tutoring available: The Engineering College's Scholars Assisting Scholars (SAS) program provides free-of-charge tutoring services to students in this course. A SAS tutor dedicated to CIS200 will attend our lectures and be available for aid about 14 office hours each week in the Carter Learning Center in the Engineering complex. More information will be provided during the semester; you can also check www.ksu.edu/wesp
Academic accommodation for disabled students policy: If you have a physical or learning disability that requires special accommodation, please notify the Instructor within the first two weeks of the course.