(SUMMER 2015)
(Last Mod: 17 June 2015 14:55:53 )
MON/WED
11:50am - 1:30pm
ENGR-138
MON/WED
2:00pm - 3:00pm
ENGR-224
(719) 255-3332
Introduction to programming with emphasis on computer science concepts. Develops methods for computer problem solving. Develops proficiency for programming in a modern programming language, and introduces the concepts of abstraction in problem solving. Includes basic concepts of computer systems and environments including debuggers, editors, and file systems. Prer., High school algebra and familiarity with computer concepts including file operations and text editing.
NOTE: A course "as taught" is seldom in strict adherence to the catalog description, which is intended to give a fairly high-level description of the course in broad brush strokes. In reality, while the catalog description changes only rarely, most courses change from one offering to the next, and even one section to another within the same term, reflecting a general evolution and refinement over time, the text chosen, and also the strengths, weaknesses, and preferences of the specific instructor.
Introduction to JAVA Programming: Comprehensive Version, 10th Edition
Y. Daniel Liang
ISBN: 978-0-13-376131-3
Prentice Hall (an imprint of Pearson Education, Inc.), 2015
Although not required, you will probably want access to the Companion Website for the text, which requires the use of an unused Access Code from the inside front cover of the text (if the silver coating has been scratched off, the code has probably been used, but it's worth a try). You can also purchase a new code from Pearson for $24. Access is valid for six months after activation.
We will not be using MyProgrammingLab, so you do not need to purchase a license for that (the Access Code from the inside front cover of the text is NOT for MyProgrammingLab).
Programming assignments will normally be submitted and graded via LiveLab, which requires an Access Code that must be provided by your instructor. Furthermore, reading quizzes will be taken via LiveLab.
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html
In addition, you will need a text editor -- or, if you choose, an IDE (Integrated Development Environment) -- to develop your source code files in. All major operating systems come with at least a basic text editor.
Many third-party text editors are available that have been developed specifically to aid code writing. One of the more popular ones is Notepad++.
https://notepad-plus-plus.org/
There are also many IDEs for Java. Three of the more popular ones are NetBeans, Eclipse and jGRASP.
NetBeans: https://netbeans.org/downloads/index.html
Eclipse: https://eclipse.org/ide/
jGRASP: http://www.jgrasp.org/
Note that you can choose to download a JDK/NetBeans bundle from Oracle.
You may use any development environment that you prefer. Most of the code that is submitted for grading will be done through LiveLab. The remainder will be run on the grader's machine from the command line (unless, for some reason on a specific assignment, something else is dictated).
In-class examples will usually be done using jGRASP.
The course has the following grading groups:
| Code | Assignment Type | Weight |
| RQ | Reading Quizzes | 15% |
| QZ | In-class Quizzes | 15% |
| HW | Homework | 25% |
| EX | Hour Exams | 25% |
| FE | Final Exam | 20% |
| WT | Weighted Total | 100% |
| EC | Extra Credit | 5% |
Each category has a fixed weight toward the overall course grade. This should not change during the semester. The number of assignments that make up a given category might change depending on a variety of factors such as classes that are cancelled due to weather or topics that are added/removed from the schedule do to pacing. Each category incorporates a degree of extra credit, as explained below.
Each chapter will usually have an on-line quiz (via LiveLab and/or Blackboard) that is to be completed prior to class on the day it is due. Each quiz will consist of approximately 20 questions drawn from the Liang question pool (which is accessible via the author's Companion Website).
The purpose of these quizzes is to encourage you to read the material to be covered during the subsequent class so that you are prepared to engage in the discussion and to work productively during any lab periods.
Prior experience has shown that, given a large amount of time to finish the quiz, students tend to start the quiz without actually reading the material and, instead, attempt to look-up the answers for the specific questions on the quiz. This defeats the purpose. Therefore, each quiz will have a time limit intended to make this approach ineffective. Read the material before starting the quiz.
In addition, where the quiz software allows, you will only be able to see one question at a time and will not be able to back track and change answers. Furthermore, the order in which questions appear will be randomized. Do not start the quiz until you are prepared to take the quiz.
Be aware that late submissions are not accepted -- do not push the submission deadlines. If you have not submitted your assignment by the deadline, the system software may react in a number of ways, most of which will result in a zero grade. If your submission happens to be accepted and graded, consider yourself very lucky. If it gives you a zero on the next assignment even though you did everything the same as the prior submission that was graded, you will get no sympathy -- do not push the submission deadlines. If your clock says that you submitted things a minute before the deadline and the clock on the system server timestamps it as one minute late and assigns a zero grade, you will get no sympathy -- do not push the submission deadlines. If it appears to have accepted your submission but assigns a zero grade, you will get no sympathy -- do not push the submission deadlines.
At the end of the semester your lowest grade will be split off and used for extra credit. The remaining grades will count equally toward this portion of your weighted total grade.
An in-class quiz will be given most weeks in which there is not an hour exam (this translates into each each class meeting in which there is not an hour exam during the summer semester). The quiz is cumulative and may include anything covered thus far in the course, including text material that will be discussed during that class (and was therefore the subject of the recent Reading Quiz).
In-class quizzes will generally start at the beginning of class, but may be given at any time, including at the end. If you are not present during the time the quiz is given, you will receive a zero. In-class quizzes cannot be made up.
At the end of the semester your lowest grade will be split off and used for extra credit. The remaining grades will count equally toward this portion of your weighted total grade.
Most homework assignments will be submitted and graded electronically. However, they may be reviewed manually and a portion of your grade may reflect how well your code is written and documented.
Be aware that late submissions are not accepted -- do not push the submission deadlines. If you have not submitted your assignment by the deadline, the system software may react in a number of ways, most of which will result in a zero grade. If your submission happens to be accepted and graded, consider yourself very lucky. If it gives you a zero on the next assignment even though you did everything the same as the prior submission that was graded, you will get no sympathy -- do not push the submission deadlines. If your clock says that you submitted things a minute before the deadline and the clock on the system server timestamps it as one minute late and assigns a zero grade, you will get no sympathy -- do not push the submission deadlines. If it appears to have accepted your submission but assigns a zero grade, you will get no sympathy -- do not push the submission deadlines.
At the end of the semester your lowest grade will be split off and used for extra credit. The remaining grades will count equally toward this portion of your weighted total grade.
There will be three Hour Exams. Each exam will consist of a two sections of multiple choice questions. There may also be free response and/or coding questions on the exam. Most of the questions will be drawn from the same pool of questions that the reading and in-class quizzes were drawn from. The exams are mildly cumulative, meaning that while the majority of the questions will focus on material covered after the material focused on by the prior exam, some questions will be draw from material that may go back to the beginning of the course.
The reason that the exam is broken into two sections is that, at the end of the semester, the section from all of the exams with the lowest grade will be split off and used for extra credit. The remaining section grades will count equally toward this portion of your weighted total grade.
The final exam will consist of several sections of multiple choice questions and also possibly free response and/or coding questions. The exam is cumulative and each section will cover material roughly evenly spread out over the semester, with emphasis placed on material not covered on prior hour exams.
The reason that the exam is broken into several sections is that, at the end of the semester, the section that has lowest grade will be split off and used for extra credit. The remaining section grades will count equally toward this portion of your weighted total grade.
The weighted total grade, which does not include any extra credit, will be used to adjust grade break points, if any adjustment is warranted (which is not expected). Break points will only be moved downward, never upward. Once the grade break points have been established, extra credit will be added and grades assigned.
Each weighted grading category has extra credit associated with it. The design for most of these is such that the lowest grade in each category is split off and not used in determining your Weighted Total grade. The idea behind this is that students will have bad days and they will have times that they must miss class. Thus, you can miss one of each type of assignment without hurting your grade directly. However, if you do not miss any assignments then you will benefit because your lowest grade, instead of being discarded, will be used to award extra credit.
Extra credit will be assessed according to the same weighting as the associated grading category. For example, if the Reading Quizzes are weighted as 15% of the Weighted Total, then the lowest RQ grade will earn up to 15% of the available extra credit.
Note that if the extra credit is worth up to 5% of the total course grade, that it is unrealistic to hope and rely on earning that full 5%, since to do that you would have to earn 100% of all points available in all categories (in which case your course grade is very easy to calculate). Let's assume that you earned 70% on each and every part of every assignment, then you would earn 70% of the 5%, or 3.5%. This is roughly equal to one grade break. However, you cannot expect to have perfectly flat scores and must keep in mind that your extra credit is derived from your lowest score in each area. Also keep in mind that your extra credit is particularly affected by missing an assignment of any kind.
Once Extra Credit is added to your Weighted Total, a letter grade will be assigned according to the grade breaks established using the Weighted Totals. If your final Course Grade ended up just shy of the grade break for the next higher grade, no adjustment will be made. The reasoning is simple: Either you could have earned enough additional extra credit to get over the grade break or you couldn't have. In the former case the situation reflects choices you made that resulted in you not earning sufficient extra credit. In the latter case, the situation reflects a basic Weighted Total grade that was simply too far away from the grade break for the available extra credit to overcome.
First off, let's get past the notion that there is some ideal time for homework to be due. No matter what time is chosen, some fraction of students are going to find some reason to criticize it and some of those reasons are going to be reasonable, at least on the surface. However, nearly all of these criticisms implicitly assume that students will not be submitting until the actual deadline and ignore the fact that students can submit at whatever time they choose, as long as it is before the deadline. Having said that, it is an inescapable fact that students have multiple demands on their time and that the adage about the squeaky wheel getting the grease is the rule rather than the exception. With this in mind, the deadline for anything that is due and that is to be submitted electronically will be 8AM on the due date.
In the unlikely, but possible, event that something is to be submitted in hardcopy form, submissions will be accepted at the beginning of class on the due date. Note that this does NOT mean that you can print out your files that were due electronically that morning and turn them in when you come to class. This only applies if the specified method of submission is hardcopy.
Why 8AM on the due date? The answer to this lies in why certain other obvious times were NOT chosen. If any time during the school day, say noon, the beginning of class, the end of class, or even 10PM, were chosen then students that procrastinated would be tempted to skip class (either this one or some other course) in order to finish the assignment and get it submitted -- this is fair neither to the student nor to the instructors whose classes are skipped. Midnight is an option but it is also a commonly chosen deadline and one goal is to deconflict your deadlines as much as practicable.
A good practice is to set a personal deadline, such as midnight, and treat that as your hard deadline. Then, if you end up going past it, even by a few hours, you are in no danger of missing the final, true, hard, and inflexible deadline.
Do not get in the habit of pushing submission deadlines -- nothing good can come from it.
Once grades and solutions for a particular assignment are made available, students will have two weeks (one week in the Summer) to appeal the grading. The appeal must be e-mailed to the instructor and must include specifics regarding what was improperly graded. Note that appeals based on "I think I deserved more points" will not be entertained. In general you must show that your solution (or the relevant part of it) was correct. This could be because the solution was incorrect (and you should show that it is incorrect) or because your solution was actually correct but was marked incorrect for some reason. Appeals based on having made a reasonable interpretation of the problem that happened to be different than the author's and/or instructors will be considered. Remember that the burden is on you to convince the grader that your solution was, in fact, correct or that your interpretation of the problem was, in fact, reasonable.