Syllabus

Location and Times

• Course Title: Intro to Computing for Engineers and Scientists
• Rubric: CS 101
• CRN: 65816
• Dates: August 26, 2024 -- December 11, 2024
• Time: 10:00 -- 10:50 MW
• Location: Foellinger Auditorium
• Instructor: Mattox Beckman
• Prerequisites: One of MATH 220 or MATH 221 or MATH 231 or MATH 241.
• Lectures, Assignments, and Quizzes: See the schedule page

Labs and Office Hours

• In-Person Labs — Per-section, see here
• TA Office Hours :: see below; 0224 Siebel Center for Computer Science
• Class URL :: https://courses.engr.illinois.edu/cs101/Sp2024
• Enrollment :: Course catalog
• Campuswire Forum :: CampusWire forum (Join code 8321 )

Communication

We expect all communication in this course to be courteous and civil. Abusive, harassing, or aggressive comments will be deleted, and could result in the offender being removed from course communication platforms. We usually don’t have any trouble of this kind. You can expect communication to be answered within 24 hours (or 48 over the weekend).

CampusWire

You should have been auto-added to this if you were registered at the start of the semester. If you registered late, use code 8321 to join.

This is for questions about the course content. If you have a question about something, odds are good that several other students have the same question, and even better, odds are also good that one of your fellow students knows the answer and would enjoy being able to answer the question. The forum is set to allow students to be anonymous to other students, but instructors will always be able to see your real name. Please see our expectations above about communication. One or more of the course TAs will monitor this and help answer questions.

Please check before posting if your question has already been asked! It really slows things down when there are multiple posts asking the same thing. If a post has gone unanswered for a long time (more than three days) then ask your TA or the instructor to look at it.

Do not make your post private unless it is necessary! General question about the content should be public so other students can also benefit from the answer. (You did check before posting that your question wasn’t already covered, right?) If you have a question about your grade, need to make use of a DRES accommodation, or missed an exam, it’s probably better to email your TA or the instructor.

Required Software & Textbooks

Required

We will be using Python in this course. It is not actually necessary for you to install Python, since workspaces will be available on Prairielearn for you. But… your life will go more smoothly if you can install it on your own computer; you are going to use them in your future classes after all!

• Python (version 3.7 or higher). We recommend installing Anaconda Python as it comes with all necessary libraries.

Optional

In addition to the lesson notes, we will refer to this textbook throughout the semester. It’s completely optional, and I recommend getting the PDF through the library link rather than buying a hard copy.

• Hans Petter Langtangen, A Primer on Scientific Programming with Python, 5th ed. (2016). ISBN: 9783662498866.

  • Library access to PDF copy (Please note that you can purchase a hard copy through SpringerLink website at a reduced price if desired.)
  • The textbook has a website with downloadable source code if you want it.

Assignments

There are several kinds of assignments in this course. The schedule page shows when most of these are assigned and due.

Lecture Activities

Every lecture will have a small activity that demonstrates the concepts we cover. Part of it is meant to be done during the lecture itself, and part of it is for you to do after class. Their purpose is to make sure you are learning what you need to during the lecture and can use it afterward. These are called “lecture activities**, or just “Lectures” on Prairielearn, where they will be hosted. Collectively they are worth 5% of your grade. You will have one week to complete them. You will get an automatic one week extension if you need it, but your score will be capped at 80%.

Homeworks

Every week we will release a homework with some more substantial problems designed to help you apply what you have learned in class. These are worth 35% of the course grade. These also are due in one week. We expect to release 14 of these, but that number may change. Like lecture activies, you can get an automatic 80% extension for one week.

Labs

Most weeks will have a lab session. (The TA page will have the schedule by the end of week 1.) The consist of a mini-lecture from the TA and some programming on the lab machines. These are group activities, and must be completed by the end of lab. If you happen to miss a lab, you can make it up the following week by attending a different lab secion. This must be arranged in advance. Thes are worth 25% of your grade.

Quizzes

There are six quizzes in this course, proctored by the Computer Based Testing Facility (CBTF) and scheduled via Prairietest. Typically you will have a choice of a 50 minute slot over a period of three days. Each quiz is 50 minutes long, and will mostly be programming questions. You should expect to see material from your homework show up, so make sure you actually understand the solutions. They are collectively worth 35% of your grade.

If you know you are going to miss an quiz, please log onto Prairietest and cancel your reservation. This will enable you to pick a new slot if there are any available.

If you have missed an quiz and cannot reschedule it yourself, contact the instructor as soon as possible. If you have a valid reason for missing the quiz we can usually work something out.

If you have a DRES accommodation that would affect quiz, please upload your accommodation letter so they can enter it into their system.

Final Exam

There is a final exam period which will be one hour and 50 minutes long, also proctored in the Computer Based Testing Facilty. It is optional and serves as a “second chance” in the following way: Each of the quizzes will have a second chance version available to you during the final exam.

If you attempt a second chance exam then we will use that result to recompute your quiz score. Let $q$ be the orignal quiz score, and $s$ be the second chance score. Your new score $q’$ will computed as follows:

$$ q’ = \begin{array}{ll} s & \hbox{if}\ s>q \\ {q + s \over 2} & \hbox{otherwise} \end{array} $$

In other words, the second chance score replaces the original if it helps, but averages with it otherwise.

In previous semesters, most students skipped the final exam altogether. If you are happy with your score at the end of the semester then that is the best option. If you need to “fix” a few quiz scores, then this can be your chance to show us that you really did learn the material. It probably is not realistic to think you will have enough time to take more than two or three of these though, so it is better to score well in the beginning if you can.

Extensions

• Homeworks, Lecture Activities, and MPs will auto-extend for one week if you miss the deadline, but your score will be capped at 80%.

• For labs, you can make up a missed lab during the following week (or even during the current week). There is a separate lab makeup request form for this, since the staff will need to find a suitable lab section for you to attend. You can request a makeup even if you already missed the lab. Here is the Lab Makeup Request Form.

• Conflict exams can be arranged for planned absences, such as religious observance, UIUC athletics, interviews, and important family gatherings. (Weddings and funerals count. Check first for other things.) You need to contact the instructor at least a week ahead of time to make arrangements.

• In the event of a serious illness, injury, or a family emergency you should contact the instructor as soon as is practical. If the situation lasts longer than three days you should contact the Office of the Dean of Students to get an absense letter.

• The serious illness policy applies to flu and COVID cases. Under no circumstances should you attend a lab, lecture, or office hours if you have a fever from a contagious illness.

Use of Generative AI

You are welcome to use LLM based Generative AI in this class. It can be useful to learn programming constructs, remember the names of functions you need, and can sometime explain concepts we will cover in the course.

If you use Generative AI on an assignment, it is proper form to cite that you used it in a comment in your code. E.g.,

# Written with help from ChantGPT
def myFunction(x,y):
   return x + y

Please understand a few things very carefully:

• These assignments are not a video game in which you try to collect your points and then move on. Points are very nice, and prairielearn will show you a nice green bar when you get something right, but your actual goal is (should be!) to learn this material and understand why the correct answer is correct.
• This stuff might show up on exams, where you will not have access to your favorite AI.
• If ChatGPT can do your job, one day ChatGPT will take your job.

Drops

• The Lecture Activities and Homeworks will each have the lowest 2 scores dropped.
• Labs will have one lowest score dropped.

The drop is applied automatically by the grade tabulation script. You do not need to tell us how you need your drop applied. You also cannot use your homework drop on a lab or something like that. (Someone always asks.)

Grading

Grade Components

These are mentioned above, but here is a summary table.

Note that it is possible to get more than 100% in this course through some extra credit opportunities. Usually these will be surveys for feedback or research. These are not guaranteed to exist.

Grade Cutoffs

Here are the cutoffs for different letter grades. We do not round scores up or bump them if you are near a cutoff. (You wouldn’t believe how many people asked me to give them the next highest grade because their score was close to a cutoff. I’ve been less than a point below a cutoff before too, so I know how that feels, but in a class this size there will alwasys be a significant number of students in this situation no matter what cutoffs we choose.)

Students with Disabilities

To obtain disability-related academic adjustments and/or auxiliary aids, students with disabilities must contact the course instructor as soon as possible. To insure that disability-related concerns are properly addressed from the beginning, students with disabilities who require assistance to participate in this class should contact disability resources and educational services (DRES) and see the instructor as soon as possible. If you need accommodations for any sort of disability, please speak to me after class, or make an appointment to see me, or see me during my office hours. DRES provides students with academic accommodations, access, and support services. To contact DRES you may visit 1207 S. Oak St., Champaign, call 333-4603 (v/tdd), or e-mail a message to disability@uiuc.edu.

As noted above, please be sure to upload you accommodation letter to the CBTF if your accommodation will affect how you take exams.

Emergency Response Recommendations

The university police have posted some emergency response recommendations. I encourage you to review this website and the campus building floor plans website within the first 10 days of class.

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

Any student who has suppressed their directory information pursuant to family educational rights and privacy act (FERPA) should self-identify to the instructor to ensure protection of the privacy of their attendance in this course. see the FERPA site for more information.

Mental Health

Diminished mental health, including significant stress, mood changes, excessive worry, substance/alcohol abuse, or problems with eating and/or sleeping can interfere with optimal academic performance, social development, and emotional wellbeing. The University of Illinois offers a variety of confidential services including individual and group counseling, crisis intervention, psychiatric services, and specialized screenings at no additional cost. If you or someone you know experiences any of the above mental health concerns, it is strongly encouraged to contact or visit any of the University’s resources provided below. Getting help is a smart and courageous thing to do – for yourself and for those who care about you.

Counseling Center: 217-333-3704, 610 East John Street Champaign, IL 61820

McKinley Health Center:217-333-2700, 1109 South Lincoln Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61801