• to implement Python programs with appropriate use of selection repetition functions and data structures
• to learn how to add graphical effects to programs
• to introduce the concepts of algorithms and their analysis and design in the context of a simple yet powerful computer language, Python
• To study some of the basic ideas behind computing -- how data are represented in a computer; how a computer processor is built up from simple circuits; how the processor is controlled through low level languages; and the transition from low level languages to high level languages like Python.
• To be able to use HTML to construct a web page containing forms and write a Python CGI script to dynamically process information placed in a web form.
• To perform simple queries against a database, time permitting.
• To appreciate how machine learning can provide decision support to expert systems, time permitting

• For the Python component of the course, we will be using The Hands-on Python Tutorials designed specifically for this course by Professor Andrew Harrington.  They are available on the web, both in browsable format and in printable pdf  format.    This is the closest thing that we have to a text for this course.  Other Python resources are at the home site for Python: http://python.org.

• Videos, where most all of the course content are discussed, have download links on box.com as well as google.  These were also prepared by Professor Harrington.  You can find links and instructions in http://anh.cs.luc.edu/python/hands-on/3.1/handsonHtml/context.html#using-the-tutorial-text-and-video. There is a folder for handsonPython and one for beyondPython.  

• Class notes for other course components are linked to from the Course Schedule.
• Department Drop-in Tutoring Schedule: http://cs.luc.edu/academics/services/tutoring.   There is a link on that page
  

• How to Think Like a Computer Scientist  Covers the same basics as the Hands-on Python Tutorial, but in online book form, to greater depth in a somewhat different order with a different simple graphics library.  The latest version is for Python 3.X.  Extra neat in that you can run programs online and edit code in the text.
  

• Software Carpentry is a Python-centered introduction to many subjects, many beyond this course but not far off.  The sections that do largely correspond to the Python tutorials are the ones through Functions.  They list more methods than the Hands-on Python Tutorial, but with rather limited examples. 

• Official Python Tutorial for version 3.2 covers a lot.  It moves fast for someone with no programming background.  Idle links to this.

• Wikibooks Non-programmer Tutorial for Python  Another introduction to Python basics in different words.  No graphics, few major examples, lots of basic syntax.

• One notable resource for testing Python code out is  for http://www.pythontutor.com/. You run code in your browser step by step and save and email a URL reference to any step.

Tutoring Assistance (free!):

Tutoring hours by Computer Science TA's (generally first-come-first-serve) is posted at http://www.luc.edu/cs/academics/tutoring/. It should start by the second or third week of the semester. Your best choices for help are the professor and TA for the course, but all TA's should be familiar with most of the course topics. If any tutors you visit are NOT familiar with Python, let me know right away!

The university supports an official Tutoring Center in the Sullivan Center. Their phone extension is 8-7708. Their web site is http://www.luc.edu/tutoring. You may need to make appointments in advance for university tutoring. When consulting the university tutoring center hours, remember that, at most, tutors for Comp 150 are only available during some of those times, due to the personal schedule of the tutor(s).  In general, COMP students have done better with the department's tutoring service.

Sakai:

As of this writing, Sakai will be used for course announcements, homework submissions, and grade postings.  While the raw scores posted on Sakai should be correct (although I have encountered some problems with that too!), please do not rely upon Sakai's Course Total calculations.  Grades are calculated as specified in this syllabus!! 

Course Format:

There is recent evidence that with all the online resources available, a hybrid approach is useful for on-campus courses.  The approach I plan to mostly be doing with you is called flipping:  flip when you get most of your presentations and do much of your homework, so the presentations are mostly at your convenience, at your speed, as videos/text on your computer or in a lab, and then in class discuss questions you had on the presentations and do much of the harder creative work of synthesizing and using this information, when you have the most direct support from me, TA's, and classmates.  Please give me feedback on how this is going and what you think would improve your experience!

There will be an in-class mini-lecture to introduce  new topics.  In addition, if three people ask the same question, I will offer an explanation to the class on that topic.  In general, if you feel that you can benefit from more explanation, sit on the same side as the instructor's desk  If you would prefer to continue working on your own, sit on the opposite side of the room.  In this way, those students who want additional lecture support can have it with minimal intrusion to those students who would prefer to work on their own.

For the non-Python topics, there will be short demonstrations/labs in class, in which you are expected to participate.

You are responsible for what goes on in class, even if some of the activity may not be covered in the class notes. If you choose not to attend, that is your prerogative; however, make sure that you find out what you missed.

I am expecting you to look at assigned presentations before class, but if you want to check on something in a video during class, remember to bring headphones!  To avoid bothering others in labs, the lab machine sound only works through separate speakers.  (Use headphones if you listen on  your own notebook computer in class, too.)

Class time is valuable and in short supply, so there are some tradeoffs in this approach.  You cannot immediately get a question answered by me in the middle of a video presentation.  That is offset by the fact that there are several days at least to take in the videos, so if you attend to them early, you have time to get emailed feedback before you finish viewing.  It would be helpful if you kept a list of questions as you watch the videos.  You may find that some of your questions will be answered as you continue to wathc the videos, and some you will want to bring to class.

Cell Phones: Only you know the relative importance of any particular cell phone call, and whether it is important for you to answer a call imediately rather than later. I do want you to be respectful of my class and disrupt it as little as is practical. If you get cell phone calls with fair frequency, be sure to have the ring muted before coming to class. If you rarely get calls, you might not mute it ahead, and your cell phone may happen to ring. Get rid of the noise as soon as possible, and do not get flustered. I assume you will move outside the classroom for a conversation. If you get fairly frequent calls that you are likely to consider important answering, sit in a place where your exit and re-entrance are as unobtrusive as possible.

Programming Assignments:  For each tutorial, you must submit to Sakai a zip file of the required exercises for that chapter.  The exercises are mentioned as you encounter them in the tutorials.  In addition, a list of the exercises and the due dates for each assignment are linked to on the Course Schedule.

Homework Assignments:  There are also several non-programming homework assignments.  The links to these homeworks and their due dates are on the Course Schedule(below).  Pip Program (assembly-language programming) and Logic Gates are listed.  We may also have an additional assignment on database queries.

Pair Programming:  It has been demonstrated recently that Pair Programming, two people collaborating on one problem with one person coding while the other looks on, whether beginner students or seasoned professionals, allows projects been done better and faster with more confidence, and also that students learn at least as well and have more enjoyment in the process.  We will have the option to do pair programming in this course for in-class work and programing assignments.  (Your exams will NOT be in pairs however!)  Read the page on how to make pair programming work and also the page of administrative guidelines for pair programming (mostly for when it does not work out as planned!). 

• Using or copying an outside person's work on an exam or assignment in any fashion. "Outside person" includes a person who put something on a web page. It has become depressingly familiar for me, most every semester, meting out penalties for using someone else's work on the web. Do not do it.

• Work includes outlines, pseudocode, code, and documentation.

• Allowing your own work to be copied or used by an outside person.

• Submitting as your own work something that has been written by an outside person (or web site).

• Using any unauthorized reference on an exam or assignment

• Not acknowledging and describing in writing on an assignment any help you received or gave.

• If you are working on a pair or group project, an "outside person" only refers to people other than your assigned partner or team.

• Note that cheating goes both ways: both giving and receiving.

• Consultation is allowed with the tutors and with me. If you consult with the tutors and/or with me, still make a comment at the top of your work about the substance and depth of the help.

• The meaning of program specifications (not the plan for the solution or the actual solution).
• The tools used to write programs. Feel free to ask questions on the programming environment you use and the use of the debugger.
• The restrictions of the current programming language syntax.

• Exam #1:  9/28 and 9/30
  
• Exam #2:  10/28 and 10/30
  
• Final Exam:  as per the Loyola University Final Exam Schedule.  12/11, 9:00 - 11:00 a.m.
  

If you must miss an exam, let me know well in advance. Then if you have a good reason we can possibly make other arrangements. I have little sympathy for people who inform me after the fact for no good reason. Exam absences will be veririfed.  If they can't be verified, you will not be excused. 

*No second try*: If you have an excuse for not being prepared to take an exam, but decide to take it anyway, you don't get to change your mind after you see a poor grade. Being sick is not a way to get one more chance than everyone else. I may allow you to delay an exam due to illness, but I will not let you be reexamined due to a poor grade.

Students with religious holiday conflicts:  Please let me know within the first two weeks of class if you have a religious holiday conflict with any exam or homework due date, so that we can plan on a makeup schedule.

Students with Disabilities:  If you have a documented disability and wish to discuss academic accommodations, please contact the Services for Students with Disabilities Office (773-508-3700 and [email protected]) as soon as possible.  Students with documented disabilities who provide me with a letter from the SSWD office will be fully accommodated as per the terms of the letter.  Students who are allowed to take their exams in the SSWD office are encouraged to do so.  Should you choose to take the exam in the classroom, I cannot guarantee that the classroom environment will be quiet enough to provide you with the environment that your disability may require.  

• Note that there are 1050 total possible points.  Fifty extra points are built-in, to cover "down days", for valid late homework submissions, or to be used for extra credit.
• No further accommodations will be provided.  If your personal circumstances are such that you have to miss more than 50 points worth of material, please consider taking the course another semester.
• There are a few extra credit homework problems in some of the assignments.  No further extra credit opportunities will be provided.  It is neither practical nor fair to the other students.
• Late assignments are worth only half credit.  This is true even if you have a valid reason for submitting the homework late.  That's what the extra fifty points are for.  Late assginments must be submitted within one week of the due date for half credit.  After one week, you will receive zero points for any unsubmitted assignments.
• You may only have two late submissions.  After you use up your two late submissions, anything that you submit after the due date is worth a zero (not half credit).
  

Course Components:

Tutorial and Videos:  An important component of this course involves programming using the Python language.  We will be using the Hand-on Python Tutorials designed specifically for this course by Professor Andrew Harrington.  The tutorials are availabe in PDS format (you may print them), or browsable format online.  The accompanying videos are numbered to match the section numbers in the tutorials.  Example files are referenced in the tutorials, and you may download them here.

The dates below give the sequence and a general idea of the time spent, though we may get ahead or behind this time schedule at different points, depending on the needs of the class.  Links for assignments and exam reviews may be inaccurate (not updated) or missing until their introduction in class.