CS-140 Sect. B|
CS-140 Sect. B |
Syllabus | Fall 2020 home |
CS-140, Programming with Objects, provides the foundations of software development using Java and the data structures provided by Java. Problem solving using object-oriented programming techniques is emphasized. Topics include primitive and reference data types, variables, expressions, assignment, functions/methods, parameters, selection, iteration, recursion, exception handling, generic linear data structures, trees and maps, file types, file I/O, simple GUIs, programming to an interface, use of inheritance, Javadoc documentation, and introduction to Java streams and threads. Required laboratory provides supervised problem solving, programming using the command line as well as Eclipse or Netbeans development environments, code backup in a version control repository, debugging and JUnit testing techniques.
arrow_backUpon completion of this course students will understand and be proficient in the use and application of:
In addition, students will see an introduction to:
ABET requires that the computer science program meets several goals. This course is designed to satisfy two of those goals, specifically:
The lectures for this course will be delivered using on-line video. There will be a one-hour discussion session, and a one-hour and twenty-five minute lab session via Zoom every week. There will also be weekly homework assignments, some on-line tests, and a final project, all described in more detail below.
There will be no live lectures in this course. All lectures will be delivered using on-line video. The lecture videos will be posted on the Class Web Page: Lectures link as they become available. Students are expected to watch these videos and understand the material before the discussion group that occurs in the week posted as the due date for the lectures. Lectures will reference associated sections of the textbook, and students are expected to understand the textbook description of the lecture concepts as well as the lecture material itself. Comprehension of the lecture material will be evaluated using ungraded evaluations during discussion sections. If students are not learning the material, these evaluations will be graded.
The lectures web page will include links to material associated with each lecture as well as the link to the video itself. This material will include:
Discussion Groups are a small group of students (10 students or less) that meet with the professor for one hour a week to discuss the lecture material for the week. The discussion groups will occur via Zoom. The professor will lead the discussion, but expects significant participation from all students. Students will be expected to speak and occasionally share their screens to show work, questions, etc. Students are not required to share their video and audio feeds for the entire session, but the more sharing that occurs, the better the classes will be. Verbal and non-verbal communication is a vital part of education.
All students in the discussion section are expected to attend each scheduled discussion section. Participation will be monitored using Zoom statistics. If you cannot attend a discussion section, you must email the Professor before the session starts to be excused from that section. If you are having technical difficulties such as internet connection problems, please email the Professor as soon as you can.
Discussion sections will include ungraded evaluations of comprehension of the lecture material (short quizzes). If there are problems with students not learning the material, these may become graded.
arrow_backLabs will consist of assignments given at the start of the lab period to be done in groups during the lab period itself. The professor or TA will assign lab groups at the beginning of each lab. Lab sessions will be delivered via Zoom, and each group will have its own Zoom break-out rooms. The professor or teaching assistant will rotate from group to group to answer questions, give advice, and make suggestions. The groups will submit a single result to myCourses at the end of the lab period, and the results will be graded. All students in the same group will receive the same grade. Teams will be shuffled during the semester so you won't be working with the same partners for each lab.
(Added Sep 22, 2020) The No Lurking Rule If the professor or TA decide that any individual student is not participating in the discussions, sharing ideas and suggestions, or responding to questions from either students or the teaching staff, then that student will get put in their own lab group with no other teammates for the next lab. Single member teams will be expected to be able to complete the lab, and explain what is going on to the teaching staff. Part of the reason for team labs is to allow each student to demonstrate that they understand the concepts of the lab, and are not just copying other work.
Any lab work done outside of the designated lab period may be submitted individually, and will still be evaluated, but will receive a 10% grade penalty. This should give incentive to do the lab work during the lab period.
You can keep track of labs using the Class Web Page: Labs link. This page will contain the date, topic, and after the lab due date, the Professor will post his solution to the lab.
arrow_backHomework will be assigned on the Class Web Page: Homework link. Homework will consist of programming assignments approximately once a week. Homework should be done individually, and the results will be turned in on myCourses.
You may (and are encouraged to) seek help from others, including the instructor, TAs, and classmates. Help includes assistance with:
Get TA or instructor help with:
Obvious violations of the principles of academic honesty include, but are not limited to:
At the end of the semester, lab and homework assignments will be replaced by work on a final project. The final project will contain significant programming work, using the concepts we cover in the course. Final projects may be worked on by teams of two or three students, but larger teams will be expected to produce more and better content. For the final project, students are allowed to choose their own teams.
arrow_backThere will be two hour-long tests, one two-hour final exam, and one ten-minute oral exam in this course. The first test will cover the first third of the course, the second test will cover the second third, and the final exam and the oral exam will cover the entire course (all three thirds.)
Tests and written Exams will be administered on-line using myCourses. The test or exam link will be available only during the times published for the test. There will be a time limit on the test, which will start when you open the test. If you have finished the test before the time limit is up, you may submit your results to myCourses using the "submit" button. If you have not completed the test when the time limit is up, myCourses will save whatever you have completed so far, and submit the test for you.
Tests will consist of several different kinds of questions, such as true/false questions, "hot spot" questions where you are given a picture and asked to click on the part of that picture that has the right answer, fill in the blank questions, multiple choice questions, multiple answer questions (multiple choice with possibly several correct answers), short answer questions, and short essay questions (typically one or two sentence answers.)
Unless otherwise indicated, tests will be open book, open notes, and you may look up answers on the internet. However, you are not allowed to communicate with other students during the tests. Any text that is cut and pasted must include an indication that the text is a quote, including proper references. Failure to do so will result in a zero grade. Furthermore, it is expected that direct quotations will make up a very small percentage of the total answer. Most of the answer must be original.
The oral exam will be conducted one on one with the professor and consist of interview-like questions to ensure that you have grasped the basic material in the class.
arrow_backOne of the most important features of this class is the opportunity to participate in one-on-one discussions with the professor and the TA's. Our job is to make you successful, and office hours are a great way to get help. Office hours will be available at specific times, as posted on the Class Web Page. During those times, link to the Zoom meeting specified on the class web page to talk directly with the Professor or a TA. The office hours Zoom meetings will have a waiting room to allow the Professor to finish helping another student before admitting you to the meeting itself. If you want to meet as a group, let us know, and we can admit several students to the meeting at once.
Outside of normal office hours, one-on-one meetings can still be scheduled by sending an email to the Professor or TA. Then, we can agree on a time that's good for both of us, and the Professor or TA can initiate the normal Zoom office hours link.
arrow_backThis course will make use of a "Piazza" web page to enable on-line discussions of the course material. The professor will set up the Piazza web page, and enable students to register to get access to the page. The Piazza page will have several folders: one for each lecture topic, assignment, and lab. Students may post questions, answers, or comments in any of those folders. The professor and TA's will be monitoring the Piazza pages, and providing answers to the questions, as well as general comments and suggestions.
Students are encouraged to ask public questions (you may do so anonymously if you wish), provide answers and comments on other students questions and comments, and to read and understand posts made by the professor and TA's. A digest of updates is mailed to all students periodically, so it should be easy to keep up to date. Information that appears in Piazza posts will appear on tests and exams, and suggestions provided using Piazza will be taken into account when grading labs, assignments, and the final project.
arrow_backThis course is worth 4 credits. As announced by the Faculty Senate, Binghamton University expects a minimum of 12.5 hours per week of student effort for a 4-credit course. Of these 12.5 hours, 2 are spent watching videos, 1 in discussion sections, and 1 hour 25 minutes are in the Lab. The remaining eight hours should be spent on assignments, studying for tests and examinations, research, discovery, and any other course related tasks.
arrow_backAll intermediate grades for labs, homework, tests, and graded quizzes will be posted in myCourses as soon as they are available. The myCourses grade center also contains feedback provided to you by the Professor and the TA's to explain why you got the grade that you did.
Grades will be computed using the assigned homework, labs, and tests. As a rule, extra credit and make-up work is not allowed in this course.
If you have any questions about your grades, please contact the Professor or the TA responsible for your grade. We try to make the grades as accurate and as fair as possible, but we aren't perfect, and will happily correct any mistake we have made.
The weighted average in myCoruses gives an indication of how you are doing so far, but the weighted average is an average of only the grades that have been given so far, and can change radically with some of the high percentage grades that are assigned late in the semester, such as the final project and the final exam.
| Tests - 15% each | 30% |
| Lab Average | 15% |
| Assignment Average | 15% |
| Final Project | 10% |
| Graded Quizzes and Participation | 10% |
| Final Exam | 20% |
The mapping from a weighted average to a letter grade changes from semester to semester based on the difficulty of the tests, labs, and assignments as compared to previous semesters; and will not be published.
arrow_backStudents are encouraged to help one another and to form study groups. In Computer Science, you can learn more from your peers than from your instructors and teaching assistants. As long as the help is appropriate, please be generous with your time and expertise when helping fellow students. Doing so is good for you and good for them. You are free to discuss assignments in general terms with one another.
However, unless you are working on a group assignment, please do not show your work directly to students outside your group. Do not store your work on publicly available repositories (such as public GIT repositories.) Each of you must write your own code, and you must write up all solutions individually for individual assignments. Students submitting solutions (including code) that are determined to be "too similar" are likely to be punished equally and harshly.
Please review the Watson College academic honesty document and make sure that you understand it! Cheating and copying will NOT be tolerated. Also review the Computer Science Faculty Letter to students regarding academic honesty.
Specifically, in this class:
If you are experiencing undue personal or academic stress at any time during the semester or need to talk with someone about a personal problem or situation, I encourage you to seek support as soon as possible. I am available to talk with you about stresses related to your work in my class. Additionally, I can assist you in reaching out to any one of a wide range of campus resources, including:
Clearly, we are dealing with an abnormal situation in the midst of the world-wide Covid-19 pandemic. This course is designed to deliver full academic content with no personal contact to avoid any risk of spreading the virus. Should personal contact be required, all participants are expected to wear a face covering mask and maintain six-foot separation whenever possible.
Students who get Corona virus will be treated like any other student with an illness. Accommodations will be made to allow you to completely recover before completing the requirements for the course. All health information will be treated as private, confidential information except for notification of official health personnel. It is essential that we trust the professionals who work at government health departments to look after the health of all individuals.
There has been nothing about this pandemic that has been easy, and we know that anxiety is high. We should trust in the professionals with experience in public health to show us the way through this pandemic. We also need to trust, support, and accommodate each other so we can all survive and thrive in the face of this challenge.
arrow_backEveryone has the right to be addressed by the name and pronouns that correspond to their gender identity, including non-binary pronouns, for example: they/them/theirs, ze/zir/zirs, etc. Rosters do not list gender or pronouns so if you have any special preferences, please contact me and let me know your preferences. If you use a chosen name, please let me know. Chosen names and pronouns are to be respected at all times in the classroom. Mistakes in addressing one another may happen, so I encourage an environment of openness to correction and learning.
Personally, I do not have strong preferences on pronouns or chosen names, and will answer to almost anything.
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