Syllabus

Contact information

243 S. Wabash Avenue, room 748

Chicago, Illinois 60604

Phone: (312) 362-5324

asettle@cdm.depaul.edu

http://facweb.cdm.depaul.edu/asettle/

Office hours

My office hours are held in room 748 of the CDM building. I am available during office hours in person, by phone, using Zoom, or by e-mail. Since students may be present in person during those hours, it is possible that there will be some delay before I respond to e-mail or phone calls. When you call, please leave a message that indicates the number you can be reached at and gives the best time to return your call. If you wish to meet with me using Zoom, please request an appointment in advance so that I can set up the meeting.

Please make use of my office hours.  Asking questions about the assessments, course notes and examples, or the readings can improve your understanding enormously.  It will also let me know if I need to review a topic with the class. If you want to talk to me during my office hours but are unable to do so for any reasons, please contact me to make an appointment outside those hours.

Course technologies

This course uses several platforms to enable our interactions:

• All information for this course is posted to the Desire 2 Learn (D2L) site. To log onto the D2L page visit https://d2l.depaul.edu/.
  • Course notes, programming assignments, lab assignments, exam study guides, the midterm and final exam, and other course materials will be available through the D2L site. 
  • There will also be links to course recordings which are useful for review.
• Additional informational videos will be recorded using Panopto, which is connected to D2L. The recordings will be posted to the Content tab on D2L.
• If you are too ill to come to class but wish to still participate remotely, please let me know so that I can create a Zoom session. I will only make Zoom available upon request, and you must let me know no later than 12 pm on the day of the class session. If you are too ill to participate actively via Zoom, class sessions are recorded and the recordings posted to D2L for your review.

Prerequisites

You must have taken CSC 241: Introduction to Computer Science II or an equivalent course that introduces problem-solving techniques and programming in Python and earned a passing grade (C- or better). I will also assume that:

• You know how to create, debug, compile, and run Python, and you use a reasonable coding style (i.e., your code is easy to read and relatively concise)
• You know Python's basic control structures and types
• You can solve basic computing problems

Course topics and learning goals

This course is the second of a two-course sequence introducing computer science skills, including problem solving, algorithm development, recursion, and programming using Python. The concept of a class and object-oriented programming will be motivated and introduced. We will then apply these skills in the area of Internet and distributed computing.

After you have taken this class:

• You will strengthen your Python programming skills.
• You will know how to design classes and understand the fundamental principles of object-oriented programming.
• You will be able to formulate class invariants and enforce those invariants in the design of classes.
• You will be able to design effective tests for methods and classes.
• You will be able to apply recursion as a problem-solving and programming technique.
• You will be able to write simple Internet client programs.

Course calendar

The following gives all the important dates for this course.  The topics covered are subject to change.

Textbook

The required textbook for the course is Introduction to Computing using Python: An Application Development Focus, Second Edition, Ljubomir Perković, John Wiley & Sons, 2015. Make sure you have the electronic version of the text since it contains case studies that we will be using. The electronic text has ISBN 978-1-118-89105-6. You can buy the ebook directly from the publisher if you like: https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Introduction+to+Computing+Using+Python%3A+An+Application+Development+Focus%2C+2nd+Edition-p-9781119159612

Grading policy

Course assessments include lab exercises, programming assignments, and a midterm, and final exam. The course grade will be computed as follows:

All students will be required to sign and submit an Academic Integrity pledge at the start of the quarter. The Academic Integrity pledge will be posted on the D2L site. The pledge must be signed and submitted as a part of the first homework assignment. Students who violate this agreement are violating the Academic Integrity policy of DePaul University. See the section on Academic Integrity below for more information about that policy and penalties for violating it.

In order to do well in this class, you must participate in the class sessions regularly, complete all of the labs on time, complete class activities, read the chapters in the book as indicated in the homework assignment, start work on the assignments early, submit the assignments on time, and ask questions early and often.  The answers to the programming assignments, the lab exercises, and the exam questions should be written in a way that is rigorous, clear, and concise.

Lab exercises

Every Thursday you will have lab exercises available at 1:30 pm and due at 11 pm. You are highly encouraged to attend the scheduled lab session which takes place 1:30 - 3 pm in room 819 of the CDM building. Students attending the lab in person will have priority for answers and help from the teaching assistant. If for whatever reason you cannot attend the lab sessions, you will need to log into a Zoom help session conducted by the TA. You can find the link for the Zoom lab sessions in the course calendar on D2L. Students should attend the lab either virtually or in-person.

Labs submitted by the deadline will be graded for full credit. Labs submitted no later than 12 hours after the deadline automatically will lose 15% of the points. No lab submissions are accepted more than 12 hours after the deadline for any reason, including upload of the wrong file. 

For students who attend at least 7 out of the 9 lab sessions, either in person or virtually through Zoom, the two lowest lab scores will be dropped in the calculation of your course grade. Attending means arriving on time at 1:30 pm, staying for at least 30 minutes, and actively working on the lab exercises during the session. Students who are late, do not work on lab activities, or leave after less than 30 minutes will not be counted as attending. For students who attend 6 or fewer of the 9 lab sessions, only the lowest lab score will be dropped in the calculation of your course grade.

Programming assignments

Each week you will have a programming assignment. You can consult with your homework partners, the teaching assistant, the instructor, and the CDM tutors on the programming assignments, but you may not under any circumstances submit code that you have not helped to write nor may you consult anyone beyond those specified when completing your assignments. Each programming assignment will have a posted deadline, specified on the assignment. 

Assignments submitted by the deadline will be graded for full credit. Assignments submitted no later than 12 hours after the deadline automatically will lose 15% of the points. No assignments are accepted more than 12 hours after the deadline for any reason, including submission of the wrong file. 

Your lowest assignment score will be dropped in the calculation of your course grade.

Midterm and final exams

The midterm and final exams will be cumulative. The midterm exam will take place on May 6, 2024, and the final exam will take place on June 12, 2024. The exams will take place in a lab. Both exams will require you to write Python code. The details about how the exams will be given will be shared later in the quarter on the midterm and final exam study guides which will be posted to D2L. No late exam submissions will be accepted for any reason.

Make-up exams will not be given. If you wish to petition for a make-up exam, you must notify me in advance and provide documented evidence of the emergency that will cause you to miss the exam. Failure to contact me in advance of the exam date and time will disqualify you from being allowed to take a make-up exam. If a make-up exam is granted, it will be of a form of my choosing.

Online course evaluations

Evaluations are a way for students to provide valuable feedback regarding their instructor and the course. Detailed feedback will enable the instructor to continuously tailor teaching methods and course content to meet the learning goals of the course and the academic needs of the students. They are a requirement of the course and are key to continue to provide you with the highest quality of teaching. The evaluations are anonymous; the instructor and administration do not track who entered what responses. A program is used to check if the student completed the evaluations, but the evaluation is completely separate from the student's identity. Since 100% participation is our goal, students are sent periodic reminders over three weeks. Students do not receive reminders once they complete the evaluation.

Academic integrity

Cheating is any action that violates university norms or instructor's guidelines for the preparation and submission of assignments. This includes, but is not limited to, unauthorized access to examination materials prior to the examination itself; use or possession of unauthorized materials during the examination or quiz; having someone take an examination in one's place; copying from another student; unauthorized assistance to another student; or acceptance of such assistance.  Plagiarism involves the presentation of the work of another as one's own. Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to the following: the direct copying of any source, such as written and verbal material, computer files, audio disks, video programs or musical scores, whether published or unpublished, in whole or part, without proper acknowledgment that it is someone else's; copying of any source in whole or part with only minor changes in wording or syntax, even with acknowledgment; submitting as one's own work a report, examination paper, computer file, lab report or other assignment that has been prepared by someone else (including research papers purchased from any other person or agency or programs written using the assistance of an AI tool); the paraphrasing of another's work or ideas without proper acknowledgment; working so closely with another person other than those authorized so as to produce identical code.

All students are expected to abide by the University's Academic Integrity Policy which prohibits cheating and other misconduct in student coursework. The use of others' web/publication content (text, graphics, code) is regarded as plagiarism if credit is not given (see the above description of plagiarism). Using materials that the student prepared for other purposes (e.g., for another course or for his/her work) needs the course instructor's prior permission. Publicly sharing or posting online any prior or current materials from this course (including exam questions or answers), is considered to be providing unauthorized assistance prohibited by the policy.  Both students who share/post and students who access or use such materials are considered to be cheating under the Policy and will be subject to sanctions for violations of Academic Integrity.

A charge of cheating and/or plagiarism is always a serious matter.  It can result in an automatic F in the course and possible expulsion.

Mental health and academic assistance

Balancing the hard work of achieving your educational goals with the other demands of life is difficult at the best of times. For many of us, for a variety of reasons, things are more difficult now. I want to make sure you feel comfortable reaching out to me for support. The university also has great resources just a phone call or email away. These have been created and maintained for you, so use them:

• DePaul University Counseling Services: Mental health is as important as physical health, and there are professionals a phone call away: (773) 325-7779 or 911 for emergency situations. You can find more information here: https://offices.depaul.edu/student-affairs/about/departments/Pages/ucs.aspx

• The DePaul Dean of Students can help you with a wide range of topics, including figuring out if you should withdraw or apply for an incomplete: https://offices.depaul.edu/student-affairs/about/departments/Pages/dos.aspx

• There are a lot of additional, more specific resources listed with the Office of Student Affairs, including crisis hotlines and sexual assault resources: https://offices.depaul.edu/student-affairs/support-services/counseling/Pages/Crisis-Hotlines.aspx

Incomplete

An incomplete grade is given only for an exceptional reason such as a death in the family, a serious illness, etc. Any such reason must be documented. Any incomplete request must be made at least two weeks before the final, and approved by the Dean of the College of Computing and Digital Media. Any consequences resulting from a poor grade for the course will not be considered as valid reasons for such a request.