CMSC 131 -- Object Oriented Programming I

Fall 2012

 Fear the Turtle!

Syllabus

 

This is a first programming course for Computer Science majors with a focus on object-oriented programming. The goal of the course is to develop skills such as program design and testing as well as the implementation of programs using a graphical IDE. All programming will be done in Java.

Course Instructor

Dr. Jan Plane

Recommended Text

Java Foundations, Lewis, DePasquale, and Chase, Addison Wesley
 
or
The custom one created for this class (less expensive but only available at the bookstore)

Major Topics (Not necessarily listed in approximate order of presentation)

For a more detailed listing of topics, see the schedule on piazza.

Assignments

There will be eight programming projects and other assignments to be completed during the lab sessions.  Some are considered "closed" assignments which you must complete by yourself and others are considered "open" assignments where collaboration is permitted. (More information about the open policy will be provided in class and can be found in the Policy Regarding Open/Closed Projects.) There will also be two midterms, a final exam, and almost weekly quizzes.

Machines

All assignments can be done on the machines of your choice. You are welcome to do the work on a home computer if you have one or in the public access labs. There should not be any machine-specific dependencies in your code. However, if we are not able to run your program because there is a difference between your and our computer environments, you must work with us to get your program to work in our environment.  You are expected to use the Eclipse IDE for all programming assignments.

Laptops

Laptops may be brought to lecture with the purpose of taking notes and trying examples being discussed. The laptop should not be used for working on projects or for other non-class related purposes during the lecture period. For the lab/recitation sections, we will have lab exercises that need to be submitted about once a week. These will usually take place on Wednesdays. I will announce when the submitted lab exercises will be in lecture the previous week, and you are encouraged to bring your laptop to those lab/recitation sections. It is not imperitive that you bring your laptop since we have a cart of laptops and you will be able to borrow one during the lab session, but it is significantly more convenient to have your own.

Grading

All lab exercises must be submitted before the end of your lab session on the day it is due unless stated otherwise in lab. These exercises are mainly for you to practice and will be graded on a 0-2 scale. 0 means you did not show any significant effort, 1 means there was something done, 2 means there was an acceptable accomplishment for during the lab period. Many of the lab assignments are much larger than can be done in the 50 minute lab period so are graded based on what I believe you should be able to complete in that time period. Always submit what you have completed at the end of the lab period - the rest you are welcome to work on outside of the class period.

Grading

All programming projects must be submitted before 11pm on the day they are due. They are to be submitted electronically according to instructions given with the assignments. Late assignments will be strictly penalized. Exceptional circumstances will be considered only if discussed with the instructor before the assignment is due. Late assignments will have points deducted as follows:

Final grades will be computed according the following weights. (These weights are tentative and subject to future adjustment.)

 
40% Projects (8)
10% Quizzes
5% Lab Exercises
11% Midterm #1
11% Midterm #2
23% Final Exam

The weights of the individual projects are: 1%, 3%, 5%, 5%, 6%, 6%, 7%, 7%.

In addition to an overall grade of 70% to receive a C for the course, neither the cummulative project grade nor the cummulative exam grade can be below 60% in order to pass the course with a C or better.

Academic Honesty

All individual assignments/exams must be done individually. (The only exception to this are "open" assignments, which will be discussed in class.) Please visit the webpage of the Student Honor Council for a detailed explanation of what constitutes academic dishonesty. Note that it includes not only cheating, fabrication, and plagiarism, but also includes helping other students commit acts of academic dishonesty by allowing them to obtain copies of your work. You are allowed to use the Web for reference purposes, but you may not copy code from any website or any other source. In short, all submitted work must be your own.

Cases of academic dishonesty will be dealt with harshly. Each such case will be referred to the University's Office of Judicial Programs. If the student is found to be responsible of academic dishonesty, the typical sanction results in a special grade "XF", indicating that the course was failed due to academic dishonesty. More serious instances can result in expulsion from the university. If you have any doubt as to whether an act of yours might constitute academic dishonesty, please contact your TA or one of the course coordinators.

Excused Absence and Academic Accommodations

Any student who needs to be excused for an absence from a single quiz or lab exercise due to a medically necessitated absence shall:

This self-documentation may not be used for any Major Scheduled Grading Events, defined below, and it may only be used for only 1 quiz and for 1 lab exercise during the entire semester. Any student who needs to be excused for a prolonged absence (2 or more consecutive class meetings), for additional quizzes or lab exercises, or for a Major Scheduled Grading Event, must provide written documentation of the illness from the Health Center or from an outside health care provider. This documentation must verify dates of treatment and indicate the timeframe that the student was unable to meet academic responsibilities. In addition, it must contain the name and phone number of the medical service provider to be used if verification is needed. No diagnostic information will ever be requested. This documentation must be given to the instructor within a week of the student's return to classes.

The Major Scheduled Grading Events for this course include:

  1. Exam #1 - Friday, October 12: during your lecture period
  2. Exam #2 - Friday, November 16: during your lecture period
  3. Final Exam - Friday, Dec 14 4:00-6:00 pm (location TBA)
  4. Project due times as posted on the project description and on Piazza
At the time the instructor is informed about the missed assessment, arrangements can be made for that Major scheduled Event. No projects will be excused - extensions in the due date are possible only if the illness was for a significant amount of time during the work time for that project (i.e. 1 or 2 days missed from a 2 week project will probably not result in an extension). It is also the student's responsibility to inform the instructor of any intended absences from exams for religious observances at least one week in advance.

Disability Support Services

Any student eligible for and requesting reasonable academic accommodations due to a disability is requested to provide, to the instructor in office hours, a letter of accommodation from the Office of Disability Support Services (DSS) within the first two weeks of the semester. Also, the form for special accomodations on any individual exam must be given to the instructor one week before the exam date.

Course Evaluations

The Department of Computer Science takes the student course evaluations very seriously. Evaluations for the spring will be open in the beginning of May. Students can go to the www.courseevalum.umd.edu to complete their evaluations. 

 

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