Course Information and Introductions Intro to Computer Science

Course Information and Introductions Intro to Computer Science CS 1510 Dr. Sarah Diesburg University of Northern Iowa 1

Instructor Sarah Diesburg (diesburg@cs. uni. edu) Office: 311 ITTC Office hours: MW 2 -3 pm, TTh 3 -5 pm, by appt. Class website: 1. http: //www. cs. uni. edu/~diesburg/courses/cs 1510_fa 14/index. htm 2. UNI e. Learning University of Northern Iowa 2

Teaching Assistants Travis Sullivan Email: sullitae@uni. edu Lab assistant University of Northern Iowa 3

Class Schedule Lecture M W F 9: 00 -9: 50 am in 328 ITTC Mandatory Three lectures per week Lab Tues 10: 00 -11: 50 am in 112 Wright Also mandatory Hands-on work on projects for points TA and I are available University of Northern Iowa 4

Today Passing along attendance sheet Class objectives For rest of lectures, please sign by your name What is computer science? Logistics University of Northern Iowa 5

What is computer science? ? Computer science is a discipline that involves the understanding and design of computers and computational processes And it’s a REALLY diverse discipline University of Northern Iowa 6

Robotics Computer Vision Graphics Ubiquitous Computing Virtual Environments Wearable Computing Bioinformatics University of Northern Iowa 7

Digital Special Effects Databases User information Assurance Information Security Human Computer Interface Design High Performance Simulation University of Northern Iowa 8

What do these things have in common? They all treat the computer as only part of a bigger picture They all treat the computer as a tool! University of Northern Iowa 9

Which tool would you rather use? University of Northern Iowa 10

Just like other tools, we have to be careful they aren’t misused University of Northern Iowa 11

But how do we turn a computer from that thing on our desk… Bioinformatics To that powerful tool that helps us solve problems? University of Northern Iowa 12

Programming! Programming is the process of writing, testing, and maintaining the source code of computer programs Collection of instructions that describe a task, or set of tasks, to be carried out by a computer While this course is an introduction to computer science, it focuses on how we can program the computer to be the tool we need! University of Northern Iowa 13

A Well-Educated Computer Scientist Should be Able to. . . Apply the fundamental concepts and techniques of computation, algorithms, and computer design …to a specific problem University of Northern Iowa 14

Our Goals This Semester Increase our problem solving skills Design good solutions to problems Test how well they are indeed solutions to the problem Provide the solution as a readable document University of Northern Iowa 15

A brief look at course logistics Take the time outside of class to thoroughly read the course syllabus. Some highlights… University of Northern Iowa 16

Why two websites? e. Learning is for interaction Submit assignments and labs, view your grades Traditional website is for notes, labs, and other downloads Demo… University of Northern Iowa 17

Prerequisites None Some of you may have programming experience, others may not Either way is fine University of Northern Iowa 18

Required Skills Time and patience University of Northern Iowa 19

Course Material Lecture notes (posted at the class website) Textbook: The Practice of Computing Using Python (2 nd edition), by William Punch and Richard Enbody University of Northern Iowa 20

Class Grading Activity Quantity Points Class Participation / Attendance random 30 In-lab work (Tuesday) 13@15 pts each 195 Programming Assignments 11@25 pts each 275 Written Exams 100 and 150 pts 250 Programming Exams 2@125 pts each 250 Total 1000 University of Northern Iowa 21

Grading Scale 100 – 92 91. 9 – 90 89. 9 – 88 87. 9 – 82 81. 9 – 80 79. 9 – 78 77. 9 – 72 71. 9 – 70 A AB+ B BC+ C C- 69. 9 – 68 67. 9 – 62 61. 9 – 60 59. 9 – 0 University of Northern Iowa D+ D DF 22

Your Responsibilities Understand lecture and reading materials Attend office hours for extra help, as needed Uphold academic honesty Turn in your assignments on time Check class web page and your UNI email account and regularly University of Northern Iowa 23

Dos and Don’ts Do share debugging experiences Do share knowledge of tools Do acknowledge help from others Do acknowledge sources of information from books and web pages University of Northern Iowa 24

Dos and Don’ts Don’t cheat Don’t copy code from other people or websites Don’t paraphrase code from others either E. g. , changing variable names & indentations Will be using sophisticated plagiarism checker http: //www. uni. edu/policies/301 Don’t post code to the discussion board University of Northern Iowa 25

Course Policies Attendance mandatory There are no make-up exams for missed exams… Honor code: read your student handbook Students with disabilities Report to Student Disability Resource Center Bring me a letter within the first week of class University of Northern Iowa 26

To see or not to see me & TAs We are not psychics Please let us know if… Class is too hard You don’t have the background Class can be improved in certain ways When in doubt, email us… University of Northern Iowa 27

Survival Tips Do post messages and read the discussion board frequently Do not post code on the discussion board Sign up to receive emails If you absolutely need someone to look at your code, contact me or the TA Web search engines are your good friends University of Northern Iowa 28

Programming Environment Python freely available online (www. python. org) But get version 3. 4. 1 Do NOT get version 2 University of Northern Iowa 29

Guidelines for Success in this Course Prepare for lecture! Read the text selections before the start of lecture and complete any class prep assignment On previous course evaluations, the NUMBER ONE answer to the question “I could have improved my learning in this course by…” was some variation of “read the textbook” University of Northern Iowa 30

Guidelines for Success in this Course Be on time. Class sessions will start promptly. I will collect assignments at that time and will often start with important announcements. Write code on your own! Think of simple problems on your and solve them. If you wonder "what if, " TRY IT! University of Northern Iowa 31

Guidelines for Success in this Course Start assignments early so you have time to ask questions. Face to face questions are better than email questions. If you email me the night before something is due you shouldn’t get mad if I don’t respond. If you spend more than 15 minutes staring at the computer stuck on something, ask for help! Make use of the office hours early! Don't wait until late in the term to seek help. University of Northern Iowa 32

Guidelines for Success in this Course You can (and should) program from home Remember, programming takes practice Make sure that your code runs in the lab Verify that code that runs on another machine actually runs in the lab so there are no surprises at grading time University of Northern Iowa 33

Guidelines for Success in this Course Finally, remember, programming takes practice. You may not get it the first time, but keep trying, asking for help, and caring. Eventually, you might find out that you are pretty good at this whole process! University of Northern Iowa 34

Rooms you should know! ITTC 328 – Lectures ITTC 305 – The departmental office ITTC 311 – My office ITTC 335 – Student Lounge Wright 112 – Labs on Tuesday. Can also work in here outside of lab times. Wright 339 – Open-lab University of Northern Iowa 35

Important Announcements For Tomorrow Read Section 0. 8 Meets in Wright 112 and starts PROMPTLY at 10: 00 AM Make sure you know your Cat. ID credentials If you think you have used them but can’t remember them, get them reset downstairs in room 36 (you will need a photo ID) Bring a USB drive if you have one (and if you don’t, GET one). For Wednesday Read Sections 0. 1 -0. 7 University of Northern Iowa 36