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Course Information and Policies

What, Where, When, Who, ...​

Title
CSC 233, Foundations of Computation
Time and Location

All times Eastern, which is UTC -4 through October 31, and then UTC -5. Class meeting times will be treated as "discussion sections": we will work through problems and I will answer questions from the reading. If you can't make either of the scheduled times (regardless of which section you are in), I will be posting recordings, and I will be happy to go over similar material during office hours.

  • (Fall 2020 Section A) MWF 2:50-3:50 pm
  • (Fall 2020 Section B) MWF 11:40 am-12:40 pm
Professor
Brian Howard (bhoward@depauw.edu)
Office
Julian 266 (+1-765-658-4120)
Office Hours
TuTh 9am-11am, MTuWTh 4pm-5pm, or by appointment. Unless I am in a meeting, I will be monitoring email for quick responses during these times, and I will be available for Google Hangout video calls. If you are on campus and would prefer to meet in person (at a distance, in a suitably open area), Tuesday and Thursday mornings are best, but I can be available at other times.

Texts​

  • FoCSipedia: this is an online, interactive version of the reading material for this course; it is currently under (very) active development, so the following resources might also be useful as a supplement

  • Carol Critchlow, David Eck, and Brian Howard, "Foundations of Computation," in preparation (available on Moodle)

  • Dave Gurnell and Noel Welsh, "Creative Scala," Underscore, 2017 (available on Moodle and from https://www.creativescala.org/)

  • Alfred V. Aho and Jeffrey D. Ullman, "Foundations of Computer Science," W. H. Freeman, 1992 (available on Moodle and from http://infolab.stanford.edu/~ullman/focs.html)

Course Description​

(from the Catalog) This course explores the theoretical foundations of computation at various levels of abstraction. Specific topics include graph theory and related algorithms; functional programming with an emphasis on recursion and recurrences; the description of languages using formalisms such as regular expressions, finite state machines, and context free grammars; and digital logic and its application to sequential and combinational circuits.

Grading​

The grade for this course will be based on the following:

  • Quizzes -- there will be Moodle quizzes over the core skills from each reading. There is no deadline for these, and you may retake them as often as you wish for practice. The grade will be based solely on completion.
  • Challenge Problems -- these are more substantial exercises that build on the core skills (and ideally allow for some creativity). You may submit up to two per week, and each will be graded Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory; if unsatisfactory, I will give feedback and you may resubmit it (but this will count toward the two-per-week limit -- the point of this limit is to encourage you to submit problems regularly, and not wait until the end of the semester to try to do lots of them at once).
  • Exams -- there will be an exam at the end of each 5-week section. It will consist of a written part (which will be similar to the core skills quizzes) plus a short oral component where you will do one of the core skill exercises live and then talk about your solution of one of the challenge problems. Grading will be Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory; if unsatisfactory, you will have one opportunity to retake the exam.

To get an A in the course, you must take all of the quizzes and get a Satisfactory grade on all three exams plus at least 8 challenge problems.

To get a B in the course, you must take 80% of the quizzes and get a Satisfactory grade on all three exams plus at least 6 challenge problems.

To get a C in the course, you must take 60% of the quizzes and get a Satisfactory grade on at least two of the exams plus at least 4 challenge problems.

To get a D in the course, you must take 40% of the quizzes and get a Satisfactory grade on at least one of the exams plus at least 2 challenge problems.

If you take fewer than 40% of the quizzes, fail all of the exams, or complete fewer than 2 challenge problems, you will get an F.

I reserve the right to make minor modifications to these criteria (with appropriate notice), and I will use my judgement when assigning +/- modifiers.

The last day to withdraw from class with a W is Friday, October 30. The last day to switch to/from taking this course Pass/D/Fail is Friday, November 6.

Policy Statements​

  • The weekly limit on submitting challenge problems will reset at midnight Eastern time each Saturday (going into Sunday).
  • Cheating, plagiarism, submission of the work of others, etc., violates the DePauw policy on academic integrity and may result in penalties ranging from a lowered grade to course failure or expulsion. The policy and discussion of each student's obligations and rights are in the Student Handbook.
  • With respect to this course, no collaboration is permitted on exams or quizzes. You may discuss homework problems with anyone you want (in fact, you are encouraged to do so), but you should not copy another student's work nor permit your work to be copied. The key idea is that you should understand all of the work you turn in, and you should be able to replicate it on your own. If you do not feel that you can replicate the work independently, then it is not fair (to yourself or to others) to submit it as your own work. If at any time you are uncertain what constitutes "appropriate" collaboration, it is your responsibility to clarify it with me.
  • Please feel free to offer me feedback (positive and negative) about my performance or anything else related to the class. This feedback will have no effect on your grade in the class.
  • All information about the class, whether given in this handout or in class, is subject to change.

Commitment to Student Success and ADA Accommodations​

I am committed to helping each and every one of my students succeed and am willing to work as hard to facilitate that success. Please don't hesitate to contact me outside of class (see office hours section of this syllabus) if you think I can help. There are also a number of other offices on campus that can help you succeed with your courses as well as help you connect your course work to service, co-curricular and leadership experiences. These offices include Student Life, the Hubbard Center for Student Engagement, the Wellness Center, the Office of Academic Life, and Student Disability Services. In particular, note that it is the policy and practice of DePauw University to provide reasonable accommodations for students with properly documented disabilities. Written notification from Student Disability Services is required. If you are eligible to receive an accommodation and would like to request it for this course, please contact Student Disability Services. Allow one week advance notice to ensure enough time for reasonable accommodations to be made. Otherwise, it is not guaranteed that the accommodation can be provided on a timely basis. Accommodations are not retroactive. Students who have questions about Student Disability Services or who have, or think they may have, a disability (psychiatric, attentional, learning, vision, hearing, physical, medical, etc.) are invited to contact Student Disability Services for a confidential discussion in Union Building Suite 200 or by phone at 658-6267.

Religious Holy Days​

DePauw University embraces the religious diversity of its students, faculty, and staff. Accordingly, faculty members are expected to excuse students from class and be flexible with respect to deadlines for required coursework in order to enable students to observe religious holy days. Faculty are also expected to make it possible for students observing holy days to make up any work they miss, provided arrangements are made in advance. Students are expected to notify their instructors of their intent to observe holy days at least one week in advance of these days. For this class I ask that you notify me by e-mail at least 7 days in advance of the date in question with the time you will be missing class and the reason for this missed class.