Syllabus • ITEC 109 Problem Solving and Programming • Spring 2015
intro |
sections |
text |
topics |
goals |
labs |
homework |
quizzes |
exams |
responsibilities |
assessment |
attendance |
courtesy |
honor code |
disabilities |
changes |
emergency |
expectations |
schedule
Instructor: Don Braffitt
Office: 015
Davis
E-mail:
dbraffitt@radford.edu
Phone: 540.831.5072
Office hours: Mon/Wed/Thu/Fri 9-9:45am (015 Davis and online), Fri 4-5pm (online only), and by appointment
Instructor home page:
http://www.radford.edu/dbraffitt/
Syllabus:
http://www.radford.edu/~dbraffitt/itec109/2015/spring/
Desire2Learn (D2L):
https://learn.radford.edu/d2l/home/66614
Radford University, Department of Information Technology
ITEC 109. Problem Solving and Programming.
Credit Hours: (3)
An introduction to problem solving using programming. Topics include a
survey of techniques used in problem solving, methods for representing
the solution of a problem as an algorithm and the implementation of an
algorithm as a computer program. Students who have received credit for
ITEC 120 cannot subsequently receive credit for ITEC 109. ITEC 109 does
not meet requirements for the ITEC major.
ITEC 109 official
course description.
Prerequisite: None.
Postrequisite: The
typical next course for Information Technology majors is
ITEC 120.
The
typical next courses for majors other than Information Technology are
ITEC 120 and
ITEC 225.
ITEC 109 serves as a prerequisite (along with ITEC 120) for
ITEC 226 and
ITEC 227.
ITEC 109 serves as a program requirement (along with ITEC 120) for the Mathematics major
concentrations in
applied mathematics and
statistics.
Minors: ITEC 109 qualifies for 3 credits of the required coursework for two of
the three ITEC department minors.
Course Sections
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- ITEC 109-01
- Lecture/Lab: 114 Davis Mon/Wed/Thu/Fri 10-10:50am
- Exams: 114 Davis Thu 19-Feb 10-10:50am (Exam 5), Thu 02-Apr 10-10:50am (Exam 10), Mon 04-May 10:15am-12:15pm (Final Exam)
- ITEC 109-02
- Lecture/Lab: 114 Davis Mon/Wed/Thu/Fri 11-11:50am
- Exams: 114 Davis Thu 19-Feb 11-11:50am (Exam 5), Thu 02-Apr 11-11:50am (Exam 10), Wed 06-May 10:15am-12:15pm (Final Exam)
- Note: The schedule is 4 days per week since this is a lab class (2 hours lecture and 2 hours lab)
- Note: Final exams follow the Mon/Wed/Fri exam schedule
- Class profile
Text, Online Materials, ITEC Tutors/PIs, labs, LARC, other links
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Topics
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- Introduction: computer systems; problem solving and programming; algorithms; pseudo code
- Introduction to programming: Problem specification and top-down design; stepwise refinement;
programming environment; variables, input and output; assignment statements and precedence
- Data structures: arrays
- Control structures: if statements; while statements; for loop statements
- Additional concepts: procedures without parameters; introduction to object-oriented topics
Goals and Objectives
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Students successfully completing ITEC 109 will be able to do the following:
- Describe the operation and result of existing programs.
- Solve problems by developing algorithms and selecting appropriate data types.
- Implement algorithms as well‑structured computer programs.
Labs, Homework, and Quizzes
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Labs and homework will be completed using Java using BlueJ and submitted via D2L.
You may use lab computers or your own computers to complete labs and homework.
Quizzes will be completed via D2L. Students are expected to submit their own
work for all homework and quizzes by the due date. If you get any help in solving a homework
problem, include the source of that help (ITEC tutor name, LARC tutor name, web resource, etc.) in your
header comments. If you work together with another student to solve a lab problem, include the source
of that help in your header comments.
Lab work must be submitted in lab, but lab work may be resubmitted up until 8pm of the day the lab work is assigned.
Homework and quiz submissions are due Sat at 8pm.
There will be a total of 10 homework assignments due Sat at 8pm as
detailed in the schedule below. There will be a total of 14 quizzes due Sat at 8pm as
detailed in the schedule below.
Quizzes are open-book and open-notes and unlimited retries. Homework and quizzes will
help prepare students for exams.
Exams will be completed via D2L in 114 Davis. Students are expected to
submit their own work for all exams. There will be two 50 minute
in-class exams during the semester in addition to a 120 minute in-class
final exam during final exam week. Exams will be worth 45%
of the final grade. Exams are closed-book and closed-notes.
All exams are cummulative based on the material covered up through that point in the semester.
Student Responsibilities
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Students are responsible for the information that is included in the
assigned readings, lectures, labs, discussions, homework, quizzes, and
any additional information discussed in class or posted in D2L. Students
are encouraged to take advantage of the instructor's office hours, the
ITEC tutor hours, and the online supplementary materials provided by the
textbook publisher and the textbook authors. The best preparation for
exams is to complete readings, labs, homework, and quizzes, and to
participate in class and via D2L by asking questions and participating
in discussions.
Excused absences are granted in cases such as emergency, illness, religious
holiday, RU-sponsored travel, or other RU-related activities (i.e.
internship and job interviews) that may cause a student to miss a class
provided the student notifies the instructor via email prior to the
absence. Students should notify the instructor 48 hours prior to missing
an exam to make alternate arrangements for a makeup exam. All required
class work must be submitted via D2L and MPL by the due date whether or
not a student has an excused absence for a particular class. Students are
granted at most one unexcused absence per week (see details below for the grade
impact for any unexcused absences).
No late work will be accepted.
Assessment
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The assessment will be weighted as follows:
- 45% Exams (15% each for Exam 5, Exam 10, and Final Exam)
- 30% Homework
- 15% Quizzes
- 10% Labs and class attendance
Each unexcused absence in a week will result in grade loss of 25% for labs and class attendance for that week.
Two or more unexcused absences in a week will in addition result in grade of 0 for homework for that week.
All three exams will include some material drawn from the topics
discussed in class, some of which will be beyond the specific textbook
content.
The assessment will be according to the following scale:
A = 90% to 100%
A- = 87% to 89%
B+ = 84% to 86%
B = 80% to 83%
B- = 77% to 79%
C+ = 74% to 76%
C = 70% to 73%
C- = 67% to 69%
D+ = 64% to 66%
D = 60% to 63%
D- = 57% to 59%
F = 56% and below
During the semester, grades will be provided to students via D2L. Any questions
about a particular grade must be resolved via email by Mon 8pm after that grade
is posted in D2L.
Attendance and Participation
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Class attendance is required for students to receive full credit for labs and
class attendance. Absences (excused or otherwise) do not relieve
students from the responsibility for subject matter missed or exams, homework,
quizzes, or lab work to be completed. If the
university cancels class for any reason such as inclement weather, the
assigned work for the week is still due as specified in the syllabus and
D2L.
The 10% labs and class attendance portion of the student grade is based primarily on
effort and completion of lab projects. Attendance for any class session is defined as
student presence and participation for at least 90% of a class (lecture and lab).
Most class sessions will be a 25 minute lecture/discussion followed by a 25 minute lab.
In the lab, students learn, with faculty guidance, to solve programming problems
and to implement their solutions. Students are also required to solve, code,
test, and debug problems without direct faculty guidance.
Students are granted at most one unexcused absence per week with a grade impact for each
unexcused absence of 25% in the labs and class attendance grade for that week.
Two or more unexcused absences in a week will in addition result in a grade of 0 for weekly homework for that week.
Class Courtesy Policy
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Please set cell phones, pagers, and notebook computers to silent during
class. Students are encouraged to bring computers to all ITEC 109 classes.
Computers should primarily be used for work relevant to ITEC 109
during ITEC 109 classes. Please refrain from any activities while in
class that would be disruptive to the class.
Honor Code
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In accepting admission to Radford University, each student makes a
commitment to support and uphold the Honor Code without compromise or
exception. Violations of this academic integrity will not be tolerated.
Refer to your Student Handbook for details. This class will
be conducted in strict observance of the Honor Code. All work you submit
for a grade must be your own work including
- Programming assignments
- Quizzes and exams
You may work together on the lab problems, but you must still make every effort to
ensure you understand the finished product, and you must submit your own version of any
lab problem. You may ask for help on homework from an
instructor or tutor, but you must document in your Java source comments any help you
receive on homework problems. You are responsible for understanding
your work. You cannot learn how to program and solve problems using Java unless
you complete the lab work and complete the homework programming assignments.
You need to be able to understand and explain the code you submit for a grade.
Ask the instructor if you have any questions about what resources you may use
to complete homework problems.
Students With Disabilities
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If you are seeking academic accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities
Act at Radford University, you are required to register with the Disability
Resource Office (DRO). To receive academic accommodations for this class, please
submit your documentation to the DRO in the lower level of Tyler Hall suites
54-69, by fax to 540.831.6525, or by email to
dro@radford.edu. After submitting
documentation to the DRO office, you will set up an interview with a Disability
Services Specialist to discuss accommodations. You will be notified via email
once your accommodation package is complete and ready to be picked up. Once you
have picked up your accommodation package, you will need to meet with each
course instructor during their office hours to review and discuss your package.
For more information and/or for documentation guidelines, visit
http://www.radford.edu/content/dro/home.html or call 540.831.6350.
Changes to Course Syllabus or Class Schedule
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All changes to either the course syllabus or the class schedule will be
posted in D2L and usually announced in class. Students are responsible for any
announced changes even if absent or tardy when the announcements are
made. Sometimes changes will be posted in D2L prior to a class
announcement (e.g., schedule adjustments if the university closes due to
inclement weather or an emergency).
In Case of Emergency
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In the event of a university-wide emergency, course requirements,
classes, deadlines, and grading policies and procedures are subject to
change. Potential changes that could occur include alternative delivery
methods, alternative methods of interaction with the instructor,
accessing class materials and/or classmates, a revised attendance
policy, and a revised semester calendar and/or grading schedule. In the
event of a university-wide emergency, please refer to the course materials in D2L.
Course Expectations
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- Start your assignments early. Give yourself time
to learn new concepts and deal with problems.
- Don't get behind. The material is cumulative. Stay ahead.
- Solve problems by applying the concepts and principles
presented in class. The goal of this class is not to teach you
how to solve specific problems. This class will help you build a
foundation that will enable you to solve many types of problems related
to the concepts and principles covered in class.
- Practice. The weekly quizzes are mostly intended to help you
practice reading and understanding programs and portions of programs written in
the Java programming language. The weekly lab problems and homework assignments
are mostly intended to help you practice problem solving by developing solutions
to problems using the Java programming language.
- You are expected to commit approximately 8 hours per week during the semester to ITEC 109. Per university policy, a 3 credit hour course such as ITEC 109 with 2 hours lecture and 2 hours lab has approximately 4 hours per week of in class work (specifically for ITEC 109, 200 minutes spread across 4 50 minute classes weekly) and 4 hours per week of out of class work.
Schedule
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Class starts Wed 21-Jan in 114 Davis.
Fri 20-Mar (end of 8th week of classes) is the last date to withdraw from an individual class with a grade of W.
|
Topics |
Text |
Homework (due Sat 8pm) |
Quizzes (due Sat 8pm) |
Lab (114 Davis) |
Exams (114 Davis) |
Week 1 21-Jan |
Introduction |
Chapter 1 |
|
Quiz 1 |
Lab 1-x |
|
Week 2 26-Jan |
Fundamental Data Types |
Chapter 2 |
Homework 2 |
Quiz 2 |
Lab 2-x |
|
Week 3 02-Feb |
Fundamental Data Types |
Chapter 2 |
Homework 3 |
Quiz 3 |
Lab 3-x |
|
Week 4 09-Feb |
Decisions |
Chapter 3 |
Homework 4 |
Quiz 4 |
Lab 4-x |
|
Week 5 16-Feb |
Decisions |
Chapter 3 |
|
Quiz 5 |
Lab 5-x |
Exam 5 (Thu 19-Feb) |
Week 6 23-Feb |
Loops |
Chapter 4 |
Homework 6 |
Quiz 6 |
Lab 6-x |
|
Week 7 02-Mar |
Loops |
Chapter 4 |
Homework 7 |
Quiz 7 |
Lab 7-x |
|
Spring Break 10-Mar |
Spring Break week |
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|
|
|
|
Week 8 16-Mar |
Methods |
Chapter 5 |
Homework 8 |
Quiz 8 |
Lab 8-x |
|
Week 9 23-Mar |
Methods |
Chapter 5 |
Homework 9 |
Quiz 9 |
Lab 9-x |
|
Week 10 30-Mar |
Methods |
Chapter 5 |
|
Quiz 10 |
Lab 10-x |
Exam 10 (Thu 02-Apr) |
Week 11 06-Apr |
Arrays |
Chapter 6 |
Homework 11 |
Quiz 11 |
Lab 11-x |
|
Week 12 13-Apr |
Arrays |
Chapter 6 |
Homework 12 |
Quiz 12 |
Lab 12-x |
|
Week 13 20-Apr |
Objects and Classes |
Chapter 8 |
Homework 13 |
Quiz 13 |
Lab 13-x |
|
Week 14 27-Apr |
Objects and Classes |
Chapter 8 |
|
Quiz 14 |
Lab 14-x |
|
Final Exam 04-May |
Final Exam week |
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Final Exam (Mon & Wed) |