Radford Department of Information Technology

Syllabus • ITEC 122 Discrete Mathematics • Spring 2018

intro | section | text | topics | goals | exams | homework | assessment | responsibilities | attendance | courtesy | honor code | disabilities | changes | emergency | expectations | schedule

Instructor: Don Braffitt
Office: 015 Davis (until May-2018)
E-mail: dbraffitt@radford.edu
Phone: 540.831.5072 (until May-2018)
Office hours: Mon/Wed 9:30-10:45am (015 Davis and online), Thu 3-4pm (online only), Fri 4-5pm (online only), and by appointment
Instructor home page: http://www.radford.edu/dbraffitt/
Syllabus: http://www.radford.edu/~dbraffitt/itec122/2018/spring/
Desire2Learn (D2L): https://learn.radford.edu/d2l/home/122600

Radford University, Department of Information Technology
ITEC 122. Discrete Mathematics for Computer Science.
Credit Hours: (3)
An introduction to discrete mathematical concepts including set theory, finite state machines, and induction.
ITEC 122 official course description.

Prerequisites: ITEC 120 (Principles of Computer Science I - Grade of "C" or better) and one of the following MATH courses: MATH 125 (Finite Mathematics for Business and Economics), MATH 126 (Business Calculus), MATH 138 (Precalculus), MATH 140 (Trigonometry and Analytic Geometry), or MATH 151 (Calculus and Analytic Geometry I).

Majors: ITEC 122 serves as a Major Core Requirement for the Computer Science and Technology (CSAT) major.

Minors: ITEC 122 qualifies for 3 credits of the required coursework for any of the Department of Information Technology minors.

Program electives: ITEC 122 serves as an elective course for the Mathematics major concentration in Applied Mathematics and for the Geospatial Science major concentration in Geoinformatics.

Postrequisites: ITEC 122 is a prerequisite for the following courses: ITEC 352 (Computer Organization - prerequisite or corequisite), ITEC 360 (Data Structures and Analysis of Algorithms), ITEC 420 (Computability Theory and Formal Languages), ITEC 451 (Network Design and Analysis), and ITEC 480 (Artificial Intelligence).

Transfer equivalents: ITEC 122 credit can also be obtained through appropriate transfer credit including the following Virginia Community College System course: MTH 287 (Mathematical Structures).

Note that the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Radford offers another Discrete Mathematics course (MATH 142).

Course Section  toptop

Text, Online Materials, ITEC Tutors, labs, LARC, other links  toptop

Textbook cover

Topics  toptop

These course topics cover material similar to ACM's suggested Discrete Structures topics in Computer Science Curricula 2013. The topics also cover material similar to Virginia's suggested topics in Curriculum Framework 2009: Discrete Mathematics.

Goals and Objectives  toptop

Students successfully completing ITEC 122 will be able to do the following:

Exams  toptop

Exams will be completed via D2L in 221 Walker. Students are expected to submit their own work for all exams. There will be two 75 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, closed notes, and closed electronics except for a single D2L window with the exam questions and answer boxes.

All exams are cumulative based on the material covered up through that point in the semester.

Homework  toptop

Homework corresponds to most class meetings and must be submitted by 8pm of the day following class. To receive a full homework grade, you must attend class and complete your class participation card. Homework will be worth 55% of the final grade. Students are expected to submit their own work for all homework 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, instructor name, web resource or tool such as Wolfram Alpha, etc.) at the top of your homework submission. If you used no outside resources other than the text and the supplementary text materials, include a statement at the top of your homework submission that you received no help in completing your homework. No homework submission is complete without a statement about outside help to complete the homework (even if there was no outside help).

Assessment  toptop

The assessment will be weighted as follows:

Two unexcused absences in a week will 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 within 48 hours after that grade is posted in D2L.

Student Responsibilities  toptop

Students are responsible for the information that is included in the assigned readings, lectures, discussions, homework, 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 author. The best preparation for exams is to complete readings and homework and to participate in class by asking questions and participating in discussions.

Excused absences for class attendance are usually granted in cases such as emergency, illness, religious holiday, jury duty, Radford-sponsored travel, or other Radford-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 class absence and the student provides the instructor with any requested documentation for the absence. With your request for an excused absence, include a plan for how you will obtain notes for the class material you will miss. 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 by the due date whether or not a student has an excused absence for a particular class.

No late work will be accepted. There are no time extensions for work submissions. No work submitted via email will be accepted. There is no extra credit work.

Attendance and Participation  toptop

Class attendance is required for students to receive a full grade for the homework corresponding to that class. Absences (excused or otherwise) do not relieve students from the responsibility for subject matter missed or exams or homework 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 course is taught by lectures and discussions which present concepts and examples of applications. Regular homework exercises are assigned and discussed in class. Exercises range from routine drills on basic definitions and concepts to problems which require considerable ingenuity to solve. Homework assignments include some questions typically found on exams.

Class Courtesy Policy  toptop

Please set cell phones, pagers, and notebook computers to silent during class. Students are encouraged to bring computers to all ITEC 122 classes. Computers should primarily be used for work relevant to ITEC 122 during ITEC 122 classes. Please refrain from any activities while in class that would be disruptive to the class.

Honor Code  toptop

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:

You may ask for help on homework from a tutor, or you may use web resources and tools such as Wolfram Alpha, but you must document in your homework submission any help you receive or tools you used to complete homework problems, and you must include a statement on outside help on all homework submissions, even if you received no outside help. You are responsible for understanding your work. You cannot learn how to solve discrete mathematics problems unless you complete the homework assignments. You need to be able to understand and explain the work you submit for a grade.

Ask the instructor if you have any questions about what resources you may use to complete homework assignments.

Students With Disabilities  toptop

If you are seeking academic accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act at Radford University, you are required to register with the Center for Accessibility Services (CAS). To receive academic accommodations for this class, please submit your documentation to the CAS in Russell Hall suites 301-327, by fax to 540.831.6525, or by email to cas@radford.edu. After submitting documentation to the CAS office, you will set up an interview with an Accessibility 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/cas/home.html or call 540.831.6350.

Changes to Course Syllabus or Class Schedule  toptop

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  toptop

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  toptop

Schedule  toptop

Class starts Tue 16-Jan in 043 Davis.
Fri 30-Mar (end of 10th week of classes) is the last date to withdraw from an individual class with a grade of W.
Topics Text Sections Homework
(due 8pm day
after class)		 Exams
(221 Walker)
Week 1
16-Jan		 Logical Thinking Chapter 1 1.1, 1.2 HW 1-x
Week 2
22-Jan		 1.3, 1.4, 1.5 HW 2-x
Week 3
29-Jan		 Relational Thinking Chapter 2 2.1, 2.2 HW 3-x
Week 4
05-Feb		 2.3, 2.4 HW 4-x
Week 5
12-Feb		 2.6 HW 5-x Exam 5
(Thu 15-Feb)
Week 6
19-Feb		 Recursive Thinking Chapter 3 3.1, 3.2 HW 6-x
Week 7
26-Feb		 3.3, 3.4 HW 7-x
Spring Break
05-Mar		 Spring Break week
Week 8
12-Mar		 Quantitative Thinking Chapter 4 4.1, 4.2 HW 8-x
Week 9
19-Mar		 4.3, 4.4, 4.5 HW 9-x
Week 10
26-Mar		 4.6 HW 10-x Exam 10
(Thu 29-Mar)
Week 11
02-Apr		 Analytical Thinking Chapter 5 5.1, 5.2 HW 11-x
Week 12
09-Apr		 5.3, 5.4 HW 12-x
Week 13
16-Apr		 Thinking Through Applications Chapter 6 6.3 HW 13-x
Week 14
23-Apr		 Review HW 14-x
Final Exam
03-May		 Final Exam week Final Exam
(Thu 03-May)

Revised: 15-Jan-2018  Don Braffitt Home   ITEC 122 Home   ITEC Home   Artis CSAT Home   Radford Home   toptop