1. Course Goals

The stated outcomes of CS3 are:

• Students will be able to explain the properties of stacks, queues, lists, trees, and graphs, implement them, apply them to common software problems when appropriate, and analyze their performance.
• Students will be able to analyze the efficiency of algorithms, including those used for sorting and searching.
• Students will be able to translate requirements for small software problems into algorithmic solutions and working programs.
• Students will be able to describe hashing techniques and apply them to appropriate data organization problems.
• Students will be able to discuss ethical issues that arise in the computer science discipline.
• (RAPT ONLY) Students will be able to design and implement a substantial quarter long project while working in small teams.

2. Texts

• Assorted documents produced by the faculty of the Department of Computer Science.
• Assorted readings from electronically available books

3. Grading Policy

The projects are an integral part of this course, and the experience you gain from them is valuable. Please note that if you have questions about the grading of any exam or project or lab, you must bring it to your instructor's attention within one (1) week after the graded material (handed back through wtry or in class) has been handed back. After that time, your right to appeal will have expired and no grade adjustments will be considered!

4. Course Format

Lectures are held in the classrooms shown on your schedule. You are expected to attend all lectures; attendance records will be kept. Labs are held in one of the Instructional Computing Laboratories (ICLs) in the Golisano Building (Building 70), and should also be on your schedule.

Although it is possible to hand in work for some of the labs without actually attending the laboratory class, you are always expected to be there. Severe grade penalties will result from your not attending lab classes.

The lab hours are posted outside each of the labs. Generally, ICL 6 is open for your use during normal lab hourse, unless there is a class inside of the lab.

5. Laboratories

You will have nearly a week to complete each lab. Labs are due at the end of the day one day prior to your next scheduled lab session (e.g. students who have their lab on Thursday must submit their work before the end of the following Wednesday). You will receive your grade via logging into wtry, typically within a week after the due date. There is no penalty for resubmitting, only the last submission will be graded.

Your lab grade is computed in the following manner:

1. Your point total on each lab is first converted to a percentage of the number of points possible for that lab. Any labs that you did not do count as 0%.
2. These percentages are then averaged.
3. The average is then divided by 0.95; if the result is greater than 100%, it is set to 100%.

1. The percentages for these labs would be 90 and 80, respectively.
2. These percentages are averaged with the other eight; suppose the final result is 87%.
3. 87% divided by .95 is 91.58%: this would be your lab grade.

6. Projects

Programming projects are an activity for this course. They are larger problems for you to solve outside of lab or lecture time. Your project this quarter will be done as a team and will be made up of several mini-projects. For each project you will have approximately 2 weeks in which to complete the work. There will be one or more submission targets to match these deadlines; the project handout will specify the details. The project handout will also clearly indicate project due dates, and whether projects may be submitted late, with substantial penalty. The projects are coordinated and graded by your lecture instructor.

7. Exams

You are expected to take exams during the scheduled period; in general, we will not give make-up exams. However, we realize that some situations might arise that would prevent you from taking an exam: severe illness, accidents, etc. Should this occur, you must inform your lecture instructor prior to the exam; you can either call him/her or leave a message with the staff in the Computer Science Department office (70-3005, telephone 475-2995). Once you return, we will make specific arrangements regarding the missed exam.

Please note that oversleeping, cars that don't start, and other excuses of this ilk are not generally valid. It is your responsibility to get to class on time for exams. If you miss an exam and did not make prior arrangements for a makeup, you will receive a zero for it.

8. Final Exam

RIT recently announced new policies regarding final examinations.  Of direct relevance here are two cases: (1) a conflict in which a student is scheduled for two final exams at the same time and (2) a situation in which a student is scheduled for three or more final exams on the same day.  In case (1), there are several rules which determine which final exam takes precedence.  In case (2), a student has the right (if they wish) not to take three or more final exams in one day.  In both cases, if a student desires an adjustment of their final exam schedule, they must submit a written request for rescheduling, by the last day of the sixth week of classes, to the head of their home department, with a copy of the request given to the instructor being asked to provide the rescheduled final exam.  We highly recommend that students first discuss their situation with all instructors involved.

9. Academic Honesty

It is a shame that this must be stated at all, but there are always a few students who do not abide by the rules of proper academic conduct. For the record, on individual labs:

• You may discuss logically how to complete the labs, as the purpose of them is to increase your understanding.
• However, this does not mean that someone else can do your lab for you or that you can share lab code with another person.
• The corollary is that you may not do someone else's work for them either. A willing supplier of the material is as guilty of academic dishonesty as the receiver.
• Any help you receive from someone must be acknowledged in the work submitted. Failure to acknowledge the source of a significant idea or approach is considered plagiarism and not allowed. 

Those who behave in a dishonest or unethical manner in computer science courses, or in their dealings with the Computer Science Department, are subject to disciplinary action. In particular, dishonest or unethical behavior in the execution of assigned work in a computer science course will be treated as follows:

1. For a first offense the student involved will receive a grade of zero on the assignment. [A stronger penalty may be exacted, if, in the judgement of the instructor, the offense involves a flagrant violation of basical ethical standards.]
2. For a second offense, in the same or a different course, the student will receive a failing grade for that course.
3. A third offense will be referred to judicial affairs.

• If the student is a computer science major, a letter recording the incident will be placed in the student's departmental file; otherwise, the letter will be forwarded to the student's department chair or program coordinator.
• Violations of the Code of Conduct... can also result in suspension, expulsion and even criminal charges.

10. Getting Help

10.1. Tutoring Center/Extra Help Sessions

From time to time, instructors or others offer extra help sessions. These are typically announced in lecture.

10.2. Instructors

11. General Conduct

12. Policy on W and I Grades

This course has been designed so that you can complete all the work in one quarter. Thus incomplete grades will be given only in the most exceptional circumstances, and then only by prior arrangement with your lecture instructor. Your lecture instructor has the final say in this matter.

13. Disclaimer