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Syllabus

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imightbeamy edited this page Feb 28, 2014 · 3 revisions

Instructors:

  • Ms. Erica Greene and Ms. Amy Ciavolino (Co-teachers)
  • Mr. Michael Pascual and Mr. Brian Papa (TAs)
  • Ms. Christina Jenkins (iSchool Teacher)

For questions about homework, assignments, or extra help please email us at [email protected]

Days: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Room: 402
Time: 8:00 AM to 9:00 AM

What to Expect

This is a survey course designed to offer students a hands-on introduction to Computer Science. The objectives of this course are:

  • Use problem solving skills and creativity to build interactive programs
  • Show some beautiful applications of computing that have changed the world
  • Learn about the history of computing
  • Discuss current events related to technology

No previous knowledge of computer science or programming is required.

Classes will revolve around learning or reviewing a couple of key topics (~15 minutes), and working on programming projects to apply those principles (~45 minutes). There will also be unit quizzes, programming projects and final project at the end of the course.

Grading

Your grades will be based on:

  • 10% Attendance
    • iSchool attendance policy
  • 20% Work Habits
    • Participating in class discussions
    • Paying attention and completing in class assignments
  • 70% Mastery
    • Programming projects
    • Larger projects demonstrating material taught in class
    • There will be a grading rubric for each project
    • Unit quizzes

Programming assignments will require a computer and are designed to fit in class time.

There will be quizzes at the end of each major unit that will cover that unit. If you miss a quiz due to excused absence, you need to coordinate with the instructors to make up the quiz.

Class Rules

  • Cheating will not be tolerated. If caught copying someone else's work you will receive 0 on that assignment.
    • Looking at pages online in OK
    • Brainstorming with a friend is OK
    • Having your friend teach you a new trick is OK
    • You should never edit someone else’s program
    • You MUST write all your own code
    • You CANNOT copy a classmate’s code
  • All content you create text, images, etc. must be school appropriate. You will receive 0 on an assignment t hat violates this policy.
  • All content you use must be your own work, public domain, or properly cited sources. If you are not sure, ask your instructors.

Resources and Materials

TextBook: Think Python - How to Think Like a Computer Scientist (2013 Edition).
You can download a free PDF of the textbook at http://www.greenteapress.com/thinkpython/thinkpython.pdf.

Computers: In class computers will have Python and the Spider IDE installed. If you’d like to install it on your own computer, Spider can be downloaded at https://code.google.com/p/spyderlib/.

Timeline

We will roughly cover these units during the semester:

  • Python Basics
  • Variables
  • Functions
  • Conditionals
  • Loops
  • Strings
  • Lists
  • Algorithms
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