PRINCIPLES OF PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES: HIGHLIGHTS OF COURSE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES Gary T. Leavens Department of Computer Science, Iowa State University $Date: 1999/01/12 21:44:38 $ This document gives the highlights of the course policies. See the complete course policies in the file ``/home/course/cs342/public/docs/policies-complete.txt'' for the details. 1. YOU MUST BE REGISTERED TO ATTEND To attend this class, you must be registered for it. 2. STAFF Name Office E-mail address Phone ------------------------------------------------------------------ Gary Leavens 229 Atanasoff leavens@cs.iastate.edu 294-1580 Anand Ganapathy 104 Atanasoff anandg@cs.iastate.edu 294-4377 Jeremiah Patterson B20 Atanasoff jerpat@cs.iastate.edu 294-4377 You can send e-mail to the entire staff at once by sending your mail to the address ``cs342s@cs.iastate.edu'' (without the quotes). 2.1 OFFICE HOURS See the file ``/home/course/cs342/public/docs/office-hours.txt'' for the current office hours of the staff. 3. INSTRUCTION 3.4 REQUIRED TEXT There is one required text: ``Essentials of Programming Languages'' by Daniel P. Friedman, Mitchell Wand, and Christopher T. Haynes (MIT Press and McGraw-Hill, 1992). 3.5 RECOMMENDED TEXT You can read the ``Revised^5 Report on The Algorithmic Language Scheme,'' on-line through the course web page, or you can buy a copy at Copyworks (105 Welch Ave.). This is a Scheme reference, and also a good example of how to write a programming language manual. Students in the past have found this helpful. 3.6 RESERVE BOOKS The course text, a reference book for Scheme, and other books related to the course are on reserve at the library. 3.7 COMPUTER ACCOUNTS You must have an account on the Com S department machines (including shazam, stimpy, and popeye), which will be used for this course. If you do not already have such an account, go to the ``Unix Account Activation Terminal'' in 116 Atanasoff Hall. Then follow the directions on that terminal to get your account. If you have problems with this, contact the System Support Group (ssg@cs.iastate.edu) at 294-0179 or go to their office in 108 Atanasoff Hall. 4. GRADING 4.1 Late Policy for Homework Late homework must be handed in to a staff member, email will *not* be accepted. If you can't find your TA to turn in late homework, turn it in to me or the Com S department office in 226 Atanasoff Hall. If you give it to someone in the office, be sure to have them note the time on it. Homeworks due in lecture are due at the beginning of the ``lecture'' meetings. We do give partial credit for homework, so you will have to balance the gain from waiting to get a good version and the loss from handing the homework in late. But it need not be ``perfect''. Homeworks that are late receive points based on the following table. when handed in percentage penalty ---------------------------------------------------------- if answer(s) are given in class 25% (or more due to time) by 5pm of due date 5% at the next lecture meeting 10% by 1 week after due date 25% by 2 week after due date 40% by 3 weeks after due date 55% by 4 weeks after due date 70% later or during last week of classes 100% If you are consistently late with homework, we may stop accepting your late homework. 4.2 No Curve Grading Your grade is independent of anyone else's grade in this class; that is, we do not grade on a curve. Everyone can get an ``A'' in this class. 4.3 Standards for homeworks and tests Although we will not always make fine distinctions in points the nominal minimum standards are given by the following table. minimum percentage grade notes ------------------------------------------ 90% A max of late hw by next class meeting 85% A- 80% B+ 75% B max of late hw by next week (or ans. in class) 70% B- 65% C+ 60% C max of late hw by 2 weeks 55% C- minimum acceptable grade for Com S majors 50% D+ 45% D max of late hw by 3 weeks 40% D- less F 4.4 Homework Problem Types There are 3 kinds of homework problems: normal, suggested practice, and extra credit. The points used to figure your grade on a homework are the points you earn for the normal problems. 4.5 Extra Credit In homeworks for which you do not have any incomplete problems and earned a grade of at least a ``B'' overall, you may accumulate extra credit points on problems marked extra credit. Extra credit problems that are not given explicit due dates may be turned in any time within 3 weeks of the due date of the last normal problem of the homework to which they are attached. However, all extra credit work must be handed in before the last week of classes. 4.6 Final Grades Your final grade will be a weighted average of your fractional grades, with tests counting for 70% of your grade and homework 30%. Note this policy well. The idea is that you should: DO THE HOMEWORKS TO LEARN THE MATERIAL. I reserve the right to adjust your calculated grade downward (towards ``F'') if you do not turn in the homeworks, but get good grades on the tests. 5. CHEATING The simple rule of thumb is: NEVER GIVE OR USE SOMEONE ELSE'S CODE OR WRITTEN ANSWERS. Such exchanges are definitely cheating and not cooperation. We will take action if we catch you cheating on a test or exchanging code or written answers. Read the section on ``academic dishonesty'' in the Iowa State University Bulletin General Catalog. 6. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION The official and complete course policies are in the file ``/home/course/cs342/public/docs/policies-complete.txt'', which you should read.