CS 241 SYLLABUS

DATA STRUCTURES, AUTUMN 2007

Instructor: Scott Bouma Email: scott.bouma@umontana.edu

Office Hours: ½ hour after any labs, and other times by appointment.

Class: 6:10-7:30pm Mon. and Wed. in room SS462: lectures to be attended by all

6:10-7:00pm Tues. in room SS362: lab section 1

6:10-7:00pm Thurs. in room SS362: lab section 2

Final Exam: 7:40-9:40pm Mon. December 10 in room SS362

Text/Materials:

Data Structures and Algorithms is JAVA, 4^th Edition

Michael T. Goodrich and Roberto Tamassia

2006, Wiley

ISBN 0-471-73884-0

Prerequisites:

Students that do not meet course prerequisites have great difficulty in performing well in this course. Make certain the following are met before enrolling in this class; no time will be spent reviewing material in the prerequisite courses.

• Computer Science 132, Fundamentals of Computer Science II

• Math 225, Discrete Mathematics (co-requisite)

• Or consent of instructor.

Course Objectives

In this course, the instructors are trying to achieve the following:

• Develop a solid understanding of data structures, data abstraction, and algorithms that utilize abstract data types.

• Give students a functional ability to create working Java programs from the formal specification of abstract data types.

• Introduce recursion and algorithmic analysis.

• Improve the students’ strengths as software engineers.

• Strengthen the students’ programming skills, particularly in the Java programming language.

• Prepare the students for upper level computer science course work.

Attendance Policy:

You are expected to attend all classes on time. If you do not attend a lecture, you are responsible to learn what you missed. This includes any changes regarding assignments, exams or any other course related material. Information disseminated in class may not be in the text books. The instructor is not responsible for helping students acquire material missed due to missing class. So, miss classes at your own risk. Exceptions are illness (documented by a doctor), death in the family, unforeseen work conflict, or some other unforeseen reasonable disaster.

Cell Phones:

Turn them off or put them on vibrate so you don’t disturb others. If you need to take a call, take it outside the classroom.

Professionalism:

Profanity, obscenity, racial slurs and hate related remarks will not be tolerated in class or on assignments. You will be expected and required to act as good, responsible, respecting adults by this society’s standards.

With 30 students in the room, noise may be a problem. You will remain quiet during class time other than questions, answers (to the instructor) or class group work. Visiting in class is inconsiderate to others. Anyone who does not abide by this rule will be asked to leave and may lose points from their grade. If this behavior persists over a period of time (more than one class) student(s) may be removed from class permanently, which may result in failure of the course. Read “The Student Conduct Code” for more details.

Regarding cheating, “Plagiarism is the representing of another’s work as one’s own. It is a particularly intolerable offense in the academic community and is strictly forbidden.” (UM 2007-2008 Catalog) Students are encouraged (under most circumstances) to help each other, study together, and get assistance from TAs and instructors. This type of collaboration is acceptable in this class. However, any and all work handed in by a student must be the unique work of that student. The exception to this rule would be team projects (assigned by the instructor). Any students found copying (plagiarizing) from current or previous students, or published sources (including the internet), will be penalized with the maximum punishment permitted in the student conduct code. That is to say, the matter will be handed over to the academic Dean and academic misconduct proceedings will take place.

At any time classes or labs are scheduled or by appointment, a student may be asked to prove their ability to perform tasks demonstrated through assignments if there is any question of cheating. Watching someone do an assignment and making a copy for you is not the same as doing the assignment yourself and is considered cheating.

Blackboard:

This class will use the Blackboard class management system as a supplement. Thus, to hand in assignments, retrieve grades, communicate with me or other students, etc., you will logon to Blackboard via umonline.umt.edu.

Communication:

Communication is vital to solve class-related problems or personal problems that affect your scholastic performance. Talk to the instructor before problems become insurmountable or lead to failing the course. If the instructor can’t help you, he may be able to direct you to someone who can, or to a university service.

Disabilities:

Students with disabilities should notify the instructor at the beginning of the course. Disabilities should be “certified” by DSS.

Grades:

Student evaluation percentages:

Topic	Percentage of grade
Assignments, tests, and/or quizzes	50
Midterm	20
Comprehensive Final	30
Total	100

Grade percentage range:

A = 90 – 100 B = 80 – 89 C = 70 – 79 D = 60 – 69 F = 59 or less

C/NC = credit/no credit, 60 or greater is Credit, which is a D or better.

Incompletes:

See the catalog for details. “Incomplete for the course is not an option to be exercised at the discretion of students. In all cases it is given at the discretion of the instructor….” Some guidelines for receiving an incomplete are listed in the catalog which include having a passing grade up to three weeks before the end of the semester and being in attendance. “Negligence and indifference are not acceptable reasons.” Also note that there may be financial aid implications.

Late assignment policy:

Late assignments will not be accepted. The answers may be posted, or discussed in class. Assignments will be due before classes for electronic submissions, at the beginning of class for hard copies, or times as specified by instructions for the assignment. All assignments will state due date and time for clarity. This information will also be posted on Blackboard. Assignment due times are subject to change which will be set during class. If you miss class, it is your responsibility to get information about changes (read Attendance Policy). NOTE: If there is a conflict of due dates (e.g. due date on Blackboard differs from due date stated in class), check with the instructor for clarification and correction when assignments are assigned.

Late drop from class policy:

You should read “Academic Policies and Procedures” in the University of Montana 2007- 2008 Catalog for full details on dropping and adding courses. Note:

Beginning the thirty-first (31) instructional day of the semester through the last day of instruction before scheduled final examinations, students must petition to drop, add, and make changes of section, grading option, or credit. The petition form must be signed by the instructor of the course and the student’s advisor and, in the case of drops only, by the dean of the student’s major… There are no refunds or reductions of fees for courses dropped, and the instructor assigns a grade of WP (withdrew/passing) if the student’s course work has been passing or a WF (withdrew/failing) if the course work has been failing … Documented justification is required for dropping courses by petition… The opportunity to drop a course for the current term or alter grading option for such a course ends on the last day of instruction before scheduled final exams.

October 8 is the last day to drop a course before the late drop policy above applies.

Missing tests and exams:

If you miss an exam because of illness (documented by a doctor), death in the family, unforeseen work conflict, or some other unforeseen reasonable disaster, a make-up exam will be scheduled. It may or may not be of the same type. Instead of a written test, it may be an oral or lab test. The instructor will decide this on a case-by case basis.