Course Format

There are two class sessions per week, all held in the computer lab. Class sessions will consist of lecture/discussion of the material, lab exercises and time to work on lab assignments. Homeworks and completed labs will be submitted for grading through the assignments section of BlackBoard for this class. There will be two exams, and two quizzes, and 10 assigned lab homeworks. The quizzes and exams will be based upon the material presented in class and practiced during the labs.

BlackBoard

This course uses BlackBoard exclusively to collect lab assignments, broadcast important messages, post grades, and keep you informed of what of you have submitted and what is missing.

Textbooks

There are no required textbooks for this course.

Lab Attendance

Full Lab Attendance is required for all students who have one or more outstanding uncompleted assignments at the start of the lab period. If all assignments have been completed and submitted, then attendance at a lab period is not required.

"Full Lab Attendance" means not being absent during a lab for more than 10 minutes during a lab period. (The instructor may take attendance multiple times during any lab period.) If a student fails to have full lab attendance while having one or more outstanding uncompleted assignments, then the student will receive no credit for those assignments.

Students will be granted exceptions to the above policy for valid medical reasons, family emergencies, or for other reasons approved by the university. Documented proof is required. In addition, students will be granted one exception (a "mulligan") per semester to the above policy for any reason whatsoever (such as oversleeping,feeling ill, forgetting about the policy, and the like). Students must request such an exception by email within 2 hours of the start of class.

Due Dates for Labs

Labs are completed in two class periods. In the first class period, the material is introduced and explained. Then students are allowed to work on the lab for the remainder of the class period. Students can continue working at home and during the following class period (called the lab period). The lab is actually due at the end of the lab period day at 11:59pm. For example, for a Tuesday/Friday block, if the material is covered on Tuesday, then Friday is a lab period and the lab is due at 11:59pm on Friday evening.

Students who have any lab work outstanding are required to attend the lab period. If all labs have been submitted by the beginning of the lab class, then attendance of the lab class is optional.

Late Submissions

20 percentage points will be deducted from assignments for each day that they are submitted late. Exceptions to this rule will only be granted for a valid medical excuse accompanied by a doctor's note. Any lab that is submitted more than four days past the due date will not receive any credit.

Working on Assignments Outside of Class

You may need to spend more time working on the labs than the time available in class. If possible and when tutors are available, we will be holding help sessions in the lab in WVH 102 on the first floor of West Village H, and you can use this or any of the other open labs on campus to complete the assignments. Please remember that you are responsible for ensuring that no other student has access to your files. You are also responsible for ensuring that you do not edit or submit anyone else's files either intentionally or accidentally.

Collaboration

While you may discuss your assignments with others in the class, we require that all of your work submitted for grading be your own, not copied in whole or in part from anyone. Students are expected to read and understand the Northeastern University Academic Honesty Policy found here. In general, unauthorized collaboration is any collaboration that has not been specifically authorized. However, in this course we specifically list any form of file sharing as unauthorized. Students are expected to read and understand the CS1100 Clarification of the Academic Honesty Policy found here.

Conflicts with University-Sponsored Activities

From the Undergraduate Catalog: "Participation in University-sponsored activities, where the students are representing their University ... may cause absences from class that qualify as excused absences [ which] are not subject to penalty, and missed work may be satisfied through agreement between the students and the instructor." Work is assigned well in advance for students to complete the work on time. No late submissions are accepted even if a student misses due to a University-sponsored event. Quizzes can be made up with tests and tests can be made up with the final. Labs have two classes plus time in-between for completion. Video lectures and tutorials are available online for review should a student have to miss a lecture. Teaching assistants hold help sessions weekly for additional questions.