General
Course Staff
Office Hours
vkp
WVH322
..
Monday
..
3:00pm-4:00pm
Wednesday
..
3:00pm-4:00pm
Thursday
..
11:00am-12:00pm
A. Student
student
WVH102
..
Thursday
..
3:00-5:00pm
Communication
Use CCIS email (@ccs.neu.edu) to reach the instructor or the grader; usernames are given above.
If you cannot make the instructor’s office hours, please schedule an alternate time via email or in person after the lecture.
Lectures are held Thursdays at 6:00pm - 9:00pm in 221 Hayden Hall
Homework
Hints:
When solving a problem you can use all the results seen in class. You should not use other sources. I want you to spend your time thinking about the problems, not searching for a solution on the web.
Some of the exercises will be routine, but others will be more challenging. I do not expect you to solve all of the homework problems, but I hope that you will benefit from working on the more difficult ones.
A few additional hints on the homework assignments:
Start early: Difficult problems are not typically solved in one sitting. Start early and let the ideas come to you over the course of a few days.
Be rigorous: CS3800 is a theory course, and as such, a certain level of mathematical rigor will be expected in your solutions.
Be concise: Express your solutions at the proper level of detail. Give enough details to clearly present your solution, but not so many that the main ideas are obscured.
Work with others: Some of the problems will be difficult, and it will often be helpful to discuss them with others. Feel free to form study groups. However, the idea is for everyone to understand the problems and experience working through the solutions, so you may not simply "give" a solution to another classmate.
In particular, each student must write up his or her own homework solutions and must not read or copy the solutions of others.
If you work with others on a problem, you must note with whom you discussed the problem at the beginning of your solution write-up.
Grading
Assignment submission:
Homework is due in hardcopy form by the beginning of class on the announced due date. Programming assignments submission details will be provided as necessary. You will be granted one homework extension, to be used at your discretion, no questions asked. After the first late assignment, unexcused late assignments will be penalized as follows:
Any assignment turned in to me (or to the grader) personally, or placed in my mailbox in 202 WVH in a sealed envelope by the end of the workday on Friday will incur a 10% penalty.
You will incur a 30% late penalty if it appears in my mailbox by 3:30 the following Monday; it will incur a late penalty of 50% if it appears in my mailbox by 3:30 the following Tuesday.
No assignments will be accepted beyond the 50% late penalty period.
Also, there will be one or two assignments that will not be accepted late at all because solutions will be provided at that class period to help you prepare for an upcoming exam. When this is the case it will be clearly indicated on the assignment.
If you will have a valid reason for turning in an assignment late, please see me in advance to obtain full credit.
Grading of the Assignments:
We will employ a somewhat unusual grading scheme.
Each homework assignment will have n problems, and each problem will be worth k points. You will be required to attempt any m problems.
(The parameters n, m and k will vary from assignment to assignment.)
These m problems will be graded in the usual manner: you will receive full or partial credit out of k points.
You may also choose to attempt the remaining n-m problems. These problems will be graded as follows.
Say that you would have received a score of j points if this problem had been graded normally. If j is less than k/2, then you will receive zero out of zero points, as if you had not attempted the problem.
Otherwise, you will receive 2j out of 2j points.
Note that attempting extra problems can only help you. Your grade on an assignment will be reported as two numbers: the points you obtain and the points you effectively attempt.
Your homework grade at the end of the term will be calculated as the sum of the points you obtained divided by the sum of the points you effectively attempted.
The purpose of this policy is threefold:
It is designed to not penalize you for skipping some problems.
It is designed to encourage you to attempt all of the problems.
It is designed specifically to discourage you from writing up long answers which you suspect are incorrect, in the hopes of picking up a point or two.
Note: Your free late assignment and any unexcused late assignments will only be graded for regular problems. Excused late assignments (e.g., due to illness) will be graded for both regular and extra credit.
Your final grade is calculated as follows:
Quizzes: 75%
Homework: 25%
There will be three quizzes. The last quiz will be held during exam week. The other quizzes will be held during regular class times.
Half of your least-scoring quiz will be "dropped." That is, it will not count towards your final grade.
Quizzes are "closed-book." except for one page of hand-written notes. You cannot bring any book, notes, or electronic device.
Your least-scoring problem-set will also be "dropped." That is, it will not count toward your final problem-set grade.
Quiz dates:
Quiz 1: 2/7, in class
Quiz 2: 3/14, in class
Quiz3 3: Friday 4/19 10:30 am - 12:30 pm in 420 SH