CSE 191 – Discrete Structures
Spring 2003 Syllabus
Tuesday and Thursday -
Instructor
Information:
Adrienne Decker
email: adrienne@cse.buffalo.edu
Office: 329
Tentative Office Hours:
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
and by Appointment
Teaching
Assistants
TBA
Recitations
|
R1 |
Monday |
|
210 Norton |
|
R2 |
Thursday |
|
10 Capen |
|
R3 |
Wednesday |
|
139 |
Where to get
information for this course:
Course Webpage: http://www.cse.buffalo.edu/faculty/adrienne/SP2003/cse191
Textbooks:
Required:
Judith L. Gersting. 2002. Mathematical Structures for Computer Science (5th edition), W H Freeman & Co, (ISBN: 0716743582)
Course
Description:
The purpose of the course in Discrete
Mathematics Structures
is to provide the foundational material for further study of Computer Science.
Topics in CSE 191 include sets, relations, functions, mathematical induction,
fundamental counting methods, difference equations, sequences, series,
mathematical logic, linear algebra, and graph theory.
Prerequisites: Working knowledge of a programming language. Having successfully completed CSE 115 will
suffice for this class.
Grading Policy:
The following table indicates
the grade breakdown which I will use in assigning grades in the course. I
reserve the right to make adjustments to the breakdown if I feel it is
necessary.
20% - Quizzes
10% - Homeworks
70% - Exams
Attendance Policy:
Attendance is required for
all lectures and recitations. Students
who do not attend class regularly generally do not do as well in the course as
those who do. If for any reason you can
not attend a lecture, it is the student's responsibility to make up the missed
work. Neither the Teaching Assistants
nor the instructor will not take time out of our office hours to reteach
material to students who did not attend class.
If you are absent, get the notes from someone. All handouts, important announcements, and
other printed course material (including this syllabus) are always available on
the webpage, so if you need to be absent, you can get the materials you
missed. Attendance at the exams is mandatory.
Examination Grading:
There will be four exams
given in this class. Three will be held in class during the semester and
one will be held during final exam week. Attendance at exams is
mandatory.
Exam 1 - Thursday, February 20th
Exam 2 - Thursday, March 6th
Exam 3 - Thursday, April 10th
Exam 4 - During exam week - check exam schedule as soon as it is posted.
Please be on time for the
exams. After the first person completes
the exam, turns in the paper and leaves the exam room, no late arriving people
will be permitted to start the exam.
If you do not attend an exam,
you will receive a grade of 0 (zero) for the exam. An exception to this rule
will be made only in the case of a documented medical or family emergency. You
must bring your UB Card to the exams.
In order to receive a passing
grade in the course, you must have a passing exam grade. In other words, your
average over the two exams must be a grade of at least 50% in order for you to
receive a passing grade in the course.
The following table indicates
the number to letter grade mapping I will use to assign final grades at the end
of the course.
|
Percentage Score |
Letter Grade |
|
90 -100 |
A |
|
85 – 89 |
A- |
|
80 – 84 |
B+ |
|
75 – 79 |
B |
|
70 – 74 |
B- |
|
65 – 69 |
C+ |
|
60 – 64 |
C |
|
55 – 59 |
C- |
|
50 – 54 |
D |
|
0 – 49 |
F |
Recitations:
Recitations will be held
weekly at the times scheduled above. I
expect that you will attend your scheduled recitation weekly. If a circumstance should arise that you can
not attend your scheduled recitation for a particular week, you may attend
another recitation. In recitation,
problems will be given for you to work through
for the first portion of the class.
During that time, you may ask questions to the TA about those
problems. During the last few minutes of
the recitation time, a quiz may be administered about the problems you have
been working on. There will be no make
up quizzes given if you miss a quiz in your recitation.
Homework:
Homework will be assigned
each class meeting. The problems will be
announced in class as well as posted on the Homeworks page of the course web
site. Homework for each week will be due
the following Thursday. No late homeworks are accepted. For example, homework assigned on 1/14 and
1/16 will be due at the beginning of class on 1/23. The problems listed
on the web site are those that will be collected. The best ten of your
homeworks will be used to compute your Homework grade for the course
average. Other problems will also be
given as strictly "practice" problems, which students can work on at
their leisure. They will not be collected nor graded. These
problems will be given out in class.
In Class Quizzes:
There may be quizzes given during class. They can be either of the announced or
unannounced variety. These quizzes will
go with combine with your recitation quizzes for the quiz component of your
course grade. No make ups are allowed if
you miss one of these quizzes.
Quiz grading and pass
requirement:
Quizzes (recitation and lecture) are worth 20% of
your course grade. Each quiz will be
worth 2% of your grade. If more than 10
quizzes have been administered during the course of the semester, only the best
ten quizzes will count towards the quiz grade.
In order to receive a passing grade in this class,
you must also have a passing average across all your ten best quizzes
(recitation quizzes and lecture quizzes).
This means that the ten quizzes averaged together must be a 50% in order
for you to pass this class.
Course Policies:
We will follow the University Policy on Academic Integrity, detailed in the Undergraduate Catalog. For more information, see Article 5A of the Student Conduct Rules, University Standards and Administrative Regulations and the UB Teaching and Learning Resources Student Conduct Rules web page. A good application of these rules to computer science is given on the department's web page, and this is the policy we will follow. Please read the policy and understand the implications.
Anyone caught in violation of the policies on academic dishonesty on any assignment will immediately be given a grade of F in the course. For especially flagrant violations, formal proceedings will be initiated. Such proceedings can call for harsher sanction including expulsion from the University.
We have recently acquired access to an electronic means of cheating detection that make it possible to check the entirety of class submissions with ease. All submissions for this class will be run through the analyzer. Nearly every semester, I have seen assignments for which there is strong evidence of academic dishonesty. There is always proper sanction taken against these violations. Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated.
Example
Infractions of Academic Integrity
Examples of conduct considered in violation of the policies on academic integrity include but are not limited to:
Writing code is a lot like writing an essay for an English class. While everyone might have to write an essay on the same topic, each person would not write a paragraph of the essay and then turn in the resulting paper. There is a lot of room for individuality, even when writing on a topic - coding a solution to a problem is the same.
We will follow the UB Undergraduate Catalog Statement on Incomplete Grades, outlined in the Undergraduate Catalog. Take the time to familiarize yourself with the contents of this page.
Generally, incomplete ("I") grades are not given. However, very rarely, circumstances truly beyond the student's control prevents him or her from completing work in the course. In such cases the instructor can give a grade of "I". The student will be given instructions and a deadline for completing the work, usually no more than 30 days past the end of the semester. University and department policy dictate that "I" grades can be given only if the following conditions are met:
· An Incomplete will only be given for missing a small part of the course.
· An Incomplete will only be given when the student misses work due to circumstances beyond his/her control.
· An Incomplete will only be given when the student is passing the course except for the missed material.
· An Incomplete is to be made up with the original course instructor within the time specified by the appropriate University regulation (see appropriate document above), and usually within the following semester.
· An Incomplete will not be given to allow the student to informally retake the entire course, and have that grade count as the grade of the original course.
Incompletes can not be given as a shelter from poor grades. It is the student's responsibility to make a timely resignation from the course if he or she is doing poorly for any reason.
Regrading of Work
Any questions about the grading of a piece of work must be raised within 1 week of the date that the work was returned by the teaching assistant or the instructor. In other words, if you do not pick up your work in a timely fashion, you may forfeit your right to question the grading of your work. Please note, we reserve the right to regrade the entire assignment brought to our attention, possibly leading to a reduction in the overall assignment grade.
Disablities
If you have a diagnosed disability (physical, learning, or psychological) and are registered with the Office of Disability Services, please inform the instructor during the first two weeks of the course. Do not assume that the instructor has received any paperwork about it. It is the student's responsibility to make sure that the instructor receives the paperwork as soon as possible from Disability Services.
Obstruction or
disruption in the classroom
The University recognizes that faculty members are responsible for effective management of the classroom environment to promote conditions which will enhance student learning. Accordingly, instructors should set reasonable rules for classroom behavior and must articulate these rules, in writing, in materials provided to the students at the start of the semester.
Fortunately, student obstructions or disruptions in UB classrooms are rare and seldom lead to disciplinary actions. The term "classroom disruption" means behavior that a reasonable person would view as substantially or repeatedly interfering with the conduct of a class. Examples could include persistently speaking without being recognized, continuing with conversations distracting the class or, in extreme cases, resorting to physical threats or personal assaults.
Lawful, civil expression of disagreement with the instructor or other students is not in itself "disruptive behavior" and is not proscribed under these or any other regulations. However, when student conduct interferes with or prevents the conduct of classes or other university functions or when the safety of members of the campus community is endangered by threats of disruption, violence, or violent acts, the administration has approved the following course or actions:
· If a student is disruptive, he/she should be asked to stop and warned that continuing such disruptive behavior can result in academic or disclipinary action. Many students may be unaware that their behavior is disruptive so that a private conversation with the student is often effective and preferable as an initial step.
· Should the disruptive behavior continue, the faculty member is authorized to ask the student to leave the classroom or site.
· A student may be dismissed from the course for the remainder of the semester, subject to Student Conduct Regulations and due process proceedings, as appropriate.
· If a student refuses to leave the area after being instructed to do so, the student should be informed this refusal is a separate violation subject to additional penalties.
· If, in the instructor's best judgment, the behavior creates a safety risk or makes it impossible to continue class or function, the instructor should contact Public Safety to assist in removal of the student and/or may dismiss class for that day.
Behavioral
Expectations
To prevent and respond to distracting behavior faculty should clarify standards for the conduct of class, either in the syllabus, or by referencing the expectations cited in the Student Conduct Regulations. Classroom "etiquette" expectations should include:
· Attending class and paying attention. Do not ask an instructor to go over material you missed by skipping class or not concentrating.
· Not coming to class late or leaving early. If you must enter a class late, do so quietly and do not disrupt the class by walking between the class and the instructor. Do not leave class unless it is an absolute necessity.
· Not talking with other classmates while the instructor or another student is speaking. If you have a question or a comment, please raise your hand, rather than starting a conversation about it with your neighbor.
· Showing respect and concern for others by not monopolizing class discussion. Allow others time to give their input and ask questions. Do not stray from the topic of class discussion.
· Not eating and drinking during class time.
· Turning off the electronics: cell phones, pagers, and beeper watches.
· Avoiding audible and visible signs of restlessness. These are both rude and disruptive to the rest of the class.
· Focusing on class material during class time. Sleeping, talking to others, doing work for another class, reading the newspaper, checking email, and exploring the internet are unacceptable and can be disruptive.
· Not packing bookbags or backpacks to leave until instructor has dismissed class.
Code:
This page contains a link to the examples of code (if
any) that are shown in class.
Resources:
The
Resources page of the course website has points of interest for all students
taking this class.
Schedule:
A
tentative course schedule is available on the course website.
Disclaimer:
I reserve
the right to change this syllabus and the contents herein if circumstances of
the class/semester require me to do so.
These changes will be announced and posted to the class website.
Student Portion: Signature
form - Student Copy
I
agree to all of the terms and conditions presented in the syllabus for the
University at
I
also understand the definition of academic integrity as outlined by the
syllabus, and understand that if I violate the University at Buffalo's
Department of Computer Science and Engineering's academic integrity policy, I
will minimally receive a grade of F for the course. I understand that any work performed in the
completion of this class can be reviewed at any time for academic integrity
compliance.
I
also understand that I am required to have successfully completed the assigned
pre-requisites for this course. I
understand that if I do not have the required pre-requisites, that I can be
forcibly dropped or resigned form the course.
I
have read the above statement and have read the syllabus and understand what
the expectations are in this course.
CSE 191: Discrete Structures Spring 2003
Student Portion: Signature form
I agree to all of the terms and conditions presented in the
syllabus for the University at
I also understand the definition of academic integrity as outlined by the syllabus, and understand that if I violate the University at Buffalo's Department of Computer Science and Engineering's academic integrity policy, I will minimally receive a grade of F for the course. I understand that any work performed in the completion of this class can be reviewed at any time for academic integrity compliance.
I also understand that I am required to have successfully completed the assigned pre-requisites for this course. I understand that if I do not have the required pre-requisites, that I can be forcibly dropped or resigned form the course.
I have read the above statement and have read the syllabus and understand what the expectations are in this course.
Student Name (print): _____________________________________________________
Signature: _______________________________________________________________
Date: ________________