UCR CS 10: Introduction to Computer Science I

General course policies (please read these carefully!!)

• Material covered: As mentioned above, the course consists of all material covered in lectures, labs, assigned reading, programming assignments, etc. While there is considerable overlap among these elements, they are to be considered separate and individually essential building blocks of your introduction to the art and science of computer programming.


• Pair Programming
  For courses in which the Pair Programming methodolgy is adopted for home programming assignments, you will need to read & follow carefully the guidelines, and use this template for the personal log that must accompany every assignment submission.


• Assignment Submissions: All turned-in assignments will be turned in electronically. Each file should begin with our report template header. Source code should comply with professionally accepted coding standards. Also, you must include a section explaining the design, structure, etc. of your program and how it works. Comments in source code are important, but they are not a replacement for an explanatory section.
  Please remember that successfully writing a computer program that compiles and runs correctly is not something anyone can do in just a few minutes, even when it looks easy. Debugging typically takes three times longer than figuring out how to write your program. So don't leave your programming assignments to the last minute!


• Collaboration policy
  In general, we have found that one of the best predictors of success in these courses is participation in a study group of some kind. We encourage you to work together and learn from each other in as many ways as possible, and we will provide any assistance we can to make this happen.
  However, we also have to assess each student individually, so there are very explicit boundaries to collaboration:
  • Midterm, final, quizzes, lab tests -- Obviously no collaboration
  • In-lecture exercises -- mostly done as teams requiring active participation.
  • Homeworks -- Collaboration is strongly ENCOURAGED, although of course, you should still submit your own solutions (cut & paste submissions will be treated as academic dishonesty - see below).
    In the past, many questions on the midterm and final exams have been taken directly from homeworks.
  • In-lab exercises -- Collaboration is strongly ENCOURAGED. If you complete an exercise, feel free to help others -- teaching enhances your own learning.
  • Home programming assignments -- Under the pair programming paradigm, you are expected to produce a single program created by two people working together.
    However, copying code from ANY outside source (any book, current or past students, past solutions (even if they are your own!), web sites, etc.) is still STRICTLY FORBIDDEN: we test every submission for copying, and when we find it we treat it as flagrant academic dishonesty (see below).
    


• Academic dishonesty: cheating of any sort is severely punished.
  Report cheating (anonymously if you wish) at: https://www.cs.ucr.edu/cheating/.
  We use a powerful tool that automatically compares all programs (this quarter and from past quarters too), neglecting changes in variable names, spacing,etc., and detects copied code. If you are smart enough to outwit the tool, you are smart enough to write the program yourself. We regularly catch several cases of copying in the course EVERY QUARTER, with severe penalties given.
  Other forms of cheating, such as lying to an instructor in order to be allowed to make up a test, or copying on a quiz, etc., are all treated with the same severity.
  PLEASE, don't risk it!! We hate failing students!!


• Regrade policy: regrade requests must be submitted in writing and within one week of the posting of the relevant grades. Likewise, grade-database errors should be pointed out within one week of posting.


• Communicating with the instructors and TAs: when emailing your instructors or TAs, please remember that many students have the same name, and your instructor may be teaching other courses too. So please give your full name and list the course you are referring to, and preferably include your cs login id. You should use your UCR email account (remember that UCR sends many official notices now only by email). Please try to be polite and professional, and use reasonable grammar and formatting.


• Quizzes and in-class activities: You will need the "personalized" multiple choice answer sheet available here. You should print multiple copies of your personal answer sheet, and bring them with you to every class.


• Lab attendance : is required for the full 3-hour lab. If you finish early, help others (teaching increases your own learning), read ahead, work on your at-home program assignments, etc.


• Lab enrollment : To reduce disruptions and provide for the best educational environment, all persons in lab during scheduled lab time should be formally registered in that section. In general, no swapping sections and no unregistered people in the lab are allowed, even if there are extra computers.


• Switching/adding/dropping lab and lecture sections: all add, drop, and section changes of all lower division Computer Science courses, after the period when students can do so electronically is over, are done through the College of Engineering's Student Affairs office. Neither the instructors nor the CS department itself can sign any add/drop forms, nor can they arrange for section changes. Please go to Student Affairs, Bourns Hall A159, for any such changes.


• Time Requirements: This is a four-unit CS course. As such, you should expect to spend 3 hours/week in lecture, 3 hours/week in lab, and 6 to 10 hours/week doing individual study (readings, hws, programming, lab preparation, etc) -- no, we're not exaggerating!
  Please don't underestimate the time you will need to spend on this course. These are real time amounts spent by successful past students.


• Final Exams are scheduled by the University, not by the instructor, and are correlated to the course sections. This means you must take the final exam scheduled for the section you are enrolled in.


• Final grades: Per university policy, changes to your final grade can be made only in the event of a clerical error. Asking your instructor how far you were from a cutoff and what extra work you can do to improve the grade is not appropriate.

Electronic assignment turn-in

• Instructions
• Turn-In Page

Anonymously report suspected cheating

• here

Anonymously Provide Comments/Suggestions

• here

Grades

• Grades will be mailed to you on a regular basis throughout the quarter.

Additional Resources

• Coding Style Guide
• UCR CS department's FAQ Page.
• Password Lookup
• Quiz Forms