OBJECTIVES/COURSE OVERVIEW

This course will introduce the core ideas of computing science and basics of programming to stu- dents with little or no background in computing science or programming. Students will learn the  fundamentals of computing science such as representation and storage of information in a com-   puting machine, structured representation of data (data structures) and developing algorithms to   solve certain problems. In this course, we will be using the Python Programming Language. Py-  thon is a wonderful high-level computer programming language for beginners as it involves little details of the language in order to use it for simple programming works. Therefore, students will spend less time on worrying about language details and focus more on the science of computing. The topics covered in the course are:

•   Representation and Storage of information on a computing machine

•   Elementary Programming in Python: Data types and simple input/output operations

•   Control Structures and Modular Programming with Functions

•   Moving from problem statement to computational formulation of a method for solving the problem: Pseudo-code and Algorithm Development

•   Recursion

•   Fundamental Algorithms and Introduction to Complexity Theory

TEXTBOOK

1.   (Required) Think CsPy - How to Think Like a Computer Scientist:

https://runestone.academy/runestone/books/published/thinkcspy/index.html

2.   (Reference) Think Python – How to think like a computer scientist, 2nd  Edition, Ver-

sion 2.4 .0, Allen Downey, Green Tea Press, 2015 :

https://greenteapress.com/wp/think-python-2e/

3.   (Reference) Python DS:

https://www.tutorialspoint.com/python_data_structure/index.htm

4.   (Reference) CMPT120 Study Guide: Greg Baker, SFU, 2007: This book uses Python 2 and is available online through the link on Moodle.

COURSE SOFTWARE

The course will use Python 3 which can be downloaded from https://www.python.org/down- loads/windows/

COURSE ASSESSMENT

Final Exam: 40%

Midterm Exam: 30%

Quizzes: 15%

Assignments: 15%

Note:

•  Students must attain an overall passing grade on the weighted average of exams in the course in order to obtain a clear pass (C- or better). Students who do not obtain a passing grade in the final exam may not obtain a pass (D or better).

COMMUNICATION

Please contact me through email and I will try to respond within 48 hours, but please do not expect immediate responses.

Announcement Forum: At the top of the Moodle page, in the Welcome section of the course, there will be a forum. Follow the Announcement forum for important announcements or       updates from your instructor.

COURSE ASSESSMENT DETAILS

Quizzes (15%)

In this course, you are scheduled to write an exam every 2 weeks, starting from week 2, which  cover 2 weeks of material. This is to strongly encourage you to study each week’s work that      same week. These quizzes will be typical problem solving and programming or analysis            questions which will be posted on Moodle and that you need to work on a computer and upload your work on Moodle. The quizzes will be during our lab sessions.

Assignments (15%)

There will be three assignments during the semester. Each assignment problem statement will be uploaded on Moodle with a clearly stated due date for submission. Assignments are individual    work. Each student must write his/her own code and submit. Submitting the same code like any  other student, past or present, is prohibited.

You are required to submit your assignment by uploading it onto Moodle. Moodle will not allow you to upload an assignment after the due date and time. Late submission of assignments          through email is not accepted. I will post the details on date, time, and format of the assign-

ments later on Moodle.

Midterm Exam (30%)

There will be a midterm exam tentatively on Week 8 (Materials from weeks 1-7)

Exact dates and details to be announced.

Final Exam (40%)

The final exam will be cumulative, including materials from week 1 to 13 of the course. It is scheduled during FIC final exam period. You will be notified of the date and time later in the semester by FIC.

Notes

•   Every student is required to submit his/her own original work for any assessment of the   course (quizzes, assignments, midterm exam, and final exam). Even if you are a repeat    student, you still are required to submit original work. Any work that is not original com- prises academic misconduct. If the instructor suspects any academic misconduct, then the instructor reserves the right to re-examine the student on a one to one basis and take fur-  ther actions together with FIC administration.

•   I will record your marks on Moodle in a timely manner. Please check your marks regu-  larly. If there is any error, let me know as soon as possible. All mark concerns should be resolved before the end of the last week of the semester.

GRADE DISTRIBUTION

Grade distribution is not pre-determined. It may vary from semester to semester.