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CSE102 Spring Semester 2024 Course Information

Course Objectives

This course will:

1. Provide you with foundational computing skills, including:

1.1. Software

1.2. Algorithmic thinking

1.3. Problem solving skills

2. Teach you to write a program, meeting specified requirements, using a high-level language. (Python is the current tool we are using.)

3. Train you in how to become self-sufficient in your use of common computing tools and resources

4. Facilitate long-term acquisition of computing skills, by helping students learn how to learn such skills

5. Provide you with foundational awareness of the computing environment

6. Provide you with an enhanced sense of citizenship in the computing environment

7. Help you develop and enhance critical thinking and problem-solving skills

Learning Outcomes

By mastering the course objectives, you will achieve the following learning outcomes:

· Analytical Thinking

o Acquires, analyzes, and evaluates information from multiple sources

o Synthesizes and applies information within and across disciplines

o Identifies and applies, as appropriate, quantitative methods for defining and responding to problems

o Identifies the credibility, use and misuse of scientific, humanistic, and artistic methods

· Effective Citizenship

o Applies knowledge and abilities to solve societal problems in ethical ways

· Integrated Reasoning

o Uses a variety of inquiry strategies incorporating multiple views to make value judgments, solve problems, answer questions, and generate new understanding

Instructor / Office Hours information

Office Hours location	Scheduled Office Hours	Course Email	Appointments Link
1107 EB	Mon 10:00 - noon	[email protected]	Bookings Calendar
Virtual	Tue 10:00 - noon
1107 EB	Wed 2 - 4
Virtual	Thu 2 - 4

Notes:

1. Any or all instructors may be available during scheduled office hours and students may connect with any instructor to deal with any course-related matter.  Any instructor may also answer questions sent to the cse102 email.

2. To the extent that scheduled office hours are not convenient, you may use the bookings link to schedule an appointment at a different time.

3. Due to logistics of exam administration, there are no office hours on exam days.

4. The Zoom link for virtual instructor office hours, along with other pertinent Zoom links, will be posted on the course home page in D2L.

Course Description

This course covers the following: Problem solving using computers. The fundamentals of computing, algorithms, and programming. Programming and problem solving using a high-level language such as Python. Algorithmic topics including repetition and decision structures, functions, and data structures. Integrating programs with other applications such as spreadsheets.

Prerequisites

(MTH 103 or MTH 103B or MTH 116 or MTH 124 or MTH 132 or MTH 152H or LB 118) or designated score on Mathematics Placement test

Course Structure

This is a flipped classroom model course, meaning that your material and instruction traditionally presented as lecture is done outside of class, while what would traditionally be considered “homework” is done during your scheduled lab class period, where you have TA help available. Your “lecture” is presented via videos embedded in your textbook or posted on D2L.  Just because lectures are done on your own time does not mean there is no lecture or that they are not important.  Note that not watching the videos is the same as skipping a traditional class.

More information about the Flipped Learning model can be found here:  https://er.educause.edu/articles/2017/9/myths-and-facts-about-flipped-learning

The course is offered in two modes: 1) in-person (sections 1-58), and 2) online asynchronous (sections 730-830H). Both in-person and online sections cover the same material and run on the same schedule including assignment deadlines and exams. The Honors section will cover more material and have an additional project.

Students enrolled in in-person sections are expected to meet physically in their classroom in order to do the weekly lab assignments in person and stay for the entire class period. Students who finish the lab assignment early can work on subsequent material in Codio.

Asynchronous sections are self-directed, but not self-paced. Assignments and exams are accessed from D2L on a schedule and have scheduled deadlines.  Exams for asynchronous students must be done in a proctored lab at specific times (see below).

Textbook and Course Materials

Required Text

Everything you need for this course is accessed from D2L.  You are automatically enrolled in the CSE 102 D2L course when you register.  Most info will be on the home page or under the Content tab. There are weekly announcements and assignments from the interactive textbook posted on D2L on a weekly basis. DO NOT rely on any apps that are based on the D2L calendar to notify you about assignments.  It is your responsibility to understand your assignment deadlines and quiz and exam dates from the weekly D2L checklist.

Codio is used as a required text.  Codio is an interactive text and programming platform that requires a subscription.  You will access it via D2L and will be required to pay when you first access it.  The cost is $40. The subscription lasts for 5 months.  If you previously took the course with Codio and are re-taking it, you will be asked to re-subscribe after the 5 months expires.

Because it provides a platform for both course content and graded course assignments, as well as exams, it is impossible to receive a course grade for assigned work if you are not subscribed.  You will need to subscribe to Codio ASAP in order to not fall behind, and we will be using it right away.

Grading Policy

Course Grading Scale

Earned Grade	4.0	3.5	3.0	2.5	2.0	1.5	1.0	0.0
Weighted Score Threshold	90%	85%	80%	75%	70%	65%	60%	< 60%

We do not round weighted scores when determining if a certain grade threshold has been attained. Instructors reserve the right to adjust the course grading scale as appropriate. The grade cutoffs may be adjusted downward if an overall curve is applied at the end of the semester.  In other words, your grade may be higher than listed above, but will never be lower.  

We typically do not curve individual assignments or exams and do not evaluate any potential curve until the end of semester.  You should not expect a curve nor rounding; you can gauge your performance compared to other students by comparing your scores to the median score.

Graded Course Activities

The components of your overall course grade are as follows:

Grading Category	Category Weight	Notes
Exams	60%	Three exams, each weighted at 20%
Quizzes	20%	5 quizzes, each weighted at 4%.  There are 6 scheduled quizzes; if you choose to take all 6, your lowest score will  automatically be dropped.
Lab assignments	10%	On each day when there are no quizzes or exams, you will have a lab assignment that is expected to be completed during your in person class time.
Projects	6%	There will be three projects, each weighted at 2%
Codio assignments	4%	These are exercises in your textbook that help you gain understanding of the video lecture material.  Though they are worth a relatively small number of points, it is critical that you pay close attention as you are doing the exercises since it will help you on quizzes and exams.
Total	100%

Graded Course Activities – Honors Section 830H

Students enrolled in the honors section 830H will have additional material assigned in Codio, and an additional project, but the percentage of grade will be the same as for the other sections.  In other words, 4 projects instead of 3 projects, but projects in total will comprise 6% of the final grade.  Likewise, Codio assignments will still be 4%, but honors students will have additional assignments containing additional material towards the end of the semester.  If you do not get more than 80% of points on the fourth (honors) project, your final overall course grade will be reduced by 10%.

There is no honors option for this class; if you wish honors you must enroll in section 830H, and there will be no addition to section 830H after the open add period.

Exams (60% of overall grade = 20% per exam)

For in-person sections (sections 001-058): each of the three exams will be administered in class during a student's regularly scheduled class time.  If your class meets on Monday/Wednesday, your exams will be during class on a Wednesday.  If your class meets on Tuesday/Thursday, your exams will be during class on a Thursday.  Since this is your regularly scheduled class time, any other exams that conflict with your CSE 102 exams fall outside of their regular class and the other class must offer you an alternate time for their exam.  The dates of the exams are as follows:

       Exam 1:  February 7 or February 8

       Exam 2:  March 20 or March 21

       Exam 3:  April 17 or April 18

For online sections (sections 730-830H): each of the three proctored exams must be taken in person, on the MSU East Lansing campus. They will be at 7:00 pm – 8:50 pm, in either Computer Center (CC) 403 or CC 415. The exams for each section will be as follows:

	Exam 1	Exam 2	Exam 3
Section 730	Wed, Feb 7    CC 403	Wed, Mar 20      CC 403	Wed, Apr 17      CC 403
Section 731	Wed, Feb 7    CC 415	Wed, Mar 20      CC 415	Wed, Apr 17      CC 415
Section 732	Thur, Feb 8    CC 403	Thur, Mar 21      CC 403	Thur, Apr 18      CC 403
Sect 830H	TBD	TBD	TBD

It is your responsibility to make sure you are on campus at the designated room and building before your section’s time in order to be checked in and take your exam.

For honors section students: Your exams will be on either day the exam is being given out. The specific date will be decided once enrollment has settled, and we have the finalized enrollment numbers. You will likely be joining another online section for the exam.

There will be no class or exam during finals week. The third exam will be held during the last week of class during your regularly scheduled class time.

Makeup Exams

Documented university-sanctioned conflicts or documented health-related issues that prevent a student from taking the exam at their regularly scheduled class time will be reviewed for accommodation. No accommodation will be provided for conflicts or issues without supporting documentation, or for conflicts that are not university or health-related. Scheduling of meetings, career fairs, family vacations, or job interviews on exam dates will not be accommodated.  Students who have a conflict with an exam in another course should contact the instructor in the other course for an alternate testing date, since the CSE 102 exams are all during regularly scheduled class time.

For conflicts that are known in advance, students are required to inform their section assistants of such conflict and deliver acceptable supporting documentation to the CSE 102 instructors at least one week before the exam is offered or sooner if the conflict is known before that. If feasible, the student will be scheduled into a different section (day and/or time) to take his or her exam. No accommodation will be provided for any conflict known in advance that is not communicated in a timely manner.

If an emergency issue (e.g., illness, accident, etc.) arises that precludes a student from attending an exam, he/she must notify his/her section assistants and provide supporting documentation to the CSE 102 office (EB 1107) within 24 hours of when his/her exam was scheduled, unless it is medically infeasible to do so.  Any emergency issue must be supported by appropriate documentation (e.g., medical documentation from physician) that includes a third-party statement confirming an inability to attend class and associated dates.  A statement simply indicating that the student had an appointment or was seen by a doctor will not be sufficient. We reserve the right to confirm any documentation via verification with third parties.

Absent extenuating circumstances, a student who starts an exam but cannot finish will not be given full accommodation in the way of a make-up exam. If a student is not feeling well, he or she should consider seeking medical help before beginning his or her exam.

Makeup exams, if not taken during a different class period, will be offered on the Saturday following the scheduled exam, in person, on campus. Remote makeup exams are not offered.

Quizzes (5 quizzes = 20% of overall grade)

You will take 5 quizzes over the course of the semester, but there are 6 scheduled.  If you choose to take all 6, only 5 of them will count towards your grade with the lowest score automatically dropped.  This policy is intended to handle the case where a student must be unavoidably absent for one of the quizzes.  THERE ARE NO MAKE UP QUIZZES. If you miss one quiz for a documented reason, that will be your quiz drop.  In the unlikely event you have more than one missed quiz and both are for a valid, documented reason, we will work with you to make some accommodation, such as averaging your other quiz scores.  If you decide not to take a quiz since only 5 of them count, and then have an illness, accident or other unexpected emergency preventing you from taking a quiz, you will not be given accommodation.

Quizzes are taken in person during your regularly scheduled class period.

In person (sections 1 – 58) quiz dates are as follows, during your class:

· Quiz 1: Jan 21, 22

· Quiz 2: Jan 29, 30

·    EXAM 1: Feb 7,8

· Quiz 3: Feb 21, 22

· Quiz 4: Mar 11, 12

·    EXAM 2: Mar 20, 23

· Quiz 5: Apr 1, 2

· Quiz 6: Apr 10, 11

·    EXAM 3: Apr 17, 18

Asynchronous section (sections 730 – 830H) quizzes:

· Quiz dates for asynchronous sections are as follows:

o Quiz 1: Jan 22

o Quiz 2: Jan 30

o    EXAM 1: Feb 7 or 8

o Quiz 3: Feb 22

o Quiz 4: Mar 12

o    EXAM 2: Mar 11 or 12

o Quiz 5: Apr 2

o Quiz 6: Apr 11

o    EXAM 3: Apr 17 or 18

· Quizzes will be open during the time window from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm on the day of the quiz

· If you can’t make that window let us know now

· You must use the lockdown browser with Respondus so you will need a working camera and microphone, reliable internet, and a quiet environment.

· You will be required to show a 360 degree view of your environment as part of the lockdown browser start up process.  

· You must show the front and back of your note sheet to the camera as part of the lockdown browser start up process

      Keep in mind that all of the Academic Dishonesty Reports filed from last semester were a result of asynchronous students cheating on quizzes.  If you are found cheating on a quiz, you will not just get a 0 on the quiz, you will fail the entire course.

Notesheets

For quizzes and exams, you are allowed to create and use a handwritten sheet of paper with notes written on both sides of the sheet. This must be handwritten. A typed and printed notesheet will not be permitted on exams or quizzes. The best use of the notesheet is not necessarily during the quiz/exam but as a tool to help you study for it. On the sheet, you can write whatever you would like, but full programs such as an entire lab description and specific code used in it are not allowed. Make your notes more generic, which will be more helpful when you get a question that is not identical to one you have already seen. You can still write down code snippets though.

Lab Assignments (10% of overall grade)

Every class period where there is not a quiz or exam, you will have an assigned lab activity.  This may be one or more programs that you are required to do during your class time.  You may discuss these assignments with your classmates and your class ULAs, but remember it is important to get practice creating your own solutions, and it is not helping you if you simply copy a solution from someone else.  Your lab assignment will open at the start of your class and if you are unable to complete it during the class period, you have 16 hours from when the assignment was opened to finish it up.  You may not leave class early if your assignment is not complete at 100% and you must check out with your TA in order to leave class early. For the semester, you are given one lab drop.

Class Lecture and Codio Activities (4% of overall grade)

Each week, there will be assignments for videos ,readings, activities, and homework through Codio via D2L.  In general, your class video lectures and reading assignments for the upcoming week will be due on Sunday night at midnight. 

Projects (6% of overall grade)

There will be 3 project assignments (4 for students in the Honors section) given throughout the semester, which collectively make up 6% of your final grade. 

Again, this is a small proportion of your grade, but one of the main goals of this class is to teach you to apply the concepts learned to be able to solve larger less structured problems.  

Can you work together or use outside resources for help?

Yes, but be careful!.  Remember that the objective of this course is not to earn points, but to learn how to solve problems with a computer.  Thinking about how to apply what you’ve read to solve a new problem is useful for learning.  Talking with someone else about how to solve something is useful for learning.  Watching someone solve a problem is not so useful.  Copying code that was written by someone else is not useful at all.  While turning in your projects with code you got from ChatGPT, sites like Chegg, Brainly, and Quizlet, stackoverflow, YouTube, and groups like Spartan Tutors or just other students who offer to “help” with your projects (even while explaining it in detail), can get you a score on the project, you will not understand the concepts involved. In addition to cheating by not doing your own work, you are cheating yourself out of the practice and experience that will help you do well on the quizzes and exams.  

There is a whole lot of Python that is not covered by our introductory class, and looking for solutions online or hiring a so-called “tutor” who knows a lot of Python but is not familiar with this class will likely yield something that will only confuse you more.

Let’s be clear.  Using code you got from somewhere besides your own brain is still cheating. Will you get an ADR and 0 points for it?  Maybe, maybe not.  Will it help you learn?  Probably not.  Will it hurt you on exams and quizzes?  Definitely yes.  

You can’t play basketball for the Spartans because you watched the NBA playoffs on tv this year.  You can’t learn to swim by watching someone else swim.  Likewise you can not learn to program by watching someone else program, even if they are explaining it every step of the way.  The more you practice the better you get, and it will show in your exam and quiz performance.  We expect all of your work to be your own ideas and implementation.

For help with your projects and assignments, you can attend the help rooms, go to office hours, and post questions and answer them on Piazza.  Copying code written by an AI model or some random person on the internet is not helping you learn, and it will definitely come back to bite you on quizzes and exams, even if you do not get an ADR or a 0.

How to Succeed in this Class

It is important that you not just skim the readings and videos or speed through the exercises in order to just complete the points.  Careful reading and being mindful while doing the exercises, even the ones that are not graded, is critical to your understanding of how things work inside the computer and will lead to better quiz and exam scores.

THIS IS NOT A CLASS WHERE YOU CAN MEMORIZE YOUR WAY TO SUCCESS!

Many students have come this far in their academic careers by only half paying attention in class, skipping readings, and then cramming for a test where they try to memorize things to get by well enough on an exam.  And for some classes that might work.  It will not work for this class.  You have to understand why the computer is responding to your commands the way that it is and what is going on behind the scenes in order to troubleshoot when things go wrong.  It is not a matter of memorizing a magic incantation in Python to accomplish a particular task, though many students still try that approach.  Programming requires thinking, and analysis, not memorization.  And the way to get used to that process of thinking and analysis is to practice it, which is what the Codio activities are intended to help you with.  If you go through lecture and Codio material in a cursory way, you may get some small amount of points, but you will almost certainly do poorly on the exams and quizzes, which form the bulk of your grade.  Make sure you stay caught up and ask for help if you don’t understand something.  Do not think you are “done” just because you received the points.  Reflect on what you learned at the end of each section. And make sure to do ALL of the activities (including things that just seem like “suggestions”) in Codio in order to see and reflect on what happened and why it happened when you changed something in the code, even if it is not a graded activity.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Since projects and Codio activities are submitted in an electronic system that records the current time, your work will be considered late if it is submitted even 1 minute or a fraction of a minute after the deadline.  If 1500 students are all trying to submit 1 minute before the deadline, not all of them may get in before the deadline expires.  Accommodation will NOT be given due to system slowdown or internet or computer problems at the due date/time.  Make your personal deadline 10 minutes before the actual deadline to avoid such problems, or better yet, get done a day or two before the deadline.

ANOTHER IMPORTANT NOTE: Codio records the last submission before the deadline, not the highest scored one.  So if you have gotten, say, 80% on something and want to keep working on it to get to 100%, make sure you save your work in case your score goes down while  debugging so that you can restore your own highest submission before the deadline. You can use something like Notepad or Microsoft Word to save your code locally.

Attendance

Attendance will be taken at every class period, and you are expected to be present at every class.  In every class you will be expected to complete a graded activity; either a Lab, a quiz, or an exam. When you finish your graded activity, you must check out with your TA before you leave instead of simply walking out. Sometimes the TAs will do a wrap of the lab activity which may have valuable info about alternate ways to accomplish the same thing.  If you are unable to finish your Lab assignment before the end of class (but this should be rare), you can still finish it up outside of class within the next 16 hours.  Though attendance is not a formal part of your grade, working on the Labs in a group setting with 2 ULAs present to help guide you will be beneficial to your understanding and practice of programming skills.

Viewing Grades

The course gradebook is maintained in D2L. Students are expected to review their posted grades at least weekly and raise any gradebook discrepancies with their class assistant or with the course instructor. You are responsible for monitoring the correctness of your grade, so dentification of gradebook posting issues must be raised in a timely manner.  DO NOT wait until the end of the semester to raise issues with a grade from the beginning of the semester.  If you wait too long to raise grade issues, your grade will not be updated.