CS 110: Introduction to Computer Science

Fall 2018

Course Information:
Section: A
Meeting Days: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday
Meeting Time: 8:00 AM - 9:50 AM
Class Location: Shuksan Hall, Room 233
Prerequisites: Eligibility for ENGL& 101 AND eligibility for MATH& 107 or higher; OR
instructor permission.

Instructor Information:
Instructor: Moe Alabdullatif
Email: malabdullatif@everettcc.edu
Office Location: Shuksan Hall, Room 141
Office Hours: By appointment/announcement

Course Description:
Introductory course for students with little programming knowledge and experience.
Familiarizes students with basic software design and programming concepts and constructs
such as data types, assignments, sequential-versus-selective execution, nesting, loops, arrays,
I/O streams and basic procedural programming.

Course Objectives:
This course’s goals in terms of core learning outcomes are to make students able to engage and
take responsibility as active learners, think critically, utilize information literacy skills, and
demonstrate computer and technology proficiency. As for the program-specific outcomes: the
course aims to ensure students demonstrate analytical problem-solving skills and be able to
apply engineering design processes – for more specific computer science and engineering
learning outcomes, please refer to the Learning Outcomes section on this document.
Key Points for Success in this Course:

• Attend class on time – your participation in the in-class activities is crucial to your
success and understanding of the material.
• Homework is important! It is used to prepare you for the next part of the class and the tests, so
do it by the deadlines. The work is also given to provide practice and help you build a solid
foundation that you will need moving forward, both in this class and others.
• Keep me informed: if something goes wrong and prevents you from coming to class or
completing your homework or something is intervening with your productivity in this class,
make sure that you let me know. I can’t help you if you don’t tell me.
• Respect for each other: people learn at different rates. When working with each other, be
patient and understanding. In real-life, you will be programming within a team; it’s important to
hear others’ perspectives and tackle problems cooperatively.
• I can help you learn how to program – but I can’t make you interested in learning it if you’re not.
Be enthusiastic about coding and try to do things on your own. Being an independent learner is
vital to be a successful programmer; it is key to have the ability to work through problems and
learn new things by yourself.
• Make use of the resources you have (me!) and get help when you are stuck: seek the resources
EvCC has provided for you and seek your peers; help each other in a sensible/reasonable
manner (For example, feel free to ask them to explain concepts, but do not ask them to solve a
problem for you).

Please do not ever hesitate to ask for help, but don’t go asking for help when you haven’t tried resolving
the issue at hand yourself. Remember that being an independent learner is key to being a successful
programmer. With that said, don’t stare at the same code for hours unable to figure out what is wrong
after having tried your best to resolve the issue. As previously stated, seek help from EvCC resources,
your peers, or email me and come to my office. Being stuck and making mistakes is completely normal.
(Think of a toddler learning to walk. Their parents help them and push them along… or think of me as the
Yoda to your Luke Skywalker, Help you I will). Speaking of Yoda, I have to say there is one area that I
completely disagree with Yoda on. Yoda says “No try not! Do or Do not. There is no try!”. Well, the truth
is Yoda never had to learn to program. Try is important. Try matters. Trying even when you are not
being successful is more important than you think – Effort matters. When you think you’ve done all
you can do and you are still stuck, then is the perfect moment for you to seek help; as a mature learner
you must recognize when it is time to seek help. This is part of your job as a student.

Learning Outcomes:
Upon successful completion of CS110, a student should be able to:
• Have a clear understanding of the key abstractions of programming:
• Conditionals
• Loops
• Variables
• Code Blocks
• Create and Debug programs to ensure accurate results
• Have a clear understanding of boolean logic and be able to:
o Resolve boolean expressions in a single boolean value
 o Combine compound boolean expression having AND and OR
o Implement the basic constructs (sequence, decision, and looping) of a structured
solution to solve a problem

Textbook:
There is no required textbook for this course. However, this book below is recommended book
and could help you tremendously during the course.

• C++ Quick Syntax Reference

ISBN-13: 978-1484217269
ISBN-10: 1484217268

Grading:
Below is a breakdown of how everything is going to be calculated for your final grade:

Exam 1 10%
Exam 2 15%
Practical Exam 5%
Final Exam 20%
Homework Assignments 25%
In Class Assignments 25%

--------------------------------------------
TOTAL 100%

Letter Grade Ranges

A 95%-100%
A- 93%-95%
B+ 90%-93%
B 87%-90%
B- 83%-87%
C+ 80%-83%
 C 77%-80%
C- 73%-77%
D 70%-73%
D- 60%-70%
F BELOW 60%

• No makeup exams will be given without documentation of extenuating circumstances.

Please email me regarding your absence immediately. If possible, contact me before you miss
the exam.

• Remember that each homework submitted late will have its grade reduced (or portion
thereof) for each day that it is late. No project will be accepted after homework projects are
returned to students.

Academic Honesty Policy:

All course work must represent the knowledge and understanding of each individual student.
Activities that result in submission of completed work not representing each student’s true
understanding of course material is prohibited. You are not permitted to copy assignments from
any source. You may discuss the nature of a problem with others but must give your own
original answers for all assigned work. Students caught cheating will be subject to disciplinary
action at the discretion of the instructor. Disciplinary action may include a grade of F for the
course and a report of offense to the appropriate college authority for further prosecution.

More on Cheating:
Cheating on assignments or on exams will result in a grade of F for the assignment and possibly
the course.

• Cheating on Exams: on exams and practical exams, you should have no exterior help of any
kind. You can ask the proctor of the exam questions about the exam.
• Cheating on In Class Assignments: work done in lab (not assignments) is designed to be
collaborative. You are not only allowed to help each other, but it is encouraged! Therefore,
there is no cheating in this context.
• Cheating on Homework: homework should be done on your own. However, you are allowed
to get help if you need it and you are encouraged to use the resources provided.

Forms of Help for Homework:

• The Internet: You can search the Internet and look at examples for ideas. Do not copy and
paste code into your assignment. Do not copy code verbatim (word for word). Turning in
 code you did not write is considered cheating. If you are concerned you have taken too
much from a source, make note of it in your code with a comment and cite the source.

• Instructor: The Instructor is a great way to get help. If you get help from another instructor
and it is more than a quick question you should make note of it in your code with a
comment, just so I know who helped you.

• Fellow Students: You may discuss the homework with your fellow students. If it is more
than a quick question you must make note of it in your code with a comment (Include their
name). You should not share any code with fellow students. Telling someone step-by-step
what to type is also sharing code. If I receive identical code with a comment indicating you
collaborated, then you will lose points (you may also be asked not to collaborate again). If I
receive identical code with no comment indicating that you collaborated, you can possibly
receive an F for the course and face other punishments.

Course Policies:

• Class attendance and participation are crucial for successful completion of the course. In
class assignments and quizzes will be given on a regular basis. Those students who are
present will receive credit for the exercise, while those absent will have a zero recorded.

• This is a fast-paced course, and students are expected to behave and to put forth their best
effort towards the class. Behavior that interferes with another student's learning will not be
tolerated.

• Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Plagiarism includes but is not limited to submitting, to
satisfy an academic requirement, any document that has been copied in whole or part from
another individual's work without identifying that individual. Failure to adhere to this
standard will result in a grade of "F" for the course.

• If you are a student with a documented disability and have not voluntarily disclosed the
nature of your disability and the support you need, you are invited to contact the Center for
Disability Services – CDS in, Parks Student Union Room 267 or email cds@everettcc.edu for
assistance. More information: https://www.everettcc.edu/students/cds/

• If, for any reason, you are unable to fulfill the requirements for this course, talk to your
instructor or your counselor. Do not assume that if you simply stop attending classes your
instructor will drop you from the course.
Topics:
The topics covered in this course will be as follows, please consult the Canvas course site for
specific dates and a schedule:

• Intro to programming
• Compiling
• Programming Affordances
• Variables and Types
• Debugging
• I/O Streams
• Boolean Logic
• Conditionals
• Nested Conditionals
• Loops
• Nested Loops
• Arrays
• Creating Functions