cmpsc 201 - Penn State Altoona - Penn State University

SYLLABUS FOR CMPSC 201 SPRING 2012
Instructor: Tim Leso, Ph. D Office: 148 LRC Phone: 949-5287
Electronic-Mail ID: T1L@PSU.EDU Bulletin Board: https://cms.psu.edu/
On-Line Materials including Laboratory Assignments on ANGEL
Office Hours: (148 LRC) Tues and Thurs: 3:55pm-4:50pm.
(Virtual Office) on Angel (via Angel Mail)
Lab work in (259 Haw) Tues & Thurs afternoons.
Use ANGEL for course communications. PSU WebMail checked bi-weekly, from @psu.edu
addresses only. Telephone Voice-Mail not used; leave phone message with Faculty Staff
Assistant Mary Novella (or send PSU eMail communications to Mary Novella).
Faculty Staff Assistant: Mary Novella Room: 144 LRC. Phone: 949-5320
eMail Address: MLN13@PSU.EDU Fax located in 144 LRC: 949-5456
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COURSE OBJECTIVES: Procedural computer programming and problem solving
methodology using structured design techniques (modular pseudocode and tracing plus
implementation in the C++ and MatLab programming languages). This course is commonly
called CS1, Engineering Problem Solving, based on the ACM/IEEE-CS Joint Curriculum Task
Force. At Penn State, CmpSc201 emphasizes numerical methods for Engineering Problem
Solving with C++ and MatLab. Prerequisite: MATH 140; Concurrent: MATH 141.
COURSE OVERVIEW: Text: Engineering Problem Solving with C++, 3rd Edition by Etter
(Delores M.). MatLab materials plus structured design techniques are provided by Professor
Leso’s Postings on ANGEL. All of the Postings may be accessed freely throughout the semester
via an Internet browser. Leso’s Postings are divided into Weekly Documents (e.g., Week1e.doc)
that introduce problem solving methods and accompanying Lab Assignments. Only students
registered for CmpSc201 may read, write, and literally interact with the problem-based
assignments provided by Leso and facilitated with ANGEL. Chapters to be read from the Etter
text are announced in the Course Outline. Prior to attending class each week, it is expected that
students read the assigned chapter(s) from Reading Assignments (see page 6), to become
familiar with the weekly lecture topics (see page 5), and engage in problem-based learning
during class/lab times facilitated by ANGEL (URL: https://cms.psu.edu/).
COURSE WORK: The course is presented in a problem-based lab format. Labs cover
computing problem solving methods introduced by instructor followed by direct student
engagement with pseudocode designs, C++ and MatLab written code, execution, and submission
of computer programs electronically to ANGEL drop boxes in the form of compressed zip files
that contain documentation, design, code and output according to problem specifications.
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COURSE GRADING: Two problem solving exams @ 50% of course grade will occur around
the 7 th and 13 th weeks of the semester. Three programming problems @ 40% of course grade
will occur during the semester at approximately weeks 5, 10, and 15. The remaining 10% of
course grade will be divided between lab preparatory work and class participation. A course
grade of A will be awarded for point totals between 900-1000; A- = 880-899; B+ = 850-879; B =
800-849; B- = 780-799; C+ = 750-779; C = 700-749; D = 600-699; below 600 = F.
CLASS ATTENDANCE: Recommended. Demonstrations using computing technology occur
in class via large screen display followed by hands-on, student engagements guided by the
instructor which may only be possible while attending class/lab. Programming problem
requirements (design specifications) are introduced by the instructor to facilitate comprehensive
solutions that may be developed by both instructor and student participants. Problem extensions
and refinements may be assigned later as lab work, progressive problems, and exam questions,
mainly based on class room details that complement exercises and topics from the course
textbook.
GRADE POLICY: Lab work, programming problems, and written exams have scheduled
deadlines. Students missing a scheduled deadline will forfeit 1/3 of the points for each day
an assignment is not submitted. After 3 days of missing a deadline, no points will be given.
Deadlines may occur at the beginning or end of lab time. Submission time is recorded when a
student successfully posts his/her assignment to the designated ANGEL drop box. If a student
posts an assignment after the deadline of the first day and before lab time on the second day, the
assignment is automatically reduced in points by 1/3; after the deadline of the second day and
before lab time on the third day, the assignment is automatically reduced in points by 2/3; after
the deadline of the third day, no points will be given and the drop box is officially closed. Each
student is limited to one posting per assignment. There will be plenty of opportunities to
practice the necessary skills for mastery of submissions before the deadlines. Ordinarily, a fiveminute
warning is given prior to a deadline. Only an Angel Mail posted in the instructor’s
mailbox prior to a deadline will be considered for an omission.
COURSE ETHICS: Students are responsible for completing individual assignments on your
computing devices. You may not use, have in your possession, or loan another's device. (Backup
of your work is required, preferably stored on ITS PASS Space, but a flash drive or use of
ANGEL mail is acceptable.) Students using work or claiming work of others is unethical and a
form of plagiarism. Working with others or receipt of assistance must be cited in the
documentation of programs, specifically at the beginning of the source file comment lines
of your problem module. Any use of design or code from classmates, tutors, friends, textbook
references, web references, etc., must be documented. Unethical practices are addressed in
Altoona College’s and Computer Science Department’s Policies.
http://www.aa.psu.edu/academic/integrity.htm See also PSU Course Policies provided later.
Sample Documentation of a problem module with receipt of assistance follows:
//Programmer: Dr. T
//Date Due: 1/17/12
//Page 36 Chapter 2. Simple C++ Program to compute distance.
//Assistance with sqrt()function provided by Rob the tutor on 1/16/12.
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DUE DATES: Programming Problems and Exams will have scheduled due dates which are
announced on ANGEL; a tentative schedule is listed in this document (see Schedule…, page 5).
The instructor reserves the right to adjust the due dates when situations necessitate. On the due
date, a deadline is required for the submission of the assignment to an ANGEL folder. The time
for the deadline may be start or end of lab time, with a 5-minute warning announcement given by
the instructor before the pending deadline. Grading may only occur when the assignment is
posted to an official ANGEL folder called a DROP BOX. Assignments are not to be mailed to
the instructor’s ANGEL MAILBOX for submission. The best strategy to follow when
submitting an assignment is to honor the deadline with at least some form of program that
executes. A program that minimally executes and meets the deadline will normally provide the
student with the highest grade points. If one misses the deadline however satisfies all of the
programming requirements, there is an automatic late submission reduction of 1/3 points. Note
that your course work will be based primarily on two important items:
1. The quality of your work (your program executes to specifications); and
2. That you meet your deadline for drop box submission.
All college students profess to do great work, but may be lax about deadlines (E.G., professor,
my submission was only 2-minutes pass the deadline!). Remember that your course grade will
focus on both specific design requirements and meeting deadlines.
OVERVIEW OF ASSIGNMENTS: Programming Problems and Exams are conducted in the
computing lab. Seventy minutes are typically the maximum time available for graded
assignments. An individual must have minimally input and output of his/her program executing to
receive satisfactory credit. That is, at least the user interface between the client and the software
program must be executable by the file named labx.exe to be considered successful. [If a labx.exe
file is missing from the labx.zip file posted to the drop box, then that means there was no
error-free code production. Thus no labx.exe results in unsatisfactory performance on a
problem.] Practice is essential during lab work to develop a step-by-step, instruction-byinstruction
testing strategy to guarantee successful execution under problem solving conditions.
Your instructor advocates during his sample solutions to the class “a one construct methodology”
of designing, compiling, debugging, executing, and testing program code which guarantees a
student the ability to create an executable file if the “method” is mastered and used during
assignments. Of course there are other problem solving methods such as brut force or trial-anderror,
but there are no guarantees that ill-conceived habits of one’s choosing will meet a deadline
with an executable. As for the written exams, they are designed to test your knowledge of the
programming concepts core to any computing environment. These concepts cover variables, data
types, storage formats, input and output formats, decision structures, looping structures, functions,
parameters, compound data types, and files. Exam Practice! problems may be found in the
textbook under the Practice! Modify! Problems sections. Exam problems may be administered
with short answers, fill in the blanks, multiple choices, true/false, logical analyses, and syntax
error recognition.
ACCESSORIES: A minimum of 1 flash/usb drive is recommended for storage of your course
work. Other media (e.g., ITS PASS Space) may be used in addition to a flash drive, especially
for back-up storage when and if one loses a flash/usb drive. The internal and external labels of
your flash drive should contain your last name for identification purposes, especially helpful
since many students tend to leave the compute lab without removing their usb drive.
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EXPECTATIONS: Each student should read the ANGEL Weekly Postings and text before
attending class. Lab assignments and problems will concentrate on the Postings. Attend all
classes, and record design strategies/solutions to problems that are introduced in lab. These
designs will be derived in a top-down manner and they will be presented collaboratively. Dr.T
uses the Problem-Based Learning strategy (PBL) that seeks individual contributions to problem
solving, not solely instructor dictation. Do not expect a line-by-line solution to be written on the
board for you to copy. Do not expect the solution to be C++ code only. PBL suggests that you
be given a written problem statement and enough constructive information so that when you
leave the lab you are expected to analyze and construct an algorithm of your own solution to a
similar problem outside of class. In lab, you will need to compile and build your program (and
verify that it works correctly). Your instructor will give you test data to execute so that your
output will conform to required specifications. After each class we recommend at least 2.5 hours
of (practical) work to master your computing skills. To succeed in this course, you should
build your own algorithm for each problem similar to those introduced in lab and
understand how it works. To perform a step-by-step hand-calculation of your design/algorithm
is recommended before coding. Programming/coding will translate from your correct algorithm,
with the use of “the one construct methodology” and your textbook as a programming language
reference manual for C++ syntax rules and examples of error-free coding techniques. Any and
all refinements to your initial algorithm and program will be based on your understanding of
the subject material (i.e., your tool to success). You should not rely on your friends,
classmates, tutors, etc. to assist you throughout the semester. Once in awhile it may be necessary
to minimize the time that it takes you to solve your problem by asking for and seeking
assistance. When and if the need arises to seek help or render assistance, be sure to cite the
person with whom you worked. Remember, you are responsible for academic integrity at the
university; the instructor is responsible for enforcing the university’s code of conduct.
HOW TO MEET THE DEMAND OF THE WORKLOAD: Start early and work through each
introductory problem that is presented in lab. Each week a new construct of computing
technology associated with problem solving and software programming skills is added to your
learning objectives. From the very simple problem solving strategy introduced during the first
week, you will be using and reusing that same construct throughout the semester as more
complex strategies complement and add refinements to basic techniques. So, if you fail to
understand HOW to apply the very simple problem solving strategy to more complex solutions,
you will most likely miss the essence of solving computer-based problems. Computer-based
problems use building blocks from simple/primitive constructs to develop advanced solutions to
more complex algorithms. The simple constructs of data representation and storage (Ch 1.4) are
employed more rigorously when functions (Ch 6) are designed and developed later. Complex
solutions are composed of integrating smaller, more manageable modules into refined and highly
complex software systems. You will not be expected to develop a complex software system, but
you should appreciate HOW software is developed with primitive concepts that you solve your
problems with your understanding. Your safest recourse is to try to master the basic concepts
of data, storage, etc., then functions, by yourself (without too much help from the start) so you
may apply your understanding throughout the semester. Challenge yourself to learn. Your
workload will get easier after you master the basics, guaranteed.
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Schedule 201 Spring 2012
DETAILED SCHEDULE POSTED WEEKLY ON ANGEL
CMPSC 201
TENTATIVE COURSE OUTLINE
SEMESTER
5 MAJOR ASSIGNMENTS (Points)
WEEK TOPIC LABS L1,L2, etc., Participation (100 Points)
1 Computing Systems wk 1 L1 Engr. Problem-Solving Methodology
P.14 Software (C, MATLAB) Ch 1.5 steps: St.Dio.Wo.Dev.Te.
2 C++ Environment wk 2 L2 IDE Edit/Compile/Execute
P.39 Modify! as lab2.zip prog.cppBuildlab2.exe
3 C++ Program w/ Functions wk 3 L3 cmath Library Functions
P.91 Problem 36. as lab3.zip Ch 2.8 Problem Solving Applied
4 I/O Characters & Strings wk 4 L4 string & iomanip Functions
P.68 char ch; cin.get(ch); Pgs.81, 46, 352, 568
5 Structured Programming wk 5 L5 Problem 1 (100)
P. 97 Pseudocode P.104 if(condition)…else
6 Control Structures wk 6 L6 Selection
P.136 Problems 14-15 as lab6.zip P.119 switch(exp)…case:
7 Repetition Structures wk 7 L7 Exam 1 (250)
P.141 while loop P.145 do/while loop
8 Flow Control wk 8 L8 Loops
P.148 for loop P.580 Using Matlab
9 Files wk 9 L9 ofstream class member functions
P.181 File streams .open() and .close()
10 Modular Programming wk 10 L10 Problem 2 (200)
P.228 Pgr-Def’d Functions P.239 parameter passing
11 MatLab Operations wk 11 L11 Vector Processing
P.309 Arrays P.319 function arguments
12 2-D Arrays wk 12 L12 Linear Systems
P.383 P.407 Matrices
13 Matrices in MatLab wk 13 L13 Exam 2 (250)
P.410 Matrix multiplication P.522 Recursive Fibonacci
14 Simultaneous Solutions wk 14 L14 Cramer, Gauss
P. 412 Symbolic Math ToolBox
15 Plotting wk 15 L15 Problem 3 (100)
Problems 1,2,3 are evaluated for a total of 400 points, w/ grading rubric for Problem 2
consisting of Documentation (25 points), Design (25), Code (100), and Output (50)…RE: page
7.
Exams 1,2 are 250 points each; the other 100 points are for lab work and participation.
Sample problems may include Monte Carlo Simulation, Newton and Euler Methods, Matrix
Multiplication, Linear Systems, Gauss Elimination, Cramer’s Rule, and Vector Processing.
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Reading Assignments in
SEMESTER
Engineering Problem Solving with C++
WEEK TOPIC by Etter (see footnote below)
1 Syllabus & Prob.Solving wk 1 Ch 1, Data and Storage
2 IDE Code Development wk 2 Ch 2 & Ch 4.7 MSVC++
3 Library Function Calls wk 3 Ch 2.7 & Appen A, B, E
4 Char, String Functions wk 4 Ch 7.7-7.8 & Appen A, B
5 Control Structures wk 5 Ch 3 Selection if/else
6 Control Structures wk 6 Ch 3 Selection switch
7 Repetition wk 7 Ch 4, *Matlab basics
8 Repetition wk 8 Ch 4, *Matlab Flow Control
9 Data Files wk 9 Ch 5 & Appen C
10 Functions wk 10 Ch 6
11 1-D array wk 11 Ch 7 and Matlab
12 Matrix wk 12 Ch 8 and Matlab
13 Recursion wk 13 Ch 10.4 and Matlab
14 Matlab wk 14 Appendix C and EXCEL
15 Plotting wk 15 ANGEL and Matlab
Footnote: Other reading assignments and variations will be announced on ANGEL.
*Matlab Web Site Tutorials: http://www.math.siu.edu/matlab/
http://www.mathworks.com/products/matlab/
MATLAB ® is a high-level language and interactive environment that enables you to perform computationally
intensive tasks faster than with traditional programming languages such as C, C++, and Fortran.
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Programmer: Dr. T
//Date Due: 1/17/12
//Page 84 Chapter 2. Simple C++ Programs.
//Assistance with setprecision() function provided by Rob tutor on 1/16/12.
/*Design intentionally incomplete
Prompt:
output "Please enter Pay Amount and Pay Period, ",
"For Example: \n 1357.50 26 \n"
Input:
input PayAmount, PayPeriod
Echo:
output "Your Pay Amount is $"

PENN STATE COURSE POLICIES
Academic Integrity Policy
According to the Penn State Principles and University Code of Conduct:
Academic integrity is a basic guiding principle for all academic activity at Penn State
University, allowing the pursuit of scholarly activity in an open, honest, and responsible
manner. In according with the University's Code of Conduct, you must not engage in or
tolerate academic dishonesty. This includes, but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism,
fabrication of information or citations, facilitating acts of academic dishonesty by others,
unauthorized possession of examinations, submitting work of another person, or work
previously used without informing the instructor, or tampering with the academic work of
other students.
Any violation of academic integrity will be investigated, and where warranted, punitive action
will be taken. For every incident when a penalty of any kind is assessed, a report must be filed.
This form is used for both undergraduate and graduate courses. This report must be signed by
both the instructor and the student, and then submitted to the College representative.
Affirmative Action & Sexual Harassment Policy
The Pennsylvania State University is committed to a policy that all persons shall have equal
access to programs, facilities, admission, and employment without regard to personal
characteristics not related to ability, performance, or qualifications as determined by University
policy or by Commonwealth or Federal authorities. Penn State does not discriminate against any
person because of age, ancestry, color, disability or handicap, national origin, race, religious
creed, gender, sexual orientation, or veteran status. Direct all inquiries to the Affirmative Action
Office.
Americans with Disabilities Act
CSE welcomes persons with disabilities to all of its classes, programs, and events. If you need
accommodations, or have questions about access to buildings where CSE activities are held,
please contact us in advance of your participation or visit. If you need assistance during a class,
program, or event, please contact the staff or faculty member in charge of your CSE department.
An Invitation to Students with Learning Disabilities
It is Penn State's policy to not discriminate against qualified students with documented
disabilities in its educational programs. If you have a disability-related need for modifications in
your testing or learning situation, your instructor should be notified during the first week of
classes so that your needs can be accommodated. You will be asked to present documentation
from the Office of Disability Services that describes the nature of your disability and the
recommended remedy. You may refer to the Nondiscrimination Policy in the Student Guide to
University Policies and Rules.
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