Course Description: CSC 221 is the second course in the three course programming sequence: CSC 121, CSC 221, CSC 332. These courses are currently taught using the Java programming language and a Windows environment. The prerequisite for CSC 221 is CSC 121 (with a grade of "C" or better), and the co-requisite is CSC 133 (Discrete Structures). Topics in CSC 221 include searching and sorting, recursive algorithms, file input and output, reusable classes and packages, inheritance and polymorphism, event-driven programming, and graphical user interfaces. This corresponds roughly to chapters 6-12 of our textbook. This document details minimal competencies for CSC 221.
Note 1: Students may declare a major in Computer Science after completion of CSC 121, 133, and 221 with a grade point average of at least 2.5 on these 3 courses and with an overall grade point average of at least 2.0.
Note 2: A grade of "C" or better is required for taking courses for which CSC 221 is a prerequisite.
Attendance: You are required to attend, and
expected to actively
participate in every class meeting.
Active participation
implies coming to class well prepared with your textbook, notes, and
pens and pencils. You are expected to read the textbook before and after topics are presented in class.
See below for impact of
attendance on your grade.
Office phone: 962-3695
Office hours: Monday, Tuesday, Friday 10:00 - 11:00 am. Wednesday 2:00 - 3:00. Other hours by appointment only.
E-mail address: narayans@uncw.edu
University Policy on academic integrity will be followed for this course. Cheating will be taken very seriously, resulting in harsh penalties. Since the skills required in this class are also required in the next class, cheating in this class will seriously hamper your ability to pass the next class. The academic integrity policy for each class varies. Please follow the policies below:
Appropriate Collaboration
- Sharing class notes with another student.
- Discussing anything that was covered in class.
- Helping a fellow student locate a bug in his program, provided the following are true:
- You have already completed your program.
- You never type or dictate code for the student. You should be helping with minor details, not solving the programming problem for him/her.
Inappropriate Collaboration
Any of these constitutes cheating and will be reported to the academic integrity council.
- Showing another student (who has not completed the assignment) your code.
- Copying code from another student.
- Verbally providing other students with the solution to the program. (This would be along the lines of giving them the key to solving the problem when they need to think it through themselves.)
- Helping other students during a test or quiz.
- Doing another student's work.
Honor Code
It is the responsibility of every student to uphold and maintain the UNCW Academic Honor Code (see Section V of your Student Handbook). You violate the honor code when you represent someone else's work as your own. Programming assignments may be discussed at a conceptual level with other students but details and coding must be your own. Copying and team collaboration is prohibited.
Obviously, you may ask for debugging help from your instructor or TA. However, debugging is a skill that can be developed only by practice. It is important to learn how to struggle through problems on your own. If you are genuinely stuck, we will be willing to help you as far as your code matches the techniques described in class. If you write your program with an approach that is a complete departure from the way described in class, you are responsible for fixing your own resulting problems.
Monday, April 27, 2009 is the last day of classes. You will have a FINAL EXAM on Wednesday, April 29, 2008 from 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm in CI 2006. If you are passing the course, and if you cannot take the final exam when it is scheduled because of an emergency beyond your control, and if you notify me BEFORE the end of classes, you may possibly receive an ``I'' in the course. Details about the format of the final will be announced later in the semester.
Course grade: A = 90-100 and attendance in at least 90% of the lectures, B = 80-89 and attendance in at least 80% of the lectures, C = 70-79 and attendance in at least 70% of the lectures, D = 60 - 69 and attendance in at least 60% of the lectures. The upper 30% (except the A range), and lower 30% of all grade ranges will be assigned + and - modifiers, respectively. For instance, an overall score of 93 in the course, with attendance in at least 90% of the lectures, will result in a grade not lower than A-.