Principles Of Data Abstraction
Course Outline (Fall 2006)
CSCI 2320

Dr. Thomas E. Hicks
Computer Science Department
Trinity University

Course Description

Principles of Data Abstraction is Trinity University's attempt to prepare professional computer scientists for both the "real world and graduate school; it is a blend of both theory and practical applications. CSCI 2320 is a three hour computer science course which surveys the C++ object-oriented implementations of lists, binary trees, threaded trees, advanced sorting and searching, indexing, tables, and storage management. This course combines applies the theory to actual applications. All programming assignments will be submitted and graded using Microsoft Visual C++.
 

Required Textbook

    Introduction To Algorithms - Second Edition - McGraw Hill - [ISBN=0-262-03293-7]
    by Cormen, Leiserson, Rivest, & Stein

Quiz Schedule

 There will be 8-10 quizzes [15-point almost every Tuesday]. You may miss only one!  Should you take all of the quizzes, the lowest quiz will be dropped.  Makeup quizzes will only be given to (1) those people who miss class because they are representing the university on a programming team, a debate team, a sports team, etc (2) those people missing class for an extended period with a really extraordinary illness, etc.

Arrangements must be made, prior to the quiz,  to take an alternate quiz.

Quizzes will contain information from last two weeks of lecture.

Tentative Exam Schedule

 

Exam Date Points
Exam I 3/2  200 Points
Exam II 4/25  250 Points


Lab Assignments / Projects

All Labs & Homework Due Next Class Period Unless Specified Otherwise On Class The Schedule Page!

Laboratory assignments/projects will be assigned regularly throughout the semester. Unless specified otherwise on the class schedule page, each lab is due at the beginning of the next lecture. It is your responsibility to check the class schedule page daily.

Labs submitted after the beginning of class are late!  Do not come to class late or skip class in order to complete your assignments, this will put you behind on the new material! 

No Projects/Labs will be accepted after the last class lecture.

 

Late Lab Assignments / Projects

Normal late penalty shall be 15% Per Day (MTWRF --> Saturday and Sunday not included) For Example

40 Point Lab Turned In 3 Minutes After Collected In Class --> -6 pts
40 Point Lab Turned In Next Day After Collected In Class --> -6 pts
100 Point Lab Due Thursday Turned In Following Monday --> -30 pts
60 Point Lab Due Thursday Turned In Following Thursday --> -60 pts
Generally Will Not Be Accepted More Than 1 Week Late

[Labs Shall Have Minimal Or No Programming!  If You Are Sick – Send It With A Class Mate]


Written Homework

All Labs & Homework Due Next Class Period Unless Specified Otherwise On Class The Schedule Page!

Written homework will be assigned regularly throughout the semester. Since there is little or no serious programming involved in the homework, there is little reason to give credit to late work. All written homework is to be completed individually. None of the written homework assignments are team related.

The written homework should help review you for the exam. No answer key will be provided. Homework will be spot checked for completeness. Although Homework may be spot checked for accuracy, it will not be graded question by question. If more than 10% of a homework assignment is late or incorrect, the grade will be a 0.

No Homework will be accepted after the last class lecture.


Late Written Homework

The only reason I would take the time to write some review questions is to keep you looking at the material throughout the semester. I do not accomplish this when a student waits until just before the exam to do the homework. Thus late homework is worth little.

Normal late penalty shall be 50% Per Day (MTWRF --> Saturday and Sunday not included) For Example

10 Point Lab Turned In 3 Minutes After Collected In Class --> -5 pts
10 Point Lab Turned In Next Day After Collected In Class --> -5 pts
10 Point Lab Due Tuesday Turned In Following Thursday --> -10pts

Generally Will Not Be Accepted More Than 1 Class Period Late
[If You Are Sick – Send It With A Class Mate]

No Projects/Labs will be accepted after the last class lecture.
 

Work Load

 In order to do well in this course, most of you should plan on nine-ten hours a week reading chapters, studying slides, doing homework, using design tools, and doing design.


Grade Breakdown 
 

Quizzes

~100 points

Exams

450 points

Labs, Homework & Projects

~ 550 points
Total ~1,100 points

The Final Grade will be calculated by dividing the Points Earned By The Points Possible. Each student should record their quiz grades and retain all graded assignments from the entire semester. It is the responsibility of the student to maintain the number of points they have earned so that they can do a current grade calculation at any time. 
 

Grading Scale
 
A     93% - 100% 
A-   90% - 92.9% 
B+     87% - 89.9% 
B       83% - 86.9% 
B-     80% - 82.9%
C+     77% - 79.9% 
C       73% - 76.9% 
C-      70% - 72.9%
D+     67% - 69.9% 
D       63% - 66.9% 
D-      60% - 62.9% 
F     0% - 59.9% 

Students will receive at least the grades indicated by the scale above.

Attendance Policy

Your Final Grade will be lowered 2.5% per class missed [after 2 absences]. The professor may call the registrar's office and have you dropped from the class for 4 absences or more [two weeks!].

Grade = 91% - 4 Absences = 91-5 = 86% = B

If You Are Not There When I Take Roll, You Are Absent For The Day


Where To Submit Late Lab Assignments For Grading

Drop all late work off in my office or slide it under my office door.
 

What if the Lab is Down For A Period Of Time?

Should university access to computer facilities significantly effect your ability to complete an assignment, due dates will be appropriately adjusted; these dates will not be altered if a lab is down for only part of an evening. It is not necessary to call Dr. Hicks if the network goes down. Labs should be done as scheduled!


Having difficulties?

  1. Check your mail!
  2. Seek help from group members.
  3. Bring printed copies of information that will help us detect your problems without going on-line!


Can you send me email?

Yes! I try to check my e-mail M-F but I am sometimes detained by students. I do answer many short questions. I do not debug programs mailed to me!


thicks@trinity.edu

Website For Dr. Thomas E. Hicks

http://carme.cs.trinity.edu/thicks    [Primary]

http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~thicks    [Back-Up]


When Seeking A Letter Of Reference 

Academic Integrity:

All students are covered by a policy that prohibits dishonesty in academic work.  The Academic Integrity Policy (AIP) covers all students who entered Trinity before the fall of 2004.   The Academic Honor Code covers all those who entered the fall of 2004 or later.

The Integrity Policy and the Code share many features:  each asserts that the academic community is based on honesty and trust; each contains the same violations; each provides for a procedure to determine if a violation has occurred and what the punishment will be; each provides for an appeal process.

The main difference is that the faculty implements the AIP while the Code is implemented by the Academic Honor Council.   Under the Integrity Policy, the faculty member determines whether a violation has occurred as well as the punishment for the violation (if any) within certain guidelines. Under the Code, a faculty member will (or a student may) report an alleged violation to the Academic Honor Council.  It is the task of the Council to investigate, adjudicate, and assign a punishment within certain guidelines if a violation has been verified.

Students who are under the Honor Code are required to pledge all written work that is submitted for a grade:  “On my honor, I have neither given nor received any unauthorized assistance on this work” and their signature.  The pledge may be abbreviated “pledged” with a signature.

My recommendation for students cheating is an automatic "F" in the course, a letter submitted to student affairs, and the proper following of Trinity University academic integrity policy.

Take great care to erase all labs from university computers so that others may not submit your work as their own!  Do not loan any lab or project to a fellow student! Do your own work!

Before you resort to turning in someone else's work as your own, let's talk. If you are under undue pressure to aide other students in such a way that your own security is threatened, let's talk.  It is not worth failing a three hour course and risking your entire academic future!
 
 

Office Hours:-  Halsell 339A   [First Come- First Serve]
 

Day
From
To
Tuesday
 7:30 AM
9:45 AM
12:45 PM
 8:30 AM
11:15 AM
2:00 PM
Wednesday
 8:00 AM 11:30 AM
Thursday
 7:30 AM
9:45 AM
12:45 PM
8:30 AM
11:15 AM
2:00 PM

I am almost always in my office or helping a student in a lab during office hours; if I must miss my office hours, I generally post a note on the door and/or send mail to my students and/or notify students in lecture. If  I am not physically in the office, I will have most often gone to one of the Halsell Labs to help one of my students. If  I am not in my office, check the CS Majors Lab [Halsell 340], check the Classroom/ lab [Halsell 228], the Virtual Reality Lab [Halsell 200] or the University Lab [Halsell 226]. Please let me know that you are waiting to see me.

http://www.cmcrossroads.com/bradapp/ftp/src/libs/C++/AvlTrees.html