Class Policies

Time and place: Lectures Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 10:30, 22 Schaffer Hall 1:30, 110 Maclean Hall
Textbook: Thinking in Java (4th Ed.) by Bruce Eckel.

Exams will be comprehensive, covering all material up to the date of the exam, with an emphasis on material from recent, particularly programming assignments. Students with serious conflicts such as Illness or religious holidays may make alternate arrangements (in advance, if at all possible).

Grading: 30% of the score will depend on homework (top 10 of 12 assignments at 3% each). 30% will depend on programming (6 assignments at 5% each). The exams will count, respectively, 10%, 10% and 20%. Collegiate norms suggest that in typical offerings at this level, about 60% of those who actually take the course (that is, who attend, do the assignments and take the exams) will earn at least a B.

Late and Incomplete Work: Turn in what you have finished by the due date! Except in case of "acts of God" (an insurance company term for circumstances outside your control), late work will not be accepted without prior arrangement. This means, if you get in trouble, ask for help as soon as possible!

Computer support: We will use the CLAS Linux machines, accessible from anywhere on the Internet. All students will have course accounts. Note: you can get Java free for just about any machine, but code that works under Windows may not work on Linux because of different file formats.

The Web will be used to distribute solutions to assignments and exams, as well as tutorials and materials supporting assignments. All materials supporting this class are on-line at:
-- http://homepage.cs.uiowa.edu/~dwjones/object/
 

The Fine Print that must be repeated here as a matter of policy:

   Prerequisites — Those who have not succeded in a discrete structures course and a data structures course are likely to fail.

   Attendance — Graded work is distributed in class. Those who claim work are marked as attending. Attendance records are used in grading.

   Time commitment — A well-prepared student should expect to spend 12 hours per week on this class, including class attendance, homework and machine problems.

   Administrative home of the course — This course is offered by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences which sets rules governing academic matters as add/drop deadlines, the second-grade-only option, issues of academic fraud or probation, and how credit is applied to graduation requirements. Other colleges may have different policies; you may want to check http://provost.uiowa.edu/files/provost.uiowa.edu/files/crossenroll.pdf. Students with questions about these or other CLAS policies should speak with an academic advisor or with the staff in 120 Schaeffer Hall. Also see the CLAS Academic Handbook: clas.uiowa.edu/students/handbook

   Academic fraud — The CLAS Code of Academic Honesty applies in this course. Evidence of cheating will be reported. Disciplinary probation applies to first offenses; repeat violations may lead to suspension or expulsion. Use of code without attribution is misconduct. You are free to mine public sources of code, but you must attribute that code to its source. Never delete attributions and never attempt to obscure the attribution. That will be considered a serious offense.

   Incompletes — Temporary grades of I will be granted only on the basis of discussion with the professor, preferably as soon as possible.

   Due process — If you have any disagreement or communications problem with a teaching assistant, take it to the professor. If you have a problem with your professor, contact the chair of the computer science department, 14 MLH; due process continues from there to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, 120 Schaeffer Hall. The exception: Cases of sexual harassment may be reported directly to the UI Sexual Misconduct Response Coordinator (335-6200). In the event that the appropriate channel is not obvious for any purpose, the University Ombudsman is available to help in C108 Seashore Hall.

   Special accomodation — If, for any reason, including but not limited to long or short-term disability, you need any kind of accomodation, including but not limited to special seating, please contact me during my office hours, or at other times, in person, by phone or by E-mail. The office of Student Disability Services in 3015 Burge Hall may be able to help.

   Severe weather — The inner hallways of MacLean and Schaefer Hall are a reasonably secure refuge from tornado, derecho and other windstorms; the basement halls are even better.