Course book:compsci_120_coursebook.pdf

Hard-copies will be available from the Science Student Resource Centre at a cost of $10.

Study Guide (Both On-campus and Off-campus students):cs120_studyguide_2020_S2.pdf

Lecturers:

Sudeep Stephen (Course coordinator),  room 303.211; Email: sudeep.stephen@auckland.ac.nz

Office hours: By appointment

Tanya Gvozdeva, room 303-415;  Email: t.gvozdeva@auckland.ac.nz

In-person office hours:

Monday, Tuesday: 1pm-2.50pm

Thursday: 10.50am-11.50am

 

Zoom office hour:

Wednesday: 1.30pm-2.30pm (or by appointment)

Join Zoom Meeting https://auckland.zoom.us/j/3554909156  (Links to an external site.)

Meeting ID: 355 490 9156

Exam period:

Monday, November 2, 11-1, room 303-415

Wednesday, November 4, 11-1 Zoom office hours 

Join Zoom Meeting https://auckland.zoom.us/j/3554909156  (Links to an external site.)

Meeting ID: 355 490 9156

Friday, November 6, 11-1, room 303-415

Monday, November 9, 11-1, room 303-415

Class representatives: 

1. Jedidiah Gilbert Solomon,  jgil327@aucklanduni.ac.nz
2. Kassra Kharazi, kkha542@aucklanduni.ac.nz

You can share with them any suggestions/complaints/remarks about the course. Please note, that class reps are not part of the teaching team. 

 

Lecture/Tutorial times and locations

Lectures:

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday
3 pm-4 pm LibB28/109-B28	3 pm-4 pm LibB28/109-B28	12 pm-1 pm LibB28/109-B28

 

Tutorials:

Please check SSO for your tutorial location!

 

Learning Outcomes

1. Communicate mathematically. Students should be able to read and interpret basic mathematical symbols and notation (for example, standard terminology of numbers, functions, strings, trees and graphs), and be capable of translating and communicating their own ideas into mathematical language.
2. Perform simple mathematical modelling. Students should be capable of translating simple real-life tasks into algorithms, and of describing the tasks in mathematical language and abstraction. In particular, students should be capable of using the language and ideas represented by functions, strings, trees and graphs when modelling and studying real-life tasks.
3. Understand counting and probability. Students should be comfortable with basic ideas in probability and counting, and applying them in easy real-life settings (for example, counting arrangements of items).
4. Understand formal logic and perform elementary proofs, including inductive proofs. Students should be comfortable with elementary formal mathematical proof techniques and inductive reasoning, and be capable of using these to prove theorems, such as correctness of a simple algorithm.

 

Piazza:

We have set up Piazza for this course. The main purpose of Piazza is for you to interact with other students in the course. While lecturers will monitor Piazza and help if necessary, we believe that the best way for Piazza to work in this class is if you are all collectively responding to each other's problems! 

In general: mathematics is something that is best learned by doing and then having others critique your working, so that you can get better.  As lecturers, students often ask us for extra practice problems, or for the best way to revise material: We claim that Piazza is this!  Try to ask 1-3 questions a week and try to comment on 1-3 posts a week, and see how your skills will improve.

To encourage student responses, we as lecturers will follow a "2 hour" rule: during the first two hours of any post about the material in CS120, we will not respond.  (Note: this does not mean that we will respond immediately after two hours!  Depending on when your question goes up, we may be in meetings etc.  In general, we'll get responses up as soon as we are able to do so.  If you haven't seen a response in two working days, please repost or email us.)

Note that official course announcement will be made on Canvas and not necessarily also on Piazza. You are therefore required to check Canvas and your university email account (login@aucklanduni.ac.nz) regularly.

Information regarding university policies and technical support:

Academic Integrity

Aegrotats and compassionate passes

Canvas help

 

Assessment:

Attempt all of the assessments, even if what you submit is incomplete!

• 4 assignments, worth 20%  (5% each)
• 10 tutorials, worth 9% (8 best tutorial grades are chosen, every tutorial is worth 2 marks)  
• Mid-semester test, worth 20% 
• Exam, worth 50%
• Diagnostic test 1%

 

Assignments: 

• Assignment 1 is due on   14 August 2020, 23.59pm
• Assignment 2 is due on  11 September 2020,  23.59pm

Note, that this assignment is due in the middle of the break. We are not asking you to study during the break. The idea is to give you extra time if the end of week 6 is too busy to finish everything on time. Since you need to submit your assignment online you can do it any time.

• Assignment 3 is due on 9 October 2020,  23.59pm
• Assignment 4 is due on 30 October 2020,  23.59pm
  

All assignments should be submitted through Canvas. You should submit via Canvas a single PDF file containing the answers to the questions. A scanned handwritten submission is acceptable if and only if it is very neatly written. If typing the assignment, do the best you can with mathematical symbols. For exponents, write something like 2^n if using plain text. Use LaTeX if you really want it to look good.

 

Tutorials:

Tutorials are weekly. You will also have a tutorial time on Student Services Online. Tutorials start in week 2 of the semester. There will be only no tutorial in week 7 (the first week after the break). There will be 10 tutorials in total. Every tutorial is worth 2 points. The points are awarded for your engagement with the material. You must attend the tutorial that you signed up for on Student
Services Online. 

Students (studying on campus and remotely) will also have the option of doing the tutorial online. The tutorial sheet will be available on Canvas on Wednesdays every week. Those doing the tutorial online must then submit your solutions to the tutorial problems on Canvas by Friday. For students submitting the tutorial online, we would also like to remind you that to get the full mark for the tutorial, you don't need to provide correct solutions. To earn the points, you have to attempt about 2/3 of the questions.

 

Mid-Semester Test  -- Tuesday 22 September2020, starts at 6.30 pm.

The test is 60 min long plus a five minute reading period and covers all of the material from the first six weeks of class.  Check the assignment page and Canvas announcements for locations, times, and more information closer to the test date.

 

Exam:

The exam is two hours long and covers material from the whole course. The exact date of the exam is not available until around the middle of the semester.

 

Students who are approved to take this course remotely will have alternative arrangements made for tutorials, mid-semester test, and exam. 

No calculators are permitted on the exam or test. Please note that the test and exam are designed so that a calculator is unnecessary; if you can add and multiply single-digit numbers, you will be capable of performing any of the calculations present.