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CSE1530 Introduction to Computer Use II - Winter term, FW07-08 Course Outline Objectives
Laboratory Work You will not learn much in this course by only attending lectures. Effective problem solving using a programming language requires a lot of practice - using Visual Basic either at home on your computer or in the Glade lab. It is unlikely that you will achieve even an average grade without doing the lab work and assignments conscientiously. Sections, Lecture Times and Instructors There are two sections in the Winter term, with 3 hours of lectures per week as listed below. Please ensure that you are attending the section in which you are officially registered. Switching sections must be done through the Enrolment system.
Course Material The Visual Basic: Programming for Literacy (VB:PL) web book, which can also be bought in hardcopy from Northview Print & Copy (see below) is the only required reading for this course. However, one good reason for buying another textbook is to obtain a CD-ROM version of the Visual Basic 2005 software. Note, however, that the VB2005 Express Edition software is also available free from the Microsoft web site. Accessing this website is described in more detail in Chapter 1 of VB:PL. Do not buy a VB 6.0 book for the software - it will not match what is described in VB:PL. You may also find it useful to refer to other books when/if you encounter problems or want to explore something further than is covered in VB:PL. The following are books you might want to use to supplement VB:PL ... Recommended Textbooks:
In addition books such as these might be helpful ...
Laboratory:
Laboratory Work You will be using The Glade, a laboratory of workstation computers located in two rooms (CB160 and CB161) in the Chemistry Building (CB). The lab work is an integral part of the course and you should plan on spending at least 3 hours per week in order to complete it, either using the Glade lab or using a computer at home (or elsewhere). The Glade lab is available for your use from approximately 8am to 11pm each weekday, and also on weekends. Please visit the lab for the exact scheduling of hours. There are roughly 50 machines in the lab, which is also used by students in CSE1520, and use is on a first come first served basis. We do not have any method for you to reserve use of a machine. It is your responsibility to make sure that you can complete the course work. The lab will quite likely be very busy during the hours 11am to 3pm. So you may find that you have to come earlier in the morning or later in the afternoon in order to use the lab. The lab is also likely to be busy just before exercises and assignments need to be submitted. Congestion in the lab is NOT an acceptable excuse for handing in lab work late. Available Help If you are having problems there are various ways to obtain help:
Information from the Senate of York University Important information for students regarding the Ethics Review process, Access/Disability, Academic Honesty/Integrity, Student Conduct, and Religious Observance Days is available on the webpage of the Senate Committee on Curriculum and Academic Standards (see Course Outline Documents under Reports, Initiatives, Documents heading.) Specifically for this course ... Important Limits on HOW you work together It is natural that you will want to work with other students ... but students often seem to be unclear about what constitutes plagiarism in this course. Therefore, some Do's and Don'ts ... read them carefully: Do discuss the basic algorithmic approach to
solving a problem. Don't share your code, particularly .... The code you write is somewhat like an essay - usually how one person writes it is distinctive to them, and close "collaboration" is easy to spot. Cases of non-individual work will be dealt with severely. Appeal Procedures The Department of Computer Science and Engineering expects a student's disagreement with the evaluation of an item of course work (assignment, report, class test, non-final examination, etc.) to be settled with the instructor informally, amicably and expeditiously. With respect to a formal appeal there are different procedures for course work and for final examinations and final grades. Of necessity a formal appeal must involve only written work. Course Work
Final Exams and Final Grades An appeal for reappraisal of a final exam or recalculation of the final grade must be made in writing on a standard departmental form to the Office of the Undergraduate Director (CSE1003) within 21 days of receiving official notification of the grade. Note that valid reasons pertaining to the marking of the final exam or calculation of the final grade must be presented.
The student and the Office of Student Programmes will receive the report of the Petitions Committee. The decision can only be appealed to the Executive Committee of the Faculty on procedural grounds. Winter Term Lecture Schedule
Course Assessment and Grading Tests and exams provide instructors with a measure of how well students are learning the course material and they provide the students themselves with that same feedback. Assignments and lab. exercises are activities that help you learn the course material - and are therefore formative as opposed to summative. Test and exam assessment measures are relative to the expectations of the instructor and conceivably have little correlation with the amount of time a student spends doing the course work. The measures do correlate with the quality of the learning that the student has achieved - in fact they attempt to measure it. Individual students may take more or less time than other students to reach the same standard of learning. Individual students may feel they do not need feedback on their learning at certain stages of the course. Ultimately, students themselves bear sole responsibility for the standard of learning they achieve. Assessment only affects learning in as much as the feedback may allow the student to take corrective action. Weekly exercises and/or assignments are formative to your learning and are therefore required. However, summative assessments (i.e. tests and exam) are deliberately flexible. The only absolutely required measure of your learning achievement is the final exam. If you opt out of other assessment measures (i.e. the two tests) the final exam will then be worth 100% minus whatever the weekly lab exercises are worth. The weighting of the final exam will be reduced by the weighting of whichever other tests you write. Even if you participate in the tests you may feel that because the feedback has allowed you to improve you do not want the earlier measures included in the calculation of your final grade (because you have improved, the earlier "bad" marks do not represent the state of your learning). You may choose to ask that either or both of your test marks be ignored and the percentage transferred to the final exam. You must ask for this by submitting a Test Grade Annulment form available (from CSE1003) before the date of the final exam. This will not apply to lab exercises. Make-up tests, for the purpose of contributing to the final grade, will not be held. You will be deemed to have opted out of any tests you miss, for whatever reason (i.e. the weight will be transferred to the final exam). However, if you wish to receive the feedback from the missed test arrangements will be made for you to write the test and it will be marked. The mark will not contribute to your final grade, and it will constitute valid feedback only if you have not discussed the test with other students who have already written it. Such arrangements will be made only with valid documentation (e.g. medical note) of the reason for missing the test. Tests - Total 35% Test 1 is worth 15%, and test 2 is worth 20%. Each test is based on the lecture topics and lab work preceding it in the schedule given above. Labs (18%) Lab exercises are generally worth either 1% or 2%. The lab exercises consist of certain exercises chosen from Visual Basic: Programming for Literacy. The schedule given above specifies which exercises are to be handed in for marking. They should be left in the drop box labeled CSE1530 3.0M or CSE1530 3.0N in the main corridor of the CSE Building. The drop box will be cleared on Tuesday mornings. Late exercises will not be accepted. Because the lab exercises are formative - i.e. activities by which you learn - they are compulsory. Weights will not be transferred to the final exam. The exercises specified for marking are a bare minimum. Most students who complete them all can expect to end up with a final grade around C (plus or minus a bit), if they have completed the exercises thoughtfully and with care. As with any course, to achieve a high grade you will need to explore the material thoroughly. Instead of reading additional books as you might in a history or english course for example, you should complete all exercises in Visual Basic: Programming for Literacy (VB:PfL). You could also consider problem solving tasks using VB that you yourself design. Final Exam The final exam will be weighted between 82% and 47% depending on participation in the tests. The final exam is held during the University examination period. The date of the final exam is not known until the official University examination schedule is published and in principle it could be as late as the end of the exam period (as noted in the schedule above). It is your responsibility to be present at the exam. No agreement will be given for deferred standing for reasons of travel plans. Course Content The lectures are organised on a modular basis (each section meets for 3 lecture hours per week), with material to be covered specified in the lecture schedule above and the topics outline below. Your instructor will not necessarily discuss each and every part of the readings specified below in lectures. The purpose of lectures is to guide you as you explore the material and to elaborate on the most important and central ideas, particularly if those ideas are complex. It is your responsibility to prepare yourself for examinations by thoroughly reading and thinking about the material. You should certainly not hesitate to ask your instructor questions about the things you have been reading that have not been covered in lectures, and also about topics that have been covered in lectures and which you would like further explanation. Topic A: Introduction to Problem Solving and Visual Basic Description Computer based problem solving, algorithms, introduction to Visual Basic and programming – the IDE (Integrated Development Environment); forms and controls; basic concepts of classes and objects (object properties); events and programming responses to events; types of programming errors (syntax, runtime, logic) Readings
Topic B: Variables, Data Types and Expressions Description Using the computer’s memory; representing data and program instructions; machine language and assembly language; high-level programming languages and translation; declaring variables and constants; operators, expressions, and assignment; use of Visual Basic functions (data type conversion functions, date functions); controlling focus. Readings
Topic C: Control Structures - Selection Description Control structures; Boolean values; conditions and comparison operators; if statements; Boolean operators; nested if statements; using CheckBox and Option controls; using a MessageBox; validation of input using the Validating event. Readings
Topic D: Control Structures - Iteration Description Repetition – initialization, repeated statements (body), termination; counted and conditional loops; manipulating string data using iteration; string functions; the ListBox control. Readings
Topic E: Subprograms - Functions and Procedures Description Information hiding and abstraction; Modular design; coupling and cohesion; communicating data – global data versus arguments; parameter passing – ByVal and ByRef; scope of variables; the ComboBox control. Readings
Topic F: External Files and Databases - using Classes and Objects Description Files, records and fields; Reading and writing files; the Dialog controls for opening and saving a file; the FileStream, and StreamReader and StreamWriter classes. Readings
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