1. Is it possible to use the second edition of the course textbook instead of the third edition?

Yes, but subject to the following caveat: some additional material has been included in the third edition that is not present in the second edition. If you plan to use the second edition, it is your responsibility to acquire this additional material (e.g., from the copy of the third edition of the text book in the short-term loan section of the library). Listen for in-class announcements for specific details.


2. How does this course operate?

This course has 24 lectures and 12 labs. All students attend the lecture together, but then attend one of three possible lab sections (Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays).
Any student registered in this course is also enrolled in one lab section: either Lab01 (Thursdays), Lab02 (Fridays), or Lab03 (Mondays). You are expected to attend one lab per week. All labs and lectures are obligatory. The lectures take place in the lecture room and the labs take place in the labs as indicated on the course homepage. The course is organized according to weeks. Each week has two lectures, followed by a lab. For the purposes of this course, the Monday lab will be considered part of the previous week. (The first Monday lab is an extra one; for the last week of the course, the lab is optional but strongly recommended and those enrolled in the Monday section are encouraged to attend the Thursday or Friday lab, as per arrangement with the instructor.)

The lectures are scheduled to last 90 minutes. We will start at 10am sharp. However, the convention at York is to finish 10 minutes prior to the end of lecture to allow the next class to enter the room, so we will finish by ~11:20am.

The labs will begin promptly and will be 90 minutes long. The first 45 minutes of weeks #2 to week #11 will be spent on a labtest. The lab in week #1 will familiarize the students with the labtest mode. The labtest will consist of a small programming task and a written comprehension question. The last 45 minutes will be spent on course material.

3a. If I am enrolled in lab section X, can I attend lab section Y instead?

A student may switch lab sections only with express permission from the instructor. Speak to the instructor about this.

3b. Is it possible to make alternative arrangements in advance for the labtests (e.g., in the case of conflicts)?

For the first lab, a student can attend any lab, provided the student can find an available seat.

After the first week, students MUST attend the lab section in which they are enrolled in order to write each week's labtest.
A student may switch lab sections only with express permission from the instructor.

If a student has a conflict for a particular week, then the student is permitted to attempt to get a "Drop-in" seat . It is a very risky move is to show up for a different lab section and attempt to gain a "drop-in" seat. A "drop-in" seat is one that remains available at the start of the lab and has been released as such at the discretion of the instructor (who may have other reasons to keep the seat in reserve). If a drop-in seat become available, then they will be made available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Obviously, there are no guarantees and you may very well end up without a drop-in seat. If you end up without a drop-in seat, that is the consequence of this risky maneuver and then there is no recourse.

A frequent student complaint is "But my flight/vacation/family trip/vaccinations/retreat/massage is in conflict with the labtest....". The answer to this is as follows: When you enrolled in this course, you did so with full knowledge of the course schedule. The course meetings (e.g., the lectures and labs) take precedence over other activities.

4. What if I cannot write a labtest or final exam due to sickness, misfortune or other grounds?

In this case, the student petitions to gain "aegrotat" standing under the Faculty of Science and Engineering's Regulations Governing Examinations and Academic Standards. The forms and instructions can be found at the "Deferred Standing" section of the Registrar's office. In the case of this course, an Attending Physician’s Statement is required and will be subjected to validation.

For the labtests:
In the case of the labtest, make every effort to write the labtest at a different lab section for that week if possible.
If not, and if Aegrotat standing can be established by the petitioner, then the weight of the course component will be transferred to the other course components at the discretion of the instructor.

For the final exam:
If Aegrotat standing can be established by the petitioner, then the petitioner becomes eligible to sit at the deferred exam seating, which is scheduled by the Department of Computer Science to take place early in the Winter 2011 term.