Mathematics, Computer Science, and Statistics
Bloomsburg University
Grading. Your grade in this course is determined by regular homework assignments, a midterm project and a comprehensive final project. At the end of the semester, all of your scores will be aggregated using the following weights:
| Homework | Midterm Project | Final Project |
| 40% | 30% | 30% |
Your aggregate score is then converted into a letter grade using the following scale:
| A | A- | B+ | B | B- | C+ | C | C- | D+ | D | E |
| 94-100 | 92-93 | 90-91 | 83-89 | 81-82 | 79-80 | 72-78 | 70-71 | 68-69 | 60-67 | 0-59 |
There will be no make-ups or extensions to homework due dates, except for medical emergencies or other dire circumstances beyond your control.
Extra Credit. I am often asked at the end of the semester if there are any opportunities to earn extra credit. The answer is yes: if you actively participate in class discussions throughout the semester, then I will increase your course grade by half a letter (e.g., from C+ to B-, or from A- to A). But I emphasize: this credit is awarded only for active participation on a consistent basis. If you are committed to doing this, it will help greatly to read and think about the relevant sections of our textbook before each class.
Professional Conduct. This is obvious, but I will say it anyway for the record: no texting, checking e-mail, playing games, surfing the web, or other personal business during class. This rarely happens in my courses, but I do have a policy to deal with it: I deduct points from the offender's aggregate score for the semester, which will probably lead to a lower course grade. I apply this same policy to deal with consistently late arrivals to class.
Academic Honesty. Any attempt to mislead your professor about any aspect of your work in the course, or about your knowledge of course material, is a violation of academic honesty. This includes submitting work to be graded under your own name when you did not write the work on your own. It also includes showing or e-mailing your code to another student so that he can "study" it. You may certainly have an honest exchange of ideas with other students when working on a homework problem. Whatever you carry in your head after a conversation with a classmate is something that you have learned and may freely use as your own. But under no circumstances are you permitted to copy or even look at any part of someone else's code (or to allow a classmate to copy or look at any part of your code). Academic dishonesty of any kind will result in a failing grade for the course and may be reported to the university's Director of Student Standards for further action.
Home | Topics | Policies | Reasons to Major in CS | Career Paths