Trial Introduction

Resources

• Slides

Video Script

Greetings, and welcome to the trial course for the Computational Core program!

My name is Russell Feldhausen, and am one of the instructors for this program. My contact information is shown here. My email address is russfeld@ksu.edu, and it is by far my preferred method of communication if you need to reach me directly.

This trial course contains two modules from our CC 210: Fundamental Computer Programming Concepts course - the introductory module describing the content and the structure of the course, as well as the first module teaching how to write a “Hello World” program in the chosen programming language. In addition, you’ll have access to both Piazza and Codio, two of the tools we use in all of our Computational Core courses. So, you’re really getting access to the exact same resources and tools we use in the real class. Our hope is to give you a quick introduction to the course and help you decide if it is right for you, without having to go through the hassle of enrolling and dropping later.

This course is part of a larger set of courses making up an Undergraduate Certificate in Computer Science. Right now the certificate contains four courses, with a fifth course being added in the coming year. Our plan is to start teaching CC 210 in Fall 2019, with CC 310 following in Spring 2020. By Fall 2020, we plan to have all 5 courses available, and will teach them every following semester and summer session.

In addition, we are planning to use these courses in several other areas. First, we are working on a proposal for an Applied Computer Science degree, which will be announced in the coming months. We also plan on making these courses available to high schools in the area, as well as provide teacher training for teachers who wish to use these courses in their classrooms. Finally, we are exploring ways to provide this information to industry partners in the form of professional development training. So, we’ll constantly be iterating and improving these courses as we go.

If you have any questions or comments about this program, our plans, or this trial course, we’d love to hear from you! Please feel free to email me directly at russfeld@ksu.edu. You may also contact our department directly at csoffice@ksu.edu. If you are interested in taking these courses, applying them to your major, or are looking for ways to integrate these courses into other areas, we’d be happy to help make it happen.

Once again, thank you for giving this new course a try. From here on out, you’ll be experiencing the same content that students in CC 210 would see. Click the Next button at the bottom of this page to continue to the next video. Good luck, and happy coding!

Course Introduction

Resources

• Slides

Video Script

Hello and welcome to the Computational Core program!

My name is Bud LaVezzi, and I’ll be one of the instructors for this program. My contact information is shown here, and is also listed on the syllabus

There are many other instructors and TAs for this program that you may interact with or see in the tutorial videos. They all have been instrumental in the development of this program. Currently, we have two graduate teaching assistants, Farrukh & BreAnn, who will also be working with us to manage these courses.

In this course we will primarily use a KSU Webmail group (cc210-help or cc210-help@ksuemailprod.onmicrosoft.com) to communicate. Email sent to this address is forwarded to all instructors and TAs. Our replies to you will also be shared amongst the instructors and TAs so we all have access to the assistance you have already received. We will respond to you within a business day (a question emailed Friday night may not receive an answer before Monday).

If you wish to pose a discussion topic to you classmates, you should use the discussion feature in Canvas. Please note that asking a question on a discussion forum is not the same as emailing cc210-help; we will certainly monitor the discussion channels, but not with the same speed as the “help line”. Please read and adhere to the guidance on Netiquette in the syllabus for all electronic communications.

Previous versions of this course used a discussion app called Piazza. We found that most students used Piazza as a separate email channel, not as a discussion forum. This semester we will be using email and Canvas; but most videos will refer you to Piazza to receive help. This semester, email cc210-help or open a discussion in Canvas instead of going to Piazza.

In addition to email and Canvas, we’ll be using the online learning platform Codio for most of the programming tutorials and projects in this program. We’ll also discuss how to use Codio later in this module.

This semester we will offer an optional recitation, on Wednesdays in Engineering Hall DUE 1117 at 4:30 PM. I will be available to answer questions and offer additional examples/ toy problems for your consideration. I will not be repeating the video lectures, think of this a “reversed class” where you come with questions about the material you feel you do not fully understand. You do not have to attend any of these sessions (they are truly optional). When there are no more questions (or time) the session will end; if no one shows up I will leave after 5 – 10 minutes.

The Computational Core program consists of several courses, and each course contains a number of learning modules. In general, there are about 12-15 modules per course. Each module will usually consist of an interactive tutorial using Codio, followed by a quiz through Canvas, and lastly a programming project in Codio. The modules themselves are gated, which means that you much complete each item in the module in order before continuing. In addition, the modules enforce prerequisite requirements from other modules. For CC-210 you must complete them in order starting with module 0, the enroll module should be completed first, but is not a prerequisite.

You are welcome to work on this course at any time during the week as your schedule allows, provided that you complete each module before the listed due date. There will be roughly one module due each week. The modules are self-contained, and nearly all of the grading in this course is completed automatically through Canvas and Codio. So, you can complete modules at any time before the due date, and once a module is complete, you may immediately start on the next one

Looking ahead to the rest of this introductory module, you’ll see that there are a few more items to be completed before you can move on. In the next video, I’ll discuss a bit more information about navigating through this course on Canvas and using the Codio learning environment.

One thing I highly encourage each of you to do is read the syllabus for this course in its entirety, and let us know if you have any questions. My view is that the syllabus is a contract between me as your teacher and you as a student, defining how each of us should treat each other and what we should expect from each other. We have made a few changes to the standard syllabus template for this program, and those changes are clearly highlighted. Finally, the syllabus itself is subject to change as needed as we adapt this program to meet the needs of its students, and all changes will be clearly communicated to everyone before they take effect.

One very important part of the syllabus that every student should read is the late work policy. First off, each module has a due date, and you may work on that module at any time before it is due, provided you have met the prerequisites. As discussed before, you must do all the readings and assignments in a module in listed order before moving on, so you cannot jump ahead. A module is considered completed when all items have been completed.

For the purposes of grading, we will use the date and time that the confirmation quiz was submitted at the end of each module to determine when the module was completed. This is due to the way that Codio handles automated grading, as it may resubmit previously graded assignments if an error in the module is corrected, making a previously completed assignment appear to be submitted late.

If a module is completed after the due date, a penalty of 100% of the total points on that module’s project will be subtracted from the score received on that module. So, even if some of the module’s work was completed before the due date, the penalty will still be assessed if you did not fully complete that module before the due date. Due dates roughly coincide with the “drop deadlines” for the class, so if you gauge that you cannot keep up you have an opportunity to withdraw from the class in an orderly manner.

Finally, even if a module is late, it still must be completed before you can move on to a later module. So, it is very important to avoid getting behind in this course, as it can be very difficult to get back on track. If you ever find that you are struggling to keep up, please don’t be afraid to contact either the instructors or GTAs for assistance. We’d be happy to help you get caught back up quickly.

The grading in this course is very simple. First, 60% of your final grade will depend on the grades you receive from each of the Codio projects in the course. Next, 20% of your grade will come from the interactive tutorials in Codio. Finally, the last 20% of your grade will come from the quizzes for each module. In this program, the standard “90-80-70-60” grading scale will apply, though I reserve the right to curve grades up to a higher grade level at my discretion. Therefore, you will never be required to get higher than 90% for an A, but you may get an A if you score slightly below 90% if I choose to curve the grades.

This is intended to be a completely online, self-paced course. There are no mandatory scheduled course times (the recitation is optional). All of the content is available online, so you can work whenever and wherever you want. It could be a 3-hour block once a week, or a few minutes here and there between classes. It’s really up to you and your schedule. However, remember that each module may require 9 to 12 or more hours of work to complete, so make sure you have plenty of time available to devote to this course.

Also, a vast majority of the grading in this course will be handled automatically through Canvas and Codio. This means that you’ll be able to receive feedback directly from those systems as soon as you submit your work. You may also contact the instructors and GTAs for additional tips and feedback regarding your work, but depending on the number of students in the program, we may not be able to review every student submission directly.

In addition, due to the flexible online format of this class, there won’t be any long lecture videos to watch. Instead, each module will consist of a guided tutorial and several short videos, each focused on a particular topic or task. Likewise, there won’t be any textbooks required, since all of the information will be presented in the interactive tutorials through Codio. Finally, since we are using Codio as our learning platform, you won’t have to deal with installing and using a clunky integrated development environment, or IDE, just to learn how to program. Codio helps make learning to program quick and painless by moving everything to the web.

What hasn’t changed, though, is the basic concept of a college course. You’ll still be expected to watch or read about 6-9 hours of content to complete each module. In addition to that, each project assignment may require another 6-9 hours of work to complete. If you plan on doing a module each week, that roughly equates to 6 hours of content and 6 hours of homework each week, which is the expected workload from a 3-4 credit hour college course.

For this course, the only supplies you’ll need as a student are access to a modern web browser and a broadband internet connection. No other special hardware or software is necessary!

Finally, as you are aware, this course is always subject to change. This is a relatively new program here at K-State, and we’re always working on new and interesting ideas to integrate into the courses. The best advice I have is to look upon this graphic with the words “Don’t Panic” written in large, friendly letters. If you find yourself falling behind, or not understanding seek our help via cc210-help.

So, to complete this module, there are a few other things that you’ll need to do. The next step is to watch the video on navigating Canvas and Codio, which will give you a good idea of how to most effectively work through the content in this course.

To get to that video, click the “Next” button at the bottom right of this page.

Navigating Canvas & Codio

Resources

• Codio Documentation

Video Script

Home Page

This course makes extensive use of several features of Canvas which you may or may not have worked with before. To give you the best experience in this course, this video will briefly describe those features and the best way to access them.

When you first access your course on Canvas, you will be shown a homepage similar to this. It contains quick links to the course announcements, modules, people, grades, and discussion boards. This is handy if you just need to jump to a particular area.

Announcements

Let’s walk through the options in the main menu to the left. The first section is Announcements, which is where you’ll see any announcements related to the course. You’ll notice that several of the common menu items in this course are disabled, such as Files and Assignments. This is to simplify things for you as students, so you remember that all the course content is available in one place.

Modules

The second section is Modules, which is where you’ll primarily interact with the course. When you first arrive at the Modules section, you’ll see all of the content in the course laid out in order. If you like, you can minimize the modules you aren’t working on by clicking the arrow to the left of the module name. I’ll do so, leaving the introductory module open.

As you look at each module, you’ll see that it gives quite a bit of information about the course. At the top of each module is an item telling you what parts of the module you must complete to continue. In this case, it says “Complete All Items.” Likewise, the following modules may list a number of prerequisite modules, which you must complete before you can access it.

Within each module is a set of items, which must be completed in listed order. Under each item you’ll see information about what you must do in order to complete that item. For many of them, it will simply say view, which means you must view the item at least once to continue. Others may say contribute, submit, or give a minimum score required to continue. For assignments, it also helpfully gives the number of points available, and the due date.

Let’s click on the first item, Course Introduction, to get started. You’ve already been to this page by this point. Many course pages will consist of an embedded video, followed by links to any resources used or referenced in the video, including the slides. Finally, a rough video script will be posted on the page for your quick reference.

While we cannot force you to watch each video in its entirety, we highly recommend doing so. The script on the page may not accurately reflect all of the content in the video, nor can it show how to perform some tasks which are purely visual.

When you are ready to move to the next step in a module, click the Next button at the bottom of the page. Canvas will automatically add Next and Previous buttons to each piece of content which is accessed through the Modules section, which makes it very easy to work through the course content. I’ll click through a couple of items here.

At any point, you may click on the Modules link in the menu to the left to return to the Modules section of the site. You’ll notice that I’ve viewed the first few items in the first module, so I can access more items here. This is handy if you want to go back and review the content you’ve already seen, or if you leave and want to resume where you left off. Canvas will put green checkmarks to the right of items you’ve completed.

Continuing down the menu to the left, you’ll find the usual Canvas links to view your grades in the course, as well as a list of fellow students taking the course.

Discussion Board

We have also enabled the discussion board feature of Canvas. If you wish to pose a discussion topic to you classmates, you should use the discussion feature in Canvas.
Please note that asking a question on a discussion forum is not the same as emailing the course help email. We will certainly monitor the discussion channels, but not with the same speed as the “help line”.
Please read and adhere to the guidance on Netiquette in the syllabus for all electronic communications.

Codio Component

Now, let’s go to a Module with a Codio component and load up one of the Codio projects. To load a Codio project, there will be a button to click, which opens Codio in a new browser window or tab.

Once Codio loads, it may give you the option to start the Guide for that module. You’ll definitely want to select that option whenever you load a Codio project for the first time.

===

Where to Find Help

Resources

• Slides
• K-State IT Help Desk - Email helpdesk@ksu.edu
• K-State Online Canvas Help
• Instructure Canvas Guides
• Codio Documentation
• Codio Support
• K-State Libraries
• K-State CS Support
• K-State CS Advising
• K-State Engineering Student Services
• K-State Office of Student Life
• K-State Report It

Video Script

[Slide 1]

As you work on the materials in this course, you may run into questions or problems and need assistance. This video reviews the various types of help available to you in this course.

[Slide 2]

First and foremost, anytime you have a question or need assistance in the Computational Core program, please email the appropriate help group. It is the best place to get help with anything related to this program, from the tutorials and projects to issues with Codio and Canvas. For example, if you are enrolled in CC110 and have questions, from your KSU email, you would type cc110-help and hit tab to auto-complete the email. Each course has a dedicated help email which you can see here or in your course’s syllabus.

[Slide 3]

If you have any issues working with K-State Canvas, K-State IT resources, or any other technology related to the delivery of the course, your first source of help is the K-State IT Helpdesk. They can easily be reached via email at helpdesk@ksu.edu. Beyond them, there are many online resources for using Canvas, all of which are linked in the resources section below the video.

[Slide 4]

If you have any issues using the Codio platform, you are welcome to refer to their online documentation. Their support staff offers a quick and easy chat interface where you can ask questions and get feedback within a few minutes. If they do not get back to you right away, they will follow up via your email.

[Slide 5]

If you have issues with the technical content of the course, specifically related to completing the tutorials and projects, there are several resources available to you. First and foremost, make sure you consult the vast amount of material available in the course modules, including the links to resources. Usually, most answers you need can be found there.

Of course, as another step you can always exercise your information-gathering skills and use online search tools such as Google to answer your question. While you are not allowed to search online for direct solutions to assignments or projects, you are more than welcome to use Google to access programming resources such as StackOverflow, language documentation, and other tutorials. Be sure to watch the video about plagiarism and academic dishonesty to make sure you are using these resources properly. I can definitely assure you that programmers working in industry are often using Google and other online resources to aid in solving problems, so there is no reason why you shouldn’t start building that skill now.

[Slide 6]

Next, we have grading and administrative issues. This could include problems or mistakes in the grade you received on a project, missing course resources, or any concerns you have regarding the course and the conduct of instructors and your peers. Since this is an online course, you’ll be interacting with us on a variety of online platforms, and sometimes things happen that are inappropriate or offensive. There are lots of resources at K-State to help you with those situations. First and foremost, please email your instructor as soon as possible and let them know about your concern, if it is appropriate for them to be involved. If not, or if you’d rather talk with someone other than your instructor about your issue, I encourage you to contact either your academic advisor, the CS department staff, College of Engineering Student Services, or the K-State Office of Student Life. Finally, if you have any concerns that you feel should be reported to K-State, you can do so at https://www.k-state.edu/report/. That site also has links to a large number of resources at K-State that you can use when you need help.

[Slide 7]

Finally, if you find any errors or omissions in the course content, or have suggestions for additional resources to include in the course, email the instructors. There may be some extra credit points available for helping to improve the courses, so be on the lookout for anything that you feel could be changed or improved.

[Slide 8]

So, in summary, the content and links in the modules should always be your first stop when you have a question or run into a problem. For issues with Canvas or Codio, you are also welcome to refer directly to the resources for those platforms. For questions specifically related to the projects, use the courses help group. For grading questions and errors in the course content or any other issues, please email the instructors for assistance.

Our goal in this program is to make sure that you have the resources available to be a successful student. Please don’t be afraid to take advantage of them and ask questions whenever you have them.

What You'll Learn

Resources

• Slides
• Code.org Quotes

Video Script

Finally, before embarking on this program, let’s take a brief minute to review what you’ll learn by the time you complete the program.

Of course, the biggest and most impactful outcome will be learning how to write computer programs. Throughout the Computational Core program, you’ll learn either the Java or Python programming language, and get to a point where you are quite proficient with your language of choice. You’ll be capable of building your own programs from scratch to meet many of the challenges you’ll encounter in your career or elsewhere. This skill alone will set you well above your peers.

There are many additional benefits beyond just learning how to write programs. For starters, programming involves a large amount of problem solving and computational thinking, and these courses will help sharpen you skills in both areas. In addition to programming, you’ll also learn about software engineering methods that will help you build better programs, but also data structures and algorithms that will make your code more efficient and useful as it manipulates and stores data. Of course, you’ll also pick up some new math and logic skills, as both are vitally important to understanding computer code. Lastly, we’ll spend a bit of time discussing how computers actually work, so you can see how your code actually gets a computer to perform the tasks you desire.

Finally, you may be asking yourself why this is important. I could absolutely bring out large numbers of statistics stating how many computer programming jobs are available right now, and how we have a distinct lack of capable graduates to fill these positions. I could also talk about how much more money you could make as a computer programmer than in many other fields. But, instead, I think it is best to just present this quote from Stephen Hawking, one of the most brilliant people to ever live:

Whether you want to uncover the secrets of the universe, or you just want to pursue a career in the 21st century, basic computer programming is an essential skill to learn. - Stephen Hawking

This is just one of the many great quotes encouraging you to learn computer programming from Code.org. I highly recommend checking out their quote archive whenever you need additional inspiration.

That should cover all of the background information you’ll need before you start this program. The rest of this module includes the full course syllabus and a few assignments that you should read through before beginning the course, but you don’t have to do anything else for them right now. Finally, this module wraps up with a quick quiz making sure you are 100% ready to take this course.

Best of luck to you on your adventure through this program!

CC 110 Syllabus

CC 110 - Introduction to Computing

Instructor Contact Information

• Instructor: Russell Feldhausen (russfeld AT ksu DOT edu)
  I use he/him pronouns. Feel free to share your own pronouns with me, and I’ll do my best to use them!
• Office: DUE 2184 or DUE 2166, but I mostly work remotely from Kansas City, MO
• Phone: (785) 292-3121 (Call/Text)
• Website: https://russfeld.me
• Virtual Office Hours: By appointment via Zoom. Schedule a meeting at https://calendly.com/russfeld.
  
  
• Professor: Dr. Josh Weese (weeser AT ksu DOT edu)
  
• Office: DUE 2214
• Phone: (785) 532-7929
• Website: http://weeser.net/
• Office Hours: TBD

Preferred Methods of Communication:

• Piazza: Please use Piazza for all communication regarding these courses as it allows instructors and TAs to provide a clear and detailed response, as well as easily store and record communication for reference later. You should receive a response within one business day, and hopefully much sooner.
• Email: Students are also welcome to email us anytime with questions outside of the scope of these courses. We will try to respond within one business day. Questions related to the course itself may be redirected to Piazza. We’re also active on the K-State CS Rocket.chat.
• Phone/Text: Emergencies only! We will do our best to respond as quickly as we can.

Graduate Teaching Assistants

• TBD

Prerequisites

• None

Course Overview

An overview of the history of computers and programming. Famous historical figures and their impact in modern computing. Introduction to major topics in computer science such as artificial intelligence, high performance computing, cryptography, big data, cyber security, robotics, and more. Brief experience with computer programming concepts.

Course Description

This course serves as a primary introduction to modern computing and programming by reviewing historical figures and events and the impact they had on modern technology. Students are exposed to a variety of topics in computer science, and gain hands-on experience with some of these topics through the use of some basic programming skills. The goal of this course is to show students the wider world of computing and technology beyond programming, building a broad foundation for later courses to build upon.

Major Course Topics

• The history of computer science and early computing machines
• The basics of binary representation, Boolean logic, data encoding, encryption, and error checking
• Computational thinking, programming, and algorithm design
• The history and technology behind the internet and how it affects our world
• Computer science areas such as artificial intelligence, human-computer interaction, high performance computing, data science, robotics, and more
• Cybersecurity in a modern, interconnected world
• Other disciplines related to computer science
• Experience with basic programming concepts

Course Structure

These courses are being taught 100% online, and each module is self-paced. There may be some bumps in the road as we refine the overall course structure. Students will work at their own pace through a set of modules, with approximately one module being due each week. Material will be provided in the form of recorded videos, online tutorials, links to online resources, and discussion prompts. Each module will include a coding project or assignment, many of which will be graded automatically through Codio. Assignments may also include portions which will be graded manually via Canvas or other tools.

Grading

In theory, each student begins the course with an A. As you submit work, you can either maintain your A (for good work) or chip away at it (for less adequate or incomplete work). In practice, each student starts with 0 points in the gradebook and works upward toward a final point total earned out of the possible number of points. In this course, each assignment constitutes a portion of the final grade, as detailed below:

• 60% Lectures and Quizzes
• 40% Programming Projects

Up to 5% of the total grade in the class is available as extra credit. See the Extra Credit - Bug Bounty & Extra Credit - Helping Hands assignments for details.

Letter grades will be assigned following the standard scale:

• 90% - 100% → A
• 80% - 89.99% → B
• 70% - 79.99% → C
• 60% - 69.99% → D
• 00% - 59.99% → F

Late Work

Since this course is entirely online, students may work at any time and at their own pace through the modules. However, to keep everyone on track, there will be approximately one module due each week. Each graded item in the module will have a specific due date specified. Any module submitted late will have that module’s project grade reduced by 30% of the total possible points on that project. This penalty will be assessed via a single separate assignment entry in the gradebook, containing the sum of all grade reductions in the course for that student. For the purposes of recordkeeping, the submission time of the confirmation quiz in each module will be used to establish the completion time of the entire module in case of a discrepancy. This is because Codio may update submission times when assignments are regraded, but the quiz in Canvas should only be completed once.

However, even if a module is not submitted on time, it must still be completed before a student is allowed to begin the next module. So, students should take care not to get too far behind, as it may be very difficult to catch up.

Finally, all course work must be submitted on or before the last day of the semester in which the student is enrolled in the course in order for it to be graded on time.

If you have extenuating circumstances, please discuss them with the instructor as soon as they arise so other arrangements can be made. If you find that you are getting behind in the class, you are encouraged to speak to the instructor for options to make up missed work.

Incomplete Policy

Students should strive to complete this course in its entirety before the end of the semester in which they are enrolled. However, since retaking the course would be costly and repetitive for students, we would like to give students a chance to succeed with a little help rather than immediately fail students who are struggling.

If you are unable to complete the course in a timely manner, please contact the instructor to discuss an incomplete grade. Incomplete grades are given solely at the instructor’s discretion. See the official K-State Grading Policy for more information. In general, poor time management alone is not a sufficient reason for an incomplete grade.

Unless otherwise noted in writing on a signed Incomplete Agreement Form, the following stipulations apply to any incomplete grades given in Computational Core courses:

1. Students may receive at most two incompletes in Computational Core courses throughout their time in the program
2. Students will be given 6 calendar weeks from the end of the enrolled semester’s finals week to complete the course
3. Any modules in a future CC course which depend on incomplete work will not be accessible until the previous course is finished
4. For example, if a student is given an incomplete in CC 210, then all modules in CC 310 will be inaccessible until CC 210 is complete
5. Students understand that access to instructor and GTA assistance may be limited after the end of an academic semester due to holidays and other obligations
6. If a student fails to resolve an incomplete grade after 6 weeks, they will be assigned an ‘F’ in the course. In addition, they will be dropped from any other Computational Core courses which require the failed course as a prerequisite or corequisite.

Recommended Texts & Supplies

To participate in this course, students must have access to a modern web browser and broadband internet connection. All course materials will be provided via Canvas, Piazza, and Codio. Modules may also contain links to external resources for additional information, such as programming language documentation.

Subject to Change

The details in this syllabus are not set in stone. Due to the flexible nature of this class, adjustments may need to be made as the semester progresses, though they will be kept to a minimum. If any changes occur, the changes will be posted on the Canvas page for this course and emailed to all students. All changes may also be posted to Piazza.

Academic Honesty

Kansas State University has an Honor and Integrity System based on personal integrity, which is presumed to be sufficient assurance that, in academic matters, one’s work is performed honestly and without unauthorized assistance. Undergraduate and graduate students, by registration, acknowledge the jurisdiction of the Honor and Integrity System. The policies and procedures of the Honor and Integrity System apply to all full and part-time students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate courses on-campus, off-campus, and via distance learning. A component vital to the Honor and Integrity System is the inclusion of the Honor Pledge which applies to all assignments, examinations, or other course work undertaken by students. The Honor Pledge is implied, whether or not it is stated: “On my honor, as a student, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this academic work.” A grade of XF can result from a breach of academic honesty. The F indicates failure in the course; the X indicates the reason is an Honor Pledge violation.

For this course, a violation of the Honor Pledge will result in an automatic 0 for the assignment and the violation will be reported to the Honor System. A second violation will result in an XF in the course.

The Codio platform can perform automatic plagiarism detection by comparing submitted projects against other students’ submissions and known solutions. That information may be used to determine if plagiarism has taken place.

Students with Disabilities

Students with disabilities who need classroom accommodations, access to technology, or information about emergency building/campus evacuation processes should contact the Student Access Center and/or their instructor. Services are available to students with a wide range of disabilities including, but not limited to, physical disabilities, medical conditions, learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder, depression, and anxiety. If you are a student enrolled in campus/online courses through the Manhattan or Olathe campuses, contact the Student Access Center at accesscenter@k-state.edu, 785-532-6441; for K-State Polytechnic campus, contact Academic and Student Services at polytechnicadvising@ksu.edu or call 785-826-2674.

Diversity and Inclusion

In an ideal world, science and technology would be objective. However, much of science and technology is subjective and is historically built on a small subset of privileged voices. In this class, we will reference many materials from a diverse set of sources, but limits still exist on this diversity. I acknowledge that it is possible that there may be both overt and covert biases in the material due to the lens with which it was written, even though the material is primarily of a technical nature.

Please contact me or submit anonymous feedback through the Computer Science department office if you have any concerns or suggestions regarding this course and related materials.

Furthermore, I would like to create a learning environment for my students that supports a diversity of thoughts, perspectives and experiences, and honors your identities (including race, gender, class, sexuality, religion, ability, etc.). To help accomplish this:

• If you have a name and/or use pronouns that differ from those that appear in your official K-State records, please let me know!
• If you feel like your performance in the class is being impacted by your experiences outside of class, please don’t hesitate to talk with me. I want to be a resource for you. Please remember that you can also submit anonymous feedback as described above (which will lead to me making a general announcement to the class, if necessary, to address your concerns).
• If you prefer to speak with someone outside of the course, your academic advisor or the staff in the College of Engineering Student Services office are excellent resources.

I, like many people, am still in the process of learning about diverse perspectives and identities. If something was said in class, by anyone, that made you feel uncomfortable, please talk to me about it. Again, anonymous feedback is always an option.

Netiquette

Online communication is inherently different than in-person communication. When speaking in person, many times we can take advantage of the context and body language of the person speaking to better understand what the speaker means, not just what is said. This information is not present when communicating online, so we must be much more careful about what we say and how we say it in order to get our meaning across.

Here are a few general rules to help us all communicate online in this course, especially while using tools such as Piazza:

• Use a clear and meaningful subject line to announce your topic. Subject lines such as “Question” or “Problem” are not helpful. Subjects such as “Logic Question in Project 5, Part 1 in Java” or “Unexpected Exception when Opening Text File in Python” give plenty of information about your topic.
• Use only one topic per message. If you have multiple topics, post multiple messages so each one can be discussed independently.
• Be thorough, concise, and to the point. Ideally, each message should be a page or less.
• Include exact error messages, code snippets, or screenshots, as well as any previous steps taken to fix the problem. It is much easier to solve a problem when the exact error message or screenshot is provided. If we know what you’ve tried so far, we can get to the root cause of the issue more quickly.
• Consider carefully what you write before you post it. Once a message is posted, it becomes part of the permanent record of the course and can easily be found by others.
• If you are lost, don’t know an answer, or don’t understand something, speak up! Piazza allows you to send a message privately to the instructors, or post anonymously so other students don’t know your identity. Don’t be afraid to ask questions anytime, as you can choose to do so without any fear of being identified by your fellow students.
• Class discussions are confidential. Do not share information from the course with anyone outside of the course without explicit permission.
• Do not quote entire message chains; only include the relevant parts. When replying to a previous message, only quote the relevant lines in your response.
• Do not use all caps. It makes it look like you are shouting. Use appropriate text markup (bold, italics, etc.) to highlight a point if needed.
• No feigning surprise. If someone asks a question, saying things like “I can’t believe you don’t know that!” are not helpful, and only serve to make that person feel bad.
• No “well-actually’s.” If someone makes a statement that is not entirely correct, resist the urge to offer a “well, actually…” correction, especially if it is not relevant to the discussion. If you can help solve their problem, feel free to provide correct information, but don’t post a correction just for the sake of being correct.
• Do not correct someone’s grammar or spelling. Again, it is not helpful, and only serves to make that person feel bad. If there is a genuine mistake that may affect the meaning of the post, please contact the person privately or let the instructors know privately so it can be resolved.
• Avoid subtle -isms and microaggressions. Avoid comments that could make others feel uncomfortable based on their personal identity. See the syllabus section on Diversity and Inclusion above for more information on this topic. If a comment makes you uncomfortable, please contact the instructor.
• Avoid sarcasm, flaming, advertisements, lingo, trolling, doxxing, and other bad online habits. They have no place in an academic environment. Tasteful humor is fine, but sarcasm can be misunderstood.

As a participant in course discussions, you should also strive to honor the diversity of your classmates by adhering to the K-State Principles of Community.

Expectations for Conduct

All student activities in the University, including this course, are governed by the Student Judicial Conduct Code as outlined in the Student Governing Association By Laws, Article V, Section 3, number 2. Students who engage in behavior that disrupts the learning environment may be asked to leave the class.

Campus Safety

Kansas State University is committed to providing a safe teaching and learning environment for student and faculty members. In order to enhance your safety in the unlikely case of a campus emergency make sure that you know where and how to quickly exit your classroom and how to follow any emergency directives. To view additional campus emergency information go to the University’s main page, www.k-state.edu, and click on the Emergency Information button, located at the bottom of the page.

Student Resources

K-State has many resources to help contribute to student success. These resources include accommodations for academics, paying for college, student life, health and safety, and others found at www.k-state.edu/onestop.

Face Coverings

To protect the health and safety of the K-State community, students, faculty, staff and visitors must wear face coverings over their mouths and noses while on K-State campuses in all hallways, public spaces, classrooms and other common areas of campus buildings, and when in offices or other work spaces or outdoor settings when 6-feet social distancing cannot be maintained. In addition, all students, faculty, and staff are required to take the COVID-19 and Face Mask Safety training. Employees who need reasonable accommodations and assistance related to required face coverings may contact the ADA coordinator at charlott@k-state.edu, and students needing accommodations may contact the Student Access Center at accesscenter@k-state.edu. In classrooms, faculty have the right to deny a student entry into the room if the student is not wearing a face covering.

Academic Freedom Statement

Kansas State University is a community of students, faculty, and staff who work together to discover new knowledge, create new ideas, and share the results of their scholarly inquiry with the wider public. Although new ideas or research results may be controversial or challenge established views, the health and growth of any society requires frank intellectual exchange. Academic freedom protects this type of free exchange and is thus essential to any university’s mission.

Moreover, academic freedom supports collaborative work in the pursuit of truth and the dissemination of knowledge in an environment of inquiry, respectful debate, and professionalism. Academic freedom is not limited to the classroom or to scientific and scholarly research, but extends to the life of the university as well as to larger social and political questions. It is the right and responsibility of the university community to engage with such issues.

Copyright Notice

© The materials in this online course fall under the protection of all intellectual property, copyright and trademark laws of the U.S. The digital materials included here come with the legal permissions and releases of the copyright holders. These course materials should be used for educational purposes only; the contents should not be distributed electronically or otherwise beyond the confines of this online course. The URLs listed here do not suggest endorsement of either the site owners or the contents found at the sites. Likewise, mentioned brands (products and services) do not suggest endorsement. Students own copyright to what they create.

CC 210 Syllabus

CC 210 - Fundamental Computer Programming Concepts

Instructor Contact Information

• Instructor: George “Bud” LaVezzi (gblavezz1 AT ksu DOT edu)
  
• Office: DUE 2166
• Phone: (785) 532-7767
• Office Hours: Mon/Thurs 9:30 - 10:20 AM, Wed 2:30 - 3:20 PM
• Open Recitation Period: Wednesday 4:30 - 5:20 PM in DUE 1117

Preferred Methods of Communication:

• Email: Please use “cc210-help” (cc210-help@ksuemailprod.onmicrosoft.com if not on web-mail) for all communication regarding these courses as it allows instructors and TAs to provide a clear and detailed response, as well as easily store and record communication for reference later. You should receive a response within one business day, and hopefully much sooner. Note emailing the instructor or teaching assistants directly may result in longer wait times for your support.
• Zoom: We can arrange a Zoom meeting if desired—we will make efforts to assist Global Campus student requests for meetings outside of normal classroom hours (8 AM – 5 PM). Please note we all work in US Central Time and are not necessarily available at all hours.
• Phone/Text: Emergencies only! We will do our best to respond as quickly as we can. Note my office number has voice mail, but no text support.

Graduate Teaching Assistants

CC 210 Spring 2020

To join a GTA’s office hours, click the appropriate Zoom link below:

• Farrukh Ali - farrukhali AT ksu DOT edu
  Office Hours: By Appointment via Zoom - Email to request a time
• BreAnn Anshutz - banshutz AT ksu DOT edu
  Office Hours: By Appointment via via Zoom - Email to request a time

Email “cc210-help” to request additional GTA office hours by appointment.

Prerequisites

• None
• (Effective Fall 2020): CC 110 - Introduction to Computing (Prerequisite or Concurrent Enrollment)

Course Overview

Basic concepts in developing computer programs: program structure and syntax, primitive data types, variables, control flow, iteration, simple algorithms, debugging, and good software development practices. Introduction to object-oriented programming.

Course Description

The course introduces students to computer programming using one of several programming languages. Interactive lessons and engaging projects reinforce new skills and concepts while relating programming fundamentals to the real world. This course covers the basic concepts of programming, from variables and control flow to functions, objects, and simple algorithms.

Major Course Topics

• Programming Basics
• Primitive Data Types
• Boolean Logic and Boolean Algebra
• Conditional Statements
• Loops
• Arrays / Lists
• Strings, String Parsing, and String Formatting
• Exception Handling and Debugging
• Console and File I/O
• Methods, Arguments and Parameters
• Classes and Objects
• Object-Oriented Programming
• Model-View-Controller Architecture
• Inheritance and Polymorphism
• Standard Library Collections and Generic Types

Course Structure

This course is intended to be taught 100% online, each module is self-paced, and each module must be completed to progress to the next one. Students are expected to make good progress; we have found students who fall behind often fail to successfully complete the class. The expected schedule is one module per week: we allow some flexibility in “due date.”

There may be some bumps in the road as we refine the overall course structure. Material will be provided in the form of recorded videos, online tutorials, links to online resources, and discussion prompts. Each module will include a coding project or assignment, many of which will be graded automatically through Codio. Assignments may also include portions which will be graded manually via Canvas or other tools.

Optional Recitation: Wednesdays (except during Spring Break) in DUE 1117, from 1630 -1720 (4:30 PM to 5:20 PM) I will hold a TOTALLY OPTIONAL recitation designed to provide other examples, some additional material (not gradable) and answer questions. As a recitation, it is a reversed class, I will not be “teaching” the video lectures and reading materials, I will provide additional examples and pose additional questions (ungraded exercises) to help re-enforce learning. If no one has any questions and the material needs little supplementing, the recitation may not last very long (it can end early).

Grading

In practice, each student starts with 0 points in the gradebook and works upward toward a final point total earned out of the possible number of points. In this course, each assignment constitutes a portion of the final grade, as detailed below:

• 60% - Codio Programming Projects
• 20% - Codio Tutorials
• 20% - Canvas Quizzes

Up to 5% of the total grade in the class is available as extra credit. See the Extra Credit - Bug Bounty assignment for details.

Letter grades will be assigned following the standard scale:

• 90% - 100% → A
• 80% - 89.99% → B
• 70% - 79.99% → C
• 60% - 69.99% → D
• 00% - 59.99% → F

Late Work

Read this late work policy very carefully! If you are unsure how to interpret it, please contact the instructors via emailing cc210-help. Not understanding the policy does not mean that it won’t apply to you!

Since this course is entirely online, students may work at any time and at their own pace through the modules. However, to keep everyone on track, there will be approximately one module each week. Each module will have a specific due date. Any module submitted late will have that module’s project grade reduced by 100% of the total possible points on that project.

This penalty will be assessed via a single separate assignment entry in the gradebook, containing the sum of all grade reductions in the course for that student. For the purposes of recordkeeping, the submission time of the confirmation quiz in each module will be used to establish the completion time of the entire module in case of a discrepancy. This is because Codio may update submission times when assignments are regraded, but the quiz in Canvas should only be completed.

However, even if a module is not submitted on time, it must still be completed before a student is allowed to begin the next module. So, students should take care not to get too far behind, as it may be very difficult to catch up.

Finally, all course work must be submitted on or before the last day of the semester (8 May 2020 at 5PM) in which the student is enrolled in the course in order for it to be graded.

If you have extenuating circumstances, please discuss them with the instructor as soon as they arise so other arrangements can be made. If you find that you are getting behind in the class, you are encouraged to speak to the instructor for options to make up missed work.

The module number is important, the title may vary based on language you selected. In general, the “due date” means completed before 11:59 PM (just before midnight) on the specified date – EXCEPT – ALL WORK MUST BE TURNED IN BY 1700 (5 PM) ON 8 MAY TO RECEIVE ANY CONSIDERATION.

Incomplete Policy

Students should strive to complete this course in its entirety before the end of the semester in which they are enrolled. However, since retaking the course would be costly and repetitive for students, we would like to give students a chance to succeed with a little help rather than immediately fail students who are struggling.

If you are unable to complete the course in a timely manner, please contact the instructor to discuss an incomplete grade. Incomplete grades are given solely at the instructor’s discretion. See the official K-State Grading Policy for more information. In general, poor time management alone is not a sufficient reason for an incomplete grade.

Unless otherwise noted in writing on a signed Incomplete Agreement Form, the following stipulations apply to any incomplete grades given in Computational Core courses:

1. Students may receive at most two incompletes in Computational Core courses throughout their time in the program
2. Students will be given 6 calendar weeks from the end of the enrolled semester’s finals week to complete the course
3. Any modules in a future CC course which depend on incomplete work will not be accessible until the previous course is finished
4. For example, if a student is given an incomplete in CC 210, then all modules in CC 310 will be inaccessible until CC 210 is complete
5. Students understand that access to instructor and GTA assistance may be limited after the end of an academic semester
6. If a student fails to resolve an incomplete grade after 6 weeks, they will be assigned an ‘F’ in the course. In addition, they will be dropped from any other Computational Core courses which require the failed course as a prerequisite or corequisite.

Recommended Texts & Supplies

To participate in this course, students must have access to a modern web browser and broadband internet connection. All course materials will be provided via Canvas and Codio. Modules may also contain links to external resources for additional information, such as programming language documentation.

Subject to Change

The details in this syllabus are not set in stone. Due to the flexible nature of this class, adjustments may need to be made as the semester progresses, though they will be kept to a minimum. If any changes occur, the changes will be posted on the Canvas page for this course and emailed to all students.

Academic Honesty

Kansas State University has an Honor and Integrity System based on personal integrity, which is presumed to be sufficient assurance that, in academic matters, one’s work is performed honestly and without unauthorized assistance. Undergraduate and graduate students, by registration, acknowledge the jurisdiction of the Honor and Integrity System. The policies and procedures of the Honor and Integrity System apply to all full and part-time students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate courses on-campus, off-campus, and via distance learning. A component vital to the Honor and Integrity System is the inclusion of the Honor Pledge which applies to all assignments, examinations, or other course work undertaken by students. The Honor Pledge is implied, whether or not it is stated: “On my honor, as a student, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this academic work.” A grade of XF can result from a breach of academic honesty. The F indicates failure in the course; the X indicates the reason is an Honor Pledge violation.

For this course, a violation of the Honor Pledge will result in an automatic 0 for the assignment and the violation will be reported to the Honor System. A second violation will result in an XF in the course.

The Codio platform can perform automatic plagiarism detection by comparing submitted projects against other students’ submissions and known solutions. That information may be used to determine if plagiarism has taken place.

Students with Disabilities

Students with disabilities who need classroom accommodations, access to technology, or information about emergency building/campus evacuation processes should contact the Student Access Center and/or their instructor. Services are available to students with a wide range of disabilities including, but not limited to, physical disabilities, medical conditions, learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder, depression, and anxiety. If you are a student enrolled in campus/online courses through the Manhattan or Olathe campuses, contact the Student Access Center at accesscenter@k-state.edu, 785-532-6441; for K-State Polytechnic campus, contact Academic and Student Services at polytechnicadvising@ksu.edu or call 785-826-2674.

Diversity and Inclusion

In an ideal world, science and technology would be objective. However, much of science and technology is subjective and is historically built on a small subset of privileged voices. In this class, we will reference many materials from a diverse set of sources, but limits still exist on this diversity. I acknowledge that it is possible that there may be both overt and covert biases in the material due to the lens with which it was written, even though the material is primarily of a technical nature.

Please contact me or submit anonymous feedback through the Computer Science department office if you have any concerns or suggestions regarding this course and related materials.

Netiquette

Online communication is inherently different than in-person communication. When speaking in person, many times we can take advantage of the context and body language of the person speaking to better understand what the speaker means, not just what is said. This information is not present when communicating online, so we must be much more careful about what we say and how we say it in order to get our meaning across.

Here are a few general rules to help us all communicate online in this course, especially while using tools such as email or Canvas:

• Use a clear and meaningful subject line to announce your topic. Subject lines such as “Question” or “Problem” are not helpful. Subjects such as “Logic Question in Project 5, Part 1 in Java” or “Unexpected Exception when Opening Text File in Python” give plenty of information about your topic.
• Use only one topic per message. If you have multiple topics, post multiple messages so each one can be discussed independently.
• Be thorough, concise, and to the point. Ideally, each message should be a page or less.
• Include exact error messages, code snippets, or screenshots, as well as any previous steps taken to fix the problem. It is much easier to solve a problem when the exact error message or screenshot is provided. If we know what you’ve tried so far, we can get to the root cause of the issue more quickly.
• Consider carefully what you write before you post it. Once a message is posted, it becomes part of the permanent record of the course and can easily be found by others.
• If you are lost, don’t know an answer, or don’t understand something, speak up! Email allows you to send a message privately to the instructors. Don’t be afraid to ask questions anytime, as you can choose to do so without any fear of being identified by your fellow students.
• Class discussions are confidential. Do not share information from the course with anyone outside of the course without explicit permission.
• Do not quote entire message chains; only include the relevant parts. When replying to a previous message, only quote the relevant lines in your response.
• Do not use all caps. It makes it look like you are shouting. Use appropriate text markup (bold, italics, etc.) to highlight a point if needed.
• No feigning surprise. If someone asks a question, saying things like “I can’t believe you don’t know that!” are not helpful, and only serve to make that person feel bad.
• No “well-actually’s.” If someone makes a statement that is not entirely correct, resist the urge to offer a “well, actually…” correction, especially if it is not relevant to the discussion. If you can help solve their problem, feel free to provide correct information, but don’t post a correction just for the sake of being correct.
• Do not correct someone’s grammar or spelling. Again, it is not helpful, and only serves to make that person feel bad. If there is a genuine mistake that may affect the meaning of the post, please contact the person privately or let the instructors know privately so it can be resolved.
• Avoid subtle -isms and microaggressions. Avoid comments that could make others feel uncomfortable based on their personal identity. See the syllabus section on Diversity and Inclusion above for more information on this topic. If a comment makes you uncomfortable, please contact the instructor.
• Avoid sarcasm, flaming, advertisements, lingo, trolling, doxxing, and other bad online habits. They have no place in an academic environment. Tasteful humor is fine, but sarcasm can be misunderstood.

As a participant in course discussions, you should also strive to honor the diversity of your classmates by adhering to the K-State Principles of Community.

Expectations for Conduct

All student activities in the University, including this course, are governed by the Student Judicial Conduct Code as outlined in the Student Governing Association By Laws, Article V, Section 3, number 2. Students who engage in behavior that disrupts the learning environment may be asked to leave the class.

Campus Safety

Kansas State University is committed to providing a safe teaching and learning environment for student and faculty members. In order to enhance your safety in the unlikely case of a campus emergency make sure that you know where and how to quickly exit your classroom and how to follow any emergency directives. To view additional campus emergency information go to the University’s main page, www.k-state.edu, and click on the Emergency Information button, located at the bottom of the page.

Student Resources

K-State has many resources to help contribute to student success. These resources include accommodations for academics, paying for college, student life, health and safety, and others found at www.k-state.edu/onestop.

Face Coverings

To protect the health and safety of the K-State community, students, faculty, staff and visitors must wear face coverings over their mouths and noses while on K-State campuses in all hallways, public spaces, classrooms and other common areas of campus buildings, and when in offices or other work spaces or outdoor settings when 6-feet social distancing cannot be maintained. In addition, all students, faculty, and staff are required to take the COVID-19 and Face Mask Safety training. Employees who need reasonable accommodations and assistance related to required face coverings may contact the ADA coordinator at charlott@k-state.edu, and students needing accommodations may contact the Student Access Center at accesscenter@k-state.edu. In classrooms, faculty have the right to deny a student entry into the room if the student is not wearing a face covering.

Academic Freedom Statement

Kansas State University is a community of students, faculty, and staff who work together to discover new knowledge, create new ideas, and share the results of their scholarly inquiry with the wider public. Although new ideas or research results may be controversial or challenge established views, the health and growth of any society requires frank intellectual exchange. Academic freedom protects this type of free exchange and is thus essential to any university’s mission.

Moreover, academic freedom supports collaborative work in the pursuit of truth and the dissemination of knowledge in an environment of inquiry, respectful debate, and professionalism. Academic freedom is not limited to the classroom or to scientific and scholarly research, but extends to the life of the university as well as to larger social and political questions. It is the right and responsibility of the university community to engage with such issues.

Copyright Notice

© The materials in this online course fall under the protection of all intellectual property, copyright and trademark laws of the U.S. The digital materials included here come with the legal permissions and releases of the copyright holders. These course materials should be used for educational purposes only; the contents should not be distributed electronically or otherwise beyond the confines of this online course. The URLs listed here do not suggest endorsement of either the site owners or the contents found at the sites. Likewise, mentioned brands (products and services) do not suggest endorsement. Students own copyright to what they create.

CC 310 Syllabus

CC 310 - Data Structures & Algorithms I

Instructor Contact Information

• Instructor: Emily Alfs-Votipka (emilyalfs AT ksu DOT edu)
  I use she/her pronouns. Feel free to share your own pronouns with me, and I’ll do my best to use them!
• Office: DUE 2151 (This semester will be strictly online though)
• Virtual Office Hours: Schedule a meeting with me: https://calendly.com/emilyalfs Appointments held via Zoom.

Preferred Methods of Communication:

• For Course Related Questions: cc310-help AT KSUemailProd DOT onmicrosoft DOT com
  • Or from your KSU email, you can type ‘cc310-help’ in the ‘To’ Field then hit your Tab key to auto-complete the address.
• Other Questions: emilyalfs AT ksu DOT edu

Students are also welcome to email us anytime with questions outside of the scope of these courses. We will try to respond within one business day. Questions related to the course itself may be redirected to the group email: cc310-help AT KSUemailProd DOT onmicrosoft DOT com

Prerequisites

• MATH 100 - College Algebra
• CC 210 - Fundamental Computer Programming Concepts (Prerequisite or Concurrent Enrollment)

Course Overview

Exploration of data structures & related algorithms in computer programming. Basic concepts of complexity analysis. Object-oriented design concepts.

Course Description

This course introduces simple data structures such as sets, lists, stacks, queues, and maps. Students learn how to create data structures and the algorithms that use them. Students are introduced to algorithm analysis to determine the efficiency of algorithms.

Major Course Topics

• Data Structures
  • Sets
  • Lists
  • Stacks
  • Queues
  • Maps
• Algorithms
  • Searching
  • Sorting
  • Structural Operations
  • Hashing
  • Set Relations
• Recursion
• Complexity Analysis
• Algorithm Design Strategies and Patterns
• Logic: Preconditions, Postconditions and Invariants

Course Structure

These courses are being taught 100% online, and each module is self-paced. There may be some bumps in the road as we refine the overall course structure. Students will work at their own pace through a set of modules, with approximately one module being due each week. Material will be provided in the form of recorded videos, online tutorials, links to online resources, and discussion prompts. Each module will include a coding project or assignment, many of which will be graded automatically through Codio. Assignments may also include portions which will be graded manually via Canvas or other tools.

Grading

In theory, each student begins the course with an A. As you submit work, you can either maintain your A (for good work) or chip away at it (for less adequate or incomplete work). In practice, each student starts with 0 points in the gradebook and works upward toward a final point total earned out of the possible number of points. In this course, each assignment constitutes a portion of the final grade, as detailed below:

• 70% - Codio Programming Projects
• 30% - Codio Tutorials and Canvas Quizzes

Up to 5% of the total grade in the class is available as extra credit. See the Extra Credit - Bug Bounty assignment for details.

Letter grades will be assigned following the standard scale:

• 90% - 100% → A
• 80% - 89.99% → B
• 70% - 79.99% → C
• 60% - 69.99% → D
• 00% - 59.99% → F

Late Work

Since this course is entirely online, students may work at any time and at their own pace through the modules. However, to keep everyone on track, there will be approximately one module due each week. Each graded item in the module will have a specific due date specified. All of the components of a module will be subject to the late policy if the module is submitted late. This penalty will be assessed via a single separate assignment entry in the gradebook, containing the sum of all grade reductions in the course for that student.

The following table outlines the highest possible score that a module can earn based on when it is complete

The table reads as: The assignments of a module turned in on Friday before midnight can receive at most 80% of the possible points.

Assignments which are submitted late but score below the threshold will not receive a penalty. For example, if a module is completed on Friday afternoon and the project scores 75/100, then no penalty will be received.

For the purposes of recordkeeping, the submission time of the confirmation quiz in each module will be used to establish the completion time of the entire module in case of a discrepancy. This is because Codio may update submission times when assignments are regraded, but the quiz in Canvas should only be completed once.

However, even if a module is not submitted on time, it must still be completed before a student is allowed to begin the next module. So, students should take care not to get too far behind, as it may be very difficult to catch up.

Finally, all course work must be submitted on or before the last day of the semester in which the student is enrolled in the course in order for it to be graded on time.

If you have extenuating circumstances, please discuss them with the instructor as soon as they arise so other arrangements can be made. If you find that you are getting behind in the class, you are encouraged to speak to the instructor for options to make up missed work.

Incomplete Policy

Students should strive to complete this course in its entirety before the end of the semester in which they are enrolled. However, since retaking the course would be costly and repetitive for students, we would like to give students a chance to succeed with a little help rather than immediately fail students who are struggling.

If you are unable to complete the course in a timely manner, please contact the instructor to discuss an incomplete grade. Incomplete grades are given solely at the instructor’s discretion. See the official K-State Grading Policy for more information. In general, poor time management alone is not a sufficient reason for an incomplete grade.

Unless otherwise noted in writing on a signed Incomplete Agreement Form, the following stipulations apply to any incomplete grades given in Computational Core courses:

1. Students may receive at most two incompletes in Computational Core courses throughout their time in the program
2. Students will be given 6 calendar weeks from the end of the enrolled semester’s finals week to complete the course
3. Any modules in a future CC course which depend on incomplete work will not be accessible until the previous course is finished
4. For example, if a student is given an incomplete in CC 210, then all modules in CC 310 will be inaccessible until CC 210 is complete
5. Students understand that access to instructor and GTA assistance may be limited after the end of an academic semester due to holidays and other obligations
6. If a student fails to resolve an incomplete grade after 6 weeks, they will be assigned an ‘F’ in the course. In addition, they will be dropped from any other Computational Core courses which require the failed course as a prerequisite or corequisite.

Recommended Texts & Supplies

To participate in this course, students must have access to a modern web browser and broadband internet connection. All course materials will be provided via Canvas and Codio. Modules may also contain links to external resources for additional information, such as programming language documentation.

Subject to Change

The details in this syllabus are not set in stone. Due to the flexible nature of this class, adjustments may need to be made as the semester progresses, though they will be kept to a minimum. If any changes occur, the changes will be posted on the Canvas page for this course and emailed to all students.

Academic Honesty

Kansas State University has an Honor and Integrity System based on personal integrity, which is presumed to be sufficient assurance that, in academic matters, one’s work is performed honestly and without unauthorized assistance. Undergraduate and graduate students, by registration, acknowledge the jurisdiction of the Honor and Integrity System. The policies and procedures of the Honor and Integrity System apply to all full and part-time students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate courses on-campus, off-campus, and via distance learning. A component vital to the Honor and Integrity System is the inclusion of the Honor Pledge which applies to all assignments, examinations, or other course work undertaken by students. The Honor Pledge is implied, whether or not it is stated: “On my honor, as a student, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this academic work.” A grade of XF can result from a breach of academic honesty. The F indicates failure in the course; the X indicates the reason is an Honor Pledge violation.

For this course, a violation of the Honor Pledge will result in an automatic 0 for the assignment and the violation will be reported to the Honor System. A second violation will result in an XF in the course.

The Codio platform can perform automatic plagiarism detection by comparing submitted projects against other students’ submissions and known solutions. That information may be used to determine if plagiarism has taken place.

Students with Disabilities

Students with disabilities who need classroom accommodations, access to technology, or information about emergency building/campus evacuation processes should contact the Student Access Center and/or their instructor. Services are available to students with a wide range of disabilities including, but not limited to, physical disabilities, medical conditions, learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder, depression, and anxiety. If you are a student enrolled in campus/online courses through the Manhattan or Olathe campuses, contact the Student Access Center at accesscenter@k-state.edu, 785-532-6441; for K-State Polytechnic campus, contact Academic and Student Services at polytechnicadvising@ksu.edu or call 785-826-2674.

Diversity and Inclusion

In an ideal world, science and technology would be objective. However, much of science and technology is subjective and is historically built on a small subset of privileged voices. In this class, we will reference many materials from a diverse set of sources, but limits still exist on this diversity. I acknowledge that it is possible that there may be both overt and covert biases in the material due to the lens with which it was written, even though the material is primarily of a technical nature.

Please contact me or submit anonymous feedback through the Computer Science department office if you have any concerns or suggestions regarding this course and related materials.

Furthermore, I would like to create a learning environment for my students that supports a diversity of thoughts, perspectives and experiences, and honors your identities (including race, gender, class, sexuality, religion, ability, etc.). To help accomplish this:

• If you have a name and/or use pronouns that differ from those that appear in your official K-State records, please let me know!
• If you feel like your performance in the class is being impacted by your experiences outside of class, please don’t hesitate to talk with me. I want to be a resource for you. Please remember that you can also submit anonymous feedback as described above (which will lead to me making a general announcement to the class, if necessary, to address your concerns).
• If you prefer to speak with someone outside of the course, your academic advisor or the staff in the College of Engineering Student Services office are excellent resources.

I, like many people, am still in the process of learning about diverse perspectives and identities. If something was said in class, by anyone, that made you feel uncomfortable, please talk to me about it. Again, anonymous feedback is always an option.

Netiquette

Online communication is inherently different than in-person communication. When speaking in person, many times we can take advantage of the context and body language of the person speaking to better understand what the speaker means, not just what is said. This information is not present when communicating online, so we must be much more careful about what we say and how we say it in order to get our meaning across.

Here are a few general rules to help us all communicate online in this course:

• Use a clear and meaningful subject line to announce your topic. Subject lines such as “Question” or “Problem” are not helpful. Subjects such as “Logic Question in Project 5, Part 1 in Java” or “Unexpected Exception when Opening Text File in Python” give plenty of information about your topic.
• Use only one topic per message. If you have multiple topics, post multiple messages so each one can be discussed independently.
• Be thorough, concise, and to the point. Ideally, each message should be a page or less.
• Include exact error messages, code snippets, or screenshots, as well as any previous steps taken to fix the problem. It is much easier to solve a problem when the exact error message or screenshot is provided. If we know what you’ve tried so far, we can get to the root cause of the issue more quickly.
• Consider carefully what you write before you post it. Once a message is posted, it becomes part of the permanent record of the course and can easily be found by others.
• If you are lost, don’t know an answer, or don’t understand something, speak up! We are here to help you!
• Class discussions are confidential. Do not share information from the course with anyone outside of the course without explicit permission.
• Do not quote entire message chains; only include the relevant parts. When replying to a previous message, only quote the relevant lines in your response.
• Do not use all caps. It makes it look like you are shouting. Use appropriate text markup (bold, italics, etc.) to highlight a point if needed.
• No feigning surprise. If someone asks a question, saying things like “I can’t believe you don’t know that!” are not helpful, and only serve to make that person feel bad.
• No “well-actually’s.” If someone makes a statement that is not entirely correct, resist the urge to offer a “well, actually…” correction, especially if it is not relevant to the discussion. If you can help solve their problem, feel free to provide correct information, but don’t post a correction just for the sake of being correct.
• Do not correct someone’s grammar or spelling. Again, it is not helpful, and only serves to make that person feel bad. If there is a genuine mistake that may affect the meaning of the post, please contact the person privately or let the instructors know privately so it can be resolved.
• Avoid subtle -isms and microaggressions. Avoid comments that could make others feel uncomfortable based on their personal identity. See the syllabus section on Diversity and Inclusion above for more information on this topic. If a comment makes you uncomfortable, please contact the instructor.
• Avoid sarcasm, flaming, advertisements, lingo, trolling, doxxing, and other bad online habits. They have no place in an academic environment. Tasteful humor is fine, but sarcasm can be misunderstood.

As a participant in course discussions, you should also strive to honor the diversity of your classmates by adhering to the K-State Principles of Community.

Expectations for Conduct

All student activities in the University, including this course, are governed by the Student Judicial Conduct Code as outlined in the Student Governing Association By Laws, Article V, Section 3, number 2. Students who engage in behavior that disrupts the learning environment may be asked to leave the class.

Campus Safety

Kansas State University is committed to providing a safe teaching and learning environment for student and faculty members. In order to enhance your safety in the unlikely case of a campus emergency make sure that you know where and how to quickly exit your classroom and how to follow any emergency directives. To view additional campus emergency information go to the University’s main page, www.k-state.edu, and click on the Emergency Information button, located at the bottom of the page.

Student Resources

K-State has many resources to help contribute to student success. These resources include accommodations for academics, paying for college, student life, health and safety, and others found at www.k-state.edu/onestop.

Face Coverings

To protect the health and safety of the K-State community, students, faculty, staff and visitors must wear face coverings over their mouths and noses while on K-State campuses in all hallways, public spaces, classrooms and other common areas of campus buildings, and when in offices or other work spaces or outdoor settings when 6-feet social distancing cannot be maintained. In addition, all students, faculty, and staff are required to take the COVID-19 and Face Mask Safety training. Employees who need reasonable accommodations and assistance related to required face coverings may contact the ADA coordinator at charlott@k-state.edu, and students needing accommodations may contact the Student Access Center at accesscenter@k-state.edu. In classrooms, faculty have the right to deny a student entry into the room if the student is not wearing a face covering.

Academic Freedom Statement

Kansas State University is a community of students, faculty, and staff who work together to discover new knowledge, create new ideas, and share the results of their scholarly inquiry with the wider public. Although new ideas or research results may be controversial or challenge established views, the health and growth of any society requires frank intellectual exchange. Academic freedom protects this type of free exchange and is thus essential to any university’s mission.

Moreover, academic freedom supports collaborative work in the pursuit of truth and the dissemination of knowledge in an environment of inquiry, respectful debate, and professionalism. Academic freedom is not limited to the classroom or to scientific and scholarly research, but extends to the life of the university as well as to larger social and political questions. It is the right and responsibility of the university community to engage with such issues.

Copyright Notice

© The materials in this online course fall under the protection of all intellectual property, copyright and trademark laws of the U.S. The digital materials included here come with the legal permissions and releases of the copyright holders. These course materials should be used for educational purposes only; the contents should not be distributed electronically or otherwise beyond the confines of this online course. The URLs listed here do not suggest endorsement of either the site owners or the contents found at the sites. Likewise, mentioned brands (products and services) do not suggest endorsement. Students own copyright to what they create.

CC 315 Syllabus

CC 315 - Data Structures & Algorithms II

Instructor Contact Information

• Instructor: Emily Alfs-Votipka (emilyalfs AT ksu DOT edu)
  I use she/her pronouns. Feel free to share your own pronouns with me, and I’ll do my best to use them!
• Office: DUE 2151 (This semester will be strictly online though)
• Virtual Office Hours: Schedule a meeting with me: https://calendly.com/emilyalfs Appointments held via Zoom.

Preferred Methods of Communication:

• For Course Related Questions: cc315-help AT KSUemailProd DOT onmicrosoft DOT com
  • Or from your KSU email, you can type ‘cc315-help’ in the ‘To’ Field then hit your Tab key to auto-complete the address.
• Other Questions: emilyalfs AT ksu DOT edu

Graduate Teaching Assistants

• TBD

Prerequisites

• CC 310 - Data Structures & Algorithms I

Course Overview

Advanced data structures and related algorithms. Formal software development methods and software engineering fundamentals. Introduction to requirements analysis processes that provide the specification of algorithmic requirements.

Course Description

This course introduces advanced data structures, such as trees, graphs, and heaps. Several new algorithms using these data structures are covered. Students also learn software development methods and software engineering fundamentals and use those skills to develop projects of increasing size and scope effectively.

Major Course Topics

• Data Structures
  • Trees
  • Graphs
  • Heaps
• Algorithms
  • Graph Searching
  • Shortest Path
  • Minimal Spanning Tree
• Requirements Analysis
• Application to Domain Areas

Course Structure

These courses are being taught 100% online, and each module is self-paced. There may be some bumps in the road as we refine the overall course structure. Students will work at their own pace through a set of modules, with approximately one module being due each week. Material will be provided in the form of recorded videos, online tutorials, links to online resources, and discussion prompts. Each module will include a coding project or assignment, many of which will be graded automatically through Codio. Assignments may also include portions which will be graded manually via Canvas or other tools.

Grading

In theory, each student begins the course with an A. As you submit work, you can either maintain your A (for good work) or chip away at it (for less adequate or incomplete work). In practice, each student starts with 0 points in the gradebook and works upward toward a final point total earned out of the possible number of points. In this course, each assignment constitutes a portion of the final grade, as detailed below:

• 70% - Codio Programming Projects
• 30% - Codio Tutorials and Quizzes

Up to 5% of the total grade in the class is available as extra credit. See the Extra Credit - Bug Bounty assignment for details.

Letter grades will be assigned following the standard scale:

• 90% - 100% → A
• 80% - 89.99% → B
• 70% - 79.99% → C
• 60% - 69.99% → D
• 00% - 59.99% → F

Late Work

Since this course is entirely online, students may work at any time and at their own pace through the modules. However, to keep everyone on track, there will be approximately one module due each week. Each graded item in the module will have a specific due date specified. All of the components of a module will be subject to the late policy if the module is submitted late. This penalty will be assessed via a single separate assignment entry in the gradebook, containing the sum of all grade reductions in the course for that student.

The following table outlines the highest possible score that a module can earn based on when it is complete

The table reads as: The assignments of a module turned in on Friday before midnight can receive at most 80% of the possible points.

Assignments which are submitted late but score below the threshold will not receive a penalty. For example, if a module is completed on Friday afternoon and the project scores 75/100, then no penalty will be received.

For the purposes of recordkeeping, the submission time of the confirmation quiz in each module will be used to establish the completion time of the entire module in case of a discrepancy. This is because Codio may update submission times when assignments are regraded, but the quiz in Canvas should only be completed once.

However, even if a module is not submitted on time, it must still be completed before a student is allowed to begin the next module. So, students should take care not to get too far behind, as it may be very difficult to catch up.

Finally, all course work must be submitted on or before the last day of the semester in which the student is enrolled in the course in order for it to be graded on time.

If you have extenuating circumstances, please discuss them with the instructor as soon as they arise so other arrangements can be made. If you find that you are getting behind in the class, you are encouraged to speak to the instructor for options to make up missed work.

Incomplete Policy

Students should strive to complete this course in its entirety before the end of the semester in which they are enrolled. However, since retaking the course would be costly and repetitive for students, we would like to give students a chance to succeed with a little help rather than immediately fail students who are struggling.

If you are unable to complete the course in a timely manner, please contact the instructor to discuss an incomplete grade. Incomplete grades are given solely at the instructor’s discretion. See the official K-State Grading Policy for more information. In general, poor time management alone is not a sufficient reason for an incomplete grade.

Unless otherwise noted in writing on a signed Incomplete Agreement Form, the following stipulations apply to any incomplete grades given in Computational Core courses:

1. Students may receive at most two incompletes in Computational Core courses throughout their time in the program
2. Students will be given 6 calendar weeks from the end of the enrolled semester’s finals week to complete the course
3. Any modules in a future CC course which depend on incomplete work will not be accessible until the previous course is finished
4. For example, if a student is given an incomplete in CC 210, then all modules in CC 310 will be inaccessible until CC 210 is complete
5. Students understand that access to instructor and GTA assistance may be limited after the end of an academic semester due to holidays and other obligations
6. If a student fails to resolve an incomplete grade after 6 weeks, they will be assigned an ‘F’ in the course. In addition, they will be dropped from any other Computational Core courses which require the failed course as a prerequisite or corequisite.

Recommended Texts & Supplies

To participate in this course, students must have access to a modern web browser and broadband internet connection. All course materials will be provided via Canvas, Piazza, and Codio. Modules may also contain links to external resources for additional information, such as programming language documentation.

Subject to Change

The details in this syllabus are not set in stone. Due to the flexible nature of this class, adjustments may need to be made as the semester progresses, though they will be kept to a minimum. If any changes occur, the changes will be posted on the Canvas page for this course and emailed to all students. All changes may also be posted to Piazza.

Academic Honesty

Kansas State University has an Honor and Integrity System based on personal integrity, which is presumed to be sufficient assurance that, in academic matters, one’s work is performed honestly and without unauthorized assistance. Undergraduate and graduate students, by registration, acknowledge the jurisdiction of the Honor and Integrity System. The policies and procedures of the Honor and Integrity System apply to all full and part-time students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate courses on-campus, off-campus, and via distance learning. A component vital to the Honor and Integrity System is the inclusion of the Honor Pledge which applies to all assignments, examinations, or other course work undertaken by students. The Honor Pledge is implied, whether or not it is stated: “On my honor, as a student, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this academic work.” A grade of XF can result from a breach of academic honesty. The F indicates failure in the course; the X indicates the reason is an Honor Pledge violation.

For this course, a violation of the Honor Pledge will result in an automatic 0 for the assignment and the violation will be reported to the Honor System. A second violation will result in an XF in the course.

The Codio platform can perform automatic plagiarism detection by comparing submitted projects against other students’ submissions and known solutions. That information may be used to determine if plagiarism has taken place.

Students with Disabilities

Students with disabilities who need classroom accommodations, access to technology, or information about emergency building/campus evacuation processes should contact the Student Access Center and/or their instructor. Services are available to students with a wide range of disabilities including, but not limited to, physical disabilities, medical conditions, learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder, depression, and anxiety. If you are a student enrolled in campus/online courses through the Manhattan or Olathe campuses, contact the Student Access Center at accesscenter@k-state.edu, 785-532-6441; for K-State Polytechnic campus, contact Academic and Student Services at polytechnicadvising@ksu.edu or call 785-826-2674.

Diversity and Inclusion

In an ideal world, science and technology would be objective. However, much of science and technology is subjective and is historically built on a small subset of privileged voices. In this class, we will reference many materials from a diverse set of sources, but limits still exist on this diversity. I acknowledge that it is possible that there may be both overt and covert biases in the material due to the lens with which it was written, even though the material is primarily of a technical nature.

Please contact me or submit anonymous feedback through the Computer Science department office if you have any concerns or suggestions regarding this course and related materials.

Furthermore, I would like to create a learning environment for my students that supports a diversity of thoughts, perspectives and experiences, and honors your identities (including race, gender, class, sexuality, religion, ability, etc.). To help accomplish this:

• If you have a name and/or use pronouns that differ from those that appear in your official K-State records, please let me know!
• If you feel like your performance in the class is being impacted by your experiences outside of class, please don’t hesitate to talk with me. I want to be a resource for you. Please remember that you can also submit anonymous feedback as described above (which will lead to me making a general announcement to the class, if necessary, to address your concerns).
• If you prefer to speak with someone outside of the course, your academic advisor or the staff in the College of Engineering Student Services office are excellent resources.

I, like many people, am still in the process of learning about diverse perspectives and identities. If something was said in class, by anyone, that made you feel uncomfortable, please talk to me about it. Again, anonymous feedback is always an option.

Netiquette

Online communication is inherently different than in-person communication. When speaking in person, many times we can take advantage of the context and body language of the person speaking to better understand what the speaker means, not just what is said. This information is not present when communicating online, so we must be much more careful about what we say and how we say it in order to get our meaning across.

Here are a few general rules to help us all communicate online in this course, especially while using tools such as Piazza:

• Use a clear and meaningful subject line to announce your topic. Subject lines such as “Question” or “Problem” are not helpful. Subjects such as “Logic Question in Project 5, Part 1 in Java” or “Unexpected Exception when Opening Text File in Python” give plenty of information about your topic.
• Use only one topic per message. If you have multiple topics, post multiple messages so each one can be discussed independently.
• Be thorough, concise, and to the point. Ideally, each message should be a page or less.
• Include exact error messages, code snippets, or screenshots, as well as any previous steps taken to fix the problem. It is much easier to solve a problem when the exact error message or screenshot is provided. If we know what you’ve tried so far, we can get to the root cause of the issue more quickly.
• Consider carefully what you write before you post it. Once a message is posted, it becomes part of the permanent record of the course and can easily be found by others.
• If you are lost, don’t know an answer, or don’t understand something, speak up! Piazza allows you to send a message privately to the instructors, or post anonymously so other students don’t know your identity. Don’t be afraid to ask questions anytime, as you can choose to do so without any fear of being identified by your fellow students.
• Class discussions are confidential. Do not share information from the course with anyone outside of the course without explicit permission.
• Do not quote entire message chains; only include the relevant parts. When replying to a previous message, only quote the relevant lines in your response.
• Do not use all caps. It makes it look like you are shouting. Use appropriate text markup (bold, italics, etc.) to highlight a point if needed.
• No feigning surprise. If someone asks a question, saying things like “I can’t believe you don’t know that!” are not helpful, and only serve to make that person feel bad.
• No “well-actually’s.” If someone makes a statement that is not entirely correct, resist the urge to offer a “well, actually…” correction, especially if it is not relevant to the discussion. If you can help solve their problem, feel free to provide correct information, but don’t post a correction just for the sake of being correct.
• Do not correct someone’s grammar or spelling. Again, it is not helpful, and only serves to make that person feel bad. If there is a genuine mistake that may affect the meaning of the post, please contact the person privately or let the instructors know privately so it can be resolved.
• Avoid subtle -isms and microaggressions. Avoid comments that could make others feel uncomfortable based on their personal identity. See the syllabus section on Diversity and Inclusion above for more information on this topic. If a comment makes you uncomfortable, please contact the instructor.
• Avoid sarcasm, flaming, advertisements, lingo, trolling, doxxing, and other bad online habits. They have no place in an academic environment. Tasteful humor is fine, but sarcasm can be misunderstood.

As a participant in course discussions, you should also strive to honor the diversity of your classmates by adhering to the K-State Principles of Community.

Expectations for Conduct

All student activities in the University, including this course, are governed by the Student Judicial Conduct Code as outlined in the Student Governing Association By Laws, Article V, Section 3, number 2. Students who engage in behavior that disrupts the learning environment may be asked to leave the class.

Campus Safety

Kansas State University is committed to providing a safe teaching and learning environment for student and faculty members. In order to enhance your safety in the unlikely case of a campus emergency make sure that you know where and how to quickly exit your classroom and how to follow any emergency directives. To view additional campus emergency information go to the University’s main page, www.k-state.edu, and click on the Emergency Information button, located at the bottom of the page.

Student Resources

K-State has many resources to help contribute to student success. These resources include accommodations for academics, paying for college, student life, health and safety, and others found at www.k-state.edu/onestop.

Face Coverings

To protect the health and safety of the K-State community, students, faculty, staff and visitors must wear face coverings over their mouths and noses while on K-State campuses in all hallways, public spaces, classrooms and other common areas of campus buildings, and when in offices or other work spaces or outdoor settings when 6-feet social distancing cannot be maintained. In addition, all students, faculty, and staff are required to take the COVID-19 and Face Mask Safety training. Employees who need reasonable accommodations and assistance related to required face coverings may contact the ADA coordinator at charlott@k-state.edu, and students needing accommodations may contact the Student Access Center at accesscenter@k-state.edu. In classrooms, faculty have the right to deny a student entry into the room if the student is not wearing a face covering.

Academic Freedom Statement

Kansas State University is a community of students, faculty, and staff who work together to discover new knowledge, create new ideas, and share the results of their scholarly inquiry with the wider public. Although new ideas or research results may be controversial or challenge established views, the health and growth of any society requires frank intellectual exchange. Academic freedom protects this type of free exchange and is thus essential to any university’s mission.

Moreover, academic freedom supports collaborative work in the pursuit of truth and the dissemination of knowledge in an environment of inquiry, respectful debate, and professionalism. Academic freedom is not limited to the classroom or to scientific and scholarly research, but extends to the life of the university as well as to larger social and political questions. It is the right and responsibility of the university community to engage with such issues.

Copyright Notice

© The materials in this online course fall under the protection of all intellectual property, copyright and trademark laws of the U.S. The digital materials included here come with the legal permissions and releases of the copyright holders. These course materials should be used for educational purposes only; the contents should not be distributed electronically or otherwise beyond the confines of this online course. The URLs listed here do not suggest endorsement of either the site owners or the contents found at the sites. Likewise, mentioned brands (products and services) do not suggest endorsement. Students own copyright to what they create.

CC 410 Syllabus

CC 410 - Advanced Programming

Instructor Contact Information

• Instructor: Russell Feldhausen (russfeld AT ksu DOT edu)
  I use he/him pronouns. Feel free to share your own pronouns with me, and I’ll do my best to use them!
• Office: DUE 2184 or DUE 2166, but I mostly work remotely from Kansas City, MO
• Phone: (785) 292-3121 (Call/Text)
• Website: https://russfeld.me
• Virtual Office Hours: By appointment via Zoom. Schedule a meeting at https://calendly.com/russfeld

Preferred Methods of Communication:

• Piazza: Please use Piazza for all communication regarding these courses as it allows instructors and TAs to provide a clear and detailed response, as well as easily store and record communication for reference later. You should receive a response within one business day, and hopefully much sooner.
• Email: Students are also welcome to email us anytime with questions outside of the scope of these courses. We will try to respond within one business day. Questions related to the course itself may be redirected to Piazza. We’re also active on the K-State CS Rocket.chat.
• Phone/Text: Emergencies only! We will do our best to respond as quickly as we can.

Graduate Teaching Assistants

• TBD

Prerequisites

• CC 315 - Data Structures & Algorithms II (Prerequisite or Concurrent Enrollment)

Course Overview

Advanced programming techniques and projects. Concepts from simulation and modeling, media applications, secure design, information management, parallelism, and networking. Software development methodologies, processes, and design patterns. Practical experience with professional communication and collaboration.

Course Description

In this course students gain experience writing programs using a variety of advanced programming techniques. Projects cover a variety of application domains and use a variety of technologies to help students master advanced computer programming concepts.

Major Course Topics

• Software Development Practices
• Software Engineering Methodologies
• Design Patterns and Architectures
• Computer Memory Usage
• Computer Security
• Advanced Object-Oriented Design
• Parallelism
• Modeling and Simulation
• Professional Communication and Collaboration

Course Structure

These courses are being taught 100% online, and each module is self-paced. There may be some bumps in the road as we refine the overall course structure. Students will work at their own pace through a set of modules, with approximately one module being due each week. Material will be provided in the form of recorded videos, online tutorials, links to online resources, and discussion prompts. Each module will include a coding project or assignment, many of which will be graded automatically through Codio. Assignments may also include portions which will be graded manually via Canvas or other tools.

Grading

In theory, each student begins the course with an A. As you submit work, you can either maintain your A (for good work) or chip away at it (for less adequate or incomplete work). In practice, each student starts with 0 points in the gradebook and works upward toward a final point total earned out of the possible number of points. In this course, each assignment constitutes a portion of the final grade, as detailed below:

• 60% - Codio Programming Projects
• 20% - Codio Tutorials
• 20% - Canvas Quizzes

Up to 5% of the total grade in the class is available as extra credit. See the Extra Credit - Bug Bounty & Extra Credit - Helping Hands assignments for details.

Letter grades will be assigned following the standard scale:

• 90% - 100% → A
• 80% - 89.99% → B
• 70% - 79.99% → C
• 60% - 69.99% → D
• 00% - 59.99% → F

Late Work

Since this course is entirely online, students may work at any time and at their own pace through the modules. However, to keep everyone on track, there will be approximately one module due each week. Each graded item in the module will have a specific due date specified. Any module submitted late will have that module’s project grade reduced by 30% of the total possible points on that project. This penalty will be assessed via a single separate assignment entry in the gradebook, containing the sum of all grade reductions in the course for that student. For the purposes of recordkeeping, the submission time of the confirmation quiz in each module will be used to establish the completion time of the entire module in case of a discrepancy. This is because Codio may update submission times when assignments are regraded, but the quiz in Canvas should only be completed once.

However, even if a module is not submitted on time, it must still be completed before a student is allowed to begin the next module. So, students should take care not to get too far behind, as it may be very difficult to catch up.

Finally, all course work must be submitted on or before the last day of the semester in which the student is enrolled in the course in order for it to be graded on time.

If you have extenuating circumstances, please discuss them with the instructor as soon as they arise so other arrangements can be made. If you find that you are getting behind in the class, you are encouraged to speak to the instructor for options to make up missed work.

Incomplete Policy

Students should strive to complete this course in its entirety before the end of the semester in which they are enrolled. However, since retaking the course would be costly and repetitive for students, we would like to give students a chance to succeed with a little help rather than immediately fail students who are struggling.

If you are unable to complete the course in a timely manner, please contact the instructor to discuss an incomplete grade. Incomplete grades are given solely at the instructor’s discretion. See the official K-State Grading Policy for more information. In general, poor time management alone is not a sufficient reason for an incomplete grade.

Unless otherwise noted in writing on a signed Incomplete Agreement Form, the following stipulations apply to any incomplete grades given in Computational Core courses:

1. Students may receive at most two incompletes in Computational Core courses throughout their time in the program
2. Students will be given 6 calendar weeks from the end of the enrolled semester’s finals week to complete the course
3. Any modules in a future CC course which depend on incomplete work will not be accessible until the previous course is finished
4. For example, if a student is given an incomplete in CC 210, then all modules in CC 310 will be inaccessible until CC 210 is complete
5. Students understand that access to instructor and GTA assistance may be limited after the end of an academic semester due to holidays and other obligations
6. If a student fails to resolve an incomplete grade after 6 weeks, they will be assigned an ‘F’ in the course. In addition, they will be dropped from any other Computational Core courses which require the failed course as a prerequisite or corequisite.

Recommended Texts & Supplies

To participate in this course, students must have access to a modern web browser and broadband internet connection. All course materials will be provided via Canvas, Piazza, and Codio. Modules may also contain links to external resources for additional information, such as programming language documentation.

Subject to Change

The details in this syllabus are not set in stone. Due to the flexible nature of this class, adjustments may need to be made as the semester progresses, though they will be kept to a minimum. If any changes occur, the changes will be posted on the Canvas page for this course and emailed to all students. All changes may also be posted to Piazza.

Academic Honesty

Kansas State University has an Honor and Integrity System based on personal integrity, which is presumed to be sufficient assurance that, in academic matters, one’s work is performed honestly and without unauthorized assistance. Undergraduate and graduate students, by registration, acknowledge the jurisdiction of the Honor and Integrity System. The policies and procedures of the Honor and Integrity System apply to all full and part-time students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate courses on-campus, off-campus, and via distance learning. A component vital to the Honor and Integrity System is the inclusion of the Honor Pledge which applies to all assignments, examinations, or other course work undertaken by students. The Honor Pledge is implied, whether or not it is stated: “On my honor, as a student, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this academic work.” A grade of XF can result from a breach of academic honesty. The F indicates failure in the course; the X indicates the reason is an Honor Pledge violation.

For this course, a violation of the Honor Pledge will result in an automatic 0 for the assignment and the violation will be reported to the Honor System. A second violation will result in an XF in the course.

The Codio platform can perform automatic plagiarism detection by comparing submitted projects against other students’ submissions and known solutions. That information may be used to determine if plagiarism has taken place.

Students with Disabilities

Students with disabilities who need classroom accommodations, access to technology, or information about emergency building/campus evacuation processes should contact the Student Access Center and/or their instructor. Services are available to students with a wide range of disabilities including, but not limited to, physical disabilities, medical conditions, learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder, depression, and anxiety. If you are a student enrolled in campus/online courses through the Manhattan or Olathe campuses, contact the Student Access Center at accesscenter@k-state.edu, 785-532-6441; for K-State Polytechnic campus, contact Academic and Student Services at polytechnicadvising@ksu.edu or call 785-826-2674.

Diversity and Inclusion

In an ideal world, science and technology would be objective. However, much of science and technology is subjective and is historically built on a small subset of privileged voices. In this class, we will reference many materials from a diverse set of sources, but limits still exist on this diversity. I acknowledge that it is possible that there may be both overt and covert biases in the material due to the lens with which it was written, even though the material is primarily of a technical nature.

Please contact me or submit anonymous feedback through the Computer Science department office if you have any concerns or suggestions regarding this course and related materials.

Furthermore, I would like to create a learning environment for my students that supports a diversity of thoughts, perspectives and experiences, and honors your identities (including race, gender, class, sexuality, religion, ability, etc.). To help accomplish this:

• If you have a name and/or use pronouns that differ from those that appear in your official K-State records, please let me know!
• If you feel like your performance in the class is being impacted by your experiences outside of class, please don’t hesitate to talk with me. I want to be a resource for you. Please remember that you can also submit anonymous feedback as described above (which will lead to me making a general announcement to the class, if necessary, to address your concerns).
• If you prefer to speak with someone outside of the course, your academic advisor or the staff in the College of Engineering Student Services office are excellent resources.

I, like many people, am still in the process of learning about diverse perspectives and identities. If something was said in class, by anyone, that made you feel uncomfortable, please talk to me about it. Again, anonymous feedback is always an option.

Netiquette

Online communication is inherently different than in-person communication. When speaking in person, many times we can take advantage of the context and body language of the person speaking to better understand what the speaker means, not just what is said. This information is not present when communicating online, so we must be much more careful about what we say and how we say it in order to get our meaning across.

Here are a few general rules to help us all communicate online in this course, especially while using tools such as Piazza:

• Use a clear and meaningful subject line to announce your topic. Subject lines such as “Question” or “Problem” are not helpful. Subjects such as “Logic Question in Project 5, Part 1 in Java” or “Unexpected Exception when Opening Text File in Python” give plenty of information about your topic.
• Use only one topic per message. If you have multiple topics, post multiple messages so each one can be discussed independently.
• Be thorough, concise, and to the point. Ideally, each message should be a page or less.
• Include exact error messages, code snippets, or screenshots, as well as any previous steps taken to fix the problem. It is much easier to solve a problem when the exact error message or screenshot is provided. If we know what you’ve tried so far, we can get to the root cause of the issue more quickly.
• Consider carefully what you write before you post it. Once a message is posted, it becomes part of the permanent record of the course and can easily be found by others.
• If you are lost, don’t know an answer, or don’t understand something, speak up! Piazza allows you to send a message privately to the instructors, or post anonymously so other students don’t know your identity. Don’t be afraid to ask questions anytime, as you can choose to do so without any fear of being identified by your fellow students.
• Class discussions are confidential. Do not share information from the course with anyone outside of the course without explicit permission.
• Do not quote entire message chains; only include the relevant parts. When replying to a previous message, only quote the relevant lines in your response.
• Do not use all caps. It makes it look like you are shouting. Use appropriate text markup (bold, italics, etc.) to highlight a point if needed.
• No feigning surprise. If someone asks a question, saying things like “I can’t believe you don’t know that!” are not helpful, and only serve to make that person feel bad.
• No “well-actually’s.” If someone makes a statement that is not entirely correct, resist the urge to offer a “well, actually…” correction, especially if it is not relevant to the discussion. If you can help solve their problem, feel free to provide correct information, but don’t post a correction just for the sake of being correct.
• Do not correct someone’s grammar or spelling. Again, it is not helpful, and only serves to make that person feel bad. If there is a genuine mistake that may affect the meaning of the post, please contact the person privately or let the instructors know privately so it can be resolved.
• Avoid subtle -isms and microaggressions. Avoid comments that could make others feel uncomfortable based on their personal identity. See the syllabus section on Diversity and Inclusion above for more information on this topic. If a comment makes you uncomfortable, please contact the instructor.
• Avoid sarcasm, flaming, advertisements, lingo, trolling, doxxing, and other bad online habits. They have no place in an academic environment. Tasteful humor is fine, but sarcasm can be misunderstood.

As a participant in course discussions, you should also strive to honor the diversity of your classmates by adhering to the K-State Principles of Community.

Expectations for Conduct

All student activities in the University, including this course, are governed by the Student Judicial Conduct Code as outlined in the Student Governing Association By Laws, Article V, Section 3, number 2. Students who engage in behavior that disrupts the learning environment may be asked to leave the class.

Campus Safety

Kansas State University is committed to providing a safe teaching and learning environment for student and faculty members. In order to enhance your safety in the unlikely case of a campus emergency make sure that you know where and how to quickly exit your classroom and how to follow any emergency directives. To view additional campus emergency information go to the University’s main page, www.k-state.edu, and click on the Emergency Information button, located at the bottom of the page.

Student Resources

K-State has many resources to help contribute to student success. These resources include accommodations for academics, paying for college, student life, health and safety, and others found at www.k-state.edu/onestop.

Face Coverings

To protect the health and safety of the K-State community, students, faculty, staff and visitors must wear face coverings over their mouths and noses while on K-State campuses in all hallways, public spaces, classrooms and other common areas of campus buildings, and when in offices or other work spaces or outdoor settings when 6-feet social distancing cannot be maintained. In addition, all students, faculty, and staff are required to take the COVID-19 and Face Mask Safety training. Employees who need reasonable accommodations and assistance related to required face coverings may contact the ADA coordinator at charlott@k-state.edu, and students needing accommodations may contact the Student Access Center at accesscenter@k-state.edu. In classrooms, faculty have the right to deny a student entry into the room if the student is not wearing a face covering.

Academic Freedom Statement

Kansas State University is a community of students, faculty, and staff who work together to discover new knowledge, create new ideas, and share the results of their scholarly inquiry with the wider public. Although new ideas or research results may be controversial or challenge established views, the health and growth of any society requires frank intellectual exchange. Academic freedom protects this type of free exchange and is thus essential to any university’s mission.

Moreover, academic freedom supports collaborative work in the pursuit of truth and the dissemination of knowledge in an environment of inquiry, respectful debate, and professionalism. Academic freedom is not limited to the classroom or to scientific and scholarly research, but extends to the life of the university as well as to larger social and political questions. It is the right and responsibility of the university community to engage with such issues.

Copyright Notice

© The materials in this online course fall under the protection of all intellectual property, copyright and trademark laws of the U.S. The digital materials included here come with the legal permissions and releases of the copyright holders. These course materials should be used for educational purposes only; the contents should not be distributed electronically or otherwise beyond the confines of this online course. The URLs listed here do not suggest endorsement of either the site owners or the contents found at the sites. Likewise, mentioned brands (products and services) do not suggest endorsement. Students own copyright to what they create.

CC 120 Syllabus

CC 120 - Web Page Development

Instructor Contact Information

• Instructor: Russell Feldhausen (russfeld AT ksu DOT edu)
  I use he/him pronouns. Feel free to share your own pronouns with me, and I’ll do my best to use them!
• Office: DUE 2184 or DUE 2166, but I mostly work remotely from Kansas City, MO
• Phone: (785) 292-3121 (Call/Text)
• Website: https://russfeld.me
• Virtual Office Hours: By appointment via Zoom. Schedule a meeting at https://calendly.com/russfeld.
  
  
• Instructor: Nathan Bean (nhbean AT ksu DOT edu)
  
• Office: DUE 2216
• Phone: (785) 532-7942
• Website: http://www.nathanhbean.com/
• Office Hours: TBD

Preferred Methods of Communication:

• Piazza: Please use Piazza for all communication regarding these courses as it allows instructors and TAs to provide a clear and detailed response, as well as easily store and record communication for reference later. You should receive a response within one business day, and hopefully much sooner.
• Email: Students are also welcome to email us anytime with questions outside of the scope of these courses. We will try to respond within one business day. Questions related to the course itself may be redirected to Piazza. We’re also active on the K-State CS Rocket.chat.
• Phone/Text: Emergencies only! We will do our best to respond as quickly as we can.

Graduate Teaching Assistants

• TBD

Prerequisites

• None

Course Overview

Basic HTML, CSS & JavaScript programming. Modern web frameworks and libraries. User-centered design and testing.

Course Description

This course introduces students to basic concepts in development for the modern web. Student will gain experience working with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to build a wide variety of static and interactive web pages. Students will also learn about effective web design and usability while exploring state-of-the-art software libraries and tools used in industry.

Major Course Topics

• HTML and Related Languages
• CSS and Related Languages
• Modern CSS Frameworks
• JavaScript and Related Languages
• Modern JavaScript Libraries
• User-Centered Web Design
• Usability Testing
• Website Debugging

Course Structure

These courses are being taught 100% online, and each module is self-paced. There may be some bumps in the road as we refine the overall course structure. Students will work at their own pace through a set of modules, with approximately one module being due each week. Material will be provided in the form of recorded videos, online tutorials, links to online resources, and discussion prompts. Each module will include a coding project or assignment, many of which will be graded automatically through Codio. Assignments may also include portions which will be graded manually via Canvas or other tools.

Grading

In theory, each student begins the course with an A. As you submit work, you can either maintain your A (for good work) or chip away at it (for less adequate or incomplete work). In practice, each student starts with 0 points in the gradebook and works upward toward a final point total earned out of the possible number of points. In this course, each assignment constitutes a portion of the final grade, as detailed below:

• 60% - Codio Programming Projects
• 20% - Codio Tutorials
• 20% - Canvas Quizzes

Up to 5% of the total grade in the class is available as extra credit. See the Extra Credit - Bug Bounty & Extra Credit - Helping Hands assignments for details.

Letter grades will be assigned following the standard scale:

• 90% - 100% → A
• 80% - 89.99% → B
• 70% - 79.99% → C
• 60% - 69.99% → D
• 00% - 59.99% → F

Late Work

Since this course is entirely online, students may work at any time and at their own pace through the modules. However, to keep everyone on track, there will be approximately one module due each week. Each graded item in the module will have a specific due date specified. Any module submitted late will have that module’s project grade reduced by 30% of the total possible points on that project. This penalty will be assessed via a single separate assignment entry in the gradebook, containing the sum of all grade reductions in the course for that student. For the purposes of recordkeeping, the submission time of the confirmation quiz in each module will be used to establish the completion time of the entire module in case of a discrepancy. This is because Codio may update submission times when assignments are regraded, but the quiz in Canvas should only be completed once.

However, even if a module is not submitted on time, it must still be completed before a student is allowed to begin the next module. So, students should take care not to get too far behind, as it may be very difficult to catch up.

Finally, all course work must be submitted on or before the last day of the semester in which the student is enrolled in the course in order for it to be graded on time.

If you have extenuating circumstances, please discuss them with the instructor as soon as they arise so other arrangements can be made. If you find that you are getting behind in the class, you are encouraged to speak to the instructor for options to make up missed work.

Incomplete Policy

Students should strive to complete this course in its entirety before the end of the semester in which they are enrolled. However, since retaking the course would be costly and repetitive for students, we would like to give students a chance to succeed with a little help rather than immediately fail students who are struggling.

If you are unable to complete the course in a timely manner, please contact the instructor to discuss an incomplete grade. Incomplete grades are given solely at the instructor’s discretion. See the official K-State Grading Policy for more information. In general, poor time management alone is not a sufficient reason for an incomplete grade.

Unless otherwise noted in writing on a signed Incomplete Agreement Form, the following stipulations apply to any incomplete grades given in Computational Core courses:

1. Students may receive at most two incompletes in Computational Core courses throughout their time in the program
2. Students will be given 6 calendar weeks from the end of the enrolled semester’s finals week to complete the course
3. Any modules in a future CC course which depend on incomplete work will not be accessible until the previous course is finished
4. For example, if a student is given an incomplete in CC 210, then all modules in CC 310 will be inaccessible until CC 210 is complete
5. Students understand that access to instructor and GTA assistance may be limited after the end of an academic semester due to holidays and other obligations
6. If a student fails to resolve an incomplete grade after 6 weeks, they will be assigned an ‘F’ in the course. In addition, they will be dropped from any other Computational Core courses which require the failed course as a prerequisite or corequisite.

Recommended Texts & Supplies

To participate in this course, students must have access to a modern web browser and broadband internet connection. All course materials will be provided via Canvas, Piazza, and Codio. Modules may also contain links to external resources for additional information, such as programming language documentation.

Subject to Change

The details in this syllabus are not set in stone. Due to the flexible nature of this class, adjustments may need to be made as the semester progresses, though they will be kept to a minimum. If any changes occur, the changes will be posted on the Canvas page for this course and emailed to all students. All changes may also be posted to Piazza.

Academic Honesty

Kansas State University has an Honor and Integrity System based on personal integrity, which is presumed to be sufficient assurance that, in academic matters, one’s work is performed honestly and without unauthorized assistance. Undergraduate and graduate students, by registration, acknowledge the jurisdiction of the Honor and Integrity System. The policies and procedures of the Honor and Integrity System apply to all full and part-time students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate courses on-campus, off-campus, and via distance learning. A component vital to the Honor and Integrity System is the inclusion of the Honor Pledge which applies to all assignments, examinations, or other course work undertaken by students. The Honor Pledge is implied, whether or not it is stated: “On my honor, as a student, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this academic work.” A grade of XF can result from a breach of academic honesty. The F indicates failure in the course; the X indicates the reason is an Honor Pledge violation.

For this course, a violation of the Honor Pledge will result in an automatic 0 for the assignment and the violation will be reported to the Honor System. A second violation will result in an XF in the course.

The Codio platform can perform automatic plagiarism detection by comparing submitted projects against other students’ submissions and known solutions. That information may be used to determine if plagiarism has taken place.

Students with Disabilities

Students with disabilities who need classroom accommodations, access to technology, or information about emergency building/campus evacuation processes should contact the Student Access Center and/or their instructor. Services are available to students with a wide range of disabilities including, but not limited to, physical disabilities, medical conditions, learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder, depression, and anxiety. If you are a student enrolled in campus/online courses through the Manhattan or Olathe campuses, contact the Student Access Center at accesscenter@k-state.edu, 785-532-6441; for K-State Polytechnic campus, contact Academic and Student Services at polytechnicadvising@ksu.edu or call 785-826-2674.

Diversity and Inclusion

In an ideal world, science and technology would be objective. However, much of science and technology is subjective and is historically built on a small subset of privileged voices. In this class, we will reference many materials from a diverse set of sources, but limits still exist on this diversity. I acknowledge that it is possible that there may be both overt and covert biases in the material due to the lens with which it was written, even though the material is primarily of a technical nature.

Please contact me or submit anonymous feedback through the Computer Science department office if you have any concerns or suggestions regarding this course and related materials.

Furthermore, I would like to create a learning environment for my students that supports a diversity of thoughts, perspectives and experiences, and honors your identities (including race, gender, class, sexuality, religion, ability, etc.). To help accomplish this:

• If you have a name and/or use pronouns that differ from those that appear in your official K-State records, please let me know!
• If you feel like your performance in the class is being impacted by your experiences outside of class, please don’t hesitate to talk with me. I want to be a resource for you. Please remember that you can also submit anonymous feedback as described above (which will lead to me making a general announcement to the class, if necessary, to address your concerns).
• If you prefer to speak with someone outside of the course, your academic advisor or the staff in the College of Engineering Student Services office are excellent resources.

I, like many people, am still in the process of learning about diverse perspectives and identities. If something was said in class, by anyone, that made you feel uncomfortable, please talk to me about it. Again, anonymous feedback is always an option.

Netiquette

Online communication is inherently different than in-person communication. When speaking in person, many times we can take advantage of the context and body language of the person speaking to better understand what the speaker means, not just what is said. This information is not present when communicating online, so we must be much more careful about what we say and how we say it in order to get our meaning across.

Here are a few general rules to help us all communicate online in this course, especially while using tools such as Piazza:

• Use a clear and meaningful subject line to announce your topic. Subject lines such as “Question” or “Problem” are not helpful. Subjects such as “Logic Question in Project 5, Part 1 in Java” or “Unexpected Exception when Opening Text File in Python” give plenty of information about your topic.
• Use only one topic per message. If you have multiple topics, post multiple messages so each one can be discussed independently.
• Be thorough, concise, and to the point. Ideally, each message should be a page or less.
• Include exact error messages, code snippets, or screenshots, as well as any previous steps taken to fix the problem. It is much easier to solve a problem when the exact error message or screenshot is provided. If we know what you’ve tried so far, we can get to the root cause of the issue more quickly.
• Consider carefully what you write before you post it. Once a message is posted, it becomes part of the permanent record of the course and can easily be found by others.
• If you are lost, don’t know an answer, or don’t understand something, speak up! Piazza allows you to send a message privately to the instructors, or post anonymously so other students don’t know your identity. Don’t be afraid to ask questions anytime, as you can choose to do so without any fear of being identified by your fellow students.
• Class discussions are confidential. Do not share information from the course with anyone outside of the course without explicit permission.
• Do not quote entire message chains; only include the relevant parts. When replying to a previous message, only quote the relevant lines in your response.
• Do not use all caps. It makes it look like you are shouting. Use appropriate text markup (bold, italics, etc.) to highlight a point if needed.
• No feigning surprise. If someone asks a question, saying things like “I can’t believe you don’t know that!” are not helpful, and only serve to make that person feel bad.
• No “well-actually’s.” If someone makes a statement that is not entirely correct, resist the urge to offer a “well, actually…” correction, especially if it is not relevant to the discussion. If you can help solve their problem, feel free to provide correct information, but don’t post a correction just for the sake of being correct.
• Do not correct someone’s grammar or spelling. Again, it is not helpful, and only serves to make that person feel bad. If there is a genuine mistake that may affect the meaning of the post, please contact the person privately or let the instructors know privately so it can be resolved.
• Avoid subtle -isms and microaggressions. Avoid comments that could make others feel uncomfortable based on their personal identity. See the syllabus section on Diversity and Inclusion above for more information on this topic. If a comment makes you uncomfortable, please contact the instructor.
• Avoid sarcasm, flaming, advertisements, lingo, trolling, doxxing, and other bad online habits. They have no place in an academic environment. Tasteful humor is fine, but sarcasm can be misunderstood.

As a participant in course discussions, you should also strive to honor the diversity of your classmates by adhering to the K-State Principles of Community.

Expectations for Conduct

All student activities in the University, including this course, are governed by the Student Judicial Conduct Code as outlined in the Student Governing Association By Laws, Article V, Section 3, number 2. Students who engage in behavior that disrupts the learning environment may be asked to leave the class.

Campus Safety

Kansas State University is committed to providing a safe teaching and learning environment for student and faculty members. In order to enhance your safety in the unlikely case of a campus emergency make sure that you know where and how to quickly exit your classroom and how to follow any emergency directives. To view additional campus emergency information go to the University’s main page, www.k-state.edu, and click on the Emergency Information button, located at the bottom of the page.

Student Resources

K-State has many resources to help contribute to student success. These resources include accommodations for academics, paying for college, student life, health and safety, and others found at www.k-state.edu/onestop.

Academic Freedom Statement

Kansas State University is a community of students, faculty, and staff who work together to discover new knowledge, create new ideas, and share the results of their scholarly inquiry with the wider public. Although new ideas or research results may be controversial or challenge established views, the health and growth of any society requires frank intellectual exchange. Academic freedom protects this type of free exchange and is thus essential to any university’s mission.

Moreover, academic freedom supports collaborative work in the pursuit of truth and the dissemination of knowledge in an environment of inquiry, respectful debate, and professionalism. Academic freedom is not limited to the classroom or to scientific and scholarly research, but extends to the life of the university as well as to larger social and political questions. It is the right and responsibility of the university community to engage with such issues.

Copyright Notice

© The materials in this online course fall under the protection of all intellectual property, copyright and trademark laws of the U.S. The digital materials included here come with the legal permissions and releases of the copyright holders. These course materials should be used for educational purposes only; the contents should not be distributed electronically or otherwise beyond the confines of this online course. The URLs listed here do not suggest endorsement of either the site owners or the contents found at the sites. Likewise, mentioned brands (products and services) do not suggest endorsement. Students own copyright to what they create.

CC 510 Syllabus

CC 510 - Computer Systems Administration

Instructor Contact Information

• Instructor: Russell Feldhausen (russfeld AT ksu DOT edu)
  I use he/him pronouns. Feel free to share your own pronouns with me, and I’ll do my best to use them!
• Office: DUE 2184 or DUE 2166, but I mostly work remotely from Kansas City, MO
• Phone: (785) 292-3121 (Call/Text)
• Website: https://russfeld.me
• Virtual Office Hours: By appointment via Zoom. Schedule a meeting at https://calendly.com/russfeld

Preferred Methods of Communication:

• Piazza: Please use Piazza for all communication regarding these courses as it allows instructors and TAs to provide a clear and detailed response, as well as easily store and record communication for reference later. You should receive a response within one business day, and hopefully much sooner.
• Email: Students are also welcome to email us anytime with questions outside of the scope of these courses. We will try to respond within one business day. Questions related to the course itself may be redirected to Piazza. We’re also active on the K-State CS Rocket.chat.
• Phone/Text: Emergencies only! We will do our best to respond as quickly as we can.

Graduate Teaching Assistants

• TBD

Prerequisites

• CC 310 - Data Structures & Algorithms I

Course Overview

Administration of the Windows and Linux operating systems, including installation, configuration, distributed file systems, firewalls and security, shell scripting, and user account management. Introduction to cloud computing resources.

Course Description

Computer information systems form the backbone of many large organizations, and many students will be called upon in their careers to help create, manage and maintain these large systems. This course will give students knowledge and experience working with enterprise level computer systems including workstation management, file servers, web servers, networking devices, configuration management, monitoring, and more. We will mainly focus on the GNU/Linux and Microsoft Windows server software, and much of the learning will take place in hands-on lab activities working directly with these systems. In addition, students will be responsible for developing some technical documentation and communicating information about their systems in a variety of ways. Finally, throughout the course students will be exposed to a variety of information directly from system administrators across campus.

Course Objectives

At the end of this course, students should be able to:

• Understand the major components of an enterprise level computer network and server system
• Design and implement a simple enterprise level server system and network, as well as provision workstations on that network quickly and easily
• Communicate information about enterprise systems clearly and effectively to users of all skill levels and interests
• Develop ways to increase efficiency by automating tasks whenever possible using scripting and configuration management tools
• Understand and describe security risks in any enterprise system and any ways that they can be mitigated
• Show how to monitor enterprise systems for problems and use that information to locate and fix any issues within the system
• Work with cloud technologies and describe how they can be integrated into an enterprise information technology setup

Major Course Topics

• Configuration Management using Puppet
• Creating Secure Workstations (CIS 225 overview/review)
• Setting up an Enterprise Directory Service & Single Sign On
• Enterprise File Sharing
• Web & Application Servers
• Core Networking Services (DHCP, DNS, ICMP, etc.)
• System Monitoring & Maintenance
• Backup Strategies
• The Cloud

Course Structure

This course is being taught 100% online, and each module is self-paced. There may be some bumps in the road as we refine the overall course structure. Students will work at their own pace through a set of modules, with approximately one module being due each week. Material will be provided in the form of recorded videos, links to online resources, and discussion prompts. Each module will include a hands-on lab assignment, which will be graded interactively by the instructor. Assignments may also include written portions or presentations, which will be submitted online.

The course will also include a final project and presentation. More information about this will be announced during the semester.

Grading

In theory, each student begins the course with an A. As you submit work, you can either maintain your A (for good work) or chip away at it (for less adequate or incomplete work). In practice, each student starts with 0 points in the gradebook and works upward toward a final point total earned out of the possible number of points. In this course, each assignment constitutes a portion of the final grade, as detailed below:

• 70% - Lab Assignments (7 labs, 10% each lab)
• 15% - Quizzes (15 quizzes, 1% each)
• 15% - Final Presentation

All group work will include a REQUIRED peer evaluation component which can adjust that portion of the individual’s grade up to 50%. If a student should fail to contribute to a group assignment at all, their grade for that assignment will be reduced to a zero. Failure to complete the peer evaluation will result in a 10% grade deduction for that assignment.

Up to 5% of the total grade in the class is available as extra credit. See the Extra Credit - Bug Bounty & Extra Credit - Helping Hands assignments for details.

Letter grades will be assigned following the standard scale:

• 90% - 100% → A
• 80% - 89.99% → B
• 70% - 79.99% → C
• 60% - 69.99% → D
• 00% - 59.99% → F

Late Work

Since this course is entirely online, students may work at any time and at their own pace through the modules. However, to keep everyone on track, there will be approximately one module due each week. Each graded item in the module will have a specific due date specified, and all work submitted after the due date will have its grade reduced by 50% of the total points possible on that item. For the purposes of recordkeeping, the time that each lab is graded interactively will be used to establish the completion time of the lab.

However, even if a module is not submitted on time, it must still be completed before a student is allowed to begin the next module. So, students should take care not to get too far behind, as it may be very difficult to catch up.

Finally, all course work must be submitted on or before the last day of the semester in which the student is enrolled in the course in order for it to be graded. No incompletes will be given in this course for any reason.

If you have extenuating circumstances, please discuss them with the instructor as soon as they arise so other arrangements can be made. If you find that you are getting behind in the class, you are encouraged to speak to the instructor for options to make up missed work.

Recommended Texts & Supplies

Students in this course are expected to have access to a computer with virtual machine software (VMware, Virtual Box, Parallels, or other) installed and running. The computer should be capable of running multiple VMs simultaneously, which usually means having 8GB of RAM and a moderately powerful processor. Contact the instructor if you have questions or concerns.

Since this class covers such a wide range of material, no single textbook will suffice. Therefore, students who would like a textbook should refer to resources available on Safari Books Online. The K-State Library has access to the entire catalog of books published on that platform, and it is a great resource for this course.

We will also use several online resources as needed.

This book contains useful information for anyone thinking about pursuing a career in system administration or information technology in general:

“The Practice of System and Network Administration” by Thomas Limoncelli, Christina Hogan and Strata Chalup.
ISBN 0321492668 - eBook Editions Available - Amazon Link

Subject to Change

The details in this syllabus are not set in stone. Due to the flexible nature of this class, adjustments may need to be made as the semester progresses, though they will be kept to a minimum. If any changes occur, the changes will be posted on the Canvas page for this course and emailed to all students. All changes may also be posted to Piazza.

Academic Honesty

Kansas State University has an Honor and Integrity System based on personal integrity, which is presumed to be sufficient assurance that, in academic matters, one’s work is performed honestly and without unauthorized assistance. Undergraduate and graduate students, by registration, acknowledge the jurisdiction of the Honor and Integrity System. The policies and procedures of the Honor and Integrity System apply to all full and part-time students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate courses on-campus, off-campus, and via distance learning. A component vital to the Honor and Integrity System is the inclusion of the Honor Pledge which applies to all assignments, examinations, or other course work undertaken by students. The Honor Pledge is implied, whether or not it is stated: “On my honor, as a student, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this academic work.” A grade of XF can result from a breach of academic honesty. The F indicates failure in the course; the X indicates the reason is an Honor Pledge violation.

For this course, a violation of the Honor Pledge will result in an automatic 0 for the assignment and the violation will be reported to the Honor System. A second violation will result in an XF in the course.

The Codio platform can perform automatic plagiarism detection by comparing submitted projects against other students’ submissions and known solutions. That information may be used to determine if plagiarism has taken place.

Students with Disabilities

Students with disabilities who need classroom accommodations, access to technology, or information about emergency building/campus evacuation processes should contact the Student Access Center and/or their instructor. Services are available to students with a wide range of disabilities including, but not limited to, physical disabilities, medical conditions, learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder, depression, and anxiety. If you are a student enrolled in campus/online courses through the Manhattan or Olathe campuses, contact the Student Access Center at accesscenter@k-state.edu, 785-532-6441; for K-State Polytechnic campus, contact Academic and Student Services at polytechnicadvising@ksu.edu or call 785-826-2674.

Diversity and Inclusion

In an ideal world, science and technology would be objective. However, much of science and technology is subjective and is historically built on a small subset of privileged voices. In this class, we will reference many materials from a diverse set of sources, but limits still exist on this diversity. I acknowledge that it is possible that there may be both overt and covert biases in the material due to the lens with which it was written, even though the material is primarily of a technical nature.

Please contact me or submit anonymous feedback through the Computer Science department office if you have any concerns or suggestions regarding this course and related materials.

Furthermore, I would like to create a learning environment for my students that supports a diversity of thoughts, perspectives and experiences, and honors your identities (including race, gender, class, sexuality, religion, ability, etc.). To help accomplish this:

• If you have a name and/or use pronouns that differ from those that appear in your official K-State records, please let me know!
• If you feel like your performance in the class is being impacted by your experiences outside of class, please don’t hesitate to talk with me. I want to be a resource for you. Please remember that you can also submit anonymous feedback as described above (which will lead to me making a general announcement to the class, if necessary, to address your concerns).
• If you prefer to speak with someone outside of the course, your academic advisor or the staff in the College of Engineering Student Services office are excellent resources.

I, like many people, am still in the process of learning about diverse perspectives and identities. If something was said in class, by anyone, that made you feel uncomfortable, please talk to me about it. Again, anonymous feedback is always an option.

Netiquette

Online communication is inherently different than in-person communication. When speaking in person, many times we can take advantage of the context and body language of the person speaking to better understand what the speaker means, not just what is said. This information is not present when communicating online, so we must be much more careful about what we say and how we say it in order to get our meaning across.

Here are a few general rules to help us all communicate online in this course, especially while using tools such as Piazza:

• Use a clear and meaningful subject line to announce your topic. Subject lines such as “Question” or “Problem” are not helpful. Subjects such as “Logic Question in Project 5, Part 1 in Java” or “Unexpected Exception when Opening Text File in Python” give plenty of information about your topic.
• Use only one topic per message. If you have multiple topics, post multiple messages so each one can be discussed independently.
• Be thorough, concise, and to the point. Ideally, each message should be a page or less.
• Include exact error messages, code snippets, or screenshots, as well as any previous steps taken to fix the problem. It is much easier to solve a problem when the exact error message or screenshot is provided. If we know what you’ve tried so far, we can get to the root cause of the issue more quickly.
• Consider carefully what you write before you post it. Once a message is posted, it becomes part of the permanent record of the course and can easily be found by others.
• If you are lost, don’t know an answer, or don’t understand something, speak up! Piazza allows you to send a message privately to the instructors, or post anonymously so other students don’t know your identity. Don’t be afraid to ask questions anytime, as you can choose to do so without any fear of being identified by your fellow students.
• Class discussions are confidential. Do not share information from the course with anyone outside of the course without explicit permission.
• Do not quote entire message chains; only include the relevant parts. When replying to a previous message, only quote the relevant lines in your response.
• Do not use all caps. It makes it look like you are shouting. Use appropriate text markup (bold, italics, etc.) to highlight a point if needed.
• No feigning surprise. If someone asks a question, saying things like “I can’t believe you don’t know that!” are not helpful, and only serve to make that person feel bad.
• No “well-actually’s.” If someone makes a statement that is not entirely correct, resist the urge to offer a “well, actually…” correction, especially if it is not relevant to the discussion. If you can help solve their problem, feel free to provide correct information, but don’t post a correction just for the sake of being correct.
• Do not correct someone’s grammar or spelling. Again, it is not helpful, and only serves to make that person feel bad. If there is a genuine mistake that may affect the meaning of the post, please contact the person privately or let the instructors know privately so it can be resolved.
• Avoid subtle -isms and microaggressions. Avoid comments that could make others feel uncomfortable based on their personal identity. See the syllabus section on Diversity and Inclusion above for more information on this topic. If a comment makes you uncomfortable, please contact the instructor.
• Avoid sarcasm, flaming, advertisements, lingo, trolling, doxxing, and other bad online habits. They have no place in an academic environment. Tasteful humor is fine, but sarcasm can be misunderstood.

As a participant in course discussions, you should also strive to honor the diversity of your classmates by adhering to the K-State Principles of Community.

Expectations for Conduct

All student activities in the University, including this course, are governed by the Student Judicial Conduct Code as outlined in the Student Governing Association By Laws, Article V, Section 3, number 2. Students who engage in behavior that disrupts the learning environment may be asked to leave the class.

Campus Safety

Kansas State University is committed to providing a safe teaching and learning environment for student and faculty members. In order to enhance your safety in the unlikely case of a campus emergency make sure that you know where and how to quickly exit your classroom and how to follow any emergency directives. To view additional campus emergency information go to the University’s main page, www.k-state.edu, and click on the Emergency Information button, located at the bottom of the page.

Student Resources

K-State has many resources to help contribute to student success. These resources include accommodations for academics, paying for college, student life, health and safety, and others found at www.k-state.edu/onestop.

Face Coverings

To protect the health and safety of the K-State community, students, faculty, staff and visitors must wear face coverings over their mouths and noses while on K-State campuses in all hallways, public spaces, classrooms and other common areas of campus buildings, and when in offices or other work spaces or outdoor settings when 6-feet social distancing cannot be maintained. In addition, all students, faculty, and staff are required to take the COVID-19 and Face Mask Safety training. Employees who need reasonable accommodations and assistance related to required face coverings may contact the ADA coordinator at charlott@k-state.edu, and students needing accommodations may contact the Student Access Center at accesscenter@k-state.edu. In classrooms, faculty have the right to deny a student entry into the room if the student is not wearing a face covering.

Academic Freedom Statement

Kansas State University is a community of students, faculty, and staff who work together to discover new knowledge, create new ideas, and share the results of their scholarly inquiry with the wider public. Although new ideas or research results may be controversial or challenge established views, the health and growth of any society requires frank intellectual exchange. Academic freedom protects this type of free exchange and is thus essential to any university’s mission.

Moreover, academic freedom supports collaborative work in the pursuit of truth and the dissemination of knowledge in an environment of inquiry, respectful debate, and professionalism. Academic freedom is not limited to the classroom or to scientific and scholarly research, but extends to the life of the university as well as to larger social and political questions. It is the right and responsibility of the university community to engage with such issues.

Copyright Notice

© The materials in this online course fall under the protection of all intellectual property, copyright and trademark laws of the U.S. The digital materials included here come with the legal permissions and releases of the copyright holders. These course materials should be used for educational purposes only; the contents should not be distributed electronically or otherwise beyond the confines of this online course. The URLs listed here do not suggest endorsement of either the site owners or the contents found at the sites. Likewise, mentioned brands (products and services) do not suggest endorsement. Students own copyright to what they create.

Original content licensed under a Creative Commons BY-SA license by Russell Feldhausen unless otherwise stated.

CC 515 Syllabus

CC 515 - Full Stack Web Development

Instructor Contact Information

• Instructor: Nathan Bean (nhbean AT ksu DOT edu)
  
• Office: DUE 2216
• Phone: (785) 532-7942
• Website: http://www.nathanhbean.com/
• Office Hours: TBD

Preferred Methods of Communication:

• Piazza: Please use Piazza for all communication regarding these courses as it allows instructors and TAs to provide a clear and detailed response, as well as easily store and record communication for reference later. You should receive a response within one business day, and hopefully much sooner.
• Email: Students are also welcome to email us anytime with questions outside of the scope of these courses. We will try to respond within one business day. Questions related to the course itself may be redirected to Piazza. We’re also active on the K-State CS Rocket.chat.
• Phone/Text: Emergencies only! We will do our best to respond as quickly as we can.

Graduate Teaching Assistants

• TBD

Prerequisites

• CC 120 - Fundamentals of Web Development, CMST 135 - Web Fundamentals, or equivalent experience in HTML, CSS & JavaScript (contact the instructor for permission to enroll)
• CC 315 - Data Structures & Algorithms II
• CC 410 - Advanced Programming (Prerequisite or Concurrent Enrollment)

Course Overview

Fundamental principles and best practices of web development, user interface design, web API design, advanced web interfaces, web development frameworks, single-page web applications, web standards and accessibility issues.

Course Description

This course explores the standards, technologies, and strategies used in modern web application development. The ultimate goal is to develop the foundational theoretical and practical knowledge that will allow you to work with an endless variety of we stacks and frameworks, rather than focusing on a single technology or approach.

We have a lot of ground to cover, so we will be moving very quickly through the material. It is vital that you both keep up, and ask questions when you don’t understand. Make good use of office hours.

Course Objectives

At the end of this course, students should be able to:

• Create three-tier web applications
• Be experienced with Agile development
• Understand and articulate the user interface issues, data structures, algorithms, an design patterns common to web development
• Consider the memory and computational implications of software designs
• Develop an understanding of how techniques used in web programing can be beneficially incorporated within general development efforts
• Be able to quickly learn web frameworks implemented in different languages

Course Outline

The following is a general layout, and is subject to change:

1. HTML5, CSS3, and user agents
2. Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol
3. ECMA Script 2015 (ES6)
4. The Document Object Model
5. JQuery
6. Dynamic Web Services
7. Databases
8. CRUD & REST
9. Authentication
10. Webworkers
11. Architectures for the Web
12. AJAX
13. Reactive Web Apps
14. WebSockets
15. Embedded HTML Templates
16. Full-Text Search
17. Tagging Systems
18. User-Centered Design
19. Test-Driven Development
20. Geospatial Data & Location Services
21. Canvas & SVG
22. Accessibility
23. Touch and Gestures
24. Deployment Strategies
25. Scalability
26. Web Frameworks

Course Structure

These courses are being taught 100% online, and each module is self-paced. There may be some bumps in the road as we refine the overall course structure. Students will work at their own pace through a set of modules, with approximately one module being due each week. Material will be provided in the form of recorded videos, online tutorials, links to online resources, and discussion prompts. Each module will include a coding project or assignment, many of which will be graded automatically through Codio. Assignments may also include portions which will be graded manually via Canvas or other tools.

Grading

In recognition of the importance of hands-on learning, this course utilizes a blended lecture/lab format, where theoretical understanding is immediately put to use programming software drawing upon that theoretical understanding. Effective learning following this strategy depends upon active participation; accordingly it is necessary to both complete the online tutorials and participate in class activities to succeed.

Further, we will be embracing problem-based cooperative learning approaches at the midpoint of the semester where we will shift to small group work, developing an original and useful web application drawing upon the knowledge you have gained throughout the semester. To help promote accountability, peer reviews from this phase will account for the equivalent of a letter grade.

Grading Breakdown

• 20% - Class Participation
• 30% - Assignments
• 30% - Final Project
• 20% - Presentation & Evaluation

Letter grades will be assigned following the standard scale:

• 90% - 100% → A
• 80% - 89.99% → B
• 70% - 79.99% → C
• 60% - 69.99% → D
• 00% - 59.99% → F

Late Work

Unless other arrangements have been made, work will not be accepted after the due date in this course.

Recommended Texts & Supplies

To participate in this course, students must have access to a modern web browser and broadband internet connection. All course materials will be provided via Canvas, Piazza, and Codio. Modules may also contain links to external resources for additional information, such as programming language documentation.

There are a number of other extremely helpful resources you will want to use:

Github Classroom

We will be using the Github Classroom to for obtaining starter code and submitting assignments.

If you have not yet, I strongly encourage you to sign up with Github as a student: https://education.github.com/.

Safari Online

K-State libraries has obtained a Safari Books Online library containing over 6k current titles. You can access this collection using your eid and password here: http://proquestcombo.safaribooksonline.com.er.lib.k-state.edu

Websites and Wikis

The following are some helpful websites for web development

W3C Standards https://www.w3.org/community/webed/wiki/Main_Page

W3C Web Education Community Group Wiki https://www.w3.org/community/webed/wiki/Main_Page

Mozilla Developer Guide https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Guide

Course Software

Node.js (for webserver development) https://nodejs.org/en Node is a fast server-side JavaScript engine based on Google’s V8 JavaScript interpreter. We will be writing our webserver using Node.

Atom (Integraged Development Environment) https://atom.io Atom is an IDE that uses HTML5 and JavaScript as its underlying technologies, which akes it a natrual fit for web development. You will also want the atom-html-preview package https://atom.io/packages/atom-html-preview.

Google Chrome (Web Browser) https://www.google.com/chrome/browser/desktop/ Google chrome is a fast, cross-platform web browser with a robust set of developer tools. See https://developer.chrome.com/devtools for details. While you will always want to verify your web app using all browsers, we will be grading your work based on its performance in Chrome.

Subject to Change

The details in this syllabus are not set in stone. Due to the flexible nature of this class, adjustments may need to be made as the semester progresses, though they will be kept to a minimum. If any changes occur, the changes will be posted on the Canvas page for this course and emailed to all students. All changes may also be posted to Piazza.

Academic Honesty

Kansas State University has an Honor and Integrity System based on personal integrity, which is presumed to be sufficient assurance that, in academic matters, one’s work is performed honestly and without unauthorized assistance. Undergraduate and graduate students, by registration, acknowledge the jurisdiction of the Honor and Integrity System. The policies and procedures of the Honor and Integrity System apply to all full and part-time students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate courses on-campus, off-campus, and via distance learning. A component vital to the Honor and Integrity System is the inclusion of the Honor Pledge which applies to all assignments, examinations, or other course work undertaken by students. The Honor Pledge is implied, whether or not it is stated: “On my honor, as a student, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this academic work.” A grade of XF can result from a breach of academic honesty. The F indicates failure in the course; the X indicates the reason is an Honor Pledge violation.

For this course, a violation of the Honor Pledge will result in an automatic 0 for the assignment and the violation will be reported to the Honor System. A second violation will result in an XF in the course.

The Codio platform can perform automatic plagiarism detection by comparing submitted projects against other students’ submissions and known solutions. That information may be used to determine if plagiarism has taken place.

Students with Disabilities

Students with disabilities who need classroom accommodations, access to technology, or information about emergency building/campus evacuation processes should contact the Student Access Center and/or their instructor. Services are available to students with a wide range of disabilities including, but not limited to, physical disabilities, medical conditions, learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder, depression, and anxiety. If you are a student enrolled in campus/online courses through the Manhattan or Olathe campuses, contact the Student Access Center at accesscenter@k-state.edu, 785-532-6441; for K-State Polytechnic campus, contact Academic and Student Services at polytechnicadvising@ksu.edu or call 785-826-2674.

Diversity and Inclusion

In an ideal world, science and technology would be objective. However, much of science and technology is subjective and is historically built on a small subset of privileged voices. In this class, we will reference many materials from a diverse set of sources, but limits still exist on this diversity. I acknowledge that it is possible that there may be both overt and covert biases in the material due to the lens with which it was written, even though the material is primarily of a technical nature.

Please contact me or submit anonymous feedback through the Computer Science department office if you have any concerns or suggestions regarding this course and related materials.

Furthermore, I would like to create a learning environment for my students that supports a diversity of thoughts, perspectives and experiences, and honors your identities (including race, gender, class, sexuality, religion, ability, etc.). To help accomplish this:

• If you have a name and/or use pronouns that differ from those that appear in your official K-State records, please let me know!
• If you feel like your performance in the class is being impacted by your experiences outside of class, please don’t hesitate to talk with me. I want to be a resource for you. Please remember that you can also submit anonymous feedback as described above (which will lead to me making a general announcement to the class, if necessary, to address your concerns).
• If you prefer to speak with someone outside of the course, your academic advisor or the staff in the College of Engineering Student Services office are excellent resources.

I, like many people, am still in the process of learning about diverse perspectives and identities. If something was said in class, by anyone, that made you feel uncomfortable, please talk to me about it. Again, anonymous feedback is always an option.

Netiquette

Online communication is inherently different than in-person communication. When speaking in person, many times we can take advantage of the context and body language of the person speaking to better understand what the speaker means, not just what is said. This information is not present when communicating online, so we must be much more careful about what we say and how we say it in order to get our meaning across.

Here are a few general rules to help us all communicate online in this course, especially while using tools such as Piazza:

• Use a clear and meaningful subject line to announce your topic. Subject lines such as “Question” or “Problem” are not helpful. Subjects such as “Logic Question in Project 5, Part 1 in Java” or “Unexpected Exception when Opening Text File in Python” give plenty of information about your topic.
• Use only one topic per message. If you have multiple topics, post multiple messages so each one can be discussed independently.
• Be thorough, concise, and to the point. Ideally, each message should be a page or less.
• Include exact error messages, code snippets, or screenshots, as well as any previous steps taken to fix the problem. It is much easier to solve a problem when the exact error message or screenshot is provided. If we know what you’ve tried so far, we can get to the root cause of the issue more quickly.
• Consider carefully what you write before you post it. Once a message is posted, it becomes part of the permanent record of the course and can easily be found by others.
• If you are lost, don’t know an answer, or don’t understand something, speak up! Piazza allows you to send a message privately to the instructors, or post anonymously so other students don’t know your identity. Don’t be afraid to ask questions anytime, as you can choose to do so without any fear of being identified by your fellow students.
• Class discussions are confidential. Do not share information from the course with anyone outside of the course without explicit permission.
• Do not quote entire message chains; only include the relevant parts. When replying to a previous message, only quote the relevant lines in your response.
• Do not use all caps. It makes it look like you are shouting. Use appropriate text markup (bold, italics, etc.) to highlight a point if needed.
• No feigning surprise. If someone asks a question, saying things like “I can’t believe you don’t know that!” are not helpful, and only serve to make that person feel bad.
• No “well-actually’s.” If someone makes a statement that is not entirely correct, resist the urge to offer a “well, actually…” correction, especially if it is not relevant to the discussion. If you can help solve their problem, feel free to provide correct information, but don’t post a correction just for the sake of being correct.
• Do not correct someone’s grammar or spelling. Again, it is not helpful, and only serves to make that person feel bad. If there is a genuine mistake that may affect the meaning of the post, please contact the person privately or let the instructors know privately so it can be resolved.
• Avoid subtle -isms and microaggressions. Avoid comments that could make others feel uncomfortable based on their personal identity. See the syllabus section on Diversity and Inclusion above for more information on this topic. If a comment makes you uncomfortable, please contact the instructor.
• Avoid sarcasm, flaming, advertisements, lingo, trolling, doxxing, and other bad online habits. They have no place in an academic environment. Tasteful humor is fine, but sarcasm can be misunderstood.

As a participant in course discussions, you should also strive to honor the diversity of your classmates by adhering to the K-State Principles of Community.

Expectations for Conduct

All student activities in the University, including this course, are governed by the Student Judicial Conduct Code as outlined in the Student Governing Association By Laws, Article V, Section 3, number 2. Students who engage in behavior that disrupts the learning environment may be asked to leave the class.

Campus Safety

Kansas State University is committed to providing a safe teaching and learning environment for student and faculty members. In order to enhance your safety in the unlikely case of a campus emergency make sure that you know where and how to quickly exit your classroom and how to follow any emergency directives. To view additional campus emergency information go to the University’s main page, www.k-state.edu, and click on the Emergency Information button, located at the bottom of the page.

Student Resources

K-State has many resources to help contribute to student success. These resources include accommodations for academics, paying for college, student life, health and safety, and others found at www.k-state.edu/onestop.

Face Coverings

To protect the health and safety of the K-State community, students, faculty, staff and visitors must wear face coverings over their mouths and noses while on K-State campuses in all hallways, public spaces, classrooms and other common areas of campus buildings, and when in offices or other work spaces or outdoor settings when 6-feet social distancing cannot be maintained. In addition, all students, faculty, and staff are required to take the COVID-19 and Face Mask Safety training. Employees who need reasonable accommodations and assistance related to required face coverings may contact the ADA coordinator at charlott@k-state.edu, and students needing accommodations may contact the Student Access Center at accesscenter@k-state.edu. In classrooms, faculty have the right to deny a student entry into the room if the student is not wearing a face covering.

Academic Freedom Statement

Kansas State University is a community of students, faculty, and staff who work together to discover new knowledge, create new ideas, and share the results of their scholarly inquiry with the wider public. Although new ideas or research results may be controversial or challenge established views, the health and growth of any society requires frank intellectual exchange. Academic freedom protects this type of free exchange and is thus essential to any university’s mission.

Moreover, academic freedom supports collaborative work in the pursuit of truth and the dissemination of knowledge in an environment of inquiry, respectful debate, and professionalism. Academic freedom is not limited to the classroom or to scientific and scholarly research, but extends to the life of the university as well as to larger social and political questions. It is the right and responsibility of the university community to engage with such issues.

Copyright Notice

© The materials in this online course fall under the protection of all intellectual property, copyright and trademark laws of the U.S. The digital materials included here come with the legal permissions and releases of the copyright holders. These course materials should be used for educational purposes only; the contents should not be distributed electronically or otherwise beyond the confines of this online course. The URLs listed here do not suggest endorsement of either the site owners or the contents found at the sites. Likewise, mentioned brands (products and services) do not suggest endorsement. Students own copyright to what they create.

CC 520 Syllabus

CC 520 - Database Essentials

Instructor Contact Information

• Professor: Dr. Josh Weese (weeser AT ksu DOT edu)
  
• Office: DUE 2214
• Phone: (785) 532-7929
• Website: http://weeser.net/
• Office Hours: TBD

Preferred Methods of Communication:

• Piazza: Please use Piazza for all communication regarding these courses as it allows instructors and TAs to provide a clear and detailed response, as well as easily store and record communication for reference later. You should receive a response within one business day, and hopefully much sooner.
• Email: Students are also welcome to email us anytime with questions outside of the scope of these courses. We will try to respond within one business day. Questions related to the course itself may be redirected to Piazza. We’re also active on the K-State CS Rocket.chat.
• Phone/Text: Emergencies only! We will do our best to respond as quickly as we can.

Graduate Teaching Assistants

• TBD

Prerequisites

• CC 315 - Data Structures & Algorithms II
• CC 410 - Advanced Programming (Prerequisite or Concurrent Enrollment)
• Optional: MATH 312 - Finite Applications of Mathematics or MATH 510 - Discrete Mathematics

Course Overview

Introduction to concepts and techniques in database management. Overview of relational databases, NoSQL databases, and related topics. Database programming and use of databases in applications. Theory and architecture of database management systems (DBMS).

Course Description

The purpose of this course is to introduce concepts, approaches, and techniques in database management. This includes exploring the representation of information as data, data storage techniques, foundations of data models, data retrieval, database design, transaction management, integrity and security.

Course Objectives

• Introduce the SQL language: queries, relations, database modifications, constraints, triggers, transactions, and views.
• Introduce NoSQL language and its philosophy compared to SQL.
• Introduce the basics DBMS design theory: entity relationship model, functional dependencies, and normalization.
• Study databases in a programming environment and the approaches of utilizing databases in applications.
• Provide an overview of the architecture of a database system, and discuss efficient storage of data, execution of queries, and query optimization.
• Explore databases through practical database applications developed as class projects.
• Turn students into much better SQL developers than the average.

Major Course Topics

• SQL Language
• NoSQL & its relation to SQL
• DBMS design theory
• Programming with databases
• Database system architecture
• Database efficiency
• Practical applications of databases

Course Structure

This course is being taught 100% online, and each module is self-paced. There may be some bumps in the road as we refine the overall course structure. Students will work at their own pace through a set of modules, with approximately one module being due each week. Material will be provided in the form of recorded videos, links to online resources, and discussion prompts. Each module will include a hands-on lab assignment, which will be graded interactively by the instructor. Assignments may also include written portions or presentations, which will be submitted online.

Grading

Students will be evaluated based on exams, homework assignments, and a term project. Students are highly encouraged to participate in class discussion on topics covered in lecture and projects. Assignments are due by 11:59pm on the due date (generally, a week after they are assigned, unless otherwise noted). The specific grading scheme is shown below:

• 20% - Homework Assignments
• 35% - Exams
• 20% - Final Exam
• 25% - Final Project

Letter grades will be assigned following the standard scale:

• 90% - 100% → A
• 80% - 89.99% → B
• 70% - 79.99% → C
• 60% - 69.99% → D
• 00% - 59.99% → F

Late Work

Unless other arrangements have been made, work will not be accepted after the due date in this course.

Recommended Texts & Supplies

To participate in this course, students must have access to a modern web browser and broadband internet connection. All course materials will be provided via Canvas, Piazza, and Codio. Modules may also contain links to external resources for additional information, such as programming language documentation.

Subject to Change

The details in this syllabus are not set in stone. Due to the flexible nature of this class, adjustments may need to be made as the semester progresses, though they will be kept to a minimum. If any changes occur, the changes will be posted on the Canvas page for this course and emailed to all students. All changes may also be posted to Piazza.

Academic Honesty

Kansas State University has an Honor and Integrity System based on personal integrity, which is presumed to be sufficient assurance that, in academic matters, one’s work is performed honestly and without unauthorized assistance. Undergraduate and graduate students, by registration, acknowledge the jurisdiction of the Honor and Integrity System. The policies and procedures of the Honor and Integrity System apply to all full and part-time students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate courses on-campus, off-campus, and via distance learning. A component vital to the Honor and Integrity System is the inclusion of the Honor Pledge which applies to all assignments, examinations, or other course work undertaken by students. The Honor Pledge is implied, whether or not it is stated: “On my honor, as a student, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this academic work.” A grade of XF can result from a breach of academic honesty. The F indicates failure in the course; the X indicates the reason is an Honor Pledge violation.

For this course, a violation of the Honor Pledge will result in an automatic 0 for the assignment and the violation will be reported to the Honor System. A second violation will result in an XF in the course.

The Codio platform can perform automatic plagiarism detection by comparing submitted projects against other students’ submissions and known solutions. That information may be used to determine if plagiarism has taken place.

Students with Disabilities

Students with disabilities who need classroom accommodations, access to technology, or information about emergency building/campus evacuation processes should contact the Student Access Center and/or their instructor. Services are available to students with a wide range of disabilities including, but not limited to, physical disabilities, medical conditions, learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder, depression, and anxiety. If you are a student enrolled in campus/online courses through the Manhattan or Olathe campuses, contact the Student Access Center at accesscenter@k-state.edu, 785-532-6441; for K-State Polytechnic campus, contact Academic and Student Services at polytechnicadvising@ksu.edu or call 785-826-2674.

Diversity and Inclusion

In an ideal world, science and technology would be objective. However, much of science and technology is subjective and is historically built on a small subset of privileged voices. In this class, we will reference many materials from a diverse set of sources, but limits still exist on this diversity. I acknowledge that it is possible that there may be both overt and covert biases in the material due to the lens with which it was written, even though the material is primarily of a technical nature.

Please contact me or submit anonymous feedback through the Computer Science department office if you have any concerns or suggestions regarding this course and related materials.

Furthermore, I would like to create a learning environment for my students that supports a diversity of thoughts, perspectives and experiences, and honors your identities (including race, gender, class, sexuality, religion, ability, etc.). To help accomplish this:

• If you have a name and/or use pronouns that differ from those that appear in your official K-State records, please let me know!
• If you feel like your performance in the class is being impacted by your experiences outside of class, please don’t hesitate to talk with me. I want to be a resource for you. Please remember that you can also submit anonymous feedback as described above (which will lead to me making a general announcement to the class, if necessary, to address your concerns).
• If you prefer to speak with someone outside of the course, your academic advisor or the staff in the College of Engineering Student Services office are excellent resources.

I, like many people, am still in the process of learning about diverse perspectives and identities. If something was said in class, by anyone, that made you feel uncomfortable, please talk to me about it. Again, anonymous feedback is always an option.

Netiquette

Online communication is inherently different than in-person communication. When speaking in person, many times we can take advantage of the context and body language of the person speaking to better understand what the speaker means, not just what is said. This information is not present when communicating online, so we must be much more careful about what we say and how we say it in order to get our meaning across.

Here are a few general rules to help us all communicate online in this course, especially while using tools such as Piazza:

• Use a clear and meaningful subject line to announce your topic. Subject lines such as “Question” or “Problem” are not helpful. Subjects such as “Logic Question in Project 5, Part 1 in Java” or “Unexpected Exception when Opening Text File in Python” give plenty of information about your topic.
• Use only one topic per message. If you have multiple topics, post multiple messages so each one can be discussed independently.
• Be thorough, concise, and to the point. Ideally, each message should be a page or less.
• Include exact error messages, code snippets, or screenshots, as well as any previous steps taken to fix the problem. It is much easier to solve a problem when the exact error message or screenshot is provided. If we know what you’ve tried so far, we can get to the root cause of the issue more quickly.
• Consider carefully what you write before you post it. Once a message is posted, it becomes part of the permanent record of the course and can easily be found by others.
• If you are lost, don’t know an answer, or don’t understand something, speak up! Piazza allows you to send a message privately to the instructors, or post anonymously so other students don’t know your identity. Don’t be afraid to ask questions anytime, as you can choose to do so without any fear of being identified by your fellow students.
• Class discussions are confidential. Do not share information from the course with anyone outside of the course without explicit permission.
• Do not quote entire message chains; only include the relevant parts. When replying to a previous message, only quote the relevant lines in your response.
• Do not use all caps. It makes it look like you are shouting. Use appropriate text markup (bold, italics, etc.) to highlight a point if needed.
• No feigning surprise. If someone asks a question, saying things like “I can’t believe you don’t know that!” are not helpful, and only serve to make that person feel bad.
• No “well-actually’s.” If someone makes a statement that is not entirely correct, resist the urge to offer a “well, actually…” correction, especially if it is not relevant to the discussion. If you can help solve their problem, feel free to provide correct information, but don’t post a correction just for the sake of being correct.
• Do not correct someone’s grammar or spelling. Again, it is not helpful, and only serves to make that person feel bad. If there is a genuine mistake that may affect the meaning of the post, please contact the person privately or let the instructors know privately so it can be resolved.
• Avoid subtle -isms and microaggressions. Avoid comments that could make others feel uncomfortable based on their personal identity. See the syllabus section on Diversity and Inclusion above for more information on this topic. If a comment makes you uncomfortable, please contact the instructor.
• Avoid sarcasm, flaming, advertisements, lingo, trolling, doxxing, and other bad online habits. They have no place in an academic environment. Tasteful humor is fine, but sarcasm can be misunderstood.

As a participant in course discussions, you should also strive to honor the diversity of your classmates by adhering to the K-State Principles of Community.

Expectations for Conduct

All student activities in the University, including this course, are governed by the Student Judicial Conduct Code as outlined in the Student Governing Association By Laws, Article V, Section 3, number 2. Students who engage in behavior that disrupts the learning environment may be asked to leave the class.

Campus Safety

Kansas State University is committed to providing a safe teaching and learning environment for student and faculty members. In order to enhance your safety in the unlikely case of a campus emergency make sure that you know where and how to quickly exit your classroom and how to follow any emergency directives. To view additional campus emergency information go to the University’s main page, www.k-state.edu, and click on the Emergency Information button, located at the bottom of the page.

Student Resources

K-State has many resources to help contribute to student success. These resources include accommodations for academics, paying for college, student life, health and safety, and others found at www.k-state.edu/onestop.

Face Coverings

To protect the health and safety of the K-State community, students, faculty, staff and visitors must wear face coverings over their mouths and noses while on K-State campuses in all hallways, public spaces, classrooms and other common areas of campus buildings, and when in offices or other work spaces or outdoor settings when 6-feet social distancing cannot be maintained. In addition, all students, faculty, and staff are required to take the COVID-19 and Face Mask Safety training. Employees who need reasonable accommodations and assistance related to required face coverings may contact the ADA coordinator at charlott@k-state.edu, and students needing accommodations may contact the Student Access Center at accesscenter@k-state.edu. In classrooms, faculty have the right to deny a student entry into the room if the student is not wearing a face covering.

Academic Freedom Statement

Kansas State University is a community of students, faculty, and staff who work together to discover new knowledge, create new ideas, and share the results of their scholarly inquiry with the wider public. Although new ideas or research results may be controversial or challenge established views, the health and growth of any society requires frank intellectual exchange. Academic freedom protects this type of free exchange and is thus essential to any university’s mission.

Moreover, academic freedom supports collaborative work in the pursuit of truth and the dissemination of knowledge in an environment of inquiry, respectful debate, and professionalism. Academic freedom is not limited to the classroom or to scientific and scholarly research, but extends to the life of the university as well as to larger social and political questions. It is the right and responsibility of the university community to engage with such issues.

Copyright Notice

© The materials in this online course fall under the protection of all intellectual property, copyright and trademark laws of the U.S. The digital materials included here come with the legal permissions and releases of the copyright holders. These course materials should be used for educational purposes only; the contents should not be distributed electronically or otherwise beyond the confines of this online course. The URLs listed here do not suggest endorsement of either the site owners or the contents found at the sites. Likewise, mentioned brands (products and services) do not suggest endorsement. Students own copyright to what they create.

Syllabus Boilerplate

Late Work

Since this course is entirely online, students may work at any time and at their own pace through the modules. However, to keep everyone on track, there will be approximately one module due each week. Each graded item in the module will have a specific due date specified, and all work submitted after the due date will have its grade reduced by 50% of the total points possible on that item. For the purposes of recordkeeping, the submission time of the confirmation quiz in each module will be used to establish the completion time of the entire module in case of a discrepancy. This is because Codio may update submission times when assignments are regraded, but the quiz in Canvas should only be completed once.

However, even if a module is not submitted on time, it must still be completed before a student is allowed to begin the next module. So, students should take care not to get too far behind, as it may be very difficult to catch up.

Finally, all course work must be submitted on or before the last day of the semester in which the student is enrolled in the course in order for it to be graded. No incompletes will be given in this course for any reason.

If you have extenuating circumstances, please discuss them with the instructor as soon as they arise so other arrangements can be made. If you find that you are getting behind in the class, you are encouraged to speak to the instructor for options to make up missed work.

Recommended Texts & Supplies

To participate in this course, students must have access to a modern web browser and broadband internet connection. All course materials will be provided via Canvas, Piazza, and Codio. Modules may also contain links to external resources for additional information, such as programming language documentation.

Subject to Change

The details in this syllabus are not set in stone. Due to the flexible nature of this class, adjustments may need to be made as the semester progresses, though they will be kept to a minimum. If any changes occur, the changes will be posted on the Canvas page for this course and emailed to all students. All changes may also be posted to Piazza.

Academic Honesty

Kansas State University has an Honor and Integrity System based on personal integrity, which is presumed to be sufficient assurance that, in academic matters, one’s work is performed honestly and without unauthorized assistance. Undergraduate and graduate students, by registration, acknowledge the jurisdiction of the Honor and Integrity System. The policies and procedures of the Honor and Integrity System apply to all full and part-time students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate courses on-campus, off-campus, and via distance learning. A component vital to the Honor and Integrity System is the inclusion of the Honor Pledge which applies to all assignments, examinations, or other course work undertaken by students. The Honor Pledge is implied, whether or not it is stated: “On my honor, as a student, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this academic work.” A grade of XF can result from a breach of academic honesty. The F indicates failure in the course; the X indicates the reason is an Honor Pledge violation.

For this course, a violation of the Honor Pledge will result in an automatic 0 for the assignment and the violation will be reported to the Honor System. A second violation will result in an XF in the course.

The Codio platform can perform automatic plagiarism detection by comparing submitted projects against other students’ submissions and known solutions. That information may be used to determine if plagiarism has taken place.

Students with Disabilities

Students with disabilities who need classroom accommodations, access to technology, or information about emergency building/campus evacuation processes should contact the Student Access Center and/or their instructor. Services are available to students with a wide range of disabilities including, but not limited to, physical disabilities, medical conditions, learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder, depression, and anxiety. If you are a student enrolled in campus/online courses through the Manhattan or Olathe campuses, contact the Student Access Center at accesscenter@k-state.edu, 785-532-6441; for K-State Polytechnic campus, contact Academic and Student Services at polytechnicadvising@ksu.edu or call 785-826-2674.

Diversity and Inclusion

In an ideal world, science and technology would be objective. However, much of science and technology is subjective and is historically built on a small subset of privileged voices. In this class, we will reference many materials from a diverse set of sources, but limits still exist on this diversity. I acknowledge that it is possible that there may be both overt and covert biases in the material due to the lens with which it was written, even though the material is primarily of a technical nature.

Please contact me or submit anonymous feedback through the Computer Science department office if you have any concerns or suggestions regarding this course and related materials.

Furthermore, I would like to create a learning environment for my students that supports a diversity of thoughts, perspectives and experiences, and honors your identities (including race, gender, class, sexuality, religion, ability, etc.). To help accomplish this:

• If you have a name and/or use pronouns that differ from those that appear in your official K-State records, please let me know!
• If you feel like your performance in the class is being impacted by your experiences outside of class, please don’t hesitate to talk with me. I want to be a resource for you. Please remember that you can also submit anonymous feedback as described above (which will lead to me making a general announcement to the class, if necessary, to address your concerns).
• If you prefer to speak with someone outside of the course, your academic advisor or the staff in the College of Engineering Student Services office are excellent resources.

I, like many people, am still in the process of learning about diverse perspectives and identities. If something was said in class, by anyone, that made you feel uncomfortable, please talk to me about it. Again, anonymous feedback is always an option.

Netiquette

Online communication is inherently different than in-person communication. When speaking in person, many times we can take advantage of the context and body language of the person speaking to better understand what the speaker means, not just what is said. This information is not present when communicating online, so we must be much more careful about what we say and how we say it in order to get our meaning across.

Here are a few general rules to help us all communicate online in this course, especially while using tools such as Piazza:

• Use a clear and meaningful subject line to announce your topic. Subject lines such as “Question” or “Problem” are not helpful. Subjects such as “Logic Question in Project 5, Part 1 in Java” or “Unexpected Exception when Opening Text File in Python” give plenty of information about your topic.
• Use only one topic per message. If you have multiple topics, post multiple messages so each one can be discussed independently.
• Be thorough, concise, and to the point. Ideally, each message should be a page or less.
• Include exact error messages, code snippets, or screenshots, as well as any previous steps taken to fix the problem. It is much easier to solve a problem when the exact error message or screenshot is provided. If we know what you’ve tried so far, we can get to the root cause of the issue more quickly.
• Consider carefully what you write before you post it. Once a message is posted, it becomes part of the permanent record of the course and can easily be found by others.
• If you are lost, don’t know an answer, or don’t understand something, speak up! Piazza allows you to send a message privately to the instructors, or post anonymously so other students don’t know your identity. Don’t be afraid to ask questions anytime, as you can choose to do so without any fear of being identified by your fellow students.
• Class discussions are confidential. Do not share information from the course with anyone outside of the course without explicit permission.
• Do not quote entire message chains; only include the relevant parts. When replying to a previous message, only quote the relevant lines in your response.
• Do not use all caps. It makes it look like you are shouting. Use appropriate text markup (bold, italics, etc.) to highlight a point if needed.
• No feigning surprise. If someone asks a question, saying things like “I can’t believe you don’t know that!” are not helpful, and only serve to make that person feel bad.
• No “well-actually’s.” If someone makes a statement that is not entirely correct, resist the urge to offer a “well, actually…” correction, especially if it is not relevant to the discussion. If you can help solve their problem, feel free to provide correct information, but don’t post a correction just for the sake of being correct.
• Do not correct someone’s grammar or spelling. Again, it is not helpful, and only serves to make that person feel bad. If there is a genuine mistake that may affect the meaning of the post, please contact the person privately or let the instructors know privately so it can be resolved.
• Avoid subtle -isms and microaggressions. Avoid comments that could make others feel uncomfortable based on their personal identity. See the syllabus section on Diversity and Inclusion above for more information on this topic. If a comment makes you uncomfortable, please contact the instructor.
• Avoid sarcasm, flaming, advertisements, lingo, trolling, doxxing, and other bad online habits. They have no place in an academic environment. Tasteful humor is fine, but sarcasm can be misunderstood.

As a participant in course discussions, you should also strive to honor the diversity of your classmates by adhering to the K-State Principles of Community.

Expectations for Conduct

All student activities in the University, including this course, are governed by the Student Judicial Conduct Code as outlined in the Student Governing Association By Laws, Article V, Section 3, number 2. Students who engage in behavior that disrupts the learning environment may be asked to leave the class.

Campus Safety

Kansas State University is committed to providing a safe teaching and learning environment for student and faculty members. In order to enhance your safety in the unlikely case of a campus emergency make sure that you know where and how to quickly exit your classroom and how to follow any emergency directives. To view additional campus emergency information go to the University’s main page, www.k-state.edu, and click on the Emergency Information button, located at the bottom of the page.

Student Resources

K-State has many resources to help contribute to student success. These resources include accommodations for academics, paying for college, student life, health and safety, and others found at www.k-state.edu/onestop.

Face Coverings

To protect the health and safety of the K-State community, students, faculty, staff and visitors must wear face coverings over their mouths and noses while on K-State campuses in all hallways, public spaces, classrooms and other common areas of campus buildings, and when in offices or other work spaces or outdoor settings when 6-feet social distancing cannot be maintained. In addition, all students, faculty, and staff are required to take the COVID-19 and Face Mask Safety training. Employees who need reasonable accommodations and assistance related to required face coverings may contact the ADA coordinator at charlott@k-state.edu, and students needing accommodations may contact the Student Access Center at accesscenter@k-state.edu. In classrooms, faculty have the right to deny a student entry into the room if the student is not wearing a face covering.

Academic Freedom Statement

Kansas State University is a community of students, faculty, and staff who work together to discover new knowledge, create new ideas, and share the results of their scholarly inquiry with the wider public. Although new ideas or research results may be controversial or challenge established views, the health and growth of any society requires frank intellectual exchange. Academic freedom protects this type of free exchange and is thus essential to any university’s mission.

Moreover, academic freedom supports collaborative work in the pursuit of truth and the dissemination of knowledge in an environment of inquiry, respectful debate, and professionalism. Academic freedom is not limited to the classroom or to scientific and scholarly research, but extends to the life of the university as well as to larger social and political questions. It is the right and responsibility of the university community to engage with such issues.

Copyright Notice

© The materials in this online course fall under the protection of all intellectual property, copyright and trademark laws of the U.S. The digital materials included here come with the legal permissions and releases of the copyright holders. These course materials should be used for educational purposes only; the contents should not be distributed electronically or otherwise beyond the confines of this online course. The URLs listed here do not suggest endorsement of either the site owners or the contents found at the sites. Likewise, mentioned brands (products and services) do not suggest endorsement. Students own copyright to what they create.

CC 535 Syllabus

CC 535 - Applied Data Science

Instructor Contact Information

• Professor: Dr. Lior Shamir (lshamir AT ksu DOT edu)
  
• Office: DUE 2164
• Phone: (785) 532-4809
• Skype ID: lior.shamir2
• Office Hours: TBD

Undergraduate Teaching Assistants

• TBD

Prerequisites

• CC 110 - Introduction to Computing
• CC 210 - Fundamental Computer Programming Concepts (Python Recommended)

Required Software

We be using Python 3 as the language for some of the programming assignments. It can be found at python.org. It is recommended to use the Spyder IDE, which can be downloaded at: spyder-ide.org

The Spyder IDE comes with the Scikit-learn Python library, which will also be used in the course. If Spyder is not used, you will need to install Scikit-learn from scikit-learn.org.

You will also need a spreadsheet software (e.g., MS-Excel), as well as other software tools that will be described during the course.

Course Overview

An introduction to data science and discovery from data: Data wrangling, feature engineering, feature selection, statistical inference, correlations, principal component analysis, classification, regression, novelty detection, clustering, cross-validation, bootstrapping, class profiling, multidimensional scaling, association rules, visualization, data science & society

Course Description

The course is an introduction to use basic concepts of Data Science, the link between Data Science and Computer Science, application of Data Science, and practical knowledge on solving and approaching problems using data science paradigms. The concepts covered in the course are the following:

• Data wrangling
• Feature engineering
• Feature selection
• Statistical inference
• Correlations
• Principal Component Analysis
• Classification
• Regression
• Novelty detection
• Clustering
• Cross-validation
• Bootstrapping
• Class profiling
• Multidimensional scaling
• Association rules
• Visualization
• Data science & Society

A substantial part of the learning will be done by working on a research project that aims at solving an unexplored research question using data. The data science concepts will be used in the context of solving a real-world problem, until the question is profiled and explained using data.

Unlike some other courses, the assignments (steps) of the research will sometimes be given before the concepts used in them are introduced in the course. Working on the research assignments will be done in parallel to discussions of these concepts in the course.

Course Objectives

By the end of this course, each student will be able to

• Define and profile data science problems.
• Identify strategies to approach and solve problems using data.
• Understand discovery methods and their application to turn data into knowledge.
• Use statistical inference to explore data and determine the significance of discoveries.
• Understand and be able to apply basic machine learning and data analytic techniques.

Course Structure

This course will be drastically different from the “traditional” on-line courses you are likely familiar with or took in the past. In this course, a substantial part of the learning will be done through hands-on research, working on an authentic research project in which we will make discoveries from data.

Assignments

Assignments are to be completed without any collaboration with classmates or other outside help unless otherwise stated. Any unauthorized aid may result in a 0 for the assignment and/or report submitted to the Academic Honor Council.

Grading

• 50% - Assignments
• 20% - Final Project (Evaluation)
• 20% - Final Paper
• 10% - Final Presentation

Letter grades will be assigned following the standard scale:

• 90% - 100% → A
• 80% - 89.99% → B
• 70% - 79.99% → C
• 60% - 69.99% → D
• 00% - 59.99% → F

Late Work

All work is expected to be submitted on time. Late work can only be allowed with the explicit approval of the instructor.

Class Activities

Research

As mentioned above, the course will be heavily based on research experience. Research will start when all students work on the same research project, and as we approach to the end of the semester, students will do their own research projects. Guidance on performing the project will be given during the course.

Programming & Written Assignments

Assignments may be part of the research project. It is acceptable to communicate with the instructor and other students about the concepts in the assignments, and that communication should be in the discussion board. Information will often be posted on the discussion the Canvas board.

Final Research Project

A major part of the course is a research project. Details about the research and specific instructions about the research will be given during the course. The deliveries will be the project is the code, the data, an article describing the project, and a final presentation.

Final paper

Information about writing the final paper will be given in the course. The final paper will describe all parts of the research project. It will include a separate summary of the entire project (abstract), followed by an introduction, data section, result section, and conclusions. The length of the paper will be 2000-5000 words. Detailed information about writing the paper will be provided in the course.

Final presentation

Each student will prepare a final presentation of 10 minutes that describe her/his research project. The final presentation will be videotaped. Students will be required to upload their presentation to YouTube or any other service, and submit a link through Canvas so that all students can view the presentation. The presentation should provide the description of the research question that you aimed at solving, the data that you collected and used, the methods that you used for analyzing the data, the results of your analysis, and the conclusion of your results.

Subject to Change

The details in this syllabus are not set in stone. Due to the flexible nature of this course, especially the research component of it, adjustments may need to be made as the semester progresses, though they will be kept to a minimum. If any changes occur, the changes will be posted on the K-State Canvas page for this course and emailed to all students, as well as the Canvas discussion board.

Academic Honesty

Kansas State University has an Honor and Integrity System based on personal integrity, which is presumed to be sufficient assurance that, in academic matters, one’s work is performed honestly and without unauthorized assistance. Undergraduate and graduate students, by registration, acknowledge the jurisdiction of the Honor and Integrity System. The policies and procedures of the Honor and Integrity System apply to all full and part-time students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate courses on-campus, off-campus, and via distance learning. A component vital to the Honor and Integrity System is the inclusion of the Honor Pledge which applies to all assignments, examinations, or other course work undertaken by students. The Honor Pledge is implied, whether or not it is stated: “On my honor, as a student, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this academic work.” A grade of XF can result from a breach of academic honesty. The F indicates failure in the course; the X indicates the reason is an Honor Pledge violation.

For this course, a violation of the Honor Pledge will result in an automatic 0 for the assignment and the violation will be reported to the Honor System. A second violation will result in an XF in the course.

Students with Disabilities

Students with disabilities who need classroom accommodations, access to technology, or information about emergency building/campus evacuation processes should contact the Student Access Center and/or their instructor. Services are available to students with a wide range of disabilities including, but not limited to, physical disabilities, medical conditions, learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder, depression, and anxiety. If you are a student enrolled in campus/online courses through the Manhattan or Olathe campuses, contact the Student Access Center at accesscenter@k-state.edu, 785-532-6441; for K-State Polytechnic campus, contact Academic and Student Services at polytechnicadvising@ksu.edu or call 785-826-2674.

Expectations for Conduct

All student activities in the University, including this course, are governed by the Student Judicial Conduct Code as outlined in the Student Governing Association By Laws, Article V, Section 3, number 2. Students who engage in behavior that disrupts the learning environment may be asked to leave the class.

Campus Safety

Kansas State University is committed to providing a safe teaching and learning environment for student and faculty members. In order to enhance your safety in the unlikely case of a campus emergency make sure that you know where and how to quickly exit your classroom and how to follow any emergency directives. To view additional campus emergency information go to the University’s main page, www.k-state.edu, and click on the Emergency Information button, located at the bottom of the page.

Student Resources

K-State has many resources to help contribute to student success. These resources include accommodations for academics, paying for college, student life, health and safety, and others found at www.k-state.edu/onestop.

Face Coverings

To protect the health and safety of the K-State community, students, faculty, staff and visitors must wear face coverings over their mouths and noses while on K-State campuses in all hallways, public spaces, classrooms and other common areas of campus buildings, and when in offices or other work spaces or outdoor settings when 6-feet social distancing cannot be maintained. In addition, all students, faculty, and staff are required to take the COVID-19 and Face Mask Safety training. Employees who need reasonable accommodations and assistance related to required face coverings may contact the ADA coordinator at charlott@k-state.edu, and students needing accommodations may contact the Student Access Center at accesscenter@k-state.edu. In classrooms, faculty have the right to deny a student entry into the room if the student is not wearing a face covering.

Academic Freedom Statement

Kansas State University is a community of students, faculty, and staff who work together to discover new knowledge, create new ideas, and share the results of their scholarly inquiry with the wider public. Although new ideas or research results may be controversial or challenge established views, the health and growth of any society requires frank intellectual exchange. Academic freedom protects this type of free exchange and is thus essential to any university’s mission.

Moreover, academic freedom supports collaborative work in the pursuit of truth and the dissemination of knowledge in an environment of inquiry, respectful debate, and professionalism. Academic freedom is not limited to the classroom or to scientific and scholarly research, but extends to the life of the university as well as to larger social and political questions. It is the right and responsibility of the university community to engage with such issues.

Plagiarism Policy

Resources

• K-State Honor & Integrity System

Video Script

“On my honor, as a student, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this academic work.” - K-State Honor Pledge

Plagiarism is a very serious concern in this course, and something that we do not take lightly. Computer programs and code are especially easy targets for plagiarism due to how easy it is to copy and manipulate code in such a way that it is unrecognizable as the original source but still performs correctly.

At its core, plagiarism is taking someone else’s work and passing it off as your own without giving appropriate credit to the original source. As a student at K-State, you are bound by the K-State Honor Code not to accept any unauthorized aid, and this includes plagiarized code.

When it comes to plagiarism in computer code, there is a fine line between using resources appropriately and copying code. In this program, you should strive to avoid plagiarism issues by doing the following:

1. Do not search for or use any complete solutions to projects in this course found online or from fellow students.
2. Small portions of code may be used or adapted from an online source with proper citation. To cite a piece of code, include a code comment section above it that contains the original source URL and a description of why it was used.

In general, copying or adapting small pieces of code to perform auxiliary functions in the assignment is permitted. Copying or adapting code that is the general goal of the assignment should be avoided. For example, if the assignment is to create a bubble sort algorithm, you should write the algorithm from scratch yourself since that is the goal of the assignment. If the assignment is to create a program for displaying data that you feel should be sorted, you may choose to adapt an existing sorting algorithm for your needs (or use one from a library).

If you aren’t sure about whether it is OK to use an online resource or piece of code in this course, please contact the instructors using the course discussion forums or help email address. You will not get in trouble for asking, and it will help you determine what the best course of action is. Plagiarism can really only occur when you submit the assignment for grading, so you are welcome to ask for clarification or a judgement on whether a particular usage is acceptable at any time before you submit the assignment.

Codio has features that will compare your submissions against those of your fellow students. Any submissions with a high degree of similarity may be subjected to additional scrutiny by the instructors to determine if plagiarism has occurred.

In this course, any violation of the K-State Honor Code will result in a 0 on that assignment and a report made to the K-State Honor Council. A second violation will result in an XF in this course, as well as any additional sanctions imposed by the K-State Honor Council.

For more information on the K-State Honor & Integrity system, please visit their website, which is linked in the resources section below this video.

Codio Videos

Welcome to Codio! For this class, we’ll be using Codio in a couple of different ways. First, the course textbook will consist of several tutorials built in Codio using the same Guide interface that you are using right now. Secondly, most of the programming projects in this course will also be handled through Codio. Codio has many unique features, including a fully online development environment and automatic grading that make this course scalable and accessible.

To begin, click the Next button below, or the Right Arrow at the top of this page to continue to the next guide page in this Codio project.

Each module will usually contain at least one Codio Tutorial project. This project is a small portion of a much larger textbook developed in Codio, which is also available in its entirety through Canvas. Look for the Textbook module in your Canvas modules. In fact, this very project you are working in right now is a part of that textbook.

In these Codio tutorials, there will be several pages of content introducing the material for that module. Some of the pages will look just like this one, with text, images, and maybe even a short video to help you learn the material. If you’d like to see an outline of the pages available as part of this module, click the “hamburger” menu button at the top-right of the page.

Some of the pages may also include short questions to check for understanding of the material. You’ll need to answer these questions as they appear in order to get points for completing the tutorial module. Remember that the tutorials make up part of your grade in this course, so make sure you answer all of the questions in the tutorial module before submitting it. In some cases, you’ll be able to resubmit your answers until you get a correct answer, but other questions will not allow that. In fact, below is a quick example of what one of those questions would be like. Take a moment to answer the question correctly, then continue to the next page of this module.

On some pages, the Codio guide may also switch to a different view, shown here, allowing you to work directly with code. On the far left is the file tree, which shows all of the files accessible to you for this example. Then, in the middle, you should also see the file or files that are part of this example. You can freely open additional files if needed in that panel, or rearrange the panels as needed. However, whenever you enter this page, it will reset the view back to the default.

In the first programming module of the course, we’ll discuss more information about how to use Codio to run any code that you’ve created. For now, we’ll just use text files to introduce the interface.

Once you’ve completed the example, most pages will include a section at the bottom that allows you to check your work. Just like the other questions, these assessments will count toward your grade on the tutorial project. See if you can complete the exercise and pass the test below.

Now that you’ve seen a few pages in Codio, let’s take a minute to discuss some of the features of the Codio user interface. Of course, Codio has some amazing documentation, so feel free to check that out as you work with Codio.

First, let’s look at the menu items at the top of the page. There are several available to you that are worth mentioning. For starters, you can click the Codio Icon at any time to go directly to your Codio dashboard. The first item on the Codio menu will take you directly here as well. There you can see all of the projects attached to your account, and create new projects at any time. However, you won’t see the projects attached to the course here, since they must be accessed directly through Canvas. Under the Codio menu, you can also find options to manage your preferences. Here you can adjust things such as the editor settings and theme. Feel free to adjust the settings to match your personal preferences.

The Project menu allows you to work with the currently loaded Codio project. Generally you won’t need to access many of these items unless your project stops working. However, they are provided for your use in case you need them.

The File menu contains options for manipulating the file tree, such as creating new files, renaming them, saving them, and even downloading and uploading files. As you work on larger projects, you’ll be using many of these options to manage the files within your project.

Next, the Edit menu gives you access to the Undo and Redo action. Since Codio is a web-based platform, you’ll need to get used to using keyboard shortcuts to handle the Copy and Paste actions. For most systems, you can use CTRL+C for copy and CTRL+V for paste. On Mac, use CMD+C and CMD+V instead.

The Find menu contains entries for searching documents and performing a find-and-replace operation. Most of those actions should be pretty self-explanatory.

The View menu allows you to customize your view in Codio. Here we’ll find options for managing panels, open tabs, editor settings, and more. Feel free to make use of these options to arrange your Codio view as you prefer. Also, at the bottom of this menu is a Play Guide option, which is very helpful if you accidentally close the guide and need to reopen it.

Under the Tools menu, you’ll find an option for accessing the Terminal in your project. The Terminal gives you console access to the box that your project is running on, and allows you to install software and configure it as needed. As you work through the content in this program, we’ll slowly introduce the Terminal and some of the tasks it can perform. In addition, the Tools menu has options for working with SSH and Git, two more tools which will be introduced in later modules. Lastly, it also has an entry for the Command Bar, which is a quick shortcut to the full list of commands that can be performed in Codio. Feel free to check it out if you are looking for a particular command or action.

The Education menu is very important, though it only has a single entry. The Mark as Completed option allows you to indicate that you have completed this Codio project or tutorial. Once you select that option, your work will automatically be graded and your grade will be sent to Canvas. From there, you can access the next project or module in the course.

Don’t Submit Projects Accidentally!

Be very careful when completing a project! Once you’ve marked a project as completed, it will become read-only, and you won’t be able to make any additional changes to the project. So, you’ll need to make sure you’ve finished everything in the project first. If you accidentally mark a project as completed, you may contact the instructors for help. Depending on the situation, they may be able to unlock it for you so you can continue your work. However, due to the fact that you may have access to the solutions once you’ve submitted a project, unlocking a completed project is entirely at the discretion of the instructor.

Finally, the Help menu gives you access to many of the support features in Codio. If you get stuck, you may want to review some of the help options available here. Of course, you can always make a post in Piazza as well!

You may also see some additional options to the right of the menus. These options can be used to perform actions that are preconfigured into the Codio project, such as compile and run a file, load a website, or even use the built-in debugger on your project. In the Codio tutorials such as this one, these menus will contain options to compile and run a single file in a variety of programming languages, debug a file, as well as open a simple Terminal window. We’ll introduce some of the other options you may see in the first Codio programming project, which is part of a later module.

There are also a few other items in the interface you should be aware of. First, in the File Tree, there is a Play icon that can also be used to open the guide for the current project.

In the guide, there are a couple of options available by clicking the gear icon in the upper-right of the page. First, there is an option to Restore Current Files. This option will restore the contents of any currently open files back to the default contents from when you first opened the project. In addition, this menu also contains another way to mark the current project as completed.

That covers most of the major features of the Codio interface that we’ll be using in this program. If you have any questions about how to use Codio, feel free to post in the Codio folder on Piazza.

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