CS62 - Administrivia

Course description

This course couples work on program design, analysis, and verification with an introduction to the study of data structures that are important in the construction of sophisticated computer programs. By the end of this course, you should have a good understanding of object-oriented design, coding and debugging of programs in Java, and have a good understanding of how one might analyze programs for correctness and efficiency. In particular, you will understand the trade-offs involved in selections of different data structures and algorithms to solve computational problems.

Online Format

Class will be held during the scheduled time via zoom (check sakai for the zoom link). If possible, I encourage you to attend class synchronously. I do understand that attending class live may not be possible. I will record all lectures and make then available to the class. Given the nature of the class, these video recording should still be a good way to engage with the material.

Technology support

With the move online, the college is fully dedicated to make sure that all students can effectively engage with their courses in this online format. As part of this, the college has a wide range of additional support for students ranging from laptop loans to wifi hotspots. If you find that you are not able to engage with your coursework because of technological limiations, please reach out to either of us or ITS to figure out how we can resolve things!

Learning communities

To help try and better support you and support a sense of community, in this course we will be utilizing learning communities. During the first week of class, I will try and organize you into small groups (5-6 students). Each group will be assigned a course mentor that will help organize weekly meetings and act as a first point of contact. Each group will schedule two short (30-60 minutes) weekly meetings to checkin talk about the assignment, course materials, etc. For one of these meetings, the groups mentor will attend and lead the discussion.

These groups will be optional, but I strongly encourage you to try and participate. In addition to building a sense of community, these groups will hopefully allow additional support beyond myself and the TAs.

Coursework

Late policy

I understand that sometimes things get busy, things come up, you get sick, etc. To help in these situations, you may submit two assignments late by up 48 hours. If you're going to turn an assignment in late, please e-mail me to let me know. Beyond this, except under very extenuating circumstances, I will not accept late assignments.

Academic honesty and collaboration

I take academic honesty very seriously.

The work that you turn in must be your work, unless an assignment is explicitly designated as one in which collaboration is allowed.

In particular, your work must not be based on information obtained from sources other than those approved for the course (i.e., the text, web pages linked from the course web page, and materials provided in lecture). You should never copy another students code or solutions, exchange computer files, or share your code or solutions with anyone else in the class until after an assignment is due. You may, however, use any code that we provide to you or that comes from the textbook, as long as you acknowledge the source. Additionally, the tutors are allowed to help you with your code.

If you are ever unsure about what constitutes acceptable collaboration, please ask!

For more information see the Computer Science Department's Academic Honesty Policy and the college's policy.

Disability accomodations

Pomona College is committed to providing equal opportunity for participation in all programs, services and activities. Requests for accommodations may be made by contacting the Disability Coordinator on your home campus. At Pomona College, that person is Associate Dean of Students Jan Collins-Eaglin. Pomona College's policy on disability accommodations can be found at the Dean of Student's website.

Due to the nature of this course, extensions on assignments will not be allowed.

If you have any accomodations, please come talk to me in the first two weeks of class.

Other resources beyond the class

The college has many support structures to help support you both academically and non-academically. ASPC has put together a list of all of the resources available to you:
ASPC Online Resources Fall 2020
These range from academic support, such as the writing center and the QSC, to physical and mental health support. If you have questions or need additional support, please feel free to also reach out to me. ranging from th