CISC 1100 R06 Structures of Computer Science
Department of Computer and Information Science
Dr. Weiss, Spring 2011

Class Times: Tuesday & Friday, 11:30 - 12:45, JMH 138

Instructor: Dr. Gary Weiss (my homepage)
Office: JMH 332
Phone: 718-817-0785
Email: gweiss@cis.fordham.edu
Office Hours: Tuesday 2:30-4:00, Friday 1:00-2:00, and by appointment.

Required Text: "Fundamentals of Discrete Structures", D. Lyons, C. Papadakis-Kanaris, G. Weiss, and A. Werschulz, Pearson, 2010. (Available only from the Fordham bookstore).

Course Website: http://storm.cis.fordham.edu/~gweiss/classes/cisc1100

Lecture Slides and Handouts: These lecture slides and handouts cover the class material (and also the material from the book).

Tutoring Room: Location: JMH 312   Hours M-F: 9am-5pm

Course Description: An introductory course in the discrete structures used in computer and information technology. Emphasis will be placed on the ability to solve problems and develop logical thinking. Topics such as sets, logic, relations, functions, combinatorics and probability will be covered. Approximately 15% of the class time will be spent in the Computer Science laboratory on computer-based projects.

Objectives: To develop mathematical and computational reasoning abilities and to master the basics of discrete mathematics; to become more comfortable and confident with both mathematics and computation.

Outcomes: A student who successfully completes this course will be able to:

• Analyze and understand common mathematical notation and concepts
• Develop solutions to mathematical problems across a wide array of topics
• Use a well-defined methodology to reason about mathematical problems
• Be able to complete simple computer-based projects

Attendance and Class Participation: It is important to attend every class and to be prepared for every class. Being prepared means completing the assigned readings and homeworks on time and being ready to discuss the material. Please actively participate in class since this will make the course more interesting for everyone! Please ask questions if you are unsure about something. Homeworks should be turned in on time, but may be accepted one class late, with penalty. If you have an issue and cannot complete an assignment on time, whenever feasible let me know beforehand-- I tend to be quite reasonable in such cases. In general, let me know of any significant issues that affect your performance early on. One unexcused/unexplained absence is permitted for the semester. Attendance will be taken every day.

Academic Honesty: All work produced in this course should be your own unless it is specifically stated that you may work with others. You may discuss the homework problems with other students generally, but may not provide complete solutions to one another; copying of homework is never acceptable and will be considered a violation of Fordham's academic integrity policy. Violations of this policy will be handled in accordance with university policy which can include automatic failure of the assignment and/or failure of the course. See Fordham's Undergraduate Policy on Academic Integrity for more information.

Grading: The percentages given below are guidelines for both the student and instructor and may be changed as needed to reflect circumstances in the course. Any changes that occur during the semester are likely to be minor.

Homework	15%
Midterm	20%
Quiz	10%
Course Project	15%
Participation	5%
Final Exam	35%

Computer Project: Your computer project will involve creating a simple animiation, using the Alice programming environment. No prior knowledge of computer science or computer programming is expected. You will learn about Alice during class sessions (where we will meet in the CIS lab, either JMH 330 or 331) but most of your project will need to be done as homework, outside of class. You can work on your project in one of the CIS labs or you can easily download Alice to your PC or Mac. The project will allow you to be creative and hopefully will be fun. To see what previous students have done, check out my Student Animation Page (note that I have posted only some of the best animations). Also, I have put together some notes on using Alice, object-oriented programming, and what is expected for the project.