CISC 1100: Structures of Computer Science



Class times: Monday and Thursday, 5:30 – 6:45pm, John Mulcahy Hall (JMH) 302
Instructor: Dr. Daniel D. Leeds (my homepage)
Office: JMH 328A
E-mail:
Office hours: T 2:00 – 4:00pm and by appointment

Full syllabus is available here.
Course announcements and assignments will be posted over the course of the semester.

Course text: "Fundamentals of Discrete Structures" — the slides here provide another perspective on the class material.

Sections below:

  1. Announcements
  2. Assignments
  3. Handouts

Announcements:
Click here for past announcements.

From September 16 lab class: Handout on writing a web page available here.

September 17, 2013 12:10pm Exam 1 will be held on Thursday, October 10, covering sets and sequences.

September 24, 2013 12:50am Class on Thursday, September 26 is cancelled! Instead, we will meet Tuesday, October 1 at 6–7pm in the computer lab in JMH 330. E-mail me if you cannot make it, so I can schedule a session who cannot come on Tuesday. Additional handout for writing web forms and tables available here.

October 3, 2013 2:20pm Below are exam 1 practice questions! Questions are randomly color-coded. I recommend trying to answer one set of colored questions first (for example, red questions), review the answers to those questions, and then move on to another set of colored questions (for example, green).
Added October 6, 2013 1:30am One or two errors were discovered in each of the three colored answer keys. The corrected answer keys are now included below, with the previously listed error shown crossed out. I apologize for the errors! October 7, 2013 (announced in class October 3): On Monday, October 7 (today!) class will meet in the computer lab in MJH 330. Handouts for today: Forms/tables, Using lab/other computers (now updated to include more complete instructions for Mac users)

October 16, 2013 12:40pm Exam 1 answers now available here.
Grade breakdown (max possible score 82)
74-above: "A range," 7 students
63-74: "B range," 12 students
52-63: "C range," 6 students
41-52: "D range," 0 students


October 25, 2013 12:35am On Monday, October 28, class will meet in the computer lab in JMH 330. We will be learning to use the Alice programming environment. A handout introducing the concepts in Alice programming is available here.

November 4, 2013 7:25pm On Thursday, November 7, class will meet in the computer lab in JMH 330. We will be learning more about Alice, using this handout.

November 10, 2013 11:55pm Below are exam 2 practice questions! Questions are randomly color-coded. I recommend trying to answer one set of colored questions first (for example, red questions), review the answers to those questions, and then move on to another set of colored questions (for example, green).
In the practice questions, there are several examples of "ill-posed" function compositions. For the actual exam, at most 1-2 compositions will be ill-posed.
Exam 2 is on November 18. You can use "four-function" and scientific calculators, but not graphing calculators. Graphing calculators have a bigger screen and allow you to type any letter of the alphabet.
Scientific calculator Graphing calculator



November 24, 2013 7:35pm (announced in class November 20) Our final exam will be December 16, 5:30-7:30pm, in JMH 302. An outline of exam topics is available here.

November 26, 2013 11:05am Exam 2 answers now available here.
Grade breakdown (max possible score 70)
74-above: "A range," 12 students
56-64: "B range," 11 students
48-56: "C range," 1 student
40-48: "D range," 1 student


December 3, 2013 11:20am Below are counting/probability practice questions! Questions are randomly color-coded. I recommend trying to answer one set of colored questions first (for example, red questions), review the answers to those questions, and then move on to another set of colored questions (for example, green).
Update on December 9, 2013 7:50pm: Several corrections made to the answer keys. Corrected questions (but not answers) listed
Two further corrections added December 11, 1:30pm! here. Answers given in PDFs below.

December 9, 2013 12:55am More sets, sequences, logic, and functions practice questions! Questions are randomly color-coded. I recommend trying to answer one set of colored questions first (for example, red questions), review the answers to those questions, and then move on to another set of colored questions (for example, green).
See update above from December 9, 2013 7:50pm

Assignments:
Click here for past assignments.

Posted September 30, 2013:
HW3 answers available here.
Grade breakdown (max possible score 45)
40-above: "A range,"
33-40: "B range,"
26-33: "C range,"
19-26: "D range,"


Posted October 25, 2013:
HW4 answers available here.
Grade breakdown (max possible score 61)
54-above: "A range," 8 students
47-54: "B range," 7 students
40-47: "C range," 5 students
33-40: "D range," 3 students


Posted November 4, 2013:
HW5 answers available here.
Grade breakdown (max possible score 55)
47-above: "A range,"
40-47: "B range,"
33-40: "C range,"
26-33: "D range,"

Lab 2 – web form and Alice animation. DUE 11:59pm November 25. Read all the details of the assignment here.
Grade breakdown (max possible score 47) — the distribution of students in each grade category was wrong in the e-mail but is correct here
43-above: "A range," 12 students
37-43: "B range," 6 students
30-37: "C range," 4 student
24-30: "D range," 2 students


HW6 – covering everything we have learned about probability up to Monday, November 25. This homework is optional!
DUE: At the beginning of class Wednesday, December 5.
Complete the following exercises from the class textbook in Section 7.7.1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 14, 15, 22a,b,d,g, 23
Homework 6 answers now available here.

Handouts
PDF handouts I have provided online, listed here in a central location: