 Welcome to Computer Science 20. All the material in this course will be available through Canvas. You can get to Canvas from the evc.edu site by clicking Canvas in the Quick Links, then clicking the link next to Go to the Canvas site at. You may want to bookmark the login page to make it easier to access. Follow the login instructions that you find on that page. I've logged into Canvas and then selected that course and then viewing it as a student. Let's take a look at the detailed course syllabus. First, the best way to contact me is via email. I am on campus occasionally, but will also set up video conferences via Zoom so that you can contact me online. You can read the course description and student learning outcomes on your own. We're using an all interactive book, How to Think Like a Computer Scientist. One of the nicest features of the book is that you can run the code samples in the book and modify them to test out your programming ideas. So, for example, here's a small program. I can run it and see the results right away. There are quite a few programming assignments in this course. Assignments will be graded on functionality. If a program doesn't work, nothing else matters. There are different levels of not working, ranging from minor errors to catastrophic failure, and grading will range accordingly. Organization. Does it look as if the program were planned in advance or just thrown together? Readability. That includes proper use of naming and indentation. For example, if you have a program that calculates discounts, using a variable name like discount percent is much more understandable than an abbreviation like DP. And I'll also grade on appropriate use of programming constructs. If the assignment is about, say, loops, and don't worry if you don't know what those are yet, and you do the assignment without using any loops, then you haven't used the appropriate constructs for the program. There are two midterms and one final. And here's the grading scheme, which you can read at your leisure. This is an online class, so if you decide to drop the class, it's your responsibility. If I've noticed that you've missed several assignments or class discussions in a row, I might drop you. If there's any emergency, you have to be out of town, or there's some extenuating circumstances, drop me an email. Short one is fine to say, Hi, emergency came up. I'll turn in my assignments when I return. The deadline dates for dropping a class with and without a W are in the EVC's schedule of classes. I also have to do the census, and that's a list of who has or has not shown up for the class. If you don't complete the first assignment and contribute to the first discussion topic by the February 9th, I'll presume that you're not going to attend the class and I'll drop you. What do I do about late assignments? If an assignment is one week late, I'll take off 10%, one letter grade. If it's two weeks late, I'll take off 20%. More than two weeks is my option, whether I want to grade it or not. You can discuss assignments amongst yourselves, but you each have to do your own work. Cheating and plagiarism will be met with an F on an assignment. The EVC catalog has details on the college honesty policy. And if you have any learning or physical needs that require accommodations, make an appointment with the Disabled Students Program and please notify me in writing via email. I'll talk about some of these study hints later, but the most important one I think at this point is to block out time in your schedule to do the work. With an all online class, it's easy to get off track because day to day life tends to just happen and you put it aside and you never quite get back on track. If this is your first online learning experience, this may be especially difficult for you. Make sure you stay on track, check in at least once a day just to see if there are any updates just to keep in contact. I do participate in the early alert program. Read about this. It's a fairly important thing, and again, especially with an all online class. Finally, the last part of the syllabus is the course outline, which gives you for each week the topics we're going to cover, the part of the book that summarizes that material, and what assignments, if any, are due. If you get ahead of the schedule and turn things in early, that's great, although I can't guarantee that I'll grade them early. Instead of lectures, I have material on videos. Here's a link to the playlist. Make sure you go through the introduction videos. They'll give you an exercise in problem solving without needing a computer, and they'll help you get your Python development environment set up. There's also a link to LinkedIn Learning. You'll have to sign on with your email. Their entire library of courses is available to you for free. It's a great deal. Finally, you have links to all of the assignments and the discussions. The discussion forums have been set up so that you can't see or respond to other students' posts until you have posted something yourself. One of the ways that we can all keep in contact with each other is via a Zoom video conference. I'll set up at least two Zoom conferences a week where you can join in and ask questions or discuss whatever's on your mind. When you use Zoom, please use the Chrome browser for best results. Now, perhaps the most important part of the orientation, how to succeed in the course. Read the book and watch the videos. If you try to do the assignments without reading the material or viewing the videos first, you're setting yourself up for a very difficult time. As you go through the book, type the code example as yourself. If all you do is look at the code, nod your head and say, yeah, I got this, then in all probability, no, you don't got this. Instead, as you type each line, ask yourself what that line of code does and why it's in the program. This helps you make a connection between the code and its purpose. If you're adventuresome, try modifying the programs. Make them do something different or something extra. Finally, and most important, plan your programs before you write them. You can either write a flowchart or you can write pseudocode, which is part English, part Python to give an outline or a plan to what you intend to do. But no matter which method you use, plan. Programs written at the keyboard look like it and that is not a compliment. A few minutes spent in planning can save you hours of frustration when writing your programs. If you do get frustrated or stuck, ask for assistance, send me an email or ask for some suggestions and hints in the discussion forums. That's our orientation, so let's get started.