Blackboard Discussion Forums will be available for your convenience, or you can submit questions via email.
The course is divided into twelve units; most of them are doable in a week.
For people using MACs and Linux Computers, you already have Python running in your computer! Python is so useful that many people have incorporated it into the operating system and used it to write programs for it. You may even have Idle (just open a console box and type ``idle'' (without the quotations) and see what happens. In the worst case, you might want to download the whole thing also. Note that the version of Python available on your system might not be the latest.
Week of | Unit | Source | Material |
Sep 4 | 0 | Syllabus and Videos | Syllabus; First Python Program |
Sep 10 | 1 | Chapter 0 | Computers and Computer Science |
Sep 17 | 2 | Chapter 1 | Variables, objects (data) and operators. |
Sep 24 | 3 P 1 | Chapter 2 | Boolean variables, if statement, 1st program due |
Oct 1 | 3 P 2 | Chapter 2 (cont) | selection, while, for statements, Midterm 1 |
Oct 8 | 4 | Chapter 3 | Algorithm and Program development |
Oct 15 | 5 | Chapter 4 | Using Functions and methods; strings, 2d program due |
Oct 22 | 6 | Chapter 5 | Writing functions |
Oct 29 | 7 | Chapter 6 | Lists and tuples, mutable objects and usage, Midterm 2 |
Nov 5 | 8 | Chapter 7 | Advanced function usage |
Nov 13 | 9 | Chapter 8 | Dictionaries and sets, 4th program due |
Nov 19 | 10 | Chapter 9 | Files, Thanksgiving weekend. |
Apr 26 | 11 | Chapter 10 | divide and conquer |
Dec 3 | 12 | Chapter 11 | classes |
Dec 10 | Final |
Programming homework | 30% |
Weekly Exercises and quizzes (the total) | 20% |
Midterm 1 (Last week of September) | 15% |
Midterm 2 (First Week of November) | 15% |
Final (Finals Week) | 20% |
All quizzes and exams will be comprehensive. This includes the final.
97-100 | will convert into an A |
94-96 | will convert into at least an A- |
91-93 | will convert into at least a B+ |
88-90 | will convert into at least a B |
85-87 | will convert into at least a B- |
82-84 | will convert into at least a C+ |
79-81 | will convert into at least a C |
76-78 | will convert into at least a C- |
73-75 | will convert into at least a D+ |
66-72 | will convert into at least a D |
The last withdrawal date for this course is November 4, 2012.
Notes: