COMP131, Computer Science I, Section 2 (John MacCormick's section)
Please see the main
COMP 131 website for most details about the course. This page
lists only the information that is specific to Section 2 of the
course, instructed by John MacCormick.
Policy for late assignments
Both homework and lab assignments have the same lateness policy.
Each student is permitted a total of two no-penalty days of
lateness over the entire semester; every subsequent day of
lateness incurs a 25% penalty for the late assignment. "Days of
lateness" are computed by rounding up to the nearest whole number
of 24-hour periods, so an assignment submitted one minute after
the due time is regarded as being one day late, and an assignment
submitted 27 hours after the due time is regarded as being two
days late.
Lab programming in pairs
All lab assignments will be done in pairs assigned by the
instructor. The pairs will be different random pairings of
students for each lab assignment. During the lab classes,
students will use standard pair programming technique, with
one typing while the other assists (sometimes referred to as
driver and navigator). Students will switch roles
every 15 minutes during class. Obviously, unlimited collaboration
is permitted between a pair of students working on an assignment.
However, the collaboration policy described on the main
COMP 131 website still applies for any communication between
different pairs of students. In particular, never share any
written or electronic information about a lab assignment with
someone from another pair.
Students have been divided into different, random pairings for
each lab, as listed on the lab pairings webpage.
Retaking lab exam 1
Anyone who wishes to retake lab exam 1 as a take-home exam may do
so, by following the instructions on the retake webpage. The deadline for
submitting your retake is midnight on Sunday, October 21. You
must write all the code yourself, but you may ask a TA specific
questions if you get stuck. If you choose to submit a retake,
your final grade for lab exam 1 will be the average of your
original grade and your retake grade (although if you somehow
manage to do worse on the retake, your original grade will stand).
Results and action plan from mid-term survey
The results from the mid-term
survey are available. The main conclusion is that most people
would like the lectures to be shorter with more time for practice
exercises. However, very few people want the explanations of
lecture material to be faster. Therefore, it will be
difficult to compress the lectures much, but I will do my best.
My main plan is to eliminate unnecessary examples and let the
students work through them on their own.