Note: For general information on this course you should start from the 201.003 Home Page, which includes links to the Lecture Schedule and the Laboratory Session Schedule. This page covers textbook information and policies regarding homework, tests, attendance, and grades. Please note that there is also a separate Laboratory Syllabus which describes the grading and attendance policies for your weekly supervised lab sessions.
Text: Introduction to Java Programming: Fundamentals First, Y. Daniel Liang, Pearson/Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-13-223738-5.
Summary of course contents: Basic principles and techniques of program design.
Much of your work load in this course will be in the form of programming projects, all of which will be implemented in the Java programming language. These will include all the projects that you implement in your weekly supervised Laboratory Sessions. As noted above, a separate Laboratory Syllabus describes the grading and attendance policies for the lab sessions.
In addition, several projects will be assigned as homework by your lecture instructor. The homework assignments are to be done on your own time, but in general these will be simple written and/or programming exercises designed to reinforce basic concepts and help you prepare for the tests. Unless otherwise stated, these projects will be due one week from the date of assignment. At any time during the semester, you can get a current list of the lecture-based assignments, with descriptions and due dates, from the Homework page.
The policy on late homework is as follows:
| Up to 3 days past due date:
10% penalty for each day late |
| More than 3 days past due date: NO CREDIT |
This policy is designed to reduce the load on both the students and the available systems, especially during the last weeks of the semester. Again, please note that this policy applies only to homework. Consult the Laboratory Syllabus for policies regarding the supervised lab projects.
In addition to the formal lab projects and the homework, there will be four midterm tests and a final exam. The midterm tests will each be short (approximately the last 30 minutes of the designated class period). The dates currently planned for each midterm test can be found in the tentative Lecture Schedule. In some cases these dates may need to be revised, but final dates will be announced at least two weeks in advance. The date of the final exam is set by the UNCA Fall 2006 Exam Schedule (Monday, December 11, 6:30 - 9:00 pm). At any time during the semester, you can consult the Test page for currently available information.
Makeup tests are normally not permitted, unless a student can provide in advance a satisfactory reason for failure to take a scheduled test. Because of the time constraints, no makeup is allowed for the final examination.
Overall grades for this course will be evaluated as follows:
| Supervised laboratory projects: 30% |
| Homework: 15% |
| Four midterm tests (open book): 40% (10% each) |
| Final examination (open book): 15% |
The weighted numeric grade computed on this basis at the end of the semester is used to determine the final letter grade for each student. Letter grades for this course will be based on the plus/minus grading policy (A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D, F).
The following scale will be used to assign final letter grades based on the weighted numerical grade defined above:
| 93 ≤ grade ≤ 100 | A |
| 90 ≤ grade < 93 | A- |
| 87 ≤ grade < 90 | B+ |
| 83 ≤ grade < 87 | B |
| 80 ≤ grade < 83 | B- |
| 77 ≤ grade < 80 | C+ |
| 73 ≤ grade < 77 | C |
| 70 ≤ grade < 73 | C- |
| 67 ≤ grade < 70 | D+ |
| 60 ≤ grade < 67 | D |
| grade < 60 | F |
Although class rolls are not taken on a regular basis, consistent attendance is regarded as an essential requirement of the course. In particular, repeated or consecutive absences are a key factor in "borderline" grading decisions.