CISC 1115 Introduction to Programming Using Java (Section TY2)

Spring 2024 (01/25/2024 – 05/22/2024)

by Professor Hui Chen, CUNY Brooklyn College

Table of Content

Instructor

Professor Hui Chen, Ph.D.
Office: Room 1432N Ingersoll Hall (No appointments are necessary during office hours.)

Office Hours and Contact

Office Hours: 6:00 - 7:00, Monday ;6:00 - 7:00, Wednesday

Office Hours Access: in-person (one student at a time at Room 1432N Ingersoll Hall) and online (by arrangement via Zoom or Blackboard Collaborate)

E-mail: chen@sci.brooklyn.cuny.edu
E-mail Policy: When e-mailing the instructor, include your name and course section in the subject. The instructor will generally reply your message before next class meeting.

Class Meetings

Class Meeting: 02:40 - 04:45 PM Tuesday; 02:40 - 04:45 PM Thursday;
Class Meeting Method: In-Person
Classroom: 214 IA

In-Person Class Meeting

The College designates this class as a in-person class in this semester, i.e., we shall convene class meetings including all exams and tests at the designated times and at the designated classroom.

Course Description

3 hours lecture; 2 hours lab; 4 credits

Algorithms, computers and programs. Writing, debugging, and testing programs. Loops and conditional control structures. Method definition and parameter passing. Arrays, ArrayLists, and Strings. Sorting, searching and other basic algorithms. Input and output. Programming applications selected from various disciplines. History and basic concepts of computer science. (Not open to students who have completed Computer and Information Science 1110 [1.5]. Completion of this course prohibits a student from receiving credit for CISC 1110.)

Prerequisite: N/A

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course, students should be able

  1. (Objective 1) Understand the concept of a program (i.e., a computer following a series of instructions)

  2. (Objective 2) Declare a variable with an appropriate data type (either character or numeric), initialize the variable’s value, and change the value when appropriate

  3. (Objective 3) Use control structures, including a loop to repeat the execution of a series of statements and a conditional statement to select one from a series of alternatives

  4. (Objective 4) Write a function to perform a subtask and use the function as part of a larger program

  5. (Objective 5) Use an array to store multiple pieces of homogeneous data, and to use a simple class to store multiple pieces of heterogeneous data

  6. (Objective 6) Trace the execution of a program and predict the results of the execution

  7. (Objective 7) Write an algorithm for a simple task

  8. (Objective 8) Master a simple programming environment (Windows or Unix command lines)

Textbook

  1. Liang, Y. D. (2017). Introduction to Java Programming and Data Structures, Comprehensive Version (11th ed.). Pearson.

Academic Regulations and Procedures

All students should carefully and thoroughly read the section entitled Academic Regulations and Procedures in the Brooklyn College Undergraduate or Graduate Bulletin for a complete listing of academic regulations of the College.

Academic Integrity

The faculty and administration of Brooklyn College support an environment free from cheating and plagiarism. Each student is responsible for being aware of what constitutes cheating and plagiarism and for avoiding both. The complete text of the CUNY Academic Integrity Policy and the Brooklyn College procedure for policy implementation can be found at www.brooklyn.edu/policies. If a faculty member suspects a violation of academic integrity and, upon investigation, confirms that violation, or if the student admits the violation, the faculty member MUST report the violation. Students should be aware that faculty may use plagiarism detection software.

Student Disability Services

The Center for Student Disability Services (CSDS) is committed to ensuring students with disabilities enjoy an equal opportunity to participate at Brooklyn College. In order to receive disability-related academic accommodations, students must first be registered with CSDS. Students who have a documented disability or suspect they may have a disability are invited to schedule an interview by calling (718) 951-5538 or emailing Josephine.Patterson@brooklyn.cuny.edu If you have already registered with CSDS, email Josephine.Patterson@brooklyn.cuny.edu or testingcsds@brooklyn.cuny.edu to ensure accommodation emails are sent to your professor.

Consideration of Religious Observance

New York State Education Law (Title I, Article 5, Section 224-a) requires that the College

makes available to each student who is absent from school, because of his [or her] religious beliefs, an equivalent opportunity to make up any examination, study or work requirements which he [or she] may have missed because of such absence on any particular day or days.

If you are unable to attend classes or take examinations, the instructor is happy to accommodate you as permitted by semester schedule and other constraints there may be; however, it is recommended that you make arrangement with the instructor in advance. You may also contact Division of Student Affairs , if you have questions about accommodations for religious observance.

Policy and Software for Online Exam Proctoring

CUNY procured online proctoring software for hosting online exams. In case that we must have online exams, the instructor may elect to proctor the exams via the online protoring software. A design objective of online proctoring software is to improve online exam security. However, to learn how it may affect you, you should take a look at some online proctoring software, such as, Respondus Monitor and Proctortrack.

Important Dates

The College’s Academic Calendar lists a few important dates. Below are some of these important dates. Be aware that the College may revise the Academic Calendar as we are still in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Important Dates

Date Description
Thursday, January 25 First day of Spring 2024 classes
Wednesday, January 31 Last day to add or swap a course
Monday, February 12 College Closed – No classes scheduled
Monday, February 19 College Closed – No classes scheduled
Thursday, February 22 Conversion Day – Classes follow a Monday schedule
Wednesday, February 28 Conversion Day – Classes follow a Monday schedule
Friday, March 29 through Sunday, March 31 College Open – No classes scheduled
Monday, April 22 through Tuesday, April 30 Spring Recess – College Open – No classes scheduled
Wednesday, May 15 Last day to withdraw from a course with a “W” grade
Thursday, May 16 Final Exams Begin
Wednesday, May 22 Final Exams End / End of Spring Semester

Attendance and Participation

You are required to attend the lectures. unless prearrangement is made with and approved by the instructor, or is permitted by Federal and State laws and regulations and the policies of of the College.

Reference to the state law regarding non-attendance because of religious beliefs is in the Undergraduate or Graduate Bulletin.

Student receives credit for attendance and participation in lectures. At each class meeting, the instructor will conduct an attendance roll-call or ask the students to sign an attendance sheet. In addition, there are required in-class exercises and discussion. For the in-class exercises and discussions, see the section of Assignments and Examinations for details.

Late Attendance

Students should join the class meetings on time. A late attendance may be recorded as absence from the class.

Assignments and Examinations

CodeLab Assignments

In general, the instructor assign CodeLab exercises each week. The CodeLab exercises are provided by Turing's Craft. The purpose of these exercises is to help students learn the Java programming language.

Students should expect 14 CodeLab Assignments, generally, 1 per week.

CodeLab is free to CUNY students. The instructor shall post registration method on Blackboard.

Programming Assignments

In general, the instructor assign programming assignments every 1.5 weeks. Students should expect 8 programming assignments.

Midterm and Final Examinations

The instructor will give two exams, a Midterm Exam and a Final Exam. Refer to the course schedule for the time, the date, and the location of the Midterm and the Final Exams. Be aware that it is Brooklyn College Registration determines the time, the date, and the date of the Final Exam.

Assignment Submission

The CodeLab assignments are to be submitted to Turing's Craft's website.

The submission method for the programming assignment shall be enclosed in each assignment.

Late Submission and Resubmission

Late submissions and resubmission are accepted, but penalized with 10% of penalty or one letter grade lower for each week elapsed past the submission deadline. For instance, if a assignment submitted or resubmitted one week pass the deadline, the grade of the project will be lowered from A to B, B to C, and so on.

Grade Calculation

Students final score is calculated on the scale of 100 as follows,

Grading Components and Grade Calculation

Component Percent Note
Attendance 05%  
Code Lab Assignments 05% Best 10 CodeLab Assignments (out of 14) are 5 points.
Programming Assignments 40% 8 programming assignments are 40 points, 5 points each.
Midterm Exam 20%  
Final Exam 30% The final exam is accumulative.

Letter Grade

Your final letter grade will be given as follows:

Letter Grade Assignment

Component Percent
90 - 100 A
80 - 89 B
70 - 79 C
60 - 69 D
0 - 59 F

Tips for Success

Below are some tips to help us succeed in this class.

Access to the Internet and Information Technology

It is essential that you have access to Broadband Internet, and to a computer with Web camera and microphone, minimally 8 GB RAM and 50 GB disk space. This allows you to install necessary software on the computer, e.g., JDK, to study, research, and look up online material, and to communicate with the instructor.

Be aware that the College and the University have made resources available to aid students. For instance, the College has established the Device Loan Program for Students and the University has a Virtual Desktop service In addition, the College maintains a Student Resources and Updates that documents services that students can leverage on for success. For instance, it describes the steps to obtain free Internet services from Charter Communications and Altice USA for students to take online classes.

Work Hours

You will need to devote at least 9 to 12 hours per week to the required lecture, reading, programming, experimenting, writing, and reasoning. Please devise a schedule (e.g., 2 to 2.5 hours per day, 5 days a week) and keep to it.

Lecture Participation

The lectures are crucial. It is important to participate in the class actively, such as, participating in class discussions, answering your classmates’ questions, answering the instructor’s questions, and asking questions.

Group and Peer Learning

Peer groups can be effective and beneficial to learning. You should leverage on the groups to which the instructor assigns you for your group assignments, or establish a group of your own, and actively discuss the relevant class topics with the group.

Video Conferencing Tools

Video conferencing tools, such as, Blackboard Collaborate Ultra has particularly useful features, such as, sharing screens and sharing files. You should master the tools and communicate effectively with your classmates and with the instructor, regardless the lectures are online or in-person.

The Brooklyn College Learning Center

Don’t forget that Brooklyn College has a Learning Center that is committed to help students succeed. One essential service that the learning center provides is the tutoring service. Visit the learning center online for more information.

The Brooklyn College Student Support Services

The Division of Student Affairs oversees a wide range of services among which you may find some useful. Visit the student support services online for more information.

Office Hours

The instructor maintains weekly office hours. The office hours provide you opportunities to work with the instructor on a one-to-one setting, and can be helpful to your study.

Instructional Technologies

The instructor posts syllabus, course schedule, and lecture notes on the Class Website; and posts assignments, assignment grades, and advisory grades on CUNY Blackboard and CodeLab.

Support and Resources