Connecting with Computer Science
(CPSC 101, 2006-2007 Winter Term 2)

The 2006/2007 Winter term 1 website for CPSC 101 is here.

For the latest news, see the bulletin board on the CPSC 101 WebCT site.

(Before the first lab, we'll also post news here. But, you must learn how to read the bulletin board! If you have trouble, ask for help from the instructor or a TA.)

Table of Contents:
  • Course Staff
  • Course Scheduling Information
  • Text book
  • Discussion Board
  • Course Work and Exams
  • Incompletes and Academic Misconduct
  • Course Schedule

    • Course Staff:
    Instructor:
      Steve Wolfman
    E-mail: wolf@cs.ubc.ca
    Office: ICICS/CS, Room 239
    Office hours: Mondays 1:30-3PM and Tuesdays 2:30-4PM.
    (Other times by appointment. Please ask if you need time!)
    Note: I have an "open door policy": if my door is open (even just a crack), come in and talk!

    Teaching Assistants:

    Online office hours: Andrew Kaufman, Thursdays 4-5PM. On AIM and MSN (instant messagers) look for cpsc101TA@aol.com or cpsc101TA@hotmail.com. Or, use the WebCT bulletin board or e-mail.

    Students:
    As part of the HTML lab, each student made their own web page! Here are the student web pages.

    Course Scheduling Information:

     Lecture: Tue+Thu, 9:30-11:00 in DMP 310

    Labs:
    Number Day Time TAs
    L2A Wed 16:00-18:00 Llachlan & Mike
    L2B Thu 11:00-13:00 Andrew & Sherry
    L2C Thu 14:00-16:00 Sandra & Vania
    L2D Wed 9:00-11:00 Andrew & Mike
    L2E Thu 17:00-19:00 Sandra & Andrew
    L2F Wed 11:00-13:00 Mike & Sherry/Vania

    Labs start the week of Monday, 15 Jan, and are held in ICCS X050.

    (For official course scheduling information, see the 101 calendar entry.)

    Text book:

     The required course textbook is Fluency with Information Technology: Skills, Concepts, & Capabilities (2nd Edition) by Lawrence Snyder.

    PRS clickers are required for the course and will be used (among other things) for regular, marked mini-quizzes. They are available for purchase at the UBC bookstore (and the textbook comes with a coupon for a clicker). (Note: you still only need one PRS clicker even if you're taking multiple courses that require them.)

    Discussion Board:

     Announcements, questions, and other electronic discussion happen on the course's discussion board on the CPSC 101 WebCT site. (You will learn how to access WebCT in the first lab, but get your CWL account right away!)

    Course Work and Exams:

     Graded course work includes in-class quizzes and PRS mini-quizzes (15%), laboratory assignments (15%), a project (15%), an in-class midterm exam (20%), and a final exam (35%). (The exact marking scheme is subject to instructor discretion, but it is unlikely to change significantly. Check the course schedule for dates.)

    Note: mini-quizzes are frequent, unannounced quizzes run using the PRS clickers.

    Note: the course staff do not schedule the final exam; we can all discover its timing when it's posted on the official final exam schedule!

    Incompletes and Academic Misconduct:

     University policy and departmental guidelines on incompletes and academic misconduct will be followed strictly. For this course, all work on the quizzes and exams must be strictly your own, with no discussion or aide from anyone else. In labs, you are free to ask questions of and work with other students, but you should ensure that you are capable of accomplishing each task in the lab on your own (and you may be required to demonstrate your ability to the TA). We will include a collaboration guideline for the project with the project description itself.

    Course Schedule (tentative, subject to change):
    Date (click for notes) Topic, Resources Associated Lab
    Tue, 9 Jan Welcome!
    Thu, 11 Jan What the Digerati Know (Human-Computer Interaction)
    Tue, 16 Jan Making the Connection (Networking)
    • Reading: Text, Chapter 3
    		Getting started
    Thu, 18 Jan Networking (continued)
    The World Wide Web
    • Reading: Text, Chapter 5
    Tue, 23 Jan WWW (continued)
    HTML: Designing Web Pages
    		HTML
    Thu, 25 Jan Algorithmic Thinking
    Tue, 30 Jan Quiz 1
    JavaScript
    • Reading: Text, Chapter 10, up to p.284
    • Reading: Text, Chapter 18
    		 JavaScript (1)
    Thu, 1 Feb JavaScript (continued)
    Tue, 6 Feb Painting and Drawing
    • GIMP Space Scene steps (based on notes by Bill Kingsland)
    • Reading: Text, Chapter 1, p.8 (review)
    • Reading: Text, Chapter 11, beginning-p.303
    		 GIMP
    Thu, 8 Feb Painting and Drawing (continued)
    • Reading: Chapter 11, pp.304-311 + 315 to end,
    Tue, 13 Feb Computers and Visual Art
    Bonus Lecture - Historical
    		Lab catch-up
    Thu, 15 Feb Animate Arts
    Tue, 20 Feb MIDTERM BREAK!
    Thu, 22 Feb Have fun.. and study!
    Tue, 27 Feb Quiz 2
    Painting in JavaScript
    • Reading: Text, Chapter 21
    Bonus Lecture - Historical
    		ImageViewer
    Thu, 1 Mar Catch-up
    Tue, 6 Mar Catch-up JavaScript Art
    Thu, 8 Mar Midterm exam
    Tue, 13 Mar Course projects kickoff
    Painting in JavaScript (continued)
    		Course projects
    Thu, 15 Mar Self-similarity
    Tue, 20 Mar How computers work (1)
    How computers work (2)
    • Reading: Text, Chapter 8
    • Reading: Text, Chapter 9, up to p.261
    		 Course projects
    Thu, 22 Mar How computers work (3)
    • Reading: Text, Chapter 9, p.261-265
    Tue, 27 Mar Minds and Machines
    		Eliza Lab
    Thu, 29 Mar Quiz 3
    • Sample third quiz
    • sample solutions to the sample third quiz
    • Note: our quiz may differ substantially from this one. Among other things, we used JavaScript rather than Java for the Art Lab. You can mostly transform the Java code into JavaScript code by replacing int with var and setPaint with setColor.
    Catch-up
    Tue, 3 Apr Course projects
    Thu, 5 Apr Computer Science and Biology (2)
    Tue, 10 Apr Computers and Music (1)
    		Project presentations!
    Thu, 12 Apr Computers and Music (2)

       (This schedule may change throughout the term - quiz and exam dates will be finalised one week in advance and may be modified up to that point.)