Course Period Class time   x-Hour Canvas site   Location
COSC 61 11 MWF 11:30-12:35   Tu 12:15-13:05 Canvas   ECSC 116


Winter 2025 Teaching team

Role Who What
Instructor Charles C. Palmer Senior Lecturer
  Office: ECSC 220
  Drop in hours: TBD, or by arrangement.
     
GTA Sayanton V. Dibbo Graduate Assistant
  Office Hours: Monday 3-4PM ECSC 005
    Friday 4-5PM ECSC 133

Contacting the teaching team

Mondays: 3-4 pm @ECSC 005 Fridays: 4-5 pm @ECSC 133 Any anomalies/changes in schedule are posted @https://sayantondibbo.github.io/OH

The majority of questions and problems can be resolved via posts to Ed Discussion. Please use Ed Discussion for all questions, comments, and discussions. Your peers will likely answer them more quickly than the teaching team.

If you need a private communication with the teaching team, you can post a private question and only the instructor or graduate assistant will be able to see it.

Do not send us email, as email tends to get overlooked. Use Ed Discussion so that all members on the teaching team will see it as well as the other students.

Prerequisites

The STRICT prerequisite is CS50 or equivalent experience (subject to instructor’s approval). Thus, we assume that you will follow good software engineering practices. In addition, Python programming experience is assumed.

System requirements

You should be able to complete the labs for this course from your own laptop (Mac, Linux, or Windows - all will work). If you do need campus systems, you may login to any of the babylon# systems at Thayer (babylon1, babylon2, etc.) using your netid.

⚠️ Warning: You should not use plank.

We will provide userids and passwords for the MySQL and MongoDB servers later in the term.

Class notes

Each class topic will be supported by class notes. These should be available after each class and will complement what is presented in class. We try to include in the class notes most of what we will discuss in class, but there is always additional material that is covered in class discussions and Q&A.

Classes will include a brief activity related to the day’s discussion. Teams of students will work on the activities and report their results.

In short: you should avoid missing class. More on this later.

Canvas

There is a single Canvas site for the undergraduate and graduate sections, and there is one combined Ed Discussion site for both undergraduates and graduates.

Links to all class information will be found on our class web pages. The Canvas system will also have links to these pages.

Ed Discussion

Each of you should have been added to our Ed Discussion workspace. If not, visit our Canvas page and following the Ed Discussion link on the left. Let me know ASAP if this doesn’t work for you (This is the one exception to our no e-mail rule.)

Please use Ed Discussion for all questions, comments, and discussions. Use our class channels to ask your questions, as other students will likely answer them more quickly than the teaching team.

When you have a question, FIRST search our Ed Discussion channels for and answer. Then, if you don’t find an answer, post your question in the appropriate channel.

Note: The private post capability of Ed Discussion is handy for when you need to communicate with our graduate TA or myself. However, you should only use a private post for questions which are related to you, personally, or your specific lab work. Questions like “how do I …“, “why does this …“, “what did the professor say about…“, etc., should be posted publicly since your classmates will often share the answer faster than the TA and I could. In addition, others may have the same question so you will both benefit from the answer.

Attendance

Attendance is required. By attendance, I mean not just your physical presence in the classroom, but the act of attending in the original sense of the word: “to direct the mind or observant faculties, to listen, to apply oneself.”

Without consistent attending, physically and mentally, it will be difficult for you to engage with the content, make use of my feedback, and learn from your peers’ thoughts and experiences. The shared context we develop during the time we spend together is a vital component of the learning process.

That said, I recognize that regular attendance is easier for some than for others. Life happens, and we all have a limited number of spoons in any given day. If you need to take some time away, for whatever reason, please send a private post with the Title Out of Spoons, and let me know how long you expect to be away. You don’t need to explaiN why, and I won’t ask. When you’re ready to come back, we’ll meet to make sure you still have the tools and time you need to succeed in this course.

Reading

You are encouraged to do the assigned reading in the text before class each week, but you are expected to have done this reading before the weekly quiz. The chapter numbers are shown in the Chapters column left of the Topics column in the class schedule.

Assistance

The professor and TA will each hold weekly Drop In hours (see the top of this page), and other meetings may be arranged. However, you may get an answer faster if you look through our Ed Discussion channels – other students may have already asked the same question and received an answer. If you don’t find an answer there, then post your question to the appropriate category.

If the professor or TA have to miss in-person Drop In hours (travel, illness, etc.), an announcement will be made on Ed Discussion.

Assignments, quizzes, and grading

Information about lab assignments, quizzes, and grading may be found on the All About Assessments page.

Honor Code & Ethical Behavior

Dartmouth’s Honor Code and policies apply to your conduct in this course.

The weekly quizzes in this course are delivered online.

:no_entry_sign: You are expected to do your own work and not collaborate with anyone while you are taking a quiz.

You can talk, discuss solutions, even show snippets of code on the white board (not the computer) to solve a problem but you cannot jointly work on the code development and writing with others. Submitted code for the labs has to be your own.

You cannot take code from anywhere (e.g., stackoverflow.com, previous students’ work, ChatGPT, CoPilot, etc.). It has to be your own work.

As above, anyone can discuss code, show each other snippets on the white board, but not share full source codes.

Professor Cormen put it this way:

I reserve the right to assign you a failing grade on an entire homework assignment or on an entire exam if I believe that you have violated the Academic Honor Principle, apart from any finding by the COS. I will give you every opportunity to convince me that you did not violate the Academic Honor Principle, but I take the Academic Honor Principle very seriously.

Cheaters—whether or not they are caught—bring dishonor upon themselves and upon everyone else at Dartmouth. To do that, for just a few lousy points in a course, is [insert your favorite strong adjective meaning “stupid” here].

You cannot fool me into thinking that you did not cheat if, in fact you did. So don’t cheat.

‘nuff said.

Credit your sources

Any ideas you get from other students or any other source should be carefully cited both in the code and in the documentation.

  • In your assignments, list all your collaborators (e.g., “I discussed this homework with Alice, Bob, …”) and credit any sources (including code) used.
  • You must also credit any specific sources that are provided by the instructor. For example, you must credit code that we give you if it helps you with your work (either by direct use of the code, or by simply enhancing your understanding by reading the code).
  • References for any non-trivial algorithms you employ should be included in the code and documentation to ensure others will know where to learn more about it.

Copying code and answers from sites such as StackOverflow or other online sources (ChatGPT) is strictly forbidden. This is trivially easy to detect. The materials you submit must be your own.

For more general information, see Dartmouth’s guidelines for proper citation of sources, particularly the section on Computer programming assignments.

For more information, please see Dartmouth’s Commuinity Standards and Accountability.

You and the Class Environment

Wellness

The academic environment at Dartmouth is challenging, our terms are intensive, and classes are not the only demanding part of your life. There are a number of resources available to you on campus to support your wellness, including your undergraduate dean, Counseling and Human Development, and the Student Wellness Center. I encourage you to use these resources to take care of yourself throughout the term, and to come speak to me if you experience any difficulties.

Student Accessibility and Accommodations

Students requesting disability-related accommodations and services for this course are required to register with Student Accessibility Services (SAS; Apply for Services webpage; student.accessibility.services@dartmouth.edu; 1-603-646-9900) and to request that an accommodation email be sent to me in advance of the need for an accommodation. Then, students should schedule a follow-up meeting with me to determine relevant details such as what role SAS or its Testing Center may play in accommodation implementation. This process works best for everyone when completed as early in the quarter as possible. If students have questions about whether they are eligible for accommodations or have concerns about the implementation of their accommodations, they should contact the SAS office. All inquiries and discussions will remain confidential.

Respect, Diversity, and Inclusion

I aim to create a productive learning environment for all, one that supports a diversity of thoughts, perspectives and experiences, and honors everyone’s identities including race, gender, class, sexuality, religion, and ability.

To help accomplish this goal:

  • I ask that we all contribute to the course conversation in a professional manner. I encourage you to challenge ideas, but always to respect the speaker (or author). Indeed, it is important that we respect the diversity of our course community, including students on the teaching team, drawing strength from the diversity of backgrounds and perspectives they all bring to the conversation.

  • If you have a preferred name and/or pronouns that differ from those that appear in your official college records, please let me know.

  • If you feel like your performance in the class is being impacted by your experiences outside of class, or if you encounter financial challenges related to this class, please don’t hesitate to talk with me.

  • Remember that you can also submit anonymous feedback (which may lead to me making a general announcement to the class, if necessary to address your concerns).

  • If you prefer to speak with someone outside of the course, your Dean can be an excellent resource.

  • If at any time you feel uncomfortable about the interactions in our course, I encourage you to contact me privately so I can better understand how I can manage the course. (Again, anonymous feedback is always an option.)

Title IX

At Dartmouth, we value integrity, responsibility, and respect for the rights and interests of others, all central to our Principles of Community. We are dedicated to establishing and maintaining a safe and inclusive campus where all have equal access to the educational and employment opportunities Dartmouth offers. We strive to promote an environment of sexual respect, safety, and well-being. In its policies and standards, Dartmouth demonstrates unequivocally that sexual assault, gender-based harassment, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking are not tolerated in our community.

The Sexual Respect Website at Dartmouth provides a wealth of information on your rights with regard to sexual respect and resources that are available to all in our community.

Please note that, as a faculty member, I am obligated to share disclosures regarding conduct under Title IX with Dartmouth’s Title IX Coordinator. Confidential resources are also available, and include licensed medical or counseling professionals (e.g., a licensed psychologist), staff members of organizations recognized as rape crisis centers under state law (such as WISE), and ordained clergy; see resources.

Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact Dartmouth’s Title IX Coordinator or the Deputy Title IX Coordinator for the Guarini School. Their contact information can be found on the sexual respect website.

Socioeconomic Differences and Financial Difficulty

Our community is composed of students from a variety of financial backgrounds. Socioeconomic diversity can be invisible, and you may be experiencing financial difficulties related to the cost of textbooks, materials, or other necessities for our class of which I am not aware.

If you encounter financial challenges related to this class, there may be sources of support for you. If you feel comfortable sharing your experience with me, you may. You may also consider meeting with a financial aid officer to discuss options, reaching out to the First-Generation Office if you are a first-generation student, browsing the Funding Resources page, or, for unexpected expenses, applying to the Barrier Removal Fund through the Financial Aid tile in DartHub.

Religious observations

Students may wish to take part in religious observances that occur during this academic term. If you have a religious observance that conflicts with your participation in the course, please meet with me before the end of the second week of the term to discuss appropriate accommodations. Dartmouth provides a page with month-by-month listings of religious observances over the 2024 -2025 academic year. The list represents holy days which may impact campus events in general, including student course attendance, exams, commencement, and participation in activities.

Inclement weather

On rare occasions, Dartmouth may cancel classes or even close the campus. If this occurs, general notice will be given in three ways:

  • Message via Slack;
  • Local broadcast media;
  • Campus-wide BlitzMail messages; and
  • A recorded message at a College toll-free Inclement Weather Phone Line: 1-888-566-SNOW (1-888-566-7669).

By enrolling in this course,

a. I affirm my understanding that the instructor may record this course and any associated group meetings involving students and the instructor, including but not limited to scheduled and ad hoc office hours and other consultations, within any digital platform, including those used to offer remote instruction for this course.

b. I further affirm that the instructor owns the copyright to their instructional materials, of which these recordings constitute a part, and my distribution of any of these recordings in whole or in part to any person or entity other than other members of the class without prior written consent of the instructor may be subject to discipline by Dartmouth up to and including separation from Dartmouth.

By enrolling in this course, I hereby affirm that I will not make a recording in any medium of any one-on-one meeting with the instructor or another member of the class or group of members of the class without obtaining the prior written consent of all those participating, and I understand that if I violate this prohibition, I will be subject to discipline by Dartmouth up to and including separation from Dartmouth, as well as any other civil or criminal penalties under applicable law. I understand that an exception to this consent applies to accommodations approved by SAS for a student’s disability, and that one or more students in a class may record class lectures, discussions, lab sessions, and review sessions and take pictures of essential information, and/or be provided class notes for personal study use only.