Syllabus for

Animation Programming with Alice

COSC 179

(TTh 9:00-10:15, PH508D)

Instructor: Matt Evett ; Dept. Computer Science; Pray-Harold 512E
Tel: 734-487-1227;
e-mail: mevett@emich.edu;
emunix.emich.edu/~evett/AnimationProgramming Office Hours: M-Th 10:30-12:30
You may drop by at times other than office hours, but in that case I cannot guarantee that I'll be able to see you.Prerequisite: None.

Textbooks:

Learning to Program with Alice, 2/e .

Course Summary: Students successfully completing the course will be able to create animations and games using the Alice visual programming system. Students will be familiar with basic programming concepts, including conditionals, iteration, functions, parameters, and object-oriented design and programming.

Course Calendar:

Follow this link: here

Grading Policy:

The final course grade will be a weighted average of the grades received in each of the following categories, as specified: Assignments 50%, Midterm 20%, FinalExam 30%

Tardiness Policy: Programming and other homework assignments will be due at the beginning of class. After that, assignments will be accepted through the start of the next scheduled class, but will suffer a full grade penalty. E.g., if a late programming assignment is worthy of an 'A', I will mark it a 'B'. Assignments more than one class late will not be accepted, and will receive a grade of 'F'.

Attendance Policy: We're all grown-ups, when and whether you attend class is up to you. However, missed assignments shall only be excused by a doctor's written note, verifying that the student was medically indisposed to attend class that day.

Grading of Programs: Grading of programming assignments will reflect three factors, weighted as shown.

(70%) Correctness -- does the program run correctly.
(15%) Style -- does the code adhere to class documentation standards? Is the code indented properly? Are the variable names mneumonic? How well has the student followed the basic formatting characteristics for the language?
(15%) Design -- is the program adequately decomposed (i.e., are the functions and procedures small enough to be comprehensible)? Are the class and structure definitions well chosen? How well has the student taken advantage of the language's capabilities?

Announcements and the Web Page:

Students should view the course web page regularly for announcements regarding programming assignments, readings, etc. I update course web pages frequently!

Cheating policy:

Students are required to attend to the policy on academic irregularity outlined in the EMU student handbook. In addition, collaboration among students in solving programming and homework assignments is forbidden. If I receive programs or homework assignments that are substantially equivalent, or which are not the original work of the student submitting the material, I will not hesitate to punish all involved parties to the fullest extent, up to and including assignment of a failing grade for the course, and referral to the Office of Judicial Student Services for possible punitive action at the University level, which may include expulsion from the University. In addition, the University and the computer science department maintain policies regarding proper behavior on its computer systems. Failure to adhere to these policies can result in loss of computer privileges, and possible legal action.