The students who get the most out of this course will be the ones put in the most effort. We will cover a large amount of material in a short time. If you cannot put in the required time to learn the material, you will do poorly. DO NOT FALL BEHIND in the course material of significant difficulties will result.
If you want to do well in the course, attend all lectures and your discussion section, read the book before coming to class, and start your homeworks early. Starting early really helps because solutions to many of the problems may not grow in your mind right away when you first look at an assignment. Starting on the problems early and letting your mind work on them in background is often the most effective and efficient way to complete the assignments.
If you are having difficulty, you owe it to yourself to get help! The consultants (graders), TAs, and instructor are also more than happy to assist you. Do not be afraid to come and see us, but please observe our posted hours. We will hold numerous office and laboratory hours. If you cannot make it to our office or laboratory hours but still really need help, contact one of us for an appointment.
It is important that you understand the function of the consultants, TAs, and course instructor. The purpose of the consultants is to assist you in interpreting your computer output. It is NOT their job to tell you what is wrong with your program or to tell you how to fix it. It is also NOT their responsibility to write code for you. These are your responsibilities.
Both consultants and TAs can assist you in understanding the logic of your program, interpreting your program, and interpreting your program's output. They will have office hours for consultation that will be announced on this web page.
The instructor, through his or her lectures, is responsible for the overall course content. Assisted by the consultants and the TAs, he develops quizzes and examinations; conducts the examinations; and grades the examinations. He is also responsible for determining the final grades and handling any disciplinary problems. If you feel that you are being treated in an arbitrary and/or capricious manner by anyone involved in the instruction of this course, please see the instructor.
You, not the consultants, TAs, or anyone else, are responsible for solving the assignments within the allotted time limits. Remember: consultants and TAs are NOT there to write your programs or to debug them for you.
We would really love to have everyone in the class earn an "A". If you work hard and master the material presented, you will learn some powerful and fundamental programming techniques for representing and manipulating data, that can and will help you immeasurably when you tackle bigger programming problems later in school and in your career.