Comp 106 Course Policies

    Overview

    Our primary emphasis this semester is to develop an understanding of the potential, and limitations, of technology by studying several computing tools. The main aim of this course is not to develop your computer skills (although you certainly will develop some skills!), but rather to focus on using computing technology to solve some interesting problems that we could not solve otherwise. The three areas we will focus on are:
    • Modeling population growth and the spread of disease using Stella, a program for the Macintosh that aids in the analysis of these models.
    • Financial analysis using Excel spreadsheets. For example, we will calculate just how much interest is paid on student loans and how much the length of the loan can be shortened by making prepayments toward the principal.
    • Multimedia authoring on the World Wide Web using html and JavaScript. We will spend more than half of the term working on this.

    Evaluation

    You will have four major projects during the semester, weekly labs meeting in the new CS Lab (using WindowsNT machines), and several smaller homework assignments during the term. Your final grade will be determined by
      Four Projects 70%
      html Project (10%) due February 17
      Stella Project (15%) due March 12
      Excel Project (15%) due April 2
      JavaScript Project (30%) due April 30
      Labs and Homework 30%

    Policy on Late Assignments

    It is your responsibility to make sure that I receive your assignments on time. I have very strict policies on accepting late work:
    • For each day that a project is late, you will lose 10% of the grade.
    • You should be able to finish the lab during the scheduled Wednesday lab meeting. If you do finish the lab, you will receive a grade of 2. If you come to class but do not finish the lab, you will receive a 1. However, if you finish the lab before 9:00 Thursday morning and show me your finished work, then you will receive a 2.
    • No late homework assignments will be accepted.

    The Honor Code

    I strongly encourage you to talk with other people in the class about the work we are doing. However, you must each produce your own version of the assignment. Under no circumstances may you take a copy (electronic or paper) of another studentŐs work, edit it, and turn it in as your own. If you do talk about an assignment with another student, then you should indicate this on your assignment. For example, if I had talked to Joey Ramone about the Stella project, then I would include a sentence in my project something along the lines of:
    "I talked with Joey Ramone about this assignment."
    There is no penalty for working with other students, but a failure to indicate this on your assignment could indicate that a violation of the Honor Code has occurred. Every assignment you turn in for this class should contain the following statement:
    This assignment represents my own work as specified by the Course Policies for Comp 106.

    Class Attendance

    Although class attendance is not a specified percentage of your grade, I will keep a class roll to help me determine borderline grades at the end of the semester. If you do miss class, you are responsible for the material that was covered.

    Getting Help

    Please come see me during my office hours! If you have a conflict and cannot make my office hours, please call or email me and we can set up an appointment for another time. If you want to check on your grade at any time during the semester, please ask me and I can give you a rough idea of your current standing.

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    Wheaton College, Norton, Massachusetts

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