Coms 331 Syllabus - Fall 2011

Dr. Robb T. Koether Office: Bagby 114 Office phone: 223-6207 Home phone: 392-8604 Office hours: 1:30 - 3:20 MWR, 12:30 - 1:20 T; other hours by appointment. E-mail: rkoether@hsc.edu Web: http://people.hsc.edu/faculty-staff/robbk

Introduction

The text for the course is Interactive Computer Graphics, 6th ed., by Edward Angel and David Shreiner.

A recommended text for this course is OpenGL Programming Guide, 7th ed., by David Shreiner, et al. An earlier edition is available on the web in html at

The web page for this course is at

Grading

There will be five computer projects, three tests, and a final exam. In the final average, these will have the following weights:

Computer projects (50%)

You will find these projects to be challenging. You will want to get an early start on each assignment. Otherwise, you will not be able to finish them.

When you turn in a project, it will be tested using various sets of test data. Then I will read your program carefully to see exactly how you solved the problem. I will assign a grade to your project based on the following areas.

• Implementation - Are your individual program statements correct?
• Execution - Did your program produce the correct output for all inputs?
• Style - Did you follow the guidelines of programming style?
• Report - See below.

These four areas will be weighted as follows.

After you get your graded project back, you will have one week to make corrections. (The due date for corrections will be one week after the projects are returned.) The project will be regraded and the two grades will be averaged. In other words, you can recover up to half the points lost on the first grading.

The computer projects are pledged. You may get help from me, your partner, and the lab assistants on duty. You may look at books and class notes, but under no circumstances are you to look at any part of another student's program. That would be an honor code violation.

The project reports should include the following.

• The problem to be solved.
• How you went about solving the problem. Include, as appropriate, algorithms and mathematical formulas.
• Once the program ran, how did you test its correctness? Be specific.
• Describe any known bugs in your program.
• What did you learn from this project?

The projects are due by midnight of the due date. I intend to assign one project approximately every two weeks and give you one week to complete each one. The following is a likely schedule.

Tests 30%

You should make every conceivable effort to be present and prepared for an hour test. If you do not feel that you are prepared, you must take the test anyway. The only valid excuses for missing a test are serious illnesses and unavoidable emergencies which can be verified. If you foresee that you must miss a test, then you should make arrangements, before the absence, to take the test. If you miss a test for a reason that is less than compelling, you will not be allowed to take the test later. If you miss a test, it is essential that you contact me and make arrangements at the earliest possible moment. Failure to follow this policy will invalidate any excuse.

When you study for a test, do not attempt to do all of your studying in one night. Instead, spread your studying out over several nights. On the night before a test, the most important thing you can do is to get a good night's rest. Do not drink alcohol on the two or three days before a test. If you do, it will affect your ability to concentrate, think logically, and recall facts. In other words, it will make it look as if you didn't study.

The test schedule is as follows.

The Final Exam

The final exam will be cumulative. It will be given in Bagby 020 on Wed, Dec 14 at 9:00 am. Everyone must take the exam. Read the Examination policy in the Academic Catalogue.

Attendance

Read the Class Attendance section of the Academic Catalogue. Attendance will be checked at the beginning of each class. If you arrive late, you will be counted absent. If that happens and would like to be marked present, see me after class. Otherwise, late arrivals and absences will all count as absences. When assigning final grades, attendance will be taken into account.

A warning letter will be sent out after the 6th absence. The last day to drop a course without a grade of WF is Oct 14.