Page One – TC101 Fall 2016

Page One/Syllabus

Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Guadalajara
Computer Science Department
TC1014 Fundamentals of Programming
August to December, 2016

flickr photo by Colette Cassinelli https://flickr.com/photos/colettec/5470530828 shared under a Creative Commons (BY-NC) license

Course Description

Course intent within the general study plan context

Basic computing course where the objective is to develop in students the logic of structured programming that permits them to solve engineering problems using the computer. It requires previous knowledge in computer handling and basic algorithms. The learning outcome of this course is that the student can design and develop algorithms in order to solve different kinds of problems in science, engineering or multimedia problems.

Course objective

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to apply logic to generate algorithms that provide solutions to engineering problems.

Textbooks

Official Text: “Think Python, How to Think Like a Computer Scientist”, Downey, Allen B. 2012.

Interactive web version of the same book here: http://interactivepython.org/runestone/static/thinkcspy/index.html

Video series on Lynda (as a student on our campus, you have a free account): Python 3 Essential Training.

Evaluation

I am applying an #AbolishGrading policy in this course. Partial and final grades will be negotiated between each student and the instructor. I will provide more details about how this works but rest assured that you will receive the grade you deserve based on you presenting evidence of knowledge/mastery/learning and collaboration about the content in the course.

Grading Note for all students

Your grade will be multiplied by 0.95 and then include 5% of the grade from the “Semana i”

Learning Evidence

You will create and share a publicly visible blog for this course. You can use an existing blog (with some work to isolate your work in this course from other posts) but it is probably best to create your own blog. More details in assignments.

PART OF LEARNING TO REVIEW MATERIAL IN AN ACADEMIC STYLE INVOLVES PAUSING, HIGHLIGHTING, NOTE TAKING, SUMMARIZING AND QUESTIONING THE CONTENT.

This is the purpose of your blog. Be creative and create evidence in any way you like. Write code, write prose, write poems, songs, record videos. The choice is yours. This is your space and you own it, I want you to feel proud of your work. Also, remember that your blog content will be syndicated (pushed) to the course blog so please take care in your choice of language, images and other media. We aim to share about our work but not offend others. We (students and faculty) have all signed a code of ethics here at the Tecnológico de Monterrey and need to keep those points in mind.

This Course is Different than Others

Note that we are using an educational paradigm that is called the “Flipped Classroom” (but very much in Ken’s style) in this course. This will be a change for you in that you are responsible for reviewing any videos, reading of textbooks or other materials requested outside of classroom time. The time inside the classroom is principally dedicated to actively programming or asking questions about programming problems or theory from materials that you or your classmates did not understand.

This means that you need to arrive to the classroom ready to program. I am a big proponent of “pair-progamming” as well as “pair learning” which means I often will ask you to work in pairs at the computers. You should however ensure you have your personal computers setup with the tools we need for the course.

Are you curious about other student’s reactions to this course? You can read my summary of student evaluation comments (the Good, the Bad and the Ugly) on a blog post I wrote about it.

flickr photo by Cayusa https://flickr.com/photos/cayusa/4969367529 shared under a Creative Commons (BY-NC) license

You can also find many other videos and blogs from previous students located in the #Bonus section of various instances of my classes in the past. I should be creating a catalog of my previous courses (for students and teachers) on the main page of my site http://kenscourses.com

Important Dates

The dates of partial exams and final exams for all courses follow the general academic calendar which can be found at http://www.gda.itesm.mx/escolar

Assignment Details

All assignments are optional. Do the ones that you feel are useful to you in order to show your mastery in the course. If you are in doubt, just do all of them but the choice is yours. Despite all assignments being optional, part of justifying your grade will be showing what work you have done to show your knowledge of the course content.