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Text: A Balanced Introduction to Computer Science, Draft Revisions, David Reed.
These draft units are being made available, at no cost to you, on BlueLine.
You may not share these files outside of the class, or distribute them in any way.
Computer Access: Many of the class periods will involve working on a computer, either using provided software tools or developing your own interactive Web pages. There are a number of Mac computers in the classroom and you are welcome to use these on a first-come, first-served basis. However, if you have your own laptop, you are encouraged to bring it to class and work directly on it. Installing the free lab software, Brackets, is straightforward and assistance is available if needed.
This course introduces students to science and scientific reasoning from a perspective that integrates computer science and the natural sciences. Students will gain a basic understanding of computer technology (its organization, history, societal impact, etc.) and how computers are used in various scientific disciplines. In particular, the use of the scientific method and the importance of computer modeling in scientific inquiry will be studied. Students will learn to develop simple Web-based programs for analyzing data and modeling systems, and use those programs in conducting hands-on experiments. Applications in biology, physics, and data science will provide insights into how these disciplines approach problems and utilize computers and computer modeling as tools.
The specific goals of this course are:
Class periods will consist of two types of activity. For discussion days, students will be assigned readings and must answer review questions on BlueLine before the discussion day. Attendance and participation in class discussions of the assigned material is expected of all students. Practical experience in developing Web-based programs and using them to conduct experiments will be obtained through unit exercises. Students will be assigned exercises and will work on the computer with the assistance of the instructor.
Interspersed throughout the course will be four lab assignments, which involve using computers as tools to solve problems from the sciences. In addition to some programming, lab assignments generally involve the observation of natural systems or simulations, data collection and analysis, and a written summary of your findings.
In addition, there will be two 75-minute tests and a cumulative 100-minute final exam.
unit exercises | 20 % |
lab assignments | 15 % |
review questions/discussions | 10 % |
two 75-minute tests | 30 % |
100-minute final exam | 25 % |
The final course grade will be based on the above weightings. At the minimum, the following cutoffs will apply: A (93-100%), A- (90-92), B+ (87-89%), B (83-86%), B- (80-82), C+ (77-79%), C (73-76%), C- (70-72), D (60-69%), and F (0-59%). Some shifting of grades (in an upward direction only) may occur as final letter grades are assigned.
Regular attendance is expected of all students. If a student must miss class for a legitimate reason, it is their responsibility to make up missed work. Assignments and tests will not be rescheduled except in extreme circumstances. Unexcused absences will directly impact the student's grade on discussion days (resulting in a 0 for the missed day), and it is expected that excessive absences will leave the student unprepared for tests and assignments. If a class must be cancelled by the instructor for some reason, notification will be sent to students via email.
Creighton's policy on cheating and plagiarism is spelled out in the the Student Handbook, with college procedures available online. In addition, the following guidelines hold for this course.
Violations of the above collaboration will be dealt with severely, with possible outcomes including failure in the course.
Date | Topic | Readings | Hand-in |
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Aug 21/22 |
Course overview. | ||
26/27 28/29 |
Computer basics. (ppt/pdf) Lab 1 |
Unit 1 |
disc1 |
Sep 2/3 4/5 |
LABOR DAY / Applications in cryptography (ppt/pdf) HTML & Web pages: (ppt/pdf) |
Unit 2 |
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9/10 11/12 |
HTML, links, images, lists, tables. History of science & computing. (ppt/pdf) |
Unit 3 |
lab1 disc3 |
16/17 18/19 |
Dynamic Web pages: (ppt/pdf) events, JavaScript assignments, dynamic images, |
Unit 4 |
exer2 |
23/24 25/26 |
dynamic text, text boxes. Internet & the Web. (ppt/pdf) |
Unit 5 |
disc5, exer4 |
30/Oct 1 2/3 |
TEST 1 Applications in biology. (ppt/pdf) |
Online: 1 & 2 |
discBio |
7/8 9/10 |
Lab 2 Pages that compute: (ppt/pdf) |
Unit 6 |
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14/15 16/17 |
FALL BREAK - NO CLASS | ||
21/22 23/24 |
numbers, functions, randomness. Algorithms & programming. (ppt/pdf) |
Unit 7 |
disc7, lab2 |
28/29 30/31 |
Abstraction & libraries: (ppt/pdf) user-defined functions, libraries, random.js. |
Unit 8 |
exer6 |
Nov 4/5 6/7 |
Lab 3 Computer science as a discipline. (ppt/pdf) |
Unit 9 |
disc9, exer8 |
11/12 13/14 |
TEST 2 Applications in data science. (ppt/pdf) |
Online: 1 & 2 |
discDS, lab3 |
18/19 20/21 |
Lab 4 Conditional execution & repetition: (ppt/pdf) |
Unit 10 |
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25/26 27/28 |
if, if-else, counters, loops. THANKSGIVING BREAK - NO CLASS |
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lab4 |
Dec 2/3 4/5 |
Data Representation. (ppt/pdf) Computers & Society (ppt/pdf), course overview. |
Unit 11 Unit 12 |
disc11 disc12, exer10 |
Dec 12
SECTION A FINAL EXAM Thursday, 1:00-2:40
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Dec 13
SECTION C FINAL EXAM Friday, 8:00-9:40
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