Instructor
Mary Eberlein, Ph.D.
Painter 5.44
471-9722
eberlein at cs.utexas.edu
Office Hours: W 2-3:30 in PAI 5.35, and by appointment (email me
several suggested times)
Course web page:
http://www.cs.utexas.edu/~eberlein/cs341/cs341.html
Teaching Assistant
Hongkun Yang (yang.hongk at gmail.com)
Office Hours: F 2-3:30 in PAI 5.33
Problem sessions: M 6:30-8 pm in BUR 116
Proctor
Fred Kuo (fredkuo at cs.utexas.edu)
Office Hours: Th 11-2 in PAI 5.33
Textbook and other materials
Introduction to the Theory of
Computation, 2nd edition, by Michael Sipser
Handouts given in class and posted on course webpage
Covered Material
Regular Languages
Context-Free Languages
Turing Machines
Computability
Communication
Grading
I think we all wish that we could have courses without grades. You hate
worrying
about grades. I hate having to assign grades. But grades are essential
to
insuring that your degree has the value that it deserves. So we have a
grading
system and that system has to have two essential properties:
-It has to be fair to everyone in the class.
-It has to be a true measure of how much each student knows about the
class
material.
The system I will use in this class will assign grades as follows:
3 exams (Oct 3, Nov 7, final exam slot)
(20%, 20%, 35%)
Homework
assignments
15%
Quizzes and class participation
10%
The standard letter grade cutoffs will be applied, i.e., 90 - 100 %
is
an A, 80 - 89 % is a B, etc. It is possible that these cutoffs may be
changed to the benefit of the students at the instructor's discretion.
The exam dates given above are tentative and may be changed. The
midterm exams will be given in the evening.
Your grade records will be maintained by your TA on egradebook. If
you have questions or concerns about your grade, contact the TA first.
Assignments and Exams
No late assignments will be accepted. There will be no makeup
exams unless you have another class at the time of the exam,
and a missed test
without a written, verifiable emergency, medical, religious, or
participation in a varsity sporting event excuse provided to the
instructor will count as a zero. Emergency excuses can be provided
after the test. All other excuses must be provided one week before the
test. With such an excuse your midterm exam grade will be replaced by
your final exam grade. With such an excuse a makeup final exam will
be given.
Assignments will usually be given every week. The due date for each
assignment will be clearly stated. Respect Murphy's rule and plan for
your bus to run late, your personal computer to crash the morning of
the due date, etc.
Homework assignments must include: your name, the assignment number,
and your EID. Staple your homework solution set so that no pages will
be lost. Please turn in either legible handwritten solution sets
or solutions produced with a word processor.
Collaboration on Assignments
You are encouraged to study for exams together, work example problems
together and to discuss high level
approaches to solving the homework problems. But
the moment you start looking at another
student's homework solution or solutions from any other source, or
discussing solution details with someone other than the instructor or
TA, you have crossed the line into cheating.
Exam Topics
Exams will cover material from lecture, assignments, and assigned
readings. Exams will be cumulative, but they
will be more heavily weighted towards material which has not yet been
tested.
Grade Changes
If you are dissatisfied with any grade you receive, you must present
a written complaint to your TA. The complaint must
be submitted within one week of the date on which we first attempted to
return the graded work to you. Your complaint must contain supporting
evidence and arguments which explain why your work was graded
incorrectly. It is not sufficient to submit a note that says "regrade
question 3", for example. Grade change requests that do not meet these
requirements will not be considered. Note that assigned grades are not
the starting point of a negotiation. This isn't a weekend bazaar.
Unless we have made a mistake in grading your work (i.e., you have a
correct answer that was marked wrong, or your score was added
incorrectly), your grade is final.
Note that none of the following grade discussions is appropriate:
(1) "I know my answer was wrong, but I deserve more partial credit
points." When we grade, we make decisions about how many points to give
for various kinds of wrong answers. This is never a clear cut decision.
The important thing is that we make some decision and then implement it
fairly for everyone. It is completely unfair to come back later and
give
one person more points just because they ask. We won't do it.
(2) "I don't like my final grade. It will ruin my life for the
following
reason: ... Therefore you should give me a better one." Class grades
reflect
only one thing: how well you did in the class. Life circumstances just
don't play a role here. Don't come to me with this kind of argument.
(3) "I don't like my final grade. I am desperate. Isn't there some
sort of extra credit thing I could do?" Any answer other than "No" to
this
question would be completely unfair to other students in the class
unless
they were all offered this option. That would be equivalent to saying
that
the semester isn't over and everyone can keep trying. We're not going
to
do this. Final grades are final.
(4) "I don't like my final grade. Can I have an incomplete and try
again?" There are University rules for giving incompletes. If you meet
those rules (e.g., you had a medical problem during the semester),
then,
of course, come and tell me and ask for an incomplete. But make sure
you
do it as soon as you can. Do not wait until the semester is over. If
you
do not meet the rules, the answer is "No".
(5) "I don't like my final grade. It doesn't reflect what I really
know. I guess I didn't show what I know on the exams, but won't you
give
me a chance to convince you that I really know this stuff." Again, any
answer other than "No" would be unfair to everyone else.
Some of the comments above are based on the computer science
department's code of
conduct.
Study Groups
Please organize yourselves into study groups of 3-5 students who will
meet once a week to discuss the course material. Please submit to your
TA by the fourth class meeting the members of your study group and the
place
and time of your meetings.
Academic Honesty and Inappropriate Collaboration
We follow the University's standard policies on academic honesty.
They
will
be rigorously enforced. Cheating will result in action commensurate
with
the policies stated in the University's Manual on Academic Honesty. At
the very least cheating will lead to an automatic F in the class and a
referral of the case to the Dean of Students Office. Additional
penalties, including suspension or expulsion from the University, may
be imposed by that office. You
are
expected to do all work individually unless explicit permission for
group
work is given.
Every piece of work that you submit with your name on it must be
yours and yours alone. Students may not acquire from any source (e.g.,
another student or an internet site) a partial or complete solution to
a problem that has been assigned.
Students with Disabilities
The University of Texas at Austin provides upon request appropriate
academic
accomodations for qualified students with disabilities. For more
information,
contact the Office of the Dean of Students at 471-6259, 471-4641 TTY.