A word to the wise (and you are wise)
- Read entire page — It will be enlightening — For our joint future
Course goals
- Develop your computational thinking abilities and digital problem solving skills. I believe this twosome should help you better accomplish your life goals, whatever they may be.
- Provide a great introduction to programming.
- Upend your lives so that you consider a computing major.
We are UVA! We are CS 1112
- UVA is built on the richness of our differences and recognizes that everyone is created equal and entitled to equal rights, dignity, and respect. We must all repudiate those who violate these principles through hate and violence.
- We all have a responsibility to help keep our community safe. If you or someone you know has been affected by violence, reporting options and resources available at the Office for Equal Opportunity and Rights.
- Course personnel are deeply committed to our university principles and to make our class welcoming and safe to all.
- It is an exciting time to be in computing. We look forward to introducing you to it, so that you can use your new skills to make the world a better place.
The course
- Everyone is expected to attend every class. We realize special circumstances arise, but they should be exceptional.
- Attending class gives you a chance to ask questions immediately. However, there will be plenty of office hours and also the Piazza forum for doing so.
- While the course is called Introduction to Programming. It is a really an introduction to problem solving using digital technologies to provide solutions. I think a better name for the course is Chrestomathics, the art and science of problem solving for practical use.
- Therefore, during class we will be intermixing lecture and laboratory. You will frequently ask you to try stuff out. Doing so is very important. Passive learning is neither efficient learning nor effective learning.
Help you, help others
- I am a big believer in self-interest as a motivator — so grade rounding will occur for those who regularly participate with guestions and discussion.
- I am also a big believer in guilt as a motivator. I will donate 25¢ to a local food bank for each question coming during a class session. Last semester, I donated more than $2,000 dollars to local food banks.
- I know talking in a big room can be intimidating. I am by nature an introvert, probably very introverted. But I will not let it stop me from doing what I want to do. I encourage you to not let it stop you.
To do list
- Taking the pledge is mandatory for our class to have a community of trust.
- Do Homework 01 forthwith. It is due no later than the day before our first class meeting.
- It's simple to do — write a haiku about your class expectations. Needs to be done the day before our first class, so that I can use them during our first class discussion.
- Do Homework 02. It is due at the start of our first class meeting.
- It will explain a lot about the course.
- Create a folder for CS 1112. Over the course of the semester you will have more than 100 artifacts.
- Grab and install the course software today.
- Please carefully follow its directions to ensure its correct installation.
- If you have preferred gender pronouns, please let us know.
- While you are it — you ought to be in pictures, please upload a photo of yourself suitable for sharing with the class.
- Mine is visible at the bottom of this page. We will use the photo in conjunction with some of the software artifacts we will create this semester.
Consider doing list
- Watching the movie What about Bob?. CS 1112 pedagogical strategy is based on the movie.
- Want to improve your life overall and your studenthood in particular?
- Watch Randy Pausch and learn. Randy gave this talk in full knowledge he had only a few months to live. The video is about 80-minutes long. The entire video is incredibly worthwhile. Watching it will be a great investment in your education. At a minimum watch 15 minutes starting at time index 13.30.
- Ever think you are an impostor? Wonder whether UVA should have accepted you?
- Well we think UVA made the right decision and watch this video to be sure. The video is about 20-minutes long. Watching it will be another great investment in your education, should help your test performance, and improve your job interviewing prowess.
Doing your best
- I want to instill within you computational thinking abilities and digital problem solving skills. I believe this twosome should help you better accomplish your life goals, whatever they may be.
- Set aside regular time to work on CS 1112. During that time, uni-task and eliminate distractions as enjoyable as they may be. Being regular in time and space, will strengthen your ability to succeed.
- I have never had a student in my class whose parents donated a building to ensure their child's admission to the University. And I expect that remains so (if I am wrong here, please encourage them to name the building Joanne McGrath Cohoon Hall).
- So what that tells me is that you have the demonstrated ability to succeed wonderfully. You have an incredibe academic record. There is no reason why that should not be true for CS 1112 also.
- Therefore, I ask you to commit yourself to actively and regularly to make CS 1112 your cynosure. By doing so, I expect you to not just be successful but to excel. If things get tough, all course personnel are there to help the best they can.
- As soon as possible, after each class meeting please examine the day's artifacts. Understanding them should make homework exercises straightforward. I will never ask you to do something that comes out of nowhere.
- CS 1112 will have many small homework exercises to undertake. Computational thinking is foreign to many of us. To develop this skill, I believe it needs frequent practice, just like learning to play a musical instrument or learning to draw or other creative outlets.
Read me
- Course pedagogy and practices result from National Science Foundation (NSF) grant 0739254. That support is appreciated.
- Wear something orange to the first class for extra credit.
What is going on in the below pictures?
![Walks on Water [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)] scale icon](/~cs1112/images/scales.png)
