Dept.

of Computer Science and Engineering/College of Engineering

CSE 102
Fall 2019

Course Information
Instructor Information
Instructor Office Office Hours Phone Email
Name Location (or by appt.) Number
Yolanda Anderson EB 1107 M/W 10am – 12pm 517.432.2149 cse102@msu.edu
Kevin Ohl EB 1107 N/A 517.353.0682 ohlk@msu.edu
Sebnem Onsay EB 3503 T/Th 1 pm - 2 pm N/A onsayse@msu.edu
Marilyn Wulfekuhler EB 1107 M/W 10am – 12pm 517.353.8749 cse102@msu.edu

Course Description
Problem solving using a computer. The fundamentals of computing, algorithms and
programming. Programming and problem solving using a high-level language such as Python.
Algorithmic topics including repetition and decision structures, functions, and data structures.
Integrating programs with other applications such as spreadsheets.

Prerequisites
(MTH 103 or MTH 103B or MTH 116 or MTH 124 or MTH 132 or MTH 152H or LB 118) or
designated score on Mathematics Placement test

TextBook and Course Materials

Required Text
zyBooks are used as a required text. It is an online, interactive book that requires a
subscription. You must use your MSU email when making your zyBook account. To access
the book, go through D2L.

Other Resources
Videos that are posted to D2L.

Course Structure
This is a flipped classroom model course, meaning that your “lecture” delivered material and
instruction is done outside of class, while what would traditionally be considered “homework” is
done during your scheduled class period, where you have TA help available.

Course Schedule
Refer to the course calendar in D2L for specific dates and times. Activity and assignment
details will be explained in detail within each week’s corresponding learning module in D2L.
Programming topics starting in week four will be in the Python Programming language.

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Dept. of Computer Science and Engineering/College of Engineering
CSE 102
Fall 2019

Week Topic Reading Activities Due

s
1 Intro, D2L, zyBooks, Logic Ch 1-3 Readings, Activities and Lab See
D2L
2 Hardware, Software, Ch 4 Readings, Activities and Lab See
Languages D2L
3 Intro to Spreadsheets Ch 5 Readings, Activities and Lab See
D2L
4 Introduction to Python Ch 6 Readings, Activities and Lab See
D2L
5 Variables and Expressions Ch 7 Readings, Activities and Lab See
D2L
6 Types Ch 8 Readings, Activities, Lab, Project See
1 D2L
Exam 1 – October 2/3
7 Branching Ch 9 Readings, Activities and Lab See
D2L
8 Strings and Loops Ch 10, 11 Readings, Activities, Lab, Project See
2 D2L
9 More Complex Data Types Ch 12 Readings, Activities and Lab See
D2L
10 Lists and Dictionaries Ch 13 Readings, Activities and Lab, See
Project 3 D2L
Exam 2 – October 30/31
11 Functions Ch 14 Readings, Activities and Lab See
D2L
12 Files and Exceptions Ch 15, 16 Readings, Activities, Lab, Project See
4 D2L
13 Data Analysis with Pandas Ch 17 Readings, Activities and Lab See
D2L
14 Integration of Pandas with See D2L Readings, Activities and Lab See
Excel D2L
15 Searching, Sorting, Review Ch 18, 19 Readings, Activities, Lab See
Exam 3 – December 4/5 D2L

Grading Policy
Graded Course Activities
Percentage Description Note
5% Attendance You can drop two attendance grades
5% zyBooks Activities Graded as pass/fail. Each activity that has a score of at
least 75% is a pass at full credit. Otherwise, it’s scored as
no credit.
15% Labs You may drop one lab.
15% Projects 4 projects for the semester
20% Exam 1 Each exam is equally weighted
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Dept. of Computer Science and Engineering/College of Engineering
CSE 102
Fall 2019
20% Exam 2 Each exam is equally weighted
20% Exam 3 Each exam is equally weighted
100% Total

Course Activity Deadlines

Note that all zyBooks Activities and Labs are normally due on the Friday of the week they were
assigned at 9:00 pm. Any exceptions will be posted in D2L.

Late Work Policy

Late work is not allowed, except for projects. A project that is submitted one day late will be
graded with a 50% grade deduction. No credit will be given after one day. No other late work
will be accepted.

NOTE: Since projects are submitted in an electronic system that records the current time, your
project will be considered late (for a 50% penalty) if it is submitted even 1 minute after the
deadline. If 1500 students are all trying to submit 1 minute before the deadline, not all of them
may get in before the deadline expires. Accommodation will NOT be given due to system
slowdown. Therefore, do not gamble 50% of your grade trying to squeeze out an extra point or
two. Consider your personal deadline to be 10-15 minutes before the actual due time, and do
not wait until literally the last minute. You may lose half of your points if you do.

Viewing Grades
Each week, your grades will be updated in the gradebook in D2L. You will receive an
announcement when grades have been updated and a deadline to raise any issues. Make sure
to verify your grades each week.

Letter Grade Assignment

Grade Percentage
4.0 90% of points available
3.5 85% of points available
3.0 80% of points available
2.5 75% of points available
2.0 70% of points available
1.5 60% of points available
1.0 50% of points available

The instructors reserve the right to adjust the scale for course grades, if necessary. Scores may
or may not be curved, depending on the performance of the class. You should not expect a
curve; you can gauge your performance compared to other students by comparing your scores
to the median score.

CSE 102 is a large enrollment course and grades are assigned according to student
performance in the course components outlined in this syllabus. It is not possible to make
grade adjustments (up or down) based on factors outside of the grade components and course
policies. This includes end of semester requests for grade reductions and requests to “round
up” to the next grade level.

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Dept. of Computer Science and Engineering/College of Engineering
CSE 102
Fall 2019

Course Policies
Attendance
Daily credit for attendance will be based on being physically present in class. There is value in
attending class, even if you finish your Lab Exercises before class. You may choose to attend
class to gain additional insights into other students’ solutions, experiment with alternative ways
to solve problems, checkpoint with your TA / ask questions on lecture concepts, work on
projects, or get ahead on future material. Scheduled time with two TAs available is a valuable
resource that you would be smart to take advantage of. Alternatively, you may decide to just
forgo the attendance points for that day.

To accommodate an occasional absence, students may lose attendance in two classes and still
earn 100% for the class attendance component (5%) of their overall grade. There is no
provision to make up lost attendance credit regardless of reason (excused or not).

Any extenuating circumstances that impact on your participation in the course should be
discussed with your instructor as soon as those circumstances are known (such as absences
due to illness, religious observances, or other required school activities).

Makeups
Documented university-sanctioned conflicts or documented health-related issues that prevent a
student from taking the exam at his or her regularly scheduled class time will be reviewed for
accommodation. Students are expected to be proactive and notify their section assistant(s) and
the CSE 102 course instructors of known conflicts at the earliest possible point, in person or via
MSU email. No accommodation will be provided for conflicts or issues without supporting
documentation, or for conflicts that are not university- or health-related. Scheduling of meetings,
career fairs, or job interviews on exam dates will not be accommodated.
For conflicts that are known in advance, students are required to inform their section assistants
of such conflict and deliver acceptable supporting documentation to the CSE 102 office (EB
1107) at least one week before the exam is offered (e.g., by 05:00 PM on Monday for exam the
following Monday) or sooner if the conflict is known before that. If feasible, the student will be
scheduled into a different section (day and/or time) to take his or her exam. No accommodation
will be provided for any conflict known in advance that is not communicated in a timely manner.
If an emergency issue (e.g., illness, accident, etc.) arises that precludes a student from
attending an exam, he/she must notify his/her section assistants and provide supporting
documentation to the CSE 102 office (EB 1107) within 24 hours of when his/her exam was
scheduled, unless it is medically infeasible to do so. Any emergency issue must be supported
by appropriate documentation (e.g., medical documentation from physician) that includes a
third-party statement confirming an inability to attend class and associated dates. A statement
simply indicating that the student had an appointment or was seen by a doctor will not
be sufficient. We reserve the right to confirm any documentation via verification with third
parties.
Absent extenuating circumstances, a student who starts an exam but cannot finish will not be
given full accommodation in the way of a make-up exam. If a student is not feeling well, he or
she should consider seeking medical help before beginning his or her exam.

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CSE 102
Fall 2019
Makeup exams, if not taken during a different class period, will be offered on the following
dates:
● Makeup Exam 1 Saturday, October 5
● Makeup Exam 2 Saturday, November 2
● Makeup Exam 3 Saturday, December 7

There is no cumulative final exam. Non-native English speakers may bring a paper dictionary or
use translate.google.com during an exam.

Assignments
There will be several zyBooks activities assigned, which are embedded into your readings.
These are independent from the zyBooks Labs. Activities are intended to give you the
understanding you will need to complete the Labs. Students will have the week to work on them
and due dates will be entered on D2L Calendar. HOWEVER, as a general rule you should
complete the zyBooks activities PRIOR to coming to your scheduled class period. You should
have roughly half of the activities finished prior to your first class of the week, and the remainder
finished prior to your second class of the week. If you wait until after you have had class (ie,
just before the due date) to complete the zyBooks Activities, you will have trouble keeping up
with understanding the material necessary to complete your Labs and Projects. Do not fall
behind, you may find it very difficult to catch up.

There will be several labs assigned for students to complete, with the majority submitted
through zyBooks. Students will have the week to work on them. All lab assignments will be
given at the beginning of the week and can be worked on in class. If the students need
additional time outside of class, they can continue to work on the labs and submit by the end of
the week. Due dates will be specified within the labs through zyBooks and on the D2L calendar.

Communication
D2L
Information related to the course is available on https://d2l.msu.edu/d2l/home/960865.

Helprooms
There will be several opportunities outside of your regularly scheduled class time to get
additional help on activities or projects, or to ask questions about concepts you do not
understand. The time and places of the helprooms will be announced the first week of class.
Note that helprooms get extremely busy especially around exam times, so if the help room is full
and there are students waiting, you should not use the helproom as a place to work on
homework if you don’t have a specific question. If there are people waiting, you may be asked
to log out once your question is answered and get back in line in order to let someone else have
a turn.

Piazza
Piazza is an online help forum set up for this class. Students can post questions, and
instructors, TAs, and students may answer. There will be scheduled times when TAs will be

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Dept. of Computer Science and Engineering/College of Engineering
CSE 102
Fall 2019
monitoring the questions so that you can get answers quickly. The system is highly catered to
getting you help fast and efficiently from classmates, the TA, and the instructors. Rather than
emailing questions to the teaching staff, you are encouraged to post your questions on Piazza.

Using your MSU email only, follow this link to enroll into Piazza:
https://piazza.com/msu/fall2019/cse102/home

Piazza is a tool for students to post questions on the course materials, including projects. It is a
communication tool to help students with their assignment questions. Piazza can neither be
used as a venting tool to express frustrations toward the class material and topics, nor can it be
used as a tool to change the students’ perception towards the TAs and the instructors of this
class. Those who do not follow this simple etiquette will be blocked from piazza for the rest of
the semester and will be reported to Dean of Students.

Do NOT post portions of your code publically on Piazza to ask questions. If you do so, it can
allow someone to easily copy your code putting yourself at risk for an academic integrity
violation. Instead, send a private message that contains the code.

Enrollment and Drops

CSE 102 follows the university-published calendar for enrollment changes. Students should
consult the registrar’s enrollment site and click on the relevant CSE 102 section number to
access relevant enrollment information. Any grades/scores (i.e., attendance, in class exercises,
quiz, or exams) missed due to enrollment issues other than university error (e.g., accidental
course drop, university hold, late add, etc.) cannot be made up.

In accordance with university policy, we review student course activity and will administratively
drop any student who is registered in the course but is not making an apparent effort to perform
class activities. This includes not attending a significant majority of class sessions and/or not
attempting Activities, Labs, Projects, and Exams.

Accommodations
Students requiring accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) need to
register with MSU's Resource Centers for Disabilities (RCPD) and submit their Verified
Individualized Services and Accommodations (VISA) form to the instructors at the beginning of
the semester. Instructors are available to meet individually to discuss any specific needs
outlined within the VISA form. No accommodation can be given if we are not provided a formal
VISA form, and we cannot offer accommodation without more than 2 business days advance
receipt of the VISA form, nor is retroactive accommodation provided for needs that are not
communicated in a timely manner.

Student-athlete conflicts should be communicated via delivery of a valid SASS form to the
student’s section Assistants at the earliest point in the semester.

Commit to Integrity
Academic Integrity: Article 2.3.3 of the Academic Freedom Report states: The student shares
with the faculty the responsibility for maintaining the integrity of scholarship, grades, and
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CSE 102
Fall 2019
professional standards. In addition, CSE adheres to the policies on academic honesty specified
in General Student Regulation 1.0, Protection of Scholarship and Grades; the all-University
Policy on Integrity of Scholarship and Grades; and Ordinance 17.00, Examinations. (See
Spartan Life: Student Handbook and Resource Guide and/or the MSU Web site.) Unless
explicitly stated otherwise, we expect all solutions to Homework assignments, programming
assignments, and exams will be solely your own work. You are expected to develop original
work for this course; therefore, you may not submit course work you completed for another
course to satisfy the requirements for this course, nor may you submit work you found on the
internet or elsewhere.

Students who violate MSU rules may receive a penalty grade, including but not limited to a
failing grade on the assignment or in the course, and they will be reported to the registrar for
academic dishonesty.

There is no tolerance for academic dishonesty.

The Spartan Code of Honor:

“As a Spartan, I will strive to uphold values of the highest ethical standard. I will practice
honesty in my work, foster honesty in my peers, and take pride in knowing that honor is worth
more than grades. I will carry these values beyond my time as a student at Michigan State
University, continuing the endeavor to build personal integrity in all that I do.”

Examples of academic dishonesty include (but are not limited to):

● Copying another student's code or exam answers
● Sharing files with partial or whole solutions to projects or activities
● Using code implemented by someone else intended to solve this class's assignments
(i.e., don't get someone else - whether a classmate, another person, or some
anonymous person on the internet - to do your assignment for you!).
● Writing code that deceptively passes the test cases, but doesn't solve the problem given.
In other words, abusing automatic grader mechanisms to gain unearned points
● Using websites and sources, whose purpose is to provide assignment solutions.
● Distributing course content without instructor permission.
● Submitting a solution that you don't understand / can't explain to an instructor.
● Providing false information to the instructor about matters related to the course.

Depending on the severity of the incident, repercussions for academic dishonesty

include failing the assignment, final grade reductions, and/or failing the course.
● You can learn more by following this link. (https://ombud.msu.edu/), which has
resources regarding academic integrity among other topics.

This syllabus is subject to change any time during semester. The changes will be announced in the
class and then reflected in this document.

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