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Syllabus |
Summer 2024
Instructor:
- 101 - Dr. David Babcock, dbabcock@ycp.edu
Office Hours:
- Dr. Babcock - KEC 117A: MW 2:30-3:30PM, or by appointment
This course introduces students to fundamental concepts in discrete mathematics and their application to solve problems in computer engineering and computer science. Topics include sequential and quantified logic, proof techniques using sets, relations, and functions. Additionally, students will be introduced to the mathematics of recursion and algorithm efficiency, as well as graph, tree, and automata structures.
CS201 with a 2.0 or higher
Velleman, Daniel J. How To Prove It: A Structured Approach, 3rd Edition. Cambridge University Press, 2019.
It is important that you come to class prepared for the topic for that day. You should read through the book and lecture notes to have some familiarity with the concepts that will be covered. There will also be reading quizzes based on the material from the previous class as well as basic understanding of the new topics for the day. Coming to class prepared will allow you to better understand the discussion in class and ask questions to help clear up any misunderstandings you may have. There will be a series of homework assignments that will allow you to practice the skills presented in lecture.
There will be periodic in-class reading quizzes, homework assignments, four midterm exams and one final exam.
This course supports the following student outcomes (a) through (k) established for the Electrical and Computer Engineering program:
- (1) An ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering
By the end of this course, you will be able to (letters in parentheses indicate student outcomes a-k):
- Represent and reduce logical statements as Boolean expressions (a)
- Use basic set theory operations to determine composition and equivalency of sets (a)
- Identify and describe the cardinality of various sets (a)
- Describe various proofing techniques including direct, contradiction, and induction
- Identify and use proof techniques for problems involving conditionals, biconditionals, existential, uniqueness,and universal problem statements
Your overall grade for the course will be determined as follows:
- Homework assignments: 25%
- Exams: 75% (25% each)
Grades are assigned on a 100-point scale:
Numeric Range Letter Grade 90-100 A (4.0) 85-90 B+ (3.5) 80-85 B (3.0) 75-80 C+ (2.5) 70-75 C (2.0) 60-70 D (1.0) 0-60 F (0.0)
Please check the course web page, regularly for important announcements.
No make-up exams or quizzes will be given without approval of the instructor prior to class unless proof of extreme emergency or illness is provided. There will be 3 midterm exams and a final. Students that choose to take the final may replace their lowest mid-term exam score with their score on the final exam.
You must receive a score of 70+ on AT LEAST ONE exam to earn a passing grade for the course.
Reading assignments are posted on the schedule. I expect you to do the reading before class. Class time will be for asking questions about parts of the reading you did not understand to your satisfaction.
Homework problems and solutons will be posted on the website. Students must self-assess their assignments before submitting to Canvas. No credit will be given for assignments that are not self-assessed or more than three (3) days late.
Students are expected to attend all scheduled classes and read the appropriate text material prior to class. If you must miss a class, it is your responsibility to notify the professor prior to class. Students are responsible for all material covered in class.
You may work ahead and submit any assignments early, but you must not fall behind. Class time is intended to be used for answering questions about the reading, labs, and assignments. You are responsible for keeping up with the reading assignments as described in the schedule.
I expect you to conduct yourself as a professional in this course. Professionalism includes:
- Respect for and courteous interaction with peers, faculty and facilities;
- Integrity, which includes at its core honesty, responsibility and accountability for one’s own actions;
- Sensitivity and appreciation for diverse cultures, backgrounds, and life experiences;
- Constructive evaluation, which means that criticism is offered and accepted in a productive manner;
- Self-reflection and identification of one’s own strengths and weaknesses;
- Responsibility for one’s own education and learning;
- An attitude that fosters professional behavior in colleagues and peers;
- Punctuality at meetings and class sessions;
- Attentive behavior during class sessions, avoiding personal or social use of cell phones, laptops, or other electronic devices;
- Acknowledgement of the Kinsley Engineering Center as a professional workplace, and treatment of this facility as a business or office space, not as an informal space.
I reserve the right to enforce this code through the York College Code of Student Conduct.
York College of Pennsylvania, as an institution of higher education, serves to promote and sustain the creation, acquisition, and dissemination of knowledge. In order to fulfill this purpose, an environment of integrity, dependability and honesty must be maintained by all members of the York College community. Without a foundation based on intellectual honesty and integrity, the very ability to uphold the academic endeavors that York College strives to pursue is inhibited. The Spartan Oath embodies the expectation that all members of the York College community foster an environment of integrity and responsibility. Recognize that adhering to an ethical standard of honesty leads to professional, mature and responsible citizens, and enables society at large to trust our scholarship, research, and conferred degrees. Thus, each member of the York College community must be truthful, honest, personally and professionally responsible, and respect the intellectual contributions of others.
The following policy pertains to all graded work in this course:
All graded (individual) assignments are to be completed individually. I encourage you to discuss high level concepts with other students, but any work you submit must be yours alone.
Direct copying of solutions or work from other students, web sites, or other sources is absolutely forbidden under any circumstances.
Any sources (books, websites, articles, fellow students, etc.), except for the course textbook and lecture notes, that you consult in completing an assignment must be properly acknowledged. In general, I strongly discourage you from using any resource not explicitly listed in the course syllabus or on the course web page but rather asking the instructor for assistance.
Exams must be completed individually using only the resources from the course.
You may work with other students on labs. However, we do expect you to complete and submit them, and they count towards your participation grade: see "Lab Policy" below.
Engaging in academic dishonesty is a violation of the school’s academic integrity policy and is not tolerated at York College. Examples of academic dishonesty include, but are not limited to, cheating on assignments or examinations, plagiarism (i.e. passing someone else’s words or ideas off as one’s own without proper attribution), improper paraphrasing, fabricating research, falsifying academic documents, handing in material completed for another course, and submitting work not done independently (unless part of an explicitly collaborative project).
- When a faculty member believes a student has violated the Academic Integrity Policy, the faculty member is encouraged to discuss the incident in person with the student promptly, identifying the sanction he or she is going to apply. The faculty member should then reiterate the charge and sanction in writing to the student.
- The faculty member has full discretion to determine a suitable sanction, such as a “0” on the assignment in question, up to a course grade of “0”. In the case of an egregious first offense, the faculty member may request that the Student Welfare Committee conduct a hearing and determine a sanction, which may involve academic probation, suspension, or dismissal from the College.
- The faculty member has ten days from the written notification to the student to report the incident to the Department Chair and Associate Provost of Academic Services. The faculty member must submit as part of the report: 1) a detailed description of the incident, 2) a course syllabus, 3) an assignment sheet or assignment instructions, 4) the assignment in question, and 5) supporting documentation, such as copied material. The documentation will be kept on file in the student’s permanent record.
- Students cannot withdraw from a course in which they have been accused of academic dishonesty, until the accusation is withdrawn by the faculty member, or is overturned by the Student Welfare Committee or the Associate Provost of Academic Services. Academic Integrity Procedure – Appeals
- Students who believe they have been unjustly charged or sanctioned have ten days after receiving written notification from their instructor regarding the incident to file an appeal with the Student Welfare Committee by submitting a formal letter to the Associate Provost of Academic Services.
- If an appeal is filed, the Student Welfare Committee will schedule a hearing which includes inviting the student and faculty member to attend to provide additional information or clarity regarding the incident. The Student Welfare Committee will then review the charge and/or sanction.
- If the Associate Provost of Academic Services determines that the incident of academic dishonesty is the student’s second or subsequent offense, he or she will provide written documentation to the student, faculty member, and Department Chair. The Student Welfare Committee will automatically conduct a hearing to review the charge and decide on an appropriate sanction: academic probation, suspension or dismissal from the College.
- Academic Services will receive written notification of the Student Welfare Committee’s decision. Students who are unsatisfied with the decision may submit a second and final written appeal to the Associate Provost of Academic Services within 72 hours of receiving notification of the Student Welfare Committee’s decision. All decisions made by the Associate Provost of Academic Services will be final.
While York College recognizes students’ need for educational and emergency-related technological devices such as laptops, PDA’s, cellular phones, etc., using them unethically or recreationally during class time is never appropriate. The college recognizes and supports faculty members’ authority to regulate in their classrooms student use of all electronic devices.
York College recognizes the importance of effective communication in all disciplines and careers. Therefore, students are expected to competently analyze, synthesize, organize, and articulate course material in papers, examinations and presentations. In addition, students should know and use communication skills current to their field of study, recognize the need for revision as part of their writing process, and employ standard conventions of English usage in both writing and speaking. Students may be asked to further revise assignments that do not demonstrate effective use of these communication skills.
In accordance with the provisions of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, York College and its faculty are obliged to make reasonable classroom and physical accommodations for students with disabilities. If you are a student with a disability in need of classroom accommodations and have not already registered with Student Accessibility Services, please see the SAS webpage for more information and to complete the online form to apply for accommodations. You may also contact sas@ycp.edu to establish the accommodations for which you are eligible.
This syllabus is subject to change by the instructor.