COSI 29a: Discrete Math for Computer Scientists: Fall, 2016

Logistics:

Where and When:

Meeting Place: Schwartz Hall 112

Meeting Times: Mon, Wed: 3:30-4:50 PM

Professor:

Mitch Cherniack ()

Office: Volen 259

Office Hours: Mon 5-6, Tues 3-4

TAs:

Nick Moran (), Co-Head TA
Kiki Dimitriadou (), Co-Head TA

Jason Teng ()

Damian Lin ()

BrandonShapiro ()

XingyuLu ()

Michael Roytman ()

Jessica Song ()

Jiaqi Li ()

Each TA will hold 2 hours of office hours per week in the Vertica Lounge. Office hours will be posted on the course latte page in the coming week.

Evaluation:

Problem Sets:

There will be 10 written problem sets handed out roughly once a week. These are due (as hard copy) by the start of class (3:30) on the assigned due date, and each problem in a problem set should be started on a separate page to facilitate grading by the TAs. Problems may be discussed with your classmates but all submitted work must be your own, as per the academic policies of Brandeis detailed in your Student Handbook under Rights and Responsibilities.

Late Policy:

To help you to keep up with the pace of class, with two exceptions, we will be posting the solutions to each assignment at3:30 PM on the day following the day that it is due. Assignments submitted after 3:30PM on the assignment due date are considered late. Late assignments must be submitted prior to the posting of assignment solutions either to Prof. Cherniack or to one of the TAs. If you can’t find any of us, you may also place your assignment in my mailbox in the Computer Science office but you must first get one of the department administrators (Myrna or Katie) to sign the assignment with the date and time of its submission.

All late assignments are subject to a 50% penalty. To illustrate, a late problem set with a perfect score before the penalty is applied will have a score of 50% after the penalty is applied. While this may seem harsh, it is extremely important that you keep up with the course and not fall behind if you are to succeed in this class.

Quizzes and Exam:

To help motivate you to keep up with the pace of class, there will be four40 minute quizzes, each covering a given topic or set of topics covered in class and in preceding problem sets. Each quiz will be held at the start of class and will be followed by a shortened (40 minute) lecture. There will also be a 3 hour final exam during the final exam period.

Grading:

Grades will be apportioned roughly as follows: problem sets (20%), quizzes (40%) and final exam (40%).

Note that each problem set is worth just 2% of your final grade, whereas each quiz is worth 10%. This reflects the fact that problem sets are intended to provide practice and feedback to help you perform well on quizzes and exams and are not meant to be a means of evaluation.

Course Communication:

All course communication will take place via the course latte page, which you should be able to reach from once you register for the course.

The latte page will provide:

all documents for the class (including this syllabus as well as problem sets and solutions)

class announcements (e.g., cancellations)

a forum for posting questions on the lectures, assignments. Note: the use of latte for posting questions is a way to both be fair to students in the class, as well as a way to save the time of your instructor and TA’s. It allows all questions and answers to be seen by all in the class, and helps to ensure that the same question does not get posed multiple times. Any questions on the course content or assignments that is not posed on latte will be ignored.

Textbook:

The textbook for the course is Discrete Mathematics and its Applications, 7th edition, by Kenneth H. Rosen and published by McGraw-Hill. Copies are available in the bookstore. Students can use earlier editions of the text instead of the 7th, but are then responsible for determining the equivalent readings/problems to those referenced in the 7th edition for this class.

Schedule:

As much as possible we will keep to the schedule shown on the latte page for the course.Because some topics may require more time than is allotted, the lecture schedule may get modified as we get further into the course. Thus, keep track of this calendar on a regular basis.

The reading assignments cover the material that is discussed that lecture. If you want to read ahead, you should read this material before coming to class.

Important Dates:

PS 1 / Out: 8/31 / Due: 9/12
PS 2 / Out: 9/12 / Due: 9/19
Quiz #1 / 9/21
PS 3 / Out: 9/21 / Due: 9/28
PS 4 / Out: 9/28 / Due: 10/5
Quiz #2 / 10/10
PS 5 / Out: 10/10 / Due: 10/19
PS 6 / Out: 10/19 / Due: 10/26
Quiz #3 / 10/31
PS 7 / Out: 10/31 / Due: 11/7
PS 8 / Out: 11/7 / Due: 11/14
PS 9 / Out: 11/14 / Due: 11/21
Quiz #4 / 11/30
PS 10 / Out: 11/30 / Due: 12/7
Final Exam / TBD

Class Rules:

You will be expected to follow the rules below in my class:

1.No laptops:
Laptops will not be useful for taking notes in this class given the preponderance of math notation (e.g., logic symbols, graphs etc.) Plus, they tend to be a distraction to me and to other students.

2.No phones:
See comment about laptops. Please leave these off and in your bag.

3.Bring paper and pencils:

There will be a lot of class exercises. Pencils are preferred over pens because all of us make mistakes and will need to correct our notes once in a while.

4.Come to class on time:

If I can do it, so can you. Leave home a little early if need be…

5.If you miss class, don’t ask me “what you missed”:

This is what latte (and your friends in class) are for…
Better yet – don’t miss class (and especially, don’t miss quizzes!)

Students with Disabilities:

If you are a student with a documented disability on record at BrandeisUniversity and wish to have a reasonable accommodation made for you in this class, please see me immediately after the first class.