Syllabus¶

Note

This is a tentative syllabus and subject to change.

Class webpage: http://bit.ly/cmsc12100-aut-21

This course is the first in a three-quarter sequence that teaches computational thinking and skills to students in the sciences, mathematics, economics, etc. The course will cover abstraction and decomposition, simple modeling, basic algorithms, and programming in Python. Applications from a wide variety of fields serve both as examples in lectures and as the basis for programming assignments. In recent offerings, students have written programs to simulate a model of housing segregation, determine the number of machines needed at a polling place, and analyze tweets from presidential debates.

Placement into MATH 15100 or completion of MATH 13100, or instructor’s consent, is a prerequisite for taking this course.

CMSC 12100 is not open to first year students.

Course Staff¶

Instructors

Tim Black
Hannah Morgan
Borja Sotomayor

Lecture sections¶

Lecture Section #1	MWF 9:30am-10:20am	Morgan
Lecture Section #3	MWF 11:30am-12:20pm	Sotomayor
Lecture Section #4	MWF 1:30pm-2:20pm	Black
Lecture Section #5	MWF 2:30pm-3:20pm	Black

Note: The Registrar’s site lists a Section 2 that is labelled as “Consent Required”, but that section actually corresponds to a cancelled section.

Discussion sections¶

All discussion sections meet on Mondays, starting on 3rd week (there will be no discussion sections during the 1st and 2nd weeks of the quarter)

Sections	Time	Location	TA
1D01, 3D01, 4D01, 5D01	4:30pm-5:20pm	Cobb 102	Nicole Souydalay
1D02, 3D02, 4D02, 5D02	4:30pm-5:20pm	Cobb 103	Rhedintza Audryna
1D03, 3D03, 4D03, 5D03	5:30pm-6:20pm	Cobb 103	Rhedintza Audryna
1D04, 3D04, 4D04, 5D04	5:30pm-6:20pm	Cobb 102	Xiaomeng Wang
1D05, 3D05, 4D05, 5D05	6:30pm-7:20pm	Cobb 102	Xiaomeng Wang
1D06, 3D06, 4D06, 5D06	6:30pm-7:20pm	Cobb 103	Nicole Souydalay
1D07, 3D07, 4D07, 5D07	7:30pm-8:20pm	Cobb 102	Peter Laurin
1D09, 3D09, 4D09, 5D09	8:30pm-9:20pm	Cobb 103	Peter Laurin

Course Structure¶

Please see the Course Structure page.

Grading¶

Please see the Grading page.

Books¶

We will be using a draft of a book that Anne Rogers and Borja Sotomayor are writing for this course. This book will be available electronically for free at the start of the quarter.

Policies¶

Policy on academic honesty¶

We take academic honesty very seriously in this class. Please make sure to read our Academic Honesty page.

Diversity statement¶

The University of Chicago is committed to diversity and rigorous inquiry that arises from multiple perspectives. We concur with that commitment and also believe that we have the highest quality interactions and can creatively solve more problems when we recognize and share our diversity. We thus expect to maintain a productive learning environment based upon open communication, mutual respect, and non-discrimination. We view the diversity that students bring to this class as a resource, strength and benefit. It is our intent to present materials and activities that are respectful of diversity: gender, sexuality, disability, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, race, religious background, and immigration status. Any suggestions as to how to further such a positive and open environment in the class will be appreciated and given serious consideration.

If you have a preferred name different from what appears on the class roster, or preferred gender pronouns you would like us to use, please let us know.

Accessibility statement¶

The University of Chicago is committed to ensuring equitable access to our academic programs and services. Students with disabilities who have been approved for the use of academic accommodations by Student Disability Services (SDS) and need a reasonable accommodation(s) to participate fully in this course should follow the procedures established by SDS for using accommodations. Timely notifications are required in order to ensure that your accommodations can be implemented. Please meet with me to discuss your access needs in this class after you have completed the SDS procedures for requesting accommodations.

Phone: (773) 702-6000 Email: disabilities@uchicago.edu