Syllabus

Note

This is a tentative syllabus and subject to change.

Class webpage: https://classes.cs.uchicago.edu/archive/2022/fall/30121-1/index.html

This course is the first in a two-quarter sequence that teaches computational thinking and skills. 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.

CAPP 30121 is open to students in the MS in Computational Analysis and Public Policy Program and, if there is space available, to PhD students.

Course Staff

Instructor

• Hannah Morgan

Teaching Assistants

• Kaveri Chhikara

• Norah Griffin

• Yifu Hou

• Ian Jeong

• Matt Kaufmann

Graders

• Katy Barone

• Ali Klemencic

• Diego Martinez Cruz

• Cole Von Glahn

Lecture sections

Each section will meet with the instructor for lectures three days a week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) and with a teaching assistant for a discussion session once a week (Monday).

Section	Time	Location	Instructor
Section #1	MWF 9:30am-10:20am CT	RY 276	Hannah Morgan
Section #2	MWF 11:30am-12:20pm CT	RY 276	Hannah Morgan

Discussion sessions

During discussion sessions, students will meet with a teaching assistant to review the week’s programming assignment, to work through exercises, and to have a chance to ask questions. Discussion sessions start Monday of week 3.

Section	Time	Location	Leader
Discussion Session 1L01	M 3:30pm-4:20pm CT	JCL 298	Norah Griffin
Discussion Session 2L01	M 3:30pm-4:20pm CT	JCL 011	Ian Jeong
Discussion Session 1L02	M 4:30pm-5:20pm CT	JCL 298	Kaveri Chhikara
Discussion Session 2L02	M 4:30pm-5:20pm CT	JCL 011	Ian Jeong

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.

The book is available in both HTML and PDF format. Note that you will be asked for your CNetID and password to gain access to these files.

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 celebrate 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.

Disability statement

The University of Chicago is committed to ensuring equitable access to our academic programs and services.

MS-CAPP students who need to request formal accommodations due to a disability should follow the Harris Accommodations Process. PhD students should contact their program administrator for information about how to request formal 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 procedures for requesting accommodations.