Readers

Textbook

Copies of the textbook will be on reserve at the Ayala Science Library. They may be checked out for two hours.

The textbook is required, and the required editon is the third. Students in the past have tried "no book" or "borrow friend's book" or "second edition" or "international edition" and as far as I know all have lived to tell the tale. But the official, supported, and indeed required book is as specified.

Grading

• Three homeworks, 45% total.
• Final exam, 25%.
• Two midterms and possibly one or more quizzes, 25% total.
• Participation in discussions, 5%.

The overall average, on a 0-100 scale, is converted to a letter grade as follows: A or A- for 90 or up; B+, B, or B- for 80 to 89; C+, C, or C- for 70 to 79, and so on. These ranges may be modified slightly.

Policies and Guidelines

Cheating. The UCI academic honesty policy applies. Consequences of cheating in this class: A letter in your UCI file and your course grade will be F. Material that is copied from books or web pages must be indicated with quotation marks and the source must be given.

Respect. Respect your classmates and do not interfere with their ability to focus on the class. Therefore, in class do not talk with classmates, do not eat, and do not use your computer for any purpose other than taking notes.

Late work. Late homework is accepted (with a late penalty), although in no case after June 9. If your homework is less than three days late, upload it to the appropriate EEE Dropbox. If it is three or more days late, or if the Dropbox is closed, email your TA for instructions. If you have a medical excuse, email your TA, in advance if possible. The usual late penalty is 1 point (out of 100) for each hour late, rounding back to the previous hour (e.g. if the deadline is midnight and the homework is turned in at 2:45am, then the penalty is 2 points).

Disabilities. If you need an accommodation because of a disability, please contact the instructor and the Disability Services Center as soon as possible.

Communication. Check your uci.edu email account daily, and pay attention to anything that has to do with Informatics 43. If you email any of the course staff, make sure "Inf 43" is in your email subject and your full name is in your email body. Sign up for Piazza and utilize it frequently.

Reading. Read the assigned sections of the textbook carefully, and take notes on the readings. Test questions will be based on both reading and lecture material. Relying on the chestnut "No need to read the textbook, the professor only tests about what he lectures on" will lead to unpleasant results in this class. Read the non-textbook readings carefully. These are selected because they are interesting, important, and easy to draw test questions from. They may be challenging to read, so sufficient time should be allotted.

Succeeding. Informatics 43 is non-technical (almost no programming or math) and deals with concepts that are somewhat fuzzier and less definite than you have encountered in many courses. This leads some students to underestimate the difficulty of the course. If you are concerned about your grade, work hard throughout the quarter. Be aware that many students will have an overall average that is very close to the cut-off for the next higher grade. All tests will be cumulative — they may include questions from all material covered so far.