The final grades have been submitted to VIP. As I understand it, you
should be able to check your grades there shortly. As I said, I took
the grade from the final test in place of your lowest test grade, if
the final was a better. The distribution for the laboratory grades is
The distribution for the final test is the following:
The distribution for the final grade, taking into account all grades
from the semsester, is (note that this only shows those that took the
final and test 3, that is, those who did not give up)
The curve I used on the grades above was:
Here is the final test with solutions. The test should be graded by Monday and your final grade will appear in VIP shortly after. If you want your grade for the final test you can either email me or drop by by office to get your graded test back. Have a good break!
Your graded test 3 will be handed out Friday during lab. Below is the
grade distribution for this test
Here is
the practice final test. You will notice
that it includes problems from topcoder. If you had fun solving
them (you know you did) then you should consider joining our ACM student
chapter as we will be participating in some local
competitions.
On an unrelated note, there is an interesting article on Spectrum
magazine about the people at Insomniac
games and their efforts to write games for the new Sony
playstation 3. It goes a bit into the challenges of writing software
for the PS3's new cell processor.
The final grade for the class will be calculated using the formula I gave you. However, that is
just the point amount. The actual letter grade (A, B, C...) will be
determined by me once those numbers are in. The standard curve (A:90,
B:80, and so on) establishes a lower bound for
the grade you will receive. However, it is quite possible that the
final curve will have to be moved down, thus increasing your final
grade. I can't know what the final curve will be until all test
results are in.
Also, as I've already told a couple of you, since the final is
comprehensive, if you do especially well there then it might count for
more than the alloted 15%.
Here are the solutions to test 3. The graded tests will be handed back on Friday during your labs.
As I mentioned in class, there will be no new homeworks but the labs
will meet this Friday and next to answer your questions. Still, most
of you need to do more programming. Answer all the questions in
the practice test. Do all the problems at the end of the chapter. The
only way to learn programming is by doing it, often! The farther
behind you are the more hours you need to devote to sitting in front
of the computer and practicing.
As always, the TAs and I are here to help if you have questions. Just
send us an email to set up a time.
Here is the practice test 3. Clearly, it is a lot longer than the real test will be but you need to be able to answer these type of questions. You can click on "Show solution" to see my answers.
The graded test 2 is being handed out in the labs today. Here are our version of the solutions for test 2, of course, there are many ways to write a program. The average was 47 wih a median of 41 and a standard distribution of 28. Below is the grade distribution:
Check out these six youtube videos from the University of Washington of computer science students talking about careers in CS.
Here are the answers to the practice test. You should try to do it yourself before looking at the answers. Also, sorry but the last problem is harder than I anticipated. I did not realize the problem that arises if you have public static final String acroStates =
"ALAlabamaMNMinnesotaMOMissouriNMNewMexicoTXTexas";
and lookup "NM". Michael pointed it out and the answer we give (which he wrote) implement the correct solution.
Here is the practice test 2 in case you did not make it to class. Remember that you need to have all of it done before you show up for lab.
The ACM student chapter will be having its organizational meeting this Wednesday (Nov 1) at 7:30pm in Amoco Hall. Hope to see you there!
There were some typos on the TAs email addresses. They are now fixed.
I mentioned this on the first day of class and, in case you did not believe me, here is a short summary article. What does it take to be great (at anything)? Practice!
If you want to have more fun with all the programming you are learning, I suggest you download and install Alice 2.0. It is a 3D programming enviroment designed to help students, from middle schoolers to college students, learn to program. The built-in graphics are neat. Have fun!
CHARLESTON, S.C., - Thursday, October 19, 2006- Benefitfocus, the leader in software and services for the healthcare benefits market, will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony today for its new international corporate headquarters located in Charleston, SC on Daniel Island. Joining the Benefitfocus staff will be South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford and M. Edward Sellers, President and CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of South Carolina. The new state-of-the-art 140,000 square foot facility is the result of a 25 million dollar capital investment. The ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held at 100 Benefitfocus Way on Daniel Island at 1:30 pm. Charleston business and media professionals are invited to attend.
The new Benefitfocus headquarters will be home to the 300 current Benefitfocus Associates. In addition, 300 new high technology positions are expected to be filled within the next 36 months. Job opportunities range in scope from software development and engineering positions to customer relationship and project management opportunities.
For next Friday (27 October), in addition to the homework you got during last lab, you will also do problems: 6.8, 6.9, and 6.10 from the textbook. Remember that the only way to learn to program is by programming, a lot!
Jeremiah Shepherd is the SI leader for CSCE 145. All his sessions are held in the Williams-Brice Nursing building at the times listed below. Students can also find these times and more information about SI on our web site www.sa.sc.edu/supplementalinstruction/
Jeremiah Sheperd - shepejj@mailbox.sc.edu S 9-10pm Nursing 131 M 8-9pm Nursing 124 W 7-8pm Nursing 125Data has shown that students who attend SI sessions earn approximately half a letter grade higher than students not attending SI sessions
Matt put together a set of answers for the other test 1 questions. Also, as I mentioned in class, you will get your grades back today during lab. The average grade for Test 1 was 75 and the median 79 with a standard distribution of 16.7. Below is the grade distribution:
In case you want to re-live the excitment, here is the test 1. And, in case you are curious, below is my answer to question 7 (note that you don't need a main or a constructor in your answer).
import becker.robots.*; public class TriangleRobot extends RobotSE{ public TriangleRobot(City aCity) { super(aCity, 0,0,Direction.SOUTH,100); } public static void main(String[] args) { City cola = new City(); TriangleRobot me = new TriangleRobot(cola); me.drawTriangle(5); } public void drawTriangle(int num){ int col = 1; while (col <= num){ this.drawCol(col); this.turnRight(); this.move(); this.turnRight(); col = col + 1; } } private void drawCol(int height){ int h = height; while (h > 0){ this.putThing(); this.move(); h = h - 1; } this.turnAround(); this.move(height); } }
This is a fun way to spend and afternoon. Try to solve one of the problems in the ACM Contest Problem Set. If you think this is fun, contact me, we'll set up a team for next year's competion.
In case you can't make it to class today, here is the practice test 1. I you don't know the answers to these questions then you need to study. Check with me during class today, or with Matthew or Michael, to make sure your answers are correct. And, by the way, I am still looking for people to join the ACM chapter. This is your chance to something that is both fun and will look great on your resume!
I am the faculty coordinator for our ACM student chapter which, unfortunately, has beed dead for a couple of years. I am hoping some of you will be interested in re-starting the chapter. You can read more information about ACM student membership, which is available to all, even if you don't join the student chapter, and about ACM Student Chapters (click there for details on how to start the chapter and what benefits you get from doing so). Please let me know if you are interested in either joining such a chapter or serving one of the offices (namely, president, vicepresident, secretary, and treasurer).
If you are interested in an intership, co-op, full time job, or just want to see what kind of jobs are available you need to visit our Career Fair Blitz, on Wednesday September 20 from 11am-3pm in the Coliseum. I also have a list of some of the companies that will be there looking for engineers.
We have now posted (on the left) a new handout on how to create a new project and import the code from the CD that comes with your textbook. If you follow the steps you should be able to get the programs from the CD running.
There will be no laboratory sections on Friday Aug. 25. Our first meeting will be on Monday. Still, if you want to get started you should read the handouts I have posted on this website and see if you can install Eclipse in your home computer and load the examples from the CD that comes with your textbook.
We will be using a new textbook this semester called Java: Learning to Program with Robots. It uses a simulated robot (well, its really more like a circle that moves around in a checkerboard) to help make the ideas behind object-oriented programming more concrete. We shall see!