Welcome to

CIS 115

Instructor: Russell Feldhausen

• Office: 212 Nichols Hall
• Email: russfeld AT ksu DOT edu
• Office Phone: (785) 532-7929
• Mobile Phone: (785) 292-3121 (Google Voice)
• Office Hours: MWF 2:30 - 3:30 pm

Instructor: Dr. William Hsu

• Office: 324C Nichols Hall
• Email: bhsu AT ksu DOT edu
• Office Phone: (785) 532-7905
• Mobile Phone: (785) 236-8247 (Google Voice)
• Office Hours: MTF 10:30 - 11:30 am, W 12:30 - 1:30 pm

Small Army of Teaching Assistants:

• Geordy Williams - geordyp AT ksu DOT edu
• Connor Elliott - connorelliott11 AT ksu DOT edu
• Johnathan Bostrom - johnbos AT ksu DOT edu
• Devin Kelly-Collins - devinkc AT ksu DOT edu
• Hunter Goddard - hbgoddard AT ksu DOT edu
• Naveena Bellam - naveena AT ksu DOT edu
• Christopher Piggott - cpiggott AT ksu DOT edu
• James Tyson - jbtyson AT ksu DOT edu
• Jake Ehrlich - jehrlich AT ksu DOT edu

Icebreaker Activity

1. Get into groups of 3 - 5
2. Find at least 5 non-obvious things you all have in common
3. Come up with 2-3 questions to ask the instructor about himself (AMAA)
4. Write it all down on a sheet of paper
5. Nominate a speaker for the group

Syllabus: Read these topics later

• Course Objectives
• Major Course Topics
• Academic Honesty
• Students with Disabilities
• Expectations for Classroom Conduct
• Campus Safety

Course Structure

• 30-45 minutes lecture material
• 30-45 minutes activity/lab time
  
  
• 14 weekly blogs (drop 2)
• 8 programming projects (drop 1)
• 3 team projects
• 0 exams
• 0 quizzes

Grading

• 30% Team Projects
  • 10% Video Project
  • 10% Topic Research Presentation
  • 10% Textbook Section
• 70% Individual Work
  • 18% Programming Projects
    (2% each, 4% final)
  • 28% Class Participation (1% each)
  • 24% Online Blog (2% each)

All group work will include a peer evaluation component which can adjust that portion of the individual’s grade up to 50%. If a student should fail to contribute to a group assignment at all, their grade for that assignment will be reduced to a zero. Failure to complete the peer evaluation will result in a 10% grade deduction for that assignment.

Letter Grades:

• 90% - 100% - A
• 80% - 89.99% - B
• 70% - 79.99% - C
• 60% - 69.99% - D
• 00% - 59.99% - F

My philosophy: do your work completely, turn it in on time, and you should have no issues getting a 'B'.

Grades vs. Missed Assignments

Late work: 10% of the possible points will be deducted for each day it is late.
Make arrangements with the instructor if extenuating circumstances arise.

(He really is a nice guy and will help you out if needed!)

Attendance: 28% of your grade is based on attendance and participation (1% each lecture). You have
2 unexcused absences.
In most cases, excused absences will only be given for:
University Activities (w/ prior notice)
Major Life Events (w/ notice from Office of Student Life).

Course Textbooks:

• The Pattern on the Stone by W. Daniel Hillis
• Tubes by Andrew Blum
• Blown to Bits by Hal Abelson, Ken Ledeen and Harry Lewis

Subject to Change
CIS 115 is a very flexible class
Things may change quickly

Image Credit: Vantaj on DeviantArt