Welcome to

CIS 115

Instructor: Russell Feldhausen

• Office: 2214 Engineering Hall
• Email: russfeld AT ksu DOT edu
• Office Phone: (785) 532-7929
• Mobile Phone: (785) 292-3121 (Google Voice)
• Office Hours: MWF 9:30 - 10:30 am

Small Army of Teaching Assistants:

• Logan Brecheisen - lbrech7 AT ksu DOT edu
• Casey Poole - caseypoole AT ksu DOT edu
• Joy Hauser - jhauser AT ksu DOT edu
• Robert "Casey" Lafferty - rclafferty AT ksu DOT edu
• Lots of former TAs around the department

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 down, nominate a speaker

Syllabus: Read these topics later

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

Quick Overview

• History of Computing Science
• Background Computing Knowledge
• Computing Science Theory
• Research Areas & Related Disciplines


• NOT a programming class
• BUT programming is an important learning tool

Course Structure

• 30-45 minutes lecture material
• 30-45 minutes activity/lab time
• 30 lectures (2 unexcused absences)
• 8 blog articles (drop 1)
• 8 programming projects (drop 1)
• 2 team projects
• 0 exams
• 0 quizzes

Grading

• 30% Team Projects
  • 15% Topic Research Presentation
  • 15% Wiki Article
• 70% Individual Work
  • 28% Class Participation (1% each)
  • 21% Programming Projects
    (3% each)
  • 21% Blog Articles (3% 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
• Nine Algorithms That Changed the Future by John MacCormick
• Tubes by Andrew Blum
• Various online readings as assigned
• Recurse Center Manual

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

Image Credit: Vantaj on DeviantArt