| Instructor | T. Omar Soro | torna.soro001 "at" umb "dot" edu | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Office | TBA | Office Hours | Monday & Wednesday 5:30 - 6:30 PM and by appointment |
| Schedule | Monday & Wednesday 7:00 - 8:15 PM |
Classroom | S-3-143 |
| Phone | XXX-XXX-XXXX | Web | http://www.cs.umb.edu/~tsoro/teaching/it244_html/class_page_it244 |
Math 115
This course will introduce you to the Linux/Unix operating system and the Bash shell.
All work in this course will be done at the command line on a Linux machine on the Computer Science Department network.
The command line is harder to use than the graphical user interfaces you are used to.
But the command line is more powerful and gives you full access to all the features of the operating system.
The text for this course is
A Practical Guide to Linux Commands, Editors, and Shell Programming
by Mark G. Sobell, Prentice Hall
ISBN-10: 013308504X | ISBN-13: 978-0133085044
Mark Sobell is a well known author of Unix/Linux books.
I have read several such books over the years and this is the best I have encountered.
You can buy this book from Amazon.
This is a combined lecture and lab course.
I will speak for a while at the beginning of the class.
After my prepared material, there will be an ungraded quiz.
The purpose of the ungraded quiz will help me check your knowledge of the new material we have covered.
After you have completed the quiz I will hand out a Class Exercise.
You will work on the exercise for the remainder of the class.
There will also be weekly graded quizzes.
In each class you will receive a Class Exercise, which consists of code that you must copy and run on our Unix systems.
You must work on each exercise in class so I can help you if you run into trouble.
If you cannot complete the exercise in class, you may finish it later.
Class Exercises for the week must be submitted by Sunday at 11:59 PM.
Each Class Exercise will be graded on completion.
If the code does everything it should do and does not show any errors, you will receive the full 100 points for that exercise.
There will be two types of quizzes
The Class Quizzes are administered during each class and are not graded.
The purpose of the Class Quizzes is to help you learn the material.
Studies have shown that taking a quiz immediately after hearing new material helps you learn.
The Weekly Quizzes are graded.
Their purpose is to encourage you to study the material as we go along, and not postpone this until just before the exams.
All questions on the Weekly Quizzes come from the ungraded Class Quizzes.
They will usually cover the material from the previous week.
The weekly graded quizzes will be given in the first class of the week, starting on the third week of class.
If you miss this class your only other opportunity to take the quiz, will be the following class.
There will usually be a weekly reading assignment from the textbook.
There will be weekly homework assignments.
There will be two exams
I will take attendance in each class.
I do this to learn your names.
Your attendance will not directly affect your grade.
But I am more likely to give you the benefit of the doubt when grading if you have been regularly attending class.
All homework and exams are subject to the University's Code of Conduct.
Plagiarism is not tolerated in any form.
Grades will be computed as follows
| Homework | 15% |
| Class Exercises | 15% |
| Weekly Quizzes | 20% |
| Mid-term Exam | 20% |
| Final Exam | 30% |
Final grades will be assigned based on the following standard scale
| A | > 100 - 93 (the Registrar does not accept an A+ grade) |
| A - | 92 - 90 |
| B + | 89 - 86 |
| B | 85 - 83 |
| B - | 82 - 80 |
| C + | 79 - 76 |
| C | 75 - 73 |
| C - | 72 - 70 |
| D + | 69 - 66 |
| D | 65 - 63 |
| D - | 62 - 60 |
| F | < 60 |
Scoring assignments takes a great deal of time.
In order to do this as efficiently as possible, I score each assignment once and only once.
All assignments are due on Sunday at 11:59 PM, but I do not score them until the following weekend.
You will lose 2 points for each day an assignment is late, and will get a 0 for the assignment if is not in the proper directory when I run the collection script for the last time on Saturday.
If you have a personal emergency, contact me I will give you an appropriate extension.
You will receive a grading sheet for all quizzes, tests, and graded quizzes.
You will also receive emails when a due date has passed for an assignment.
If a class needs to be cancelled due to a storm I will send an email to all students.
These will be sent to your UMB email address.
For this reason, it is important that you forward your UMB email to an account you check regularly.
Section 504 of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 offers guidelines for curriculum modifications and adaptations for students with documented disabilities.
Students may obtain adaptation recommendations from the Ross Center for Disability Services.
Their web site is https://www.umb.edu/academics/vpass/disability.
A student must present these recommendations and discuss them with me within a reasonable period, preferably by the end of Add/Drop period.
I put a lot of work into my classes.
If I see you looking furtively at your cell phone while I'm talking, I wonder why I am doing this.
If I hear you having an extensive conversation with your neighbor, it makes me feel that I am wasting my time here.
I could make more money doing other things, but I find this work important.
I work hard to teach you important material.
Please respect that effort while you are in this room.
If you have a laptop, you should bring it to class.
You will need it to work on the Class Exercises.
The Academic Honesty section the Code of Student Conduct of the University reads as follows
It is the expressed policy of the University that every aspect of academic life not only formal coursework situations, but all relationships and interactions connected to the educational process shall be conducted in an absolutely and uncompromisingly honest manner. The University presupposes that any submission of work for academic credit indicates that the work is the student’s own and is in compliance with University policies. In cases where academic dishonesty is discovered after completion of a course or degree program, sanctions may be imposed retroactively, up to and including revocation of the degree. Any student who reasonably believes another student has committed an act of academic dishonesty should inform the course instructor of the alleged violation.
My Office will be in the Science building
My office hours are Monday & Wednesday 5:30 - 6:30 PM.
You do not need an appointment to see me during office hours.
If you need to see me but cannot make it to office hours, send me an email and we will make arrangements.
If you have questions about the material or the assignments, you should post them to the class discussion area.
This discussion area is provided by Piazza, which is a platform to help students share information.
You need to register for the discussion area, which you can do at https://piazza.com/umb/spring2018/it244-03
The URL for the discussion area is https://piazza.com/umb/spring2018/it24403/home.
If you find yourself stuck on anything, post it here.
I will check Piazza frequently and answer question as they appear.
If you see a question and know the answer, you can respond to it on Piazza.
I will check these replies and approve or modify them as appropriate.
You can post questions anonymously on Piazza, if you prefer.
If you have questions about your status in the class, email me at tsoro@cs.umb.edu or torna.soro001@umb.edu.
If you have question about any of the material we cover in class or an assignment, post in on Piazza.