Department of Computer Science

CS 1026A 650: Computer Science Fundamentals I

Summer 2024 – Online
Course Outline

Table of Contents

1. COURSE INFORMATION .................................................................................................................... 3

2. INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION ............................................................................................................ 3

3. COMMUNICATION ............................................................................................................................... 4

3. COURSE SYLLABUS, SCHEDULE, DELIVERY MODE ..................................................................... 5

4. COURSE MATERIALS......................................................................................................................... 6

5. METHODS OF EVALUATION ............................................................................................................. 8

6. STUDENT ABSENCES .......................................................................................................................14

7. ACCOMMODATION AND ACCESSIBILITY ........................................................................................16

8. ACADEMIC POLICIES ........................................................................................................................16

9. SUPPORT SERVICES ........................................................................................................................18

 1. Course Information

Lecture Schedule
Instructors Time Room
Section 650 Prerecorded video lectures ONLINE (OWL,
Prof. Abdelkareem Jaradat uploaded to OWL ZyBooks, Gradescope,
Zoom)

Course Schedule
All important dates are available in a separate Timeline document. You can find the
document on OWL. You can also keep an eye on OWL calendar.

List of Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites. No previous programming experience is required.

Where to start?
The CS 1026A course site on OWL westernu.brightspace.com is labelled as
"COMPSCI 1026A 650: COMPUTER SCIENCE FUNDAMENTALS I". login to OWL
and find this site. You will find instructions for next steps in the welcome page.

Timezone
All times state in this course are in Eastern Time, ET. Please adjust your calendar
accordingly.

2. Instructor Information

Instructors Email Office Office Hours

ajarada3 at
MC 24 Check OWL
Prof. Abdelkareem Jaradat uwo.ca
TA Consulting
Teaching Assistants and their consulting hours for CS1026 will be posted on Teams.

TA Email Office Office Hours

malarbi at
online Check OWL
Muhamed Alarbi uwo.ca
Djones5 at
online Check OWL
Duff Jones uwo.ca
sshaban7 at
online Check OWL
Shabnam Shabani uwo.ca

3. Communication

All communication between the students, instructor, and TAs is done through Email.

Students are encouraged to contact their course instructor/TAs via email with brief,
appropriate questions regarding lecture materials or clarification of assignments.
However, before sending any message to an instructor, you must follow the following
steps:

1. Check the course outline for the information you want. If you didn’t find what
you want in the course outline,
2. Check the announcements, as the instructor/TAs regularly posts new
information, clarification, and extra details. If you can’t find an answer,
Students are divided into groups based on the student’s last name. Each group
contact one of the TAs using Email.
Office hours are available for all students without considering these groups.

3. Course Syllabus, Schedule, Delivery Mode

Course Description
CS 1026 provides an introduction to the basic concepts of computer programming
and program design. It is intended for students who have an interest in learning basic
programming skills including those who intend to study Computer Science. This
course assumes no previous programming background, although having some
experience with programming is an asset.

Programming skills will be developed using the Python programming language.

Course topics include:
data types, variables, expressions, program constructs, strings (text), functions, basic
data structures
(lists, tuples, sets dictionaries), objects, object‐oriented design, classes, modularity,
and problem‐solving techniques. Programming examples and assignments are taken
from a variety of disciplines.

Delivery
Online, prerecoded, over OWL. The course lectures are in recorded videos format.
At the beginning of each week, a new set of videos is uploaded with the
corresponding topics covered.

Lecture Topics
• Introduction to Computers and Python
• Variable Types
• Input/Output
• Conditionals
• Loops
 • Functions
• Lists, Tuples, Sets, and Dictionaries
• Exception Handling
• Object-Oriented Programming

Key Sessional Dates

title Date
Classes begin May 6, 2024
Midterm June 1st 2024 (tentative)
Classes end June 14, 2024
Final Exam June 15th 2024 (tentative)

Course Schedule
Please refer to the Timeline document and OWL, In case of any changes in the
schedule will be updated only on the timeline document. Any updates posted on
OWL will override the dates posted in the course outline and the course schedule.

Contingency plan for an in-person class pivoting to 100% online learning

In the event of a COVID-19 resurgence during the course that necessitates the
course delivery moving away from face-to-face interaction, affected course content will
be delivered entirely online, asynchronously (e.g., posted on Teams for students to
view at their convenience). The grading scheme will not change. Any remaining
assessments will also be conducted online as determined by the course instructor.

4. Course Materials

Students are responsible for checking the course OWL site on a regular basis for the
course lectures, material, assignments, announcements, and updates. This is the
only method by which information will be disseminated to all students in the class. All
course material will be posted to OWL.

If students need assistance with the course OWL site, ZyBooks, Gradescope, or
ProctorTrack they can seek support on the corresponding Help page. Alternatively,
they can contact the Western Technology Services Helpdesk. They can be contacted
by phone at 519-661-3800 or ext. 83800.

Technical Requirements
Stable internet connection; a computer (Windows, Mac, or Linux) that can run Python
and the IDE.
The course makes use of the Python programming language (https://www.python.org/).
We will be using Python 3.9 and versions for Windows and Macs can be found at:
https://www.python.org/downloads/. To avoid some installation problems, download
Python first.

When you download and install Python, you will get a simple editor/development
environment called IDLE; you may use this (not recommended) for editing and creating
your Python programs. We recommend to make use of richer development environments
such as VS Code (https://code.visualstudio.com/download).

Textbook
There is a strongly recommended digital textbook, ZyBooks, for this course. Although
it is not required for grades, it is in your best interest to purchase it in order to do
well in the course. The course has tons of practice questions that you get immediate
feedback. This helps you build better programming skills and gives you more practice
time towards the exams.

Follow these steps to subscribe to the ZyBook now:

1. Sign in or create an account at https://learn.zybooks.com/

2. Enter zyBook code: UWOCOMPSCI1026ABJaradatSummer2024
3. Subscribe
There is a cost associated to purchasing this book that equals to $57 USD.
Technologies used
This course utilizes several platforms to ensure students the best experience. It is
important for students to know which platform is used for what:
1. OWL: This is used to find all course material, labs instructions, assignments
instructions, announcements, discussions, contacting TAs. Also used to track
your grades, and do the quiz, midterm and final exam
2. Gradescope: Used to submit the assignment.
3. Zybooks: Contains the course material, practice problems.
4. ProctorTrack: Needs to be enabled to be able to do the exams.
5. VScode: The coding environment used to write, debug, and run your code.

5. Methods of Evaluation

The overall course grade will be calculated as listed below:

Orientation quiz 2%
Assignments (3) 35% (8%, 12%, and 15%)
Labs (10) 8% (1% each; the lowest 2 are dropped)
Midterm Test 20%
Final Exam 35%

Assignments

There are 3 assignments that require you to apply the topics you learned from the
lectures and/or labs and implement Python programs.
All assignments are due via Gradescope at 11:55 pm ET on the due date unless
stated. Otherwise, if an assignment (or part of it) has to be cancelled by the
instructors for any reason, the remaining assignments will be re-weighted to add up
to 35%.

Late Policy on Assignments

It is expected that students budget enough time to properly submit their assignments
via OWL and allow for any unforeseen technological issues. Students are expected to
regularly backup their assignments and submit well before any deadline.

• An Assignment Late Coupon (ALC): Is an automatic excuse that is applied

automatically when an assignment is submitted late. 1 ALC waives the late
penalty of of 1 day.
• Each student will be given four (4) Assignment Late Coupons (ALCs) in total
for the semester that may be used to submit an assignment one day late per
coupon.
• Late coupons are only used for assignments and can’t be used for labs,
lectures, quizzes and all other course components.
• You can use 0, 1 or 2 ALCs per an assignment. You can’t use 3 or 4 ALCs
per an assignment.
• ALCs will not be replenished. For example, if you use 2 late coupons on
Assignment 1, you will only have 2 left for the remainder of the assignments.
• ALCs will be applied automatically when an assignment is submitted late. The
remaining coupons are tracked in the OWL gradebook.
• Each late coupon is valid for a 24 hour period only. For example, if an
assignment is due on February 1st at 11:55 pm and the student submits on
September 1st at 11:56 pm this would require one ALC, as would any
submission between February 1 st at 11:56pm and February 2nd at 11:55 pm.
After February 2nd at 11:55pm and up to February 3 rd at 11:55 pm, 2 late
coupons would be required. After February 3 rd at 11:55pm, no more
 submissions will be accepted, and a zero grade will be given on the
assignment.
• It is the student’s responsibility to keep track of how many late coupons they
have available throughout the semester. Occasionally the teaching assistants
may be tardy on updating each student’s late coupon total. In case of a
discrepancy, the actual number of coupons used (and not what is listed in
OWL) will be applied.
• If a student has no late coupons remaining or submits an assignment more
than 2 days late, a zero grade will be given for the assignment (no partial late
marks will be given).
• ALCs must be used before special circumstances are considered. This means
that you need to consume all late coupons before applying for academic
consideration. Therefore, late coupons will override any academic consideration.
• After all late coupons are used, no extensions will be given for assignments
except for in the event of serious medical or compassionate grounds. A student
must follow the procedure for Academic Accommodation for Medical Illness as
given in this document.
• Again, late coupons cannot be used on any course component expect
assignments.

Re-submissions are allowed as many times as you want. We will mark you last
submission. However, note that re-submissions after the deadline will be considered
late, regardless of when the initial submission was made.

Assignments will be submitted through Gradescope unless otherwise stated. You have
free access to Gradescope as a Western student. Steps to submit on Gradescope
will be explained in more detail closer to the deadline of the first assignment. We will
not accept assignments submitted via email, teams, or any other format.

A portion of each assignment's grade will come from auto-graded tests and the rest
will come from programming style, formatting, logic, comments, etc. Sometimes, some
of the tests will be provided, but note that additional tests may be run that are
hidden from you, so you should create your own additional tests to ensure your code
works properly in all cases. It is your responsibility to ensure the code is tested well
before submitting to Gradescope in order to get full marks (if the tests pass on
VScode on your computer but not on Gradescope, you will not get those marks).

Assignments are to be done individually, not in groups. The submitted code will be
run through a similarity-checking software to look for cheating. Do not copy or share
code in any way.

Assignments schedule:
An announcement will be posted to OWL if any change may happen. Please follow
the timeline document for assignment dates.

Labs

Lab instructions will be available on the course website at the start of each week.
• There are 10 weekly labs, each of which should each take 1 hour or less to
complete.
• Refer to the course timeline file for the dates of availability.
• Labs are done individually. This means that you can do the on your own time
while submitting it before the due date/time.
• Completed labs are submitted through Gradescope. You will find a separate lab
assignment entry for each lab.
• At the beginning of each week, every Monday midnight, 2 lab submission tabs
will be active on Gradescope. Please complete the 2 labs and submit them to
Gradescope before Friday 11:55 PM EST. After this time the submission tab
will be disabled.
• It is your responsibility to submit the completed lab work at 11:55 pm on the
due date after the lab is posted. Submissions occur after the specified time will
not be considered.
 • Each completed lab is worth 1% of your final grade, and we will drop the
lowest 2 labs at the end of the term.
• To receive credit for a lab, you must complete the lab work during the week
and submit it before the end of the week to Gradescope.
• The labs are generally pass/fail, so, 0 or 1.
• Since we are dropping the lowest 2 labs, you can miss up to 2 labs without
affecting your mark. This way, if you have any emergencies, you can miss 2
labs while you still can get the full marks.

Midterm

The midterm will be tentatively be late of May. It is online over OWL and
ProctorTrack. If the date or time for the midterm is changed, an announcement will
be posted on Teams with the new exam information. The midterm format is
announced later.

You are required to do an on-boarding test with Proctortrack to make sure that your
computer setup is fine and to avoid complications at the exam time. Please complete
the on-boarding test once posted.

There will not be a make-up midterm. If you cannot write the midterm for a valid
reason (i.e. conflict with another university assessment, medical reasons, or religious
reasons), you will have to contact your academic counsellor to request
accommodations to miss the midterm. If you obtain such accommodations, the weight
of the midterm will be shifted to the final exam, making it worth 20+35=55%. Without
such accommodations, missing the midterm will result in a mark of zero on the
midterm and it cannot be made up.
Final Exam

The final exam will be scheduled by the University. The exact date, time, and
location for our exam will likely be announced in May. The final exam is cumulative
and it will be conducted online over OWL and ProctorTrack.

The post-midterm topics will be more prevalent on the final exam but pre-midterm
topics will be testable on the final exam too.

Grade Requirements

To be eligible to receive a grade of 50% or higher (i.e. to pass the course), you
must achieve:

• at least 40% on the final exam, and

• at least 40% weighted average on all the assignments

If you fail to meet either of these conditions, your final mark will be either 45% or
your calculated grade, whichever is lower.

Examples:

Scenario 1: You passed the coursework and failed the final exam:

Suppose you received 65 out of 65 in the coursework. This means that you passed
in the coursework because 65>0.4*65. If you received 13 out of 35 in the final
exam, you failed in the final exam because 13<0.4*35.

With these marks, you didn’t pass both component which means you will fail the
course. The final mark will be: min(45, 65+13) = 45

Notice that your accumulated grade is 78/100 but you will fail the course and get 45!
Scenario 2: You passed the coursework and passed the final exam:

Suppose you received 30 out of 65 in the coursework. This means that you passed
in the coursework because 30>0.4*65. If you received 21 out of 35 in the final
exam, you passed in the final exam 21>0.4*35..

With these marks, you passed both component which means you will pass the
course. The final mark will be: 30+21 = 51.

To be eligible to receive a grade of 60% or higher, you must achieve:

• at least 50% on the final exam, and

• at least 50% weighted average on the four assignments

If you fail to meet either of these conditions, your final mark will be either 58% or
your calculated grade, whichever is lower.

6. Student Absences

If you are unable to meet a course requirement due to illness or other serious
circumstances, please follow the procedures below.

Assessments worth less than 10% of the overall course grade:

There will be no accommodation for labs as you have the freedom to complete them
with your own schedule over a period of 1 week.
Assessments worth 10% or more of the overall course grade:

For work totalling 10% or more of the final course grade, you must provide valid
medical or supporting documentation to the Academic Counselling Office of your
Faculty of Registration as soon as possible. The instructors and the TAs will not accept
any excuse without a letter from the counsellor.

For further information, please consult the University’s medical illness policy at

https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/accommodation_medical.pd
f.

The Student Medical Certificate is available at

https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/medicalform.pdf.

Absences from Final Examinations

If you miss the Final Exam, please contact the Academic Counselling office of your
Faculty of Registration as soon as you are able to do so. They will assess your
eligibility to write the Special Examination (the name given by the University to a
makeup Final Exam).

You may also be eligible to write the Special Exam if you are in a “Multiple Exam
Situation” (e.g., more than 2 exams in 23-hour period, more than 3 exams in a 47-
hour period).

If a student fails to write a scheduled Special Examination, the date of the next
Special Examination (if granted) normally will be the scheduled date for the final
exam the next time this course is offered. The maximum course load for that term
will be reduced by the credit of the course(s) for which the final examination has
been deferred. See the Academic Calendar for details (under Special Examinations).
Note: missed work can only be excused through one of the mechanisms
above. Being asked not to attend an in-person course requirement due to potential
COVID-19 symptoms is not sufficient on its own.

7. Accommodation and Accessibility

Religious Accommodation
When a course requirement conflicts with a religious holiday that requires an absence
from the University or prohibits certain activities, students should request
accommodation for their absence in writing at least two weeks prior to the holiday to
the course instructor and/or the Academic Counselling office of their Faculty of
Registration. Please consult University's list of recognized religious holidays (updated
annually) at

https://multiculturalcalendar.com/ecal/index.php?s=c-univwo.

Accommodation Policies
Students with disabilities are encouraged to contact Accessible Education, which
provides recommendations for accommodation based on medical documentation or
psychological and cognitive testing. The policy on Academic Accommodation for
Students with Disabilities can be found at:

https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/Academic
Accommodation_disabilities.pdf.

8. Academic Policies

The website for Registrarial Services is http://www.registrar.uwo.ca.

In accordance with policy,

 https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/policies_procedures/section1/mapp113.pdf,

the centrally administered e-mail account provided to students will be considered the
individual’s official university e-mail address. It is the responsibility of the account
holder to ensure that e-mail received from the University at their official university
address is attended to in a timely manner.

No electronic devices (including phones, calculators, etc.) are permitted on the

midterm or final exam.

Scholastic offences are taken seriously and students are directed to read the
appropriate policy, specifically, the definition of what constitutes a Scholastic Offence,
at the following Web site:

http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergr
ad.pdf.

Computer-marked multiple-choice tests and exams may be subject to submission for

similarity review by software that will check for unusual coincidences in answer
patterns that may indicate cheating.

Code submitted for labs, assignments, and/or exams may be run through comparison-
checking software such as MOSS to look for cases of cheating.

In the event of health lock-down, tests and exams in this course may be conducted
using a remote proctoring service. By taking this course, you are consenting to the
use of this software and acknowledge that you will be required to provide personal
information (including some biometric data) and the session will be recorded.
Completion of this course will require you to have a reliable internet connection and
a device that meets the technical requirements for this service. More information
about this remote proctoring service, including technical requirements, is available on
Western’s Remote Proctoring website at:
https://remoteproctoring.uwo.ca.
 9. Support Services

Please visit the Science & Basic Medical Sciences Academic Counselling webpage for
information on adding/dropping courses, academic considerations for absences,
appeals, exam conflicts, and many other academic related matters:
https://www.uwo.ca/sci/counselling/.

Students who are in emotional/mental distress should refer to Mental Health@Western

(https://uwo.ca/health/) for a complete list of options about how to obtain help.

Western is committed to reducing incidents of gender-based and sexual violence and

providing compassionate support to anyone who has gone through these traumatic
events. If you have experienced sexual or gender-based violence (either recently or
in the past), you will find information about support services for survivors, including
emergency contacts at

https://www.uwo.ca/health/student_support/survivor_support/get-help.html.

To connect with a case manager or set up an appointment, please

contact [email protected].

Learning-skills counsellors at the Student Development Centre (https://learning.uwo.ca)

are ready to help you improve your learning skills. They offer presentations on
strategies for improving time management, multiple-choice exam preparation/writing,
textbook reading, and more. Individual support is offered throughout the Fall/Winter
terms in the drop-in Learning Help Centre, and year-round through individual
counselling.

Western University is committed to a thriving campus as we deliver our courses in

the mixed model of both virtual and face-to-face formats. We encourage you to
check out the Digital Student Experience website to manage your academics and
well-being: https://www.uwo.ca/se/digital/.
Additional student-run support services are offered by the USC,
https://westernusc.ca/services/.