CSE 390Z Syllabus

Course Goals

CSE 390Z is a workshop designed to provide academic support to students enrolled concurrently CSE 311. 311 concepts are at the core of computer science, but they are different from what many students have experienced in CS courses before. During each 1.5-hour workshop section for CSE 390Z, students will reinforce concepts through collaborative problem solving, practice study skills and effective learning habits, and build community for peer support. All students enrolled in CSE 311 are welcome to register for this class.

Course content

The workshop is organized around a large set of math problems about 311 content. In workshop, students work together on some of these problems. The graded components of the workshop are the following.

Outside of class

  • Mini assignments (~1 hour each)
    • About half of these are correcting problems you got wrong in 311, and the other half are our own assignments (e.g. a reading and a couple questions about it).
  • A reflection on each 311 homework (~30 minutes each)
In class
  • Explanations of quick checks and time for students to work on problems together and receive support from TAs and the instructor
Extra credit
  • We will likely hold at least one study session outside of class before the midterm or final. It will count as extra credit.

Grading

To get credit for this class you must:
  • Participate in at least 7 of the 9 class periods (first class not included; description below)
  • Score at least an 80%
  • Complete the practice midterm and final
Final grades are calculated roughly as follows
15% Quick checks [graded on completion]
20% Participation in class [graded on completion]
35% Homeworks [graded on effort]
15% Reflections [graded on effort]
15% Practice Midterm and Final [graded on effort]

Participation

In order to accommodate students on a variety of time schedules there will be two ways to gain participation in this course.

  1. One is by attending the class at the time listed, working on problems with other students during this time, and checking in at least a couple of these problems with a TA or the instructor. If you are over 30 minutes late you will only be elligible for half the points possible from course participation. This is the way that we recommend you participate to get the most benefit out of the course.
  2. For students who are in a different time zone for whom the arranged workshop time does not work, you may gain participation points by completing a minimum of one workshop problem (all parts of the problem). You will then need to email the course staff with which office hours for 390z you are attending to discuss the problem and thought process in solving it. You may ask to arrange a meeting outside of office hours if you are unable to attend them at their scheduled time. You will have until the Monday after workshop at 11:59PM to contact the course staff and the asynchronous check must be completed with the course staff by Friday at 11:59 PM.

Quick Checks

Quick checks are short assessments like quizzes that will allow you to test your 311 knowledge. You will complete your quick check between classes outside of class time. We will give you 20 minutes to complete them (they are individual assignments). In order to get the most benefit, we recommend that you attempt to complete these closed notes. You are graded on effort/completion for these so if you cannot figure out an answer that is OK.. You are then given until midnight PDT on Wednesday before class to submit this on Gradescope so we can see your progress and where you are in terms of understanding the material. At the beginning of each class we will cover common misconceptions and the instructor will go over the solution in detail.

Homeworks

Homeworks for this class consist of homework corrections on previous 311 homeworks to increase your understanding of what you missed and assignments that consist of readings or videos plus reflection questions.

Practice Final and Midterm

The practice final and midterm will be during class before the take home midterm and final for 311. You will be given an hour to complete as much as you can and then you will be given time afterwards to complete a reflection on how it went and how this will affect your studying for the 311 midterm. If you are not able to attend the class in which we offer these exams, you will be able to complete it online until 11:59 PM PDT Friday.

Course resources

  • This website: The central source of info about what's going on in the class
  • Canvas: grades are posted here as well as files for download
  • Gradescope: We'll use this to recieve submissions and provide feedback
  • Ed: we will use Ed for questions and discussions
  • Zoom: We will be using zoom to conduct class this quarter. Here is information on setting it up. I highly recommend that you try a test meeting to check your connectivity. If you have any questions about using Zoom this quarter, please see this FAQ or Zoom support
  • Office hours: All course staff have office hours, and we love receiving your questions. Note that we cannot answer 311 homework questions during office hours out of fairness to all students in 311 but we are happy to work on workshop problems, answer section problems or lecture problems, and to provide explanations of a variety of concepts.

Accomodations

We want this course to be approachable and accessible by all 311 students. Let the instructor know if you require accommodations for disability, mental health, religious activity, or matters of conscience.

If any incident occurs that challenges our commitment to a supportive and inclusive environment, please let the instructor know so the issue can be addressed.

Late Work

Late work is not accepted unless under special circumstances. If you need to turn in an assignment late under special circumstances or something is going on, please email the instructors to schedule a meeting PRIOR to when the assignment is due in which we can discuss and determine if extra time is needed.

Academic Conduct

Do not use someone else's words or ideas without giving them credit. Reminder that the 311 collaboration policy can be found here

CSE 390z Zoom Norms and Best Practices

  • If you are new to Zoom, you can always start your own call to get familiar with the interface!
  • Be respectful of one another and to the course staff! Anything you would say or do in a Zoom call should match your behavior in-person! Be kind to everyone and think carefully about how your written messages come off in terms of tone. Some examples:
    • When writing out messages in a chat, it's usually convenient to make your messages short. However, short messages can sometimes come off as having an angry or dissatisfied tone, so think carefully about how someone will read the message you send!
    • Would you chew on cereal next to my ear while we were talking in my office hours? I would hope not! Mute your mic if you are chewing on food or making other noise, or if possible, save the meal for after the meeting!
  • To the best of your ability, you should choose an appropriate space for joining into a Zoom call. A place where you can focus and won't be disturbed is ideal. If this is not feasible, try to use headphones to block out some noise around you and if possible use a headset with a microphone to avoid picking up as much noise around you as possible. Maybe see if you can coordinate with housemates to minimize noise and internet access during an important Zoom call to save bandwidth and reduce noise.
  • While you are not talking or sharing during a meeting, you should have your audio muted. You should get into the practice of muting/unmuting yourself as appropriate to avoid audio-feedback (and to signal to others that you are trying to say something). If you are sharing your video, try to make sure your background is not distracting. If possible, face the camera so your background is a plain background.
  • During large group meetings (i.e. not in a breakout or in a small group) you should not turn on your microphone and speak unless called on to avoid unnecessary interruption. You are encouraged to use the chat feature to message the course staff and other students in the room to ask questions, answer someone else's question, or comment on something the speaker is saying. We will almost always have at least one other course staff member monitoring the chat to help answer questions or let the current speaker know they should answer something in the chat. You are welcome to use the icons like "raise hand", "yes", etc. that Zoom provides, but those are generally harder to spot while presenting. We recommend using the chat instead!
  • When we go to Zoom's Breakout Rooms, you should start by unmuting your microphone and turning on your video (if possible) and introduce yourself to your group mates! If neither of those options are possible, introduce yourself in the chat! It is probably best if you decide on one person to share their screen to pull up the problem we are working on so everyone can do it together!
    • When someone shares a screen in Zoom, it will make the Zoom app on your computer go into full screen mode. You can always press the Escape key on your computer to get Zoom to go back into windowed mode.

Acknowledgements

We thank Lauren Bricker for serving as an advisor for this course and Jamie Morgenstern for supporting as the 311 professor. Adam Blank, David Eck, Michael Lee, Lucy Jiang, Mackenzie Leach, Natalie Parry, Nicole Riley, Robert Minneker, Philip Garrison, Jessica Louie, and Melissa Hovik shared or created materials and problems for the workshop.