COSC 1336 Computer Science and Programming

Course Syllabus
Spring 2023

Instructor: Stephen Huang (Office: PGH219, Email contact: shuang at cs.uh.edu)

Section: 13875
Class Monday and Wednesday (1:00 PM – 2:30 PM)
schedule:
Classroom: PGH-232 (Change from SR2-130)
Office hours: Monday and Wednesday, 4:00-5:00 PM, in Person (preferred with
priority) and via Zoom
Tuesday and Thursday, 2:00-3:00 PM, via Zoom only.
And by appointment (in person and via Zoom)
Office hours on Monday and Wednesday will be face-to-face in PGH-219
(primary) and on Zoom (if no students are waiting in person). Office hours
on Tuesday and Thursday are online only. See Course Delivery below for a
Zoom link. Students who want to discuss a personal issue should see the
professor or make an appointment for a Zoom meeting.
Course Unless otherwise announced by the university or the instructor, all classes
Delivery: will be face-to-face in the assigned classroom on campus. A Zoom link has
been created for office hours and, in case there is a need, for lectures.
Students should test the meeting link during the first week of the semester.
Zoom Link: https://uh-edu-cougarnet.zoom.us/j/94771401664 (updated
on January 7, 2023). Students must be authenticated with their Cougarnet
username.

Course Overview of basic computer hardware and software concepts with design,
Description: analysis, and programming of efficient algorithms to solve computational
problems. (from Course Catalog)
COSC 1336 is an introduction to problem-solving through computer
programming. You will learn how to analyze computational problems,
develop solutions to them as algorithms for a computer to follow to solve
them and implement the solution in a modern programming language,
specifically Python. You will learn the fundamental principles of computer
science, basic hardware and software components of a computer system,
computational thinking, basic algorithms, and programming. You will get
hands-on experience in problem-solving by designing, writing, testing, and
debugging Python programs.
Prerequisites MATH 1314 (College Algebra, formerly MATH 1310) or equivalent. A solid
: high school Mathematics and science background will be helpful in this
course.
Core [90] Math/Reasoning
Category:
Course http://www2.cs.uh.edu/~acl/cs1336/
Website:
Expected  Demonstrate a basic understanding of computer hardware and
Course software.
Outcomes:  Demonstrate skills in designing, coding, debugging, documenting, and
executing programs.
 Demonstrate problem-solving skills computationally.
 Apply logical skills to programming in Python.
 Write structured programs.
 Use existing libraries or modules to solve problems.

Academic Students must read and understand the Academic Honesty Policy in UH’s
Honesty Undergraduate Catalog. There will be no tolerance for academic
Policy: dishonesty, and cheating can lead to a report of a violation of the Academic
Honesty policy to the UH Office of Undergraduate Academic Affairs.
Sanctions for confirmed violations of this policy may include, but are not
limited to: a lowered grade, failure on the examination or assignment in
question, failure in the course, probation, suspension, or expulsion from
the University of Houston, or a combination of these.
In the spirit of collegial and cooperative learning, you can discuss ideas and
approaches with other students and implement the solution yourself. The
key is to type and debug all the code you submit. In particular, it is
inappropriate to email or share code phrases to be pasted in. Downloading
solutions from the internet or asking other people to write the code for you
are strictly prohibited. What you submit should be your work.
Sharing your assignment or helping another student on an assignment is a
violation of the honesty code. If you have a question about the policy,
please ask the instructor.
Reporting obligation: Students who believe they have observed an act of
academic dishonesty should report the incident to the instructor as soon as
possible.
Absence Regular class attendance, participation, and engagement in coursework are
Policy: essential contributors to student success. Absences may be excused as
provided in the University of Houston Undergraduate Excused Absence
Policy and Graduate Excused Absence Policy for reasons including medical
illness of a student or close relative, death of a close family member, legal
or government proceeding that a student is obligated to attend, recognized
professional and educational activities where the student is presenting,
and University-sponsored activity or athletic competition. Additional
policies address absences related to military service, religious holy days,
pregnancy and related conditions, and disability.
Students are required to behave in a courteous, professional, and ethical
manner.

Textbook: We are committed to using open-resource textbooks that are free to

students.
Reference:
 “Think Python, How to think like a computer scientist” by Allen B.
Downey, O’Reilly (Hard copy publisher), 2nd edition (Textbook
Edition), which uses Python 3 (Software Version), Free download
in HTML or PDF in http://greenteapress.com/wp/think-python-
2e/ (Green Tea Press).
Also, almost all the slides used in class will be posted in PDF format on the
course website. Slides are there so students can concentrate on the class
without copying the slides. Note slides are not as organized and as
detailed as a textbook.
There are many documents available on the official Python website:
 The Python Tutorial (https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/).
 The Python Standard Library Reference Manual describes the
standard library distributed with Python
(https://docs.python.org/3/library/index.html#library-index).
 The Python Language Reference describes the exact syntax and
semantics of the Python language
(https://docs.python.org/3/reference/index.html#reference-
index).

Computer This course will be taught entirely face-to-face. However, students should
have a desktop or laptop computer with a camera and microphone for
online conferences available in case there is a need for online teaching.
Students will also have to have Internet access at a reasonable speed.
University Information Technology (UIT) has limited laptops available for
student checkout. If you do not have a computer, you may check one out
for use at home: UH Laptop Checkout Requests.
Tentative Two midterm tests (~20% each), a final exam (~30%), weekly quizzes
grading (~10%), and about ten homework assignments (~20%). Attendance may
policy: be counted as part of the test or assignment grade.

Students with The University of Houston complies with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation
Disabilities: Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, pertaining to
the provision of reasonable academic adjustments/auxiliary aids for
disabled students. In accordance with Section 504 and ADA guidelines, UH
strives to provide reasonable academic adjustments/auxiliary aids to
students who request and require them. If you believe you have a
disability requiring an academic adjustment/auxiliary aid, please get in
touch with the Justin Dart, Jr., Student Accessibility Center.

Major Topics Introduction to Computer Organization and Programming

Computational Thinking
Introduction to Python
Python Basic Syntax
Flow of Control
Functions
Strings
Lists
Files
Dictionaries
Structured Programming

Syllabus Please note that the instructor may need to make modifications to the
Changes course syllabus and may do so at any time. Notice of such changes will be
announced quickly through the course website or email.

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The information contained in this class syllabus is subject to change without notice. Students
are expected to be aware of any additional course policies presented by the instructor during
the course. Updated information will be posted on the course website.
Updated information may be found on the course website.
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Version Date: January 7, 2023.