Basic Course Information

• Text: Computer Organization and Design: The Hardware/Software Interface 3rd Edition, 1998, Morgan Kaufmann

• Grading: Your grade will be based on the weighted average of your scores on written homework, quizzes, one midterm and one final. The final grade will be weighted as follows:
  • Homework 10%
  • Quizzes 20%
  • Midterm 30%
  • Final 40%
  I will grade on a 90%,80%,70%,60% scale. "Plusses" and "minuses" are given out only at my discretion. You have exactly 1 week after the return of a graded work to protest that grade. After 1 week all grades are fixed.

• The Book: Is useful and easy to read (though verbose). YOU SHOULD READ APPROPRIATE MATERIAL BEFORE ATTENDING CLASS. I do not promise to lecture on ALL material presented in the book. I will assume you read for basic comprehension and focus my lectures on helping to clarify the difficult material. All book material in the chapters we cover is fair game for homework and exams.

• Quizzes: Quizzes will be given weekly on Thursday at the beginning of class and will take 10 minutes. Quizzes are designed to help you check whether you are grasping material presented in class. They will cover material already discussed in class or assigned on homework.

  There will be NO QUIZ Thursday Jan 6 (first week) and Thurs Feb 3 (midterm). That leaves 8 quizzes. Your lowest quiz score of those 8 will be dropped (7 out of 8 quiz scores will count).

• Homework: A very small number of written (usually non-coding) homework will be assigned, mostly from the questions following each chapter. Please (legibly) hand-write your answers. While you must solve the assigned problems ON YOUR OWN, I highly encourage you to work on and discuss non-assigned problems with others in the class. There will be, on average, one homework assigned per week. Doing just the assigned problems will probably NOT be sufficient to prepare you for the quizzes and tests. You should plan to do all the suggested problems as well to ensure that you are prepared.

• Exams: The midterm will be held Tuesday Feb 3rd in a room TBD. The final will be given during the assigned time slot. Exams will be inclusive of all course material - including material presented in class. Exams will be closed book, closed notes.

• Academic Integrity:
  • Cheating WILL be taken seriously. It is not fair to honest students to take cheating lightly, nor is it fair to the cheater to let him/her go on thinking that is a reasonable alternative in life.

  • You must work independently on your homework, quizzes, and exams.

  • However, you are HIGHLY encouraged to study in groups. Explaining problems to others is one of the best ways to learn. I know. I do it for a living.

  • Use of solutions manual and/or web or others' material: A solutions manual, meant only for instructors, exists for this text. Obtaining or using this or other materials (such as other faculty's posted solutions to book problems) IS CHEATING. We know what the solution manuals' answers look like. We will be able to tell if you copy them or use them to guide your answer. Don't. Homework is only 10% of the grade and only exists to help you study for tests and quizzes.

  • Penalties:
    • Exams: Anyone copying information or having information copied during a test will receive an F for the class and will not be allowed to drop. They will be reported to their college dean. If you can prove non-cooperative copying took place, your grade may be restored, but you must prove it to the dean -- I don't want to be involved.
    • Homeworks: Anyone caught cheating or falsely representing the work of others on the homework will not be allowed to turn in further homework and will receive a score of zero for all homework assignments. Your grade will be based exclusively on the tests and quizzes (with a suitable penalty applied).