Welcome to CSE21!
This course will cover mathematical concepts used to model and analyze algorithms and computer systems. Topics include counting techniques (inclusion-exclusion; recursive counting; permutations and combinations), data representations, analysis of algorithms (order notation; time complexities; loop invariants), recurrence relations, graphs, trees (data structure representations; basic graph algorithms; special classes of graphs), and basic probability and its applications.
The main prerequisite is CSE 20 or MATH 15A. It is sufficient to know basic propositional and predicate logic, basic proof techniques (including mathematical induction), basic mathematics (algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and calculus), a basic understanding of computer programming,
Fall 2021 is a transition quarter so please be patient with us as we do our best to serve the needs of all students while adhering to the university guidelines. First and foremost is the health and safety of everyone. Please do not come to class if you are sick or even think you might be sick. The university is requiring masks and daily "symptom screeners" for everyone and we expect all students to follow these rules. With all of this in mind, we expect all students to come to class when they can, but will also provide as much of the class materials as we can in a remotely viewable format. The lectures are designed to engage students in real time with opportunities for questions and discussions between instructor and students and also between students and other students. We will also have some ways for students who participate remotely to engage in discussions with the instructors and other students, but cannot guarantee the full experience for remote students.
(Personal note: There were many things about teaching remotely that we found to be great and we will try to incorporate some lessons learned from our remote teaching experience. That being said, we are really excited to teach in person and will hopefully bring a classroom experience that is the best of both worlds.
-Miles and Russell)
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Piazza Signup Link: piazza.com/ucsd/fall2021/cse21
Gradescope Signup Code: WY5ZEZ
The textbook for this course is
Kenneth Rosen Discrete Mathematics and its Applications, Kenneth Rosen, McGraw Hill, 7th edition.
The textbook's companion website has extra practice problems and resources. In particular, the Self Assessments and the Extra Examples for each chapter are great practice materials. Access the companion website here. Earlier editions contain almost all of the material we will reference, and can be bought used often quite reasonably. Just be sure to double-check locations for references because we will use the chapter and page numbers for 7th edition.
You may also wish to look at the following textbook as a supplementary resource.
Jenkyns, Stephenson Fundamentals of Discrete Math for Computer Science: A Problem-Solving Primer
The full pdf of this book is available for free download from a UCSD internet connection at:
http://link.springer.com/book/10.1007%2F978-1-4471-4069-6
Another helpful book is: Daniel Solow's
How to Read and Do Proofs: An Introduction to Mathematical Thought Processes
While primarily for mathematics majors, it also is a general reference that can be used by anyone reading or doing proofs.
| Date |
Day |
Time | |
| Lecture | Tu/Th | 5:00-6:20pm (A00 Russell Impagliazzo) |
SOLIS 104 |
| Lecture | Tu/Th | 8:00-9:20am (B00 Miles Jones) |
WLH 2001 |
| Discussion Section |
Fridays
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| Final Exam |
Saturday, December 4 |
Scheduled for 3pm-5:59pm Details to come |
TBD |
Your grade will be based on the following:
Homeworks can be downloaded from the content calendar.
For each homework, there will also be an ungraded practice homework asking similar questions, often taken from a previous year's homework for that topic. This is optional, but you are encouraged to try these questions. While they are not graded, doing them may give you hints for the graded homework and/or midterm questions. You can discuss the ungraded homework with all students, and we will go over these problems in office hours. The answer keys for the ungraded homework will be available before the graded homework is due for you to use as a model.
Homework should be done in groups of 1-4 people. So you may do them on your own if you prefer not to work in a group. You are free to change group member at any time throughout the quarter. Problems should be solved together, not divided up between partners.
We will drop the lowest homework score.
Homework solutions should be typed (NOT HANDWRITTEN) and turned in through Gradescope by 11:59pm on the due date. No late homework will be accepted. You will be able to look at your scanned work before submitting it. Please ensure that your submission is legible or your homework may not be graded. You may resubmit updated versions of your homework up until the deadline. Only your most recent Gradescope submission will be graded.
Standards for evaluation
Your assignments in this class will be evaluated not only on the correctness of your answers, but on your ability to present your ideas clearly and logically. You should always explain how you arrived at your conclusions, using mathematically sound reasoning. Whether you use formal proof techniques or write a more informal argument for why something is true, your answers should always be well-supported. Your goal should be to convince the reader that your results and methods are sound. This means that unless it says: "no justification necessary" then we expect a written justification.
Collaboration Guidelines for Homework
Students are encouraged to collaborate on homework assignments. You may work in groups of up to four students. Your group will submit one assignment and Gradescope will give you the opportunity to add all of your group members to the assignment. Groups do not have to be the same people for every assignment. You can change group members at any time.
If you are discussing problems with students outside of your group, please only share hints and basic techniques. DO NOT share your answers or allow other students to copy your written work. The bottom line is to submit YOUR OWN work. If we find that your work is too similar to another group's then you may be suspected of an academic integrity violation. All students whose names are on the assignment must have participated in answering all questions, at the minimum by carefully proof-reading the submitted answers. If there is a member of your group that did not participate, you cannot list them as a group member for this assignment. If some other student or teaching staff gave you a tip that was particularly useful, please give them an acknowledgement in the assignment. That will help us avoid unnecessary accusations of academic integrity violations.
You may not collaborate with anyone outside of the class. You are not permitted to ask homework questions to message boards or websites such as Chegg.
You may use some materials not from class, such as other textbooks, notes from previous sections of the class, Khan Academy videos or something similar, but with some caution. If an outside source has something relevant to a particular homework or exam problem, you must give the source a reference when you submit your assignment. We will review how similar the reference is to your answer. If it is too similar, you may lose some points for the assignment, but as long as you give the reference, it will not be an Academic Integrity issue.
There will be a review quiz for every lecture.
This adds up to 18 total review quizzes.
You will have until the following Sunday to complete the review quizzes of the preceding week.
You will have unlimited attempts on each quiz.
Each review quiz is worth 1 point. You will get whatever fraction of 1 based on how well you did on the review quiz.
In order to get the full 5% points for review quizzes, you must earn 15 points.
Each point less than 15, the percentage will go down by 1 percent:
15+: 5%
14: 4%
13: 3%
12: 2%
11: 1%
10-: 0%
You can earn 1 point of participation per week by submitting a participation summary.
The PS is a short paragraph about at least one way that you participated in the course. For example:
There will be two midterms.
Each will be 12% of your grade. There is an option to drop your lowest midterm score and have the final exam count for more.
Each midterm must be taken during either one of the discussion times. If you are unable to physically come to take the exam, then we will make the exam available remotely through gradescope during the same time period. This must be taken at the same time as one of the two discussion section times:
The final examination will be held at the date and time stated in the course calendar. It is your responsibility to ensure that you do not have a schedule conflict involving the final examination. As exams, we will enable a remote exam for students unable to physically come to the exam room, but this will be only available during the exam time. The two sections will have a combined final so there is only one time available for this.
Course grades will be computed using the best of the two following schema:
Option 1:
Participation: 5%
Review quizzes 5%
Homework 0: 1%
Other HW: 30% (best 6 of 7)
Midterm 1: 12%
Midterm 2: 12%
Final: 35%
Option 2: (drops lowest midterm)
Participation: 5%
Review quizzes. 5%
Homework 0: 1%
Other HW: 30% (best 6 of 7)
Best Midterm: 18%
Final: 41%
Grade Scale: Your final grade will be based on the following scale. (You will earn the grade in the table based on your numerical score or higher.)
A+ A A- B+ B B- C+ C C-
98 94 90 86 82 78 74 70 64
In this course we expect students to adhere to the UC San Diego Integrity of Scholarship Policy. This means that you will complete your work honestly, with integrity, and support an environment of integrity within the class for which you are tutoring. Some examples of specific ways this policy applies to CSE 20 include:
For homework collaboration policy, see the paragraph above.
For the exams, you are not permitted to collaborate with anyone else (including people from outside of the class like message boards or Chegg). We will give you the opportunity to ask questions to the teaching staff during exams.
Please be prompt (three days) in reporting to your TA any errors in the grading of your work, or in the recording of your grade. All grades become permanent three days after they are recorded. Regrade requests for homework assignments must be made on Gradescope. Please note that by requesting a regrade for a problem, it will be completely regraded and your grade may go up or down. When you make a regrade request, you should specify exactly what the mistake in grading is, i.e., the wrong rubric item was selected or the rubric itself is inaccurate. Vague requests for more partial credit will not be granted.
We will drop your lowest homework and give you the option of dropping your lowest exam. Other than extenuating circumstances, there is no credit for late or missed assignments.
For homework assignments and for exams, you are permitted to use calculators.
Individuals are not permitted to approach students to offer services of any kind in exchange for pay, including tutoring services. This is considered solicitation for business and is strictly prohibited by University policy.
We provide many office hours and 1-1 sessions. Please use them. This class can be challenging if you don't engage with the teaching staff. The office hours are on the class calendar.
The IDEA Engineering Student Center, located just off the lobby of Jacobs Hall, is a hub for student engagement, academic enrichment, personal/professional development, leadership, community involvement, and a respectful learning environment for all. The Center offers a variety of programs, listed on the IDEA Center Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/ucsdidea/ (you are welcome to Like this page!) and the Center website at http://idea.ucsd.edu/ . The IDEA Center programs support both undergraduate students and graduate students.
We are committed to fostering a learning environment for this course that supports a diversity of thoughts, perspectives, and experiences, and respects your identities (including race, ethnicity, heritage, gender, sex, class, sexuality, religion, ability, age, educational background, etc.). Our goal is to create a diverse and inclusive learning environment where all students feel comfortable and can thrive.
Our instructional staff will make a concerted effort to be welcoming and inclusive to the wide diversity of students in this course. If there is a way we can make you feel more included please let one of the course staff know, either in person, via email/discussion board, or even in a note under the door. Our learning about diverse perspectives and identities is an ongoing process, and we welcome your perspectives and input.
We also expect that you, as a student in this course, will honor and respect your classmates, abiding by the UCSD Principles of Community ( https://ucsd.edu/about/principles.html ). Please understand that others’ backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences may be different than your own, and help us to build an environment where everyone is respected and feels comfortable.
If you experience any sort of harassment or discrimination, please contact an instructor as soon as possible. If you prefer to speak with someone outside of the course, please contact the Office of Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination: https://ophd.ucsd.edu/ .
We aim to create an environment in which all students can succeed in this course. If you have a disability, please contact the Office for Students with Disability (OSD), which is located in University Center 202 behind Center Hall, to discuss appropriate accommodations right away. We will work to provide you with the accommodations you need, but you must first provide a current Authorization for Accommodation (AFA) letter issued by the OSD. You are required to present their AFA letters to Faculty (please make arrangements to contact me privately) and to the OSD Liaison in the department in advance so that accommodations may be arranged.
If you are experiencing any basic needs insecurities (food, housing, financial resources), there are resources available on campus to help, including The Hub and the Triton Food Pantry. Please visit http://thehub.ucsd.edu/ for more information.