EBoard 01: Getting Started (Section 1)
Approximate overview
- Lots of administrative stuff, including attendance
- What is “computer science”?
- A group activity, more or less
- Debrief on activity (possibly continued on Friday)
Administrative stuff
Warning! You are being recorded (and transcribed) (provided the technology
is working correctly).
- Please take a playing card, if you didn’t already.
- You may also wish to take a mask.
- Sit where you wish.
Introductory Notes
- Hi, I’m Sam (or SamR).
- Our class mentor is Sarah Deschamps
- Sarah will introduce herself
- The class Web site is at
https://rebelsky.cs.grinnell.edu/Courses/CSC151/2025Sp/.
- I will email you the link.
- The class Web site is (always) a work in progress.
- CSC-151 is an introductory course in computer science.
- You can succeed (and even excel) with no prior experience.
- We approach material differently than many other intro courses;
prior experience may help, but it may also hinder. For example,
we will not let you re-assign variables. (Don’t worry if you
don’t know what that means.)
- CSC-151 is a community. We come from multiple cultures and backgrounds.
Treat each other with respect and appreciate what each person can contribute.
- We will return to this issue and the associated learning outcomes
throughout the semester.
- I type our online class notes in a format called “markdown”. You should
find it relatively readable. It permits me to make “nice” Web pages.
- Isn’t this beautiful? (No, not really.)
- Sam: Don’t forget to show off today’s eboard.
- Don’t just rely on my notes; There is good evidence that taking
your own notes helps you learn.
- I will record our class sessions (audio, mediocre transcript, and
pointless video) using Teams and Otter.ai. You will be able to find the
recordings on Teams.
- I sent email to all students who were enrolled as of 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday.
Please let me know if you did not receive that email.
- Please let me know if you have trouble accessing Gradescope.
- Please let me know if you have trouble accessing our class Team.
Other introductory stuff
- We provide supplies in this classroom to support you in working
and learning.
- Small cards to serve as flashcards, which are a good learning technique.
- Also large post-it pads that are gridded.
- And pens.
- And masks.
- On that note … a friendly reminder that Grinnellians are returning
from around the world and bringing viruses and bacteria back with them.
- I prefer to have you book office hours. First priority in any time
slot goes to those who book. https:/bit.ly/book-samr
- Office hours are not yet available.
- You can also DM me on Teams to arrange office hours (or email me, or
talk to me after class).
- You’ll learn more introductory stuff when you read the syllabus.
Apologies
- I am old. My hearing is not great, even with hearing aids.
- Our Web site is not as up to date as I’d like. But it will be.
- I am traditionally bad at names+faces. I will be worse with masks. It
will take me some time to learn your names.
- I experienced a significant loss in the fall and am still not back to
normal. I expect to be less on top of things than I’d like.
- I am snarky/sarcastic.
- More to come ….
Upcoming activities
Guidelines
- You can earn “tokens” (more info follows) for attending designated
academic events or supporting your classmates in their pursuits.
- Attend (or watch recording within a day or so) and record a one-paragraph
reflection within three days afterwards.
- Only those activities that I list count.
- But you can suggest others.
- Links might appear in the Announcements channel on MS Teams.
- Unless otherwise specified, each activity earns one token.
Scholarly
- Wednesday, 2025-01-22, 6:00–7:30 p.m., JRC 101.
Aaron Robertson on the theme “Black Utopianism and the Struggle for Historical Memory.
- Buffet dinner available beforehand, starting at 5:15 p.m.
- Thursday, 2025-01-30, 11:00 a.m.–noon, JRC 101.
Scholars’ Convocation: The Once and Future Grinnell College.
Artistic
- Thursday, 2025-01-23, 4:00–6:00 p.m., Bucksbaum 131 (Grinnell College
Museum of Art).
Opening Reception: Everything Left Unsaid.
Multicultural
- Saturday, 2025-02-01, 1:00–10:00 p.m., Harris Concert Hall.
Lunar New Year Celebration.
Peer
Musical, theatric, sporting, and academic events involving this section’s
students are welcome.
Wellness
- Tuesday, 2025-01-28, 12:15–12:50 p.m., GCMoA.
Yoga in the Museum.
- Tuesday, 2025-01-28, 4:30–6:30 p.m., Dance Studio (?).
Wellness Yoga.
- Tuesday, 2025-01-28, 7:30–9:00 p.m., Harris Concert Hall.
Queer Stompede
Misc
- Thursday, 2025-01-23, 4:00–5:00 p.m., Noyce 3821.
Summer CS MAPs and 299s
- Tea beforehand in the CS Commons.
- Thursday, 2025-01-23, 7:00–8:00 p.m., Noyce 2022.
Summer Research Opportunities.
- Thursday, 2025-01-30, 4:00–5:00 p.m., Noyce 3821.
CS Major Declaration Info Session.
- Tea beforehand in the CS Commons.
Other good things
These do not earn tokens, but are worth your consideration.
- Wednesday, 2025-01-22, 5:30–7:30 p.m., Darby.
Women’s Basketball vs. Monmouth.
- Wednesday, 2025-01-22, 7:30–9:30 p.m., Darby.
Men’s Basketball vs. Monmouth.
- Saturday, 2025-02-01, 10:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m., Field House.
Grinnell Track and Field Invitational.
Upcoming work
Attendance
- Sam will (attempt to) call you by first name.
- You will respond with
- “Hi, my name is FIRST LAST. (PROPER SURNAME)
- (Optional pronouns.)
- I prefer to be called NAME.
- If you must address me by last name, please call me
Mr./Ms./Mx./Srta./Sr./etc. LAST NAME san/etc.
- This semester , I am excited about ….
- Optionally, ask me a question about the class. You’ll also have
many more chances in the future.
- Note: For the first few weeks of class, please say your name each time
you ask or answer a question.
Excited About
- UM
- Theatre
- Weather getting warmer
- Ping pong
- Couplilng things
- Art
- Mainstage Theatre
- Spend time with friends
- Snow
- Being excited about getting up in the morning
- Baseball
- Percussion ensemble
- Completing my first year of college
- Declaring a major
- Travelling around the midwest for track events
- Renfrow
- Watching school basketball conference game
- New things in classes.
- Swimming and diving.
- Pool. (The table thing, not the place you swim.)
- Guitar.
- Exploring Grinnell.
Q&A
- UM: Do we Use Math in this class? Yes.
- What’s Sam’s favorite thing about CS? I like to build things, and it’s
easier to build fun things on the computer than in the physical world.
(I also like to build things in the physical world; sculpture was one
of my favorite classes.) I also like the problem-solving aspects.
- How much homework do we have for this class? Lots!
- Readings and reading responses for most class days. (30 min–1 hour)
- Weekly “mini projects” (opportunities to write small programs outside
of class). (4–5.5 hrs) (tell me when you get close to 4 hours, so that I
can think about what made it take so long and ensure that the last bit
takes under 1.5 hrs)
- Daily labs + lab writeups (0 hrs to 1 hour)
- Weekly mentor sessions (1 hour) (optional)
- Four exams, which are all take-home and replace mini-projects in
the weeks they are assigned. (usually much less than four hours)
- This class seems to have a weird grading system. Where do readings fall?
- Readings fall into the category of “If you don’t do them, your grade
will drop”.
- What are the expectations for citation?
- What’s your favorite part of teaching CSC-151. Making fun of students.
Getting to know new people. Exposing them to the wonders of CS. Convincing
some people that they should take more CS. We can make cool images in this
version of 151, and I enjoy doing that.
- How long has Sam been teaching CS at Grinnell? Since fall of 1997.
- What languages does the the language we use in the course (Scheme)
resemble?
- Lisp
- I have heard people say that the conceptual design of Javascript
is based on Scheme.
- I have heard one of the designers of Java say that his goal in
designing newer versions of Java is to get it closer to Scheme.
(Again, conceptually.)
- Scheme looks nothing like Java or Javascript.
What is computer science?
- Computer science is the study of algorithms and data structures
- Algorithms: Sets of (unambiguous) instructions.
- Data Structures: Ways to organize information.
- We study algorithms by …
- writing algorithms to accomplish certain tasks.
(E.g., Organizing or searching information.)
- identify problems
- generalize / simplify
- write instructions that allow “you” to solve them
- analyzing their efficacy.
- writing systems that implement those instructions (e.g., hardware
or languages).
- considering their effects on individuals or society.
- We study data structures in similar ways.
- Most of this class will be writing and thinking about sets of
instructions in an artificial language (aka a programming language).
- We use an artificial language because artificial languages
can be designed to be less ambiguous. (Also easier for the
computer to follow.)
Exercise
Practice writing algorithms!
- Form a group with other people with the same card number. E.g., all
the 4’s should get together.
- Write instructions so that Sam can make a ??? and ??? sandwich
using the box o’ sandwich supplies.
- Assume that Sam is clueless. It’s likely to be a good assumption.
- Apologies for the potential food waste.
- You should try to limit the food waste and the mess.
Questions
- What holds the bread bag closed? Write instructions that work for a
twist tie or a clip.
Debrief
- It’s easier to write algorithms when you can observe what’s happening
along the way and adapt.
- Things will go wrong; the computer will misinterpret: When it does,
look back on today and remember laughing.
- We think better in groups than alone.
- More next class.