EBoard 01: Getting Started (Section 3)
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 Lilli Lewis
- Lilli will introduce herself
- Here to help you with the course
- Also for broader things (advice on CS, life at College, etc.)
- Hosts optional mentor sessions - Mentor sessions are to help you
when Sam fails to teach them correctly.
- 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 CS 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?
- 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.
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 brining 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.
- 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.
- Sam is snarky. Snark is just love, msispelled.
- 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., 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
- Bowling! [x2]
- Friends back from abroad. [x2]
- Being back in Iowa in the midst of the cold.
- Classes [x2]
- Putting extra effort into my classes because I’m taking 12 credits.
- Film class (intro FMS)
- Snow
- New friends in new classes
- Pride week
- The weather getting better
- Violin
- More STEM classes
- Trying new foods (there’s a great international food festival in Des Moine)
- Philosophy class
- Classes in classics
Q&A
- What’s the hardest part of this class? Keeping up with the constant work.
Admitting that you don’t understand something and you should give up for
the time being. (That’s okay.)
- What percentage of the class work is group projects?
- Almost every class is a “pair programming” lab.
- 8/9 homeworks are individual, but you can discuss them with anyone
(provided you cite)
- The last homework is a group assignment.
- How do tokens work?
- In spite of your best efforts, you will find that you cannot turn
in a piece of work by the deadline. It costs a token for a two-day
extension.
- In spite of you being incredibly responsible, you may find that you
have an unexecused absence. It costs two tokens for an unexcused absence.
- Tell me about the grading system.
- We use a mastery grading system in 151. The system is designed so that
it’s fine if you don’t get something right the first time; you always
get a second chance (and often a third and more …).
- How is the workload in this class?
- Readings for each class (30 min to 60 min per class)
- Daily labs and lab writeups. (Optional finishing outside of class)
- Weekly homework assignment (4hr - 5.5hr). Tell me when you hit 4hrs,
and we’ll talk about what’s going on and see what we can do.
- When we have exams, there are no homework assignments. Exams
are take home and should be less than 4 hrs.
- Weekly mentor session (optional) (1 hr)
- Quizzes (in class, usually Friday).
- [Unfortunately, this does not count makeup work.]
- Does what you type show up somewhere?
- Yes, in the eboards section of our course web site.
- Why are the parentheses blue?
- Because the editor shows matching parens.
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.
- Write unambiguous instructions so that Sam can make a wow butter and
banana 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.
- Additional guidelines
- You cannot look at the wow butter jar or the bread loaf
- The bread loaf has either a plastic clip or a twist tie
- The bread loaf is already sliced (Peppridge farm 100% whole wheat)
- You should attempt to minimize waste
- You should attempt to minimize mess
- Sam understands the names of things and how to grab items
- Things are out of the box already
- The tablecloth is on the table
- The apron is on the Sam
Debrief
What might you have learned?
- It’s easier to write algorithms if we observe what is happening as we
go, rather than trying to write the whole thing at once.
- There’s more ambiguity in simple instructions than you might expect.
- We write algorithms better as a team.
- When things go wrong, laugh.