ECS 145, Winter 2018
Course Structure and Requirements

Norm Matloff, matloff@cs.ucdavis.edu

I TEACH DIFFERENTLY FROM OTHERS:

• Quizzes EVERY week. Open book.
• Heavy READING REQUIRED, tested on the QUIZZES.
• End-of-quarter term project, with WRITTEN report.
• Group work plays a central role in homework, term project.
• Quizzes are taken on your laptop computer, in class, using the OMSI system, in which you will do actual programming and running code.

Coverage:

We will focus on the Python and R languages, spending about 5 weeks on each. (R will be viewed as a programming language, object-oriented and functional programming-based, with interesting metaprogramming features; this is NOT a course for those interested in learning about R's statistical features.)

This is NOT a "Where do you put the semicolon?" class. (No class should be like that, including ECS 30 and 40.) Instead, the issues are the goals of the language, the strengths and shortcomings, external enhancement (e.g. interfacing to C/C++), performance issues, etc.

Necessary background:

• NO prior knowledge of Python and R is required.
• You need programming skill on the level of ECS 60. You must be able to write programs ON YOUR OWN, WITHOUT being given an outline. IF YOU DO NOT FEEL CONFIDENT IN WRITING CODE WITHOUT HELP FROM OTHERS, THIS IS NOT THE COURSE FOR YOU; you would get very low grades in the Quizzes.

  You also need to know C++ and data structures from ECS 60, and the same comment applies as above: IF FOR INSTANCE YOU DO NOT FEEL COMFORTABLE IN WRITING RECURSION CODE, this is not the course for you.

• You need a good intuitive grasp of math. We will use linear algebra a lot, for instance, and though there will be a tutorial for those lacking such background, even those with prior background in linear algebra will struggle if they lack good math intuition.

Textbooks:

You are REQUIRED to have hard copies of these documents -- actual paper, not electronic (best to go to a copying store). Please print them BEFORE classes start. Quizzes are open-book/open-notes.

Workload:

Required textbook reading(!); weekly Quizzes (including group Quiz on the last day of lecture); about four programming assignments; final written project. (No midterms, no final exam.) Programming assignments, last-day Quiz, and final project are done in groups; group coordination process adds to the workload.

Programming Assisgnments (Homework):

• Done in GROUPS.
• Grading is done INTERACTIVELY, by group.
• TA will ask each members of the Group questions, both about the assignment and about the course material in general. Each group member receives a separate grade; one member may get an A+ while another gets a D.

Lecture/Learning Format

• It is expected that the student be NON-PASSIVE in learning. Most of the student learning comes from reading the textbooks in very careful, thoughtful detail.
• I used to lecture in the traditional way -- I spent time writing on the board, the students spent time copying it to paper.
• Then I realized, "What a colossal waste!" So, now I give you the printed notes, so you and I can spend the time discussing the material.
• So, in lecture, we DISCUSS the books. I almost never write on the board, nor do I have Powerpoint slides.
• It is NOT recommended that students read the books ahead of the lecture. In the lecture, I prepare you to do the reading.
• Goals of the lecture:
  • Clarify issues brought up by students concerning reading related to the last lecture.
  • Prepare students for the next reading material, by giving an overview of what the material will do, and going into the more difficult examples in detail .

• You could decide to skip lecture and just read the books, but it IS really helpful to go to lecture. There will be spur-of-the-moment examples and insights, answers to students' questions. etc. And you are responsible, in Quizzes and interactive Homework grading, for everything that comes up in lecture.