This website will always contain the most up-to-date information regarding the course. Please check it regularly.
Course announcements will be posted on course forum (Piazza). You are responsible for reading all announcements posted on the course forum.
You can find the course information sheet in here.
Seyed Amir Hejazi (Call Me Amir)
Mondays/Tuesdays/Wednesdays 5-6 pm in BA3289
To meet outside these hours, please make an appointment well in advance (to make sure that I will be there and free to see you).
Note: The first office hour will be held on September 21.
Course Notes for CSC B36/236/240: Introduction to the Theory of Computation, by Professor Vassos Hadzilacos (available as a free PDF here).
Note: We will not follow these notes to the letter. This is a comprehensive source to refer to for explanations and examples on the course material. Lecture slides/notes for class are another source and can be found here.
Here is complimentary book (link in our library) which is a good secondary source to get a better understanding of some of the materials covered in this course, specially if you need extra help.
Please use email for personal matters only; post all other questions/comments on the course discussion board. All technical questions on the discussion board are happily answered. All technical questions sent by email to the instructor will be ignored. Please use a descriptive subject line for all of your electronic correspondence—for email, always include the course number. A good practice is to start your subject as "CSC236: ...". To help prevent your messages being incorrectly tagged as spam, please email only from your UTOR- mail account (see www.utorid.utoronto.ca).
We love to hear and answer your questions in lectures or tutorials. It will be easier to quickly interact for mutual clarifications. Here is the rule: the more questions you ask in the class, the more your instructor and fellow students appreciate your contribution to learning experience.
Regarding general questions about the course material or assignments or exams, the discussion board is the default place to ask questions. Many of your fellow students may have the exact same question in mind (or even better, should have it but haven’t thought of it yet!) and will appreciate it if they see the question asked (and already answered) on their next visit to the board. So, unless the question involves a personal nature (and we don’t expect many of these to come up), ask all your questions on the discussion board (and check if someone has asked the same question before). If I receive any of these questions through email, for the same reasons mentioned, I will post the question and its answer on the discussion board.
We will generally answer queries within two business days (i.e. not counting weekends), although we may take longer during particularly busy times (e.g., around project due dates). For your own benefit, please do not rely on getting same-day answers (which we cannot guarantee, unfortunately). We are sure, knowing that there are over 380 students in all sections of this course, you understand the limits of our power to guarantee anything better for you.
We really prefer to hear and answer your general (scientific) questions in lectures or tutorials. It will be easier to quickly interact for mutual clarifications. So, use the forum as a secondary (vs primary) source of posing your questions.
Beware of posting anything on a public forum that might give away any part of your solution — this could be misinterpreted as an attempt to commit plagiarism!
All of the work you hand in (homeworks, test, and exam) must not contain anyone else’s work or ideas without proper attribution. In particular, the actual writeup of your homeworks must be done in isolation from other students (for individual work) or groups (for group work) and without copying from notes or other sources. This ensures that your solution is truly your own, and that your grade reflects your own understanding of the course material. To be safe, do not let others look at your solutions, even in draft form and even after the due date. Please read the "Guidelines for Avoiding Plagiarism" here and "How not to Plagiarize"here.
Attendance is not compulsory, but highly recommended for both lectures and tutorials. We would love to have you participate in the lectures and the tutorials and If you do attend, please give us the benefit of your full attention. This means not using laptops, tablets, smart phones (unless you are taking notes on one of these devices), to avoid distracting your fellow students (and, me, to be honest!).
Please give feedback (positive or negative) as often as and as early as you can. Leaving your voice to be heard only at the course evaluation time (at the end of the term) does not serve you at all, and does little for us when we are robbed of the chance to discuss the issues face to face with you and get a good understanding of the situation.
All remarking requests should be submitted (to your instructor) within 10 days of when the corresponding homework or test is returned. Picking up your tests, or looking at your marked work on MarkUs is your responsibility. Note that there is always the possibility of losing marks if the marker notices something that was incorrectly granted a high mark. In other words, a re-mark is really a re-mark.
When you email your instructor about a remark request, be as specific as possible to save time. Mention exactly where you think you deserved more marks and why. It will help me to quickly identify the problem point and contact the relevant marker about it.
If you are unable to complete a homework or if you missed a term test due to major illness or other circumstances completely outside of your control, please contact your instructor immediately (as soon as it is possible for you given the situation) in order to receive special consideration. Note that special consideration will be considered on an individual basis and will not be given automatically—in other words, you risk getting a mark of zero for missed work unless you contact your instructor promptly and preferably before you miss an exam or homework deadline. This is a uniform policy throughout the college, and we cannot change the rules for the purpose of this course.
In the case of illness, medical documentation must be supplied on the standard University of Toronto's "Verification of Student Illness or Injury" form. You can also obtain a paper copy of this certificate from your college registrar or in your registration handbook. A simple "note" from your doctor is unfortunately not acceptable. Again, this is a policy that is enforced college-wide, and your instructor is not able to change or bend these rules for you.
The University of Toronto is committed to accessibility. If you require accommodations for a disability, or a particular health condition, please contact Accessibility Services as soon as possible.