This page will provide general course information and access to various documents concerning CSC373. Weekly announcements for the course will be posted on this web site. The required text is "Algorithm Design" by Jon Kleinberg and Eva Tardos. The text "Introduction to Algorithms" (second edition) by Corman, Leiserson, Rivest and Stein is an additional good reference. Some further course information is contained in the brief course syllabus that will be handed out during the first lecture. Students are encouraged to check the undergrad bulletin board which contains announcements such as job and scholarship opportunities, academic and social events, and reminders of administrative deadlines.
Please send any comments or questions to the instructor:
Problem set 3 and term test 3 can be collected in my office. I should be in my office most days until the end of May.
My regrading policy: If you think that a question was not graded correctly (and here I mean that you believe you deserve significantly more credit that you received), then you can ask for that question to be regraded by submitting the test with a one or two paragraph explanation for why you think the question was not graded properly. I will then ask the person who graded the question to consider your appeal. If you are still not satisfied that you have received proper credit, then I will look at the appeal in consultation with the grader. If a change of grade has occured that can apply to other students, I will announce the basis for the change.
The following grading scheme will be used for this course: 3 assignments (worth 5% each), 3 term tests (closely related to the assignments and worth 15% each) and a final 3 hour exam worth 40%. As will be discussed in class, every (sub) problem in any assignment or test will be worth some multiple of 5 points. You will receive 1/5 points for any (sub) problem for which you state "I do not know how to answer this question". You will receive .5/5 if you leave a question blank. If instead you submit irrelevant or erroneous answers you will lose the 1/5 points. That is, you will receive some credit for knowing what you don't know. You can also receive some additional credit for partial work that is clearly "on the right track". Even if the assignments are worth only 5% each, you are still obliged to submit your own work. In our first lecture, I will give a pragmatic definition for distiguishing between genuine learning together and plagarism. If you have any questions please see the instructor immediately! Any cases of plagarism will be reported to the Faculty.
IMPORTANT NOTE: I allow one page (double-sided) handwritten notes as an aid in all my tests and exams.
You may also find it helpful to look at the problem sets and other handouts for the most recent versions of CSC373 and CSC375 that I have taught.
I will also be providing links here to Professor Allan Jepson's lecture notes and demos used in his Fall 2010 CSC373 class. Many of these documents are password protected. I will provide the password during the January 10 lecture.