Required Reading

 

You are expected to complete all required reading before the material is discussed in class. I want to emphasize the word “discussed.” I do not plan to “lecture” about the assigned material. Rather I expect you to come to class with specific questions that arise from your reading of the material. Specifically, you must post to the class newsgroup, NO LATER THAN 8am on the day the reading is scheduled to be covered, one or more of the following:

  1. a list of questions about portions of the reading that you did not understand,
  2. a list of related comments/questions/ideas that the reading prompted you to think about or derived from additional reading (e.g. from the “Notes and References” sections at the end of the chapters in the textbook).
  3. thoughtful responses to questions or comments posed by other students.

If the topic for that day is sufficiently familiar and/or the presentation in the reading is sufficiently clear that you fully understand it, then you can concentrate on the second and third categories above. If the reading is difficult and/or new for you then you are welcome to concentrate on the first category. Students expecting an A will be expected to be regularly contributing questions/comments in categories 2 and 3.

Your questions do NOT need to be unique. Just because someone else posed a question, does not mean you cannot pose the same question. Feel free to develop your questions without reference to the newsgroup then simply post your questions/comments. You should go back to the newsgroup after class and read (at the very least) whatever responses I have posted. You will be responsible for that material on the midterm and final, just as if it was discussed in class. You might also, time permitting, try and read other postings before class.

 

As a guideline (not a requirement) I would expect a typical posting to be between 100 and 300 words with 5-10 distinct questions/comments. Far fewer will leave me wondering if you read the entire assignment. Many more will simply be overwhelming - try and narrow it down to the most important 5-10.

 

Here are some example questions.

  • Louden states on page 63, “In Java, pointers have been eliminated altogether.” I thought references were just pointers. Why does Louden say they have been eliminated? [type 1]
  • If extensibility, such as operator overloading, is good (page 65), why didn’t Java allow it (like C++)? [type 2]
  • What precisely are the C++ or Java rules for overload resolution (page 155)? [type 2]
  • Why must the example in Java on page 165 use Integer not int? [type 1]
  • How does Euclid limit aliasing (page 176)? [type 2]

 

You are required to prepare your questions in writing. Bring the list with you to class and post it to the class newsgroup (ucsc.class.cmps203) before class. Your questions will be used to drive the class discussion that day. Please note that if you don’t have any questions in category 1 above then you will be presumed to understand it sufficiently to contribute to a discussion of other students’ questions.

 

For the homework portion of the class grade it is important that you post your own list of questions as a response to the top level posting in the newsgroup starting the thread for that day. In addition (not in place of), you are encouraged to respond to other students’ posting. These responses will contribute towards the class participation portion of your grade. This can be an important venue for those students that are reluctant to speak up in class, although it cannot fully supplant actual in class participation.

 

For the homework portion of your grade, your posted questions will be graded using the following system. I generally grade homework on a 3 point scale (check-, check, check+). I have modified it slightly. The scores are constrained to be integer values between 7 and 10. I've chosen these numbers so that I can compute an actual percentage for the grade. The values are chosen with the following interpretation in mind.

 

7 (check-): improvement needed, a C

8 (almost a check): marginally acceptable, a B

9 (check): what was expected, an A

10 (check+): outstanding, an A+

 

Remember, in terms of grading, the point of the posting is to convince me that you have actually done the reading and mostly understand it. Of course the posting serves other purposes as well (beyond the need for me to provide an evaluation at the end of the quarter).