Colby

CS Department

Course

Syllabus

Projects

Title image Spring 2022

Syllabus for CS 125 Fall 2020

Course Description

An introduction to the programming language R and how it can be used for statistical analysis and visualization of data. Students will learn how to write basic R programs that can read, write, and manipulate data. They will make use of R functions for executing common statistical analysis and learn how to display the results using the base R graphing and charting functions. Through a series of projects, students will get experience with writing their own functions, learn how to make use of R documentation and how to extend their own knowledge of the language.

Learning Goals

  1. Students can read a simple R program and correctly predict its behavior.
  2. Students can write programs in R to read, write, and manipulate data.
  3. Students can write programs in R to execute common statistical analyses and generate visualizations of the results.
  4. Students have experience with the concepts of functions, modularity, and abstraction.
  5. Students have experience with R documentation and how to extend their knowledge on their own.

What to Expect

To complete the course, you need to turn in 8 projects. There are videos and instructions for each project already posted on Project page. Class time (let's call it "lab time" because that is more apppropriate) will be used for Stephanie to help you get unstuck with your projects and to answer any questions have you about programming. That means you should watch the videos and start the project before coming to class.

Grading

This course is a 1-credit CR/NC course. There will be eight projects, one for each lab session you attend. To pass the course you must complete all eight projects and attend at least eight lab sessions.

All grading will be binary: the project is considered complete if all tasks produce a correct result using an appropriate method.

Help and Discussion Outside of Lecture

Office Hours

The professor will be available outside of class during the posted office hours. Your primary access to the professor for this course will be the lab sessions.

Evening TA Help

In order to provide as much help as possible to you as you work on assignments in this course, the CS Dept has hired upper-level CS students to work as TAs in Davis 102 in the evenings. You are strongly encouraged to take advantage of this resource. The TAs are getting paid to help you, so don't feel guilty about asking them for help. The evening TA hours are: Sunday 4-10pm, Monday 7-10pm, and Tuesday 4-6 & 7-10 pm. Note that some of them will not know R, but they may still be able to help.

Guidelines

Policies

Attendance and Participation

Lectures for this course will be provided as videos. You should watch the 1-2 videos associated with a project before coming to lab and working on the project.

Each week, you should plan to attend lab (i.e. the section you registered for). There are eight projects and you should be able to complete each project in one week, which means you should be able to finish the course before the end of the semester. Once you have turned in all 8 projects, you do not need to attend lab.

Deadlines

All work should be submitted by May 6th. If you have not completed most of the projects by, March 18th, (the last day to drop a course without penalty), you should consider whether you will complete the projects. The professor will provide limited feedback on your work as it is submitted, the primary mechanism for feedback is to ask questions during the lab sessions.

Collaboration and Academic Honesty

Computer science, both academically and professionally, is a collaborative discipline. In any collaboration, however, all parties are expected to make their own contributions and to generously credit the contributions of others. In our class, therefore, collaboration on homework and programming assignments is encouraged, but you as an individual are responsible for understanding all the material in the assignment and doing your own work. Always strive to do your best, give generous credit to others, start early, and seek help early from both your professors and classmates.

The following rules are intended to help you get the most out of your education and to clarify the line between honest and dishonest work. We reserve the right to ask you to verbally explain the reasoning behind any answer or code that you turn in and to modify your project grade based on your answers. It is vitally important that you turn in work that is your own. We do use automated plagiarism detection software, so please be sure to abide by these, rather minimal, rules. Reports of academic dishonesty are handled by an academic review board and a finding of academic dishonesty may result in significant sanctions. For more details on Colby’s Academic Integrity policies and procedures, see www.colby.edu/academicintegrity/.

If you have had a substantive discussion of any homework or programming solution with a classmate, then be sure to cite them in your project report. If you are unsure of what constitutes "substantive", then ask us or err on the side of caution. As one rule of thumb, if you see more than 10 lines of someone else's code, then you should cite them. You will not be penalized for working together. You must not copy answers or code from another student either by hand or electronically. Another way to think about it is that you should be talking English with one another, not R.

The Colby Affirmation

Colby College is a community dedicated to learning and committed to the growth and well-being of all its members.

As a community devoted to intellectual growth, we value academic integrity. We agree to take ownership of our academic work, to submit only work that is our own, to fully acknowledge the research and ideas of others in our work, and to abide by the instructions and regulations governing academic work established by the faculty.

As a community built on respect for ourselves, each other, and our physical environment, we recognize the diversity of people who have gathered here and that genuine inclusivity requires active, honest, and compassionate engagement with one another. We agree to respect each other, to honor community expectations, and to comply with College policies.

As a member of this community, I pledge to hold myself and others ccountable to these values.

Sexual Misconduct/Title IX Statement

Colby College prohibits and will not tolerate sexual misconduct or gender-based discrimination of any kind. Colby is legally obligated to investigate sexual misconduct (including, but not limited to, sexual assault and sexual harassment) and other specific forms of behavior that violate federal and state laws (Title IX and Title VII, and the Maine Human Rights Act). Such behavior also requires the College to fulfill certain obligations under two other federal laws, the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Statistics Act (Clery Act). To learn more about 4 what constitutes sexual misconduct or to report an incident, see: http://www.colby.edu/studentlife/handbook-section/f-sexualmisconduct/

I am committed to all Colby students feeling safe, accepted, and included in all aspects of their college experiences, including this course. Colby prohibits and will not tolerate sexual misconduct or gender based discrimination of any kind and is obligated, by federal and state laws, to respond to reports and provide resources to students. As your professor I am considered a "responsible employee" which requires me to report incidence of sexual misconduct, dating violence, or harassment to the Title IX Coordinator.

If you wish to access confidential support services, you may contact:

Bruce A. Maxwell © 2019