CS3100 - Data Structures and Algorithms II Course Logistics

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Syllabus | Lectures | Textbook |Quizzes | Homeworks and Grading Policy | Final Exam | Final Letter Grades |

Syllabus

The syllabus for the course can be found here. Most (but not all) of that information is summarized here.

Lectures

Lectures will be held in-person in the classroom listed on the University Registrar. Lectures will be recorded for the convenience of those who cannot intend or prefer not to for any reason. At the time of writing, mask mandates have been repealed and wearing a mask in lecture is optional.

Covid-19 Policies and FAQ

Everyone please read this page on policies and information about how Covid-19 will affect our course.

Textbook

You will really need to read and study material other than the slides. There are many choices where you can get more details about our topics, but a textbook is the easiest option.

We’ll post readings from the following textbook, and we urge you to read them or get that info from another source.

Introduction to Algorithms by Cormen, et. al., 3rd edition. Referred to as “CLRS”. UVA Library has a digital version of CLRS available online for free

Quizzes

The course is divided into 8 modules, each which lasts for about 5 lectures (almost 2 weeks). The 8 modules are listed below:

• Module 1: Graphs - Introduction
• Module 2: Graphs - Advanced
• Module 3: Divide and Conquer Algorithms
• Module 4: Greedy Algorithms
• Module 5: Dynamic Programming
• Module 6: Network Flow / Bi-Partite Matching
• Module 7: NP-Completeness (NOTE: Canceled! Everyone earns free high pass)
• Module 8: Machine Learning Algorithms (NOTE: Canceled! Everyone earns free high pass)

The course contains exactly 8 quizzes (one per module). Each quiz can be taken multiple times, and each quiz can be in one of 3 states:

• Incomplete: The quiz has not been passed to any level of satisfaction yet.
• Pass: The student has shown sufficient knowledge in this topic area. The grade on this quiz was at least 70 percent (e.g., 14/20).
• High Pass: The student has shown significant or near perfect knowledge in this topic area. The grade on this quiz was at least 90 percent (e.g., 18/20).

You will always earn your highest mark on any quiz across all attempts. So, there is never any reason not to attempt a quiz if you are unsatisfied with your grade (your grade can never decrease).

Final Exam

There is no traditional final exam in this course. During the final exam time, you will be given one last attempt at all 8 (6) of the course quizzes. This is your last chance to pass any quizzes that are still outstanding. If you have passed all topics (or are already happy with your final grade), then you may choose not to take the final.

Homeworks

There are one or two homework assignments per module (depending on the module), that must be completed in order to pass that module (more on passing modules in a moment). The homeworks in this course were designed with the following goals / principles in mind:

• Goal 1: Homework should be somewhat low-stress to pass, but provide opportunity for deep, reflective practice with the material.
• Goal 2: Every student should be required to show effort / progress on homework. Essentially, a student should provide evidence of engaging with the homework even if the quality of the work is not yet perfect.
• Goal 3: Homeworks should be submittable at any time during the semester.

For these reasons the homework in this course is required, with recommended deadlines (with automatic extensions), and can be submitted as many times as required. The grading state for each assignment is one of the following:

• Incomplete: The student has not yet shown clear effort and engagement with the assignment. The homework is not at a passing level yet.
• Pass: The assignment is at a passing level, though may not be perfect or mastered yet. The student is encouraged to continue engaging with perfecting the assignment even though they have passed (if applicable). The correlates to an 80% or higher score on a homework assignment.

Passing a Module

As stated earlier, the course contains 8 modules. Each module, at any time, is always in one of the following states:

• Incomplete: At least one of the homeworks or quiz for this module is still incomplete.
• Pass: There are two ways to pass a module. One of the following must be true:
  • All homeworks AND the quiz have both been passed. The quiz is NOT at the high pass level.
  • One or more homework is Incomplete AND the quiz has been high-passed.
• High Pass: The homeworks are all passed AND the quiz is passed at the high-pass level.

Final Letter Grades

Your letter grade in this course corresponds to the number MODULES you have passed (Note this is MODULES passed, not homeworks or quizzes. To pass a module, you must pass ALL the homework AND the quiz in that module). Please note the following things when reading this grading chart:

• Breadth matters more than depth: Note that passing MORE modules is amost always better than increasing a passing module from pass to high pass. For example, if you have 7 modules passed (2 of which are high-pass). Then passing a new module will raise your grade to a B-, while raising an old module to high-pass will raise your grade to only a C+.
• Depth starts to matter more once you reach a B-: Once you reach a grade of B-, getting the modules to the high-pass level matters more.

UPDATE: 11/15/22 - Everybody earns one free high-pass (module 8). Make sure to take this into account when calculating your grade.

UPDATE: 11/18/22 - Everybody will earn a free high-pass on module 7 as well. Remember to account for this when calculating your grade (everyone has 2 modules passed, 2 of them high-pass BEFORE considering hw and quizzes passed during the semester.

Legend

• A blank row translates to No change from the row above. This makes the table easier to read.
• The number of modules at high pass is NOT summative. For example, the row for B says 8 modules passed, and 3 of those 8 must be at the high-pass level (It is NOT the case that you need 3 additional modules at the high-pass level)

Policy on NC / GC / CR

As most of you know, the University is allowing students to translate their grades from letter grades to pass/fail grades AFTER you see your final grade. The process for requesting and making this change will be handled by the registrar and not by instructors. This section highlights some general issues regarding this that you should be aware of.

Grade Translation

The grade translation works as scene in the chart below:

We will not be making any alterations to our grading policy and your grade will be submitted as specified in the previous section.

Prerequisites

In CS, we require a C- or better OR CR to meet prerequisites for future CS courses. This means that if you earn a grade of C-, you need to be deliberate about whether you choose to convert that C- into a GC or not. We have a separate recommendation depending on which curriculum track you are on (see below).

If you are on the OLD curriculum (i.e., you took CS2150)

If you took CS2150 and are on the old curriculum, then DSA2 is not a prerequisite for any future CS course. This means that if you earn a C-, you can safely change it into a GC if you’d like without disrupting your graduation.

If you are on the NEW curriculum (i.e., you took DSA1)

If you are on the new curriculum then DSA1 IS a prerequisite for future CS courses. If you earn a C-, then you have a (possibly difficult) choice to make. Your C- will allow you to continue to work towards the major, but will hurt your GPA. A GC will help your GPA, but will mean you need to retake that class to meet the prerequisite requirement. This is, of course, up to you.