Syllabus
Table of contents
- Preface
- Welcome
- Platforms
- Primary Course Components
- Projects and Deadlines
- Exams
- Exam Clobber Policy
- Grading
- Extension Requests
- Lateness Penalties
- DSP Accommodations
- Academic Integrity
- Diversity and Inclusion Statement
- Academic Accommodations Hub
- EECS Student Climate & Incident Reporting Form
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Preface
All times below are in PST. Please add âberkeley.eduâ at the end of all emails.
Welcome
Welcome to CS10: The Beauty and Joy of Computing!
Weâre really excited to have you on board with us this semester for a gentle, but thorough introduction to Computer Science. Our course will start out in the block-based language Snap!, but will transition into Python once youâve learned some fundamentals of programming. By the end of the course, we hope youâll walk away with a deeper understanding of the ideas that have come to define computer science, the ability to build your own programs, and the confidence to apply these skills in whichever field you choose to pursue.
Platforms
This semester, CS10 will run fully in-person. Consequently, remote (or hybrid) students can not be supported.
- Course Website: The day-to-day happenings of the course (and links to all the platforms below) can be found at cs10.org. Consult the daily schedule to find the times/locations for all synchronous course engagements.
- Edstem: This will be our main Q&A platform, where you can ask (and answer) questions, see announcements, and read Weekly Blasts, which are required readings in CS10. Click the
Ed Discussiontab on the left to navigate to Edstem. Here is the link to the EdStem - Gradescope: This is where you will submit Projects 1-4, and the Final Project. Click the
Gradescopetab on the left to open Edstem. Submission instructions can be found at the following: Gradescope. - Bcourses: Lecture recordings can be found on the Bcourses site, generally within 48h of lecture. You will have to be logged into your Berkeley email to access the recordings. The recordings are under the âMedia Galleryâ tab in Bcourses.
- IClicker: You are required to create a free iClicker account and download the free iClicker app. Then, you should signup with your Berkeley email. To get credit for attending lecture, please open the app once youâre seated in the lecture hall and mark your attendance. If for some reason you are not enrolled, use this join iClicker link.
- PrairieLearn: Project-5, Pyturis, will be submitted via PrairieLearn. This is also the platform you will use to take exams.
- Snap!: The programming language we will be using for more than half the semester. The website can be found here: Snap!
Primary Course Components
Lecture
Lectures will be live and in-person in Hearst Field Annex, Room A1 Mondays and Wednesdays, from 1PM to 2PM. They will be recorded, and recordings will be posted on Bcourses (see platforms section).
Lectures aim to introduce concepts and provide a âbig-picture viewâ of material from a theoretical standpoint. Most lectures will be live and in person. However, some lecture will be pre-recorded, which you can watch on your free time, and there will be an assignment that corresponds to it to test your conceptual understanding. Attendance for these days will be through the âLecture Quizâ solely (and no iClicker is needed for those days).
Attendance is required, and credit for attending will be through the iClicker app. If you cannot attend lecture, you will need to complete the corresponding âLecture Quizâ on Gradescope for attendance credit. The corresponding lecture quiz will be due on Gradescope the day of the following lecture at 2359hrs. On this quiz, we will ask questions about lecture content. You may fill out our general extension form to receive an automatic 24-hour extension for lecture quizzes.
Your lowest 3 lecture-quiz scores will be automatically dropped â so you can miss up to 3 lectures (or skip 3 quizzes) without penalty, and you donât need to inform us when you miss class. These drops are not intended to be âfree-passesâ to skip lectures: please reserve them for unexpected emergencies / sickness / ⌠since missing out on content will only disrupt your learning. If there are extenuating circumstances which cause you to miss more than 3 lectures (like prolonged sickness, family emergencies, etc.) then you should visit Support OH.
Lab Sections
Labs will be held synchronously and are the primary place you will learn to program. Note that you are strongly recommended to complete all labs with a partner, and that partner-matching threads have been added to our Edstem Forum. On the first day of lab, Teaching Assistants (TAs) will help you find a partner in your assigned lab section. Labs will be located in Moffitt-145. You must attend the lab section you signed up for in CalCentral.
Lab assignments will be submitted to Gradescope. There will be two assignments for each lab: one wherein youâll submit the code you wrote, and one with conceptual checkoff problems. If you get a full score on both Gradescope assignments, you will get credit for that lab. Labs are graded on an all-or-nothing basis, which means if you donât get a full score on either (or both) of the two assignments, then you wonât get credit for that lab. In our lab sections (which are held in SDH-200), TAs and Tutors will be available to help you with the problems.
Lab X will be due the day that Lab X+1 is scheduled, at midnight. That is, each lab is due at midnight on the day that the next lab is released. For example, if Lab-12 is scheduled on Monday, and Lab-13 is scheduled on Wednesday, then Lab-12 will be due at midnight on Wednesday.There will be 18 graded labs (thereâs no submission or credit for lab-1), and your lowest 2 lab scores will be dropped.
Attendance to lab sections are required and part of your grade. You can miss up to 3 lab sections without penalty so you do not need to inform us when you cannot attend lab. If there are extenuating circumstances which cause you to miss more than 5 lab sections (like prolonged sickness, family emergencies, etc.) then you should visit Support OH. Please note, the 3 âskip daysâ for lab sections only applies to attendance. You are still required to complete and submit the lab assignment. Lab attendance will be tracked through a Google form.
If you cannot attend a lab section, then the lab will be due before the start of the next lab. So if you either cannot reguarly attend lab, or if you miss a day, the lab will be due earlier. For example, if Lab X is due on Monday at 11:59PM, but you did not attend lab in-person; then, the deadline for you to submit Lab X is Monday at 5PM (the time before the first lab section).
Discussion Sections
Discussion sections are where you will delve into the content more deeply with worksheets in traditional âpen-and-paperâ style. This is where you will develop the theoretical computational skills needed to understand the basics of programming and to prepare for our exams. Discussion will be located in the Anthropology and Art Practice Building, Room 160.
To get attendance credit for discussion, you will need to complete and submit the discussion worksheet (just the required portions). You must complete the entire required portions of the worksheet to receive credit. Worksheets will be graded on completion and honest effort. The discussion worksheets are located on the website, and you will submit them to Gradescope. You can submit the worksheet in any format, i.e. handwritten, electronically written, typed, etc. Discussion worksheets are due the day of the next discussion section at 11:59 PM. So, if Discussion X is due when Discussion X + 1 is released.
Your two lowest discussion worksheet scores / misses will be dropped. This means you can not submit two worksheets and still get full credit in your discussion grade. Please reserve these drops for unexpected emergencies / sickness / etc. You do not need to contact us if you miss or do not attend discussion. If you need an extension, please see the extension request section.
From experience, weâve observed that students who regularly attend and pay attention in discussions tend to do better on exams.
Office Hours (OH)
There will be three kinds of OH, described bellow. The times and locations for all OH are all posted under the âdaily scheduleâ tab on the course website. You donât need to email / obtain an appointment. You can attend any and all OH that work for you (i.e. you donât just have to attend your TAâs OH.)
General OH
General OH is intended for any course and content related questions. Here, you can get help with your code, debugging, understanding something conceptually, getting started on assignments, etc. General OH will be located in Soda-326
Support OH
These are intended for students to discuss their status in their class, catching up, discussing extenuating circumstances, requesting extensions, getting additional support, etc. Support OH is NOT for content related questions. So if you have questions about content, we will redirect you to General OH or Instructor OH
Instructor OH
Professor Garcia will be hosting Instructor OH (1 to 2PM on Fridays), which you may attend for more conceptual help (for instance, if youâre confused about some topic, or want to go over practice problems) or to discuss more general topics (e.g. college advice or how youâre doing in the class.) For help with specific assignments (labs and projects), you should attend Staff-OH.
Reading Quizzes
These are short assigned readings each week. We will discuss them as a class during discussion section. They are required reading, and you will answer the questions on the discussion worksheets pertaining to the readings.
Projects
These assignments will be one of the best ways for you to apply what you have learned in lecture, lab, and discussion. These will be a bit more time intensive than the other assignments and will require you to be caught up on the other components of the course.
- There will be 3 Snap! projects, 1 Python project, 1 research-based project, and 1 project wherein you can use a language of your choice to build something of your choice. The number of points per project is listed in the Grading Breakdown. Project specs will be released on the website and on Edstem, and you should always read them before starting to work on a project.
Projects and Deadlines
| Project | Submission Deadline |
|---|---|
| Project 1: Wordleâ˘-lite | Thu 9/12 |
| Project 2: Spelling-Bee | Thu 9/26 |
| Project 3: 2048 | Thu 10/10 |
| Project 4: Explore Post | Wed 10/16 |
| Project 4: Explore Post Comments | Tue 10/22 |
| Project 5: Pyturis | Thu 11/14 |
| Project 6: Final Project | Fri 12/6 |
All deadlines are at 11:59PM.
- Project Parties: These will serve as specialized OH wherein youâll be able to work with your peers (within the limits of our collaboration policies) and seek assistance from course-staff on whatever project is currently assigned. We strongly encourage you to attend project parties as they will help you finish your assignments on time. Project Parties will run on Mondays (6-9PM) and Fridays (6/23) on most weeks. Hereâs a detailed schedule:
Project-Party Schedule
| Week | Date | Time | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Project 1 | TUE 9/10 | 3-5PM | Soda-438 (Woz) |
| Project 2 | WED 9/25 | 5-9PM | Moffit-145 |
| Project 3 | MON 10/7 | 5-9PM | Moffit-145 |
| Project 5 | TUE 11/12 | 3-6PM | Soda-326 |
| Project 5 | MON 11/14 | 3-6PM | Soda-326 |
| Project 6 | MON 11/25 | 5-9PM | Moffit-145 |
| Project 6 | MON 12/2 | 5-9PM | Moffit-145 |
Exams
There will be three take-home, untimed, online, open-note exams (Quest, Midterm, and Postterm):
- Quest
- Midterm
- Postterm
Specific dates and more logistics for the exams will be released closer to the exam date. The best way to prepare is to utilize the practice exams posted under resources and the practice exams weâll release on PrairieLearn.
Exam Clobber Policy
If your percentage score on a latter exam is higher than your percentage score on a prior exam, then weâll replace your percentage score on the prior exam with the percentage score on the latter exam. The clobber can never hurt your grade: if you score lower, no replacement will be done.
Grading
General Grading Breakdown â Percentages
| Component | Percentage Weighting |
|---|---|
| Attendance / Participation | 5% |
| Labs | 16% |
| Projects | 38% |
| Quest | 5% |
| Midterm | 16% |
| Final Exam | 20% |
Specific Grading Breakdown â Points
| Component | Points |
|---|---|
| Quest | 25 |
| Midterm | 80 |
| Postterm | 100 |
| Project 1: Wordleâ˘-lite | 10 |
| Project 2: Spelling-Bee | 25 |
| Project 3: 2048 | 35 |
| Project 4: Explore | 15 |
| Project 5: Pyturis | 45 |
| Final Project | 60 |
| Labs | 80 |
| Attendance / Participation | 25 |
Total: 500 Points
Grading Bins
| Letter Grade | Range |
|---|---|
| A+ | 485-500 |
| A | 460-484 |
| A- | 450-459 |
| B+ | 440-449 |
| B | 420-439 |
| B- | 400-419 |
| C+ | 375-399 |
| C | 360-374 |
| C- | 350-359 |
| D | 300-349 |
| F | 0-299 |
Your total points will be rounded to the nearest integer when we compute letter grades. 0.5 will round to 1, but 0.49 will round to 0. We will not shift the bins / curve the class / ooch or round your grade beyond the listed rounding scheme, so please donât ask.
Extension Requests
For all extension requests on any assignment, please use the Extension Request Form.
Youâre also allowed to retroactively obtain extensions without penalty: i.e., you can obtain an extension even after the deadline of a lab/project, but not after the extended deadline for that assignment. The extended deadline for labs, as noted above, is the day that the next lab is scheduled, at 2359 hrs; for projects, itâs 72h after the original deadline.
NOTE: If you added the course late, please use your updated deadline as the âoriginal due dateâ.
Important: While extensions may not be visible on PrairieLearn/Gradescope (a.k.a your assignments may be marked as âLateâ), they will be factored in when we compute your final grade. Extensions are AUTO-approved after filling in the form.
Lab Extensions
We understand that circumstances may arise that may cause you to not be able to meet assignment deadlines.
The policy for extension requests on labs are as follows:
- An extension request will grant you an extra lab section in order to complete the lab assignment without any lateness penalties. For instance, if you ask for an extension on lab-12, which is generally due on the day that lab-13 is scheduled, then it will now be due the day that lab-14 is scheduled. So, if you are getting an exttension on Lab X, then the new deadline for Lab X is when Lab X + 2 is released at 11:59PM. However, if you are trying to obtain lab attendance credit, then it is due by 5PM when Lab X + 2 is released.
Project Extensions
The policy for project extension requests on projects are as follows:
- An extension request will automatically extend your project submission deadline by 72 hours without any lateness penalties. For instance, if a project is due by Monday at midnight, then the project will now be due by Thursday at midnight.
Lecture Quiz Extensions
- An extension request will automatically extend your lecture quiz submission deadline and will be due the day of the following lecture at 11:59PM. For example, if the lecture quiz was due on Monday, with the extension, it is now due on Wednesday. Similar to the Lab extension and deadline policy, the Lecture Quiz, with the extension is due when Lecture Quiz X + 2 is released.
Discussion Worksheet Extensions
- An extension request will automatically extend your discussion worksheetsubmission deadline and will be due the day of following discussion section at 11:59PM. For example, if the worksheet was due on 9/5, it is now due on 9/12.
Lateness Penalties
Any labs or projects that are submitted late will receive half-credit, regardless of how late the submission is. For the project-4 and the final project, late submissions may not be graded since our grading staff has limited availability. If you need an extension, please utilize the extension request forms. No extensions are provided for Reading Quizzes, and late submissions are not graded.
If, after exhausting the initial extension, you still need more time â please visit us in Support-OH, wherein weâll help you come up with a plan to catch up! Lateness penalties only apply if you donât obtain an extension (by filling out the form or visiting Support-OH) and turn in work late.
DSP Accommodations
If you have a DSP accommodation through the university, please be sure to submit your official letter through the DSP portal. Once you have done so, we will be able to accommodate you. If you have an accommodation but are unable to promptly submit the letter for whatever reason, please reach out to Victoria jedi_force@.
UC Berkeley is committed to creating a learning environment that meets the needs of its diverse student body including students with disabilities. If you anticipate or experience any barriers to learning in this course, please feel welcome to discuss your concerns with me.
If you have a disability, or think you may have a disability, you can work with the Disabled Studentsâ Program (DSP) to request an official accommodation. The Disabled Studentsâ Program (DSP) is the campus office responsible for authorizing disability-related academic accommodations, in cooperation with the students themselves and their instructors. You can find more information about DSP, including contact information and the application process here: dsp.berkeley.edu. If you have already been approved for accommodations through DSP, please meet with me so we can develop an implementation plan together.â
Students who need academic accommodations or have questions about their accommodations should contact DSP, located at 260 CĂŠsar ChĂĄvez Student Center. Students may call 642-0518 (voice), 642-6376 (TTY), or e-mail dsp@berkeley.edu(link sends e-mail)
Academic Integrity
Letâs get honest about being honest. It is truly a disappointment to catch students cheating. All we really want is for you to learn the material- and as both current and former students, we understand that oftentimes, juggling various assignment deadlines while keeping up with material can be stressful. If you feel overwhelmed in this class, reach out! We are here to support you.
Here, we will lay out our academic integrity policies which can help you distinguish between cheating (prohibited) and collaboration (encouraged.)
Generative AI Policy
In this course, generative AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Copilot) are permitted solely as aids for enhancing your understanding of challenging concepts, but should not be used to produce answers, generate code, or verify solutions. Generative AI may only support conceptual growth, helping you explore topics that need further clarification.
Misuse of generative AI to obtain answers or complete assignments violates academic integrity and course standards, as all submitted work must reflect your own understanding and effort. This policy ensures AI serves as a tool for your learning without compromising the integrity of the course objectives and assessments.
What constitutes cheating?
- Copying part or all of another studentâs project code with the exception of your partner(s) assuming that the project you are working on allows for partnered work. This includes students from previous semesters (we still have their code and will know if you do this).
- Sharing or receiving the exact steps used to solve a project problem (even if code is not explicitly sent).
- Copying part or all of another studentâs exam answers.
- Collaborating with another student when taking exams by receiving or giving assistance of any kind.
- Copying code from online sources.
What constitutes collaboration?
- Asking instead of telling. If youâre working with your friends and one of them is stuck on a part of an assignment, try to ask them guiding questions instead of telling them the answer.
- Keeping things conceptual! Itâs more beneficial to your learning if you come up with a solution yourself, rather than having it told to you. This also applies if you are helping someone else. We highly encourage collaboration, so letâs define what that means. Discussing approaches to problems is fine (in fact, we actively encourage it), as long as you eventually arrive at a good enough understanding of the problem that you are able to code the solution completely by yourself. You should not allow concerns about cheating to get in the way of discussing the class material with your classmates. It is okay if you have received some help with ideas along the way (but not a fully worked out solution).*
*This policy was adapted from Professor Alistair Sinclairâs policy for CS 172.
What happens if you cheat?
We take cheating extremely seriously, and will almost always pursue the strictest consequences available to us. We have advanced cheating detection software, and will routinely run this to detect cheating. These are sophisticated tools that are pretty hard to fool- any attempts to obfuscate your code to avoid detection will likely fail, and instead may result in additional consequences.
Note that you will always have a chance to explain your actions before any action is taken. If you admit that you cheated, we will apply the necessary sanctions. If youâd like to meet with us to discuss your situation, weâll set up a meeting. Afterwards, if staff determines that you cheated and you donât agree with that decision, weâll proceed with a Student-Conduct Investigation.
What are the sanctions?
On projects / other assignments, the minimum penalty is negative points on that assignment alongside a referral to the Office of Student Conduct. For repeated / more egregious offences, we may grant a failing grade in the class.
On exams, we will be absolutely unforgiving. Any instance of cheating results in an immediate F in the class alongside a referral to the Office of Student Conduct.
If at any point in the academic-integrity process, a student lies or attempts to mislead course-staff âthereby wasting everyoneâs timeâ then in addition to the aforementioned sanctions, the s will write a recommendation for the studentâs dismissal and submit it to the Office of Student Conduct.
Diversity and Inclusion Statement
We recognize that Computer Science is a demographically skewed field in the United States, and that even at Berkeley, minoritized students can find themselves feeling alone. It is our goal in this course to deliver an equitable learning experience for everyone involved. Concretely, this means a few things:
- In addition to teaching the technical skills necessary for programming, we will also teach the social implications of computer science. In doing so, we will directly address the contributions of underrepresented groups to the field, which are often overlooked.
- We will do our absolute best to show you that while bias, discrimination, and judgment still exist, they should not stand in the way of you learning Computer Science. While acknowledging the struggles many students may face, we also hope to show that computer science is a field anyone can be successful in (in other words, there is no innate âtalentâ or âtraitâ required to understand computer science). Of course, different people have different opportunities, but one of the goals of CS10 is to equalize the playing field.
- Discrimination or disrespect on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic status, ability, gender, or sexual orientation will not be tolerated under any circumstances. Should someone make you feel uncomfortable or disrespected in any way, please let the instructors know immediately via email (jedi_force@ and rothmana@) or by attending Instructor OH. You may also fill out the EECS Incident Reporting Form.
Academic Accommodations Hub
Hereâs a link to the Academic Accommodations Hub.
EECS Student Climate & Incident Reporting Form
It is very important to the EECS Department that every student in the EECS community feels safe, respected and welcome. We recognize though that incidents happen, sometimes unintentionally, that run counter to that goal. The EECS department provides a secure and anonymous Incident Reporting Form that can be used to report incidents including (but not limited to) microaggressions, discrimination, marginalizing / alienating behaviour, etc.