Textbook

Recommended Textbook Discrete Structures by Harriet Fell and Javed A. Aslam. You can find the PDF free online. The textbook is best used as a reference after class, especially while working on the homework or if you're looking for extra examples and practice.

Gradescope

Sign up for our Gradescope page: https://www.gradescope.com/courses/674159. Access code JK2XEZ

We'll use Gradescope for all homeworks, exams, and In-Class Assignments (ICAs). You should be automatically signed up, but make sure you're all set before the first deadline! Any questions about gradescope, post on Piazza and let us know how we can help.

Piazza

Sign up for our Piazza page: https://piazza.com/northeastern/spring2024/cs5002.

Piazza is here for you to ask clarifying questions on homework assignments, which the course staff is happy to answer. You should also feel free to jump into questions from others and engage in conversation.

Because this is a theory course, and solutions sometimes rely on one particular, specific insight, we have a few rules governing our CS5002 Piazza page:

  • You may not post solutions to problems.
  • You may not post a single, simple insight that enabled you to solve a problem (e.g., “Use Cantor’s diagonalization”), but you may post general approaches (e.g., “I thought this homework problem related to the class discussion on infinite binary sequences”).
  • You must be respectful of and courteous towards your fellow students and the teaching staff.
Violations of these rules will result in our closing the Piazza page.

We'll also use Piazza to post course announcements, so make sure your email settings are turned on!

Office Hours

Office hours are a great place to get clarification on concepts and have conversations with course staff. You can schedule one-on-one meetings with Laney on the course home page, and the TA office hours are listed on the TA & Office Hours page.

It’ll be important that you come to office hours having already made an attempt on the homework. We will be happy to help guide you on concepts and provide clarification. We cannot provide you with answers to problems, and we cannot confirm whether your solution is correct.

Inclusive Classroom

We believe that diversity and inclusiveness are essential to excellence in academic discourse and innovation. In this class, the perspective of people of all races, ethnicities, gender expressions and gender identities, religions, sexual orientations, disabilities, socioeconomic backgrounds, and nationalities will be respected and viewed as a resource and benefit throughout the semester. Suggestions to further diversify class materials and assignments are encouraged. If any course meetings conflict with your religious events, please do not hesitate to reach out to Laney to make alternative arrangements.

Questions during lecture

  • We invite everyone to raise their hands to ask and answer questions during class, and to engage in discussion with classmates. However, we know it’s not always the easiest thing to speak up in a big classroom, or to clarify your thoughts in real time.
  • Therefore, you can also ask questions about lecture via our lecture-question form. Laney will review these questions during the break and after lecture, and respond during lecture or on Piazza, keeping you anonymous.

To create and preserve a classroom atmosphere that optimizes teaching and learning, all participants share a responsibility in creating a civil and non-disruptive forum for the discussion of ideas. This includes all ways you interact with classmates and course staff -- in lectures, office hours, Piazza, etc.

Name and Pronoun Usage

As this course includes some discussion, it is vitally important for us to create an educational environment of inclusion and mutual respect. This includes the ability for all students to have their chosen gender pronoun(s) and chosen name affirmed. If the class roster does not align with your name and/or pronouns, please inform Laney of the necessary changes.

Evaluation

  • Homework: 45%
  • Exam #1: 20%
  • Exam #2: 20%
  • ICAs (three dropped): 15%
All homeworks have the same weight regardless of the number of points allocated. The percentage score of each is computed in your final average -- for example, if you get 9/11 on HW1 1, and 9/10 on HW 2, then the average of those two is (9/11 + 9/10) / 2 = (81.8% + 90%) / 2 = 85.9%.

Letter Grades

Your final grade for CS5002 will use the following breakpoints when we convert from letter to number grades.
A
94 - 100
A-
90 - 93
B+
87 - 89
B
83 - 86
B-
80 - 82
C+
77 - 79
C
73 - 76
C-
70 - 72
D
60 - 69
F
59 and below

Communication

Piazza is the best place to ask general questions, get clarification on a homework spec, ask a follow-up from lecture, etc.

Email is the best tool for specific questions or concerns about your experience in class, or anything sensitive in nature. Instructors will respond to emails within about 48 hours, but don't expect a response after 9pm oron weekends.

Office hours are the best place for talking through your approach to a homework problem. We're not here to give you answers, of course, but to be your fellow computer scientists thinking through a tough problem with you. Expect us to ask more questions than we answer.

Course Feedback

Your thoughts and concerns about this course are important. We invite you to give feedback throughout the term. You can reach out to Laney or any TA directly over email, or fill out our feedback form: https://forms.gle/YYwbbNnfEPRAM8RG9

You will also be asked to fill out a formal course evaluation at the end of the term.

Homework

All homework assignments will be submitted on Gradescope. You can type up your solutions, or write them by hand and then scan with your phone. If you submit a PDF, submit only a single file. If you submit images, submit one per page!

Draft rubrics will be released with each homework, ensuring transparency around what we’ll be looking for when grading. The rubrics may change slightly when we grade the homeworks after submission, but we promise they won’t change much. It is your responsibility to read the homework assignment itself and the accompanying rubric to make sure you’ve covered all required parts of every question.

Homeworks will be scored and returned to you, on Gradescope, usually within one week. After getting your homework back, you have the option to file a regrade request. under one of the following categories:

  • Clarity -- you’re not sure why points were taken off, even though you’ve read the rubric and your grader’s comments.
  • Mistake -- your grader mistakenly took points off.
When filing a regrade request, specify which category the request belongs in. You’ll receive a response, and possibly an updated score, from your grader. After that, if you still have concerns or questions about your grade, email laneys@northeastern.edu.

Late Policy - Homework

If you miss a homework deadline, we’ve set aside two late deadlines where you can submit missing homeworks with no penalty. There will be a separate “Late Submission” assignment on gradescope for every homework, which becomes available after the original deadline has passed.
  • HW 1-4: Late submissions by Friday February 23rd at 6pm
  • HW 5-7: Late submissions by Wednesday April 17 at 6pm

If you submit late, your homework will not be graded until after the late deadline. This policy exists for times you fall behind on a homework, aren’t feeling well, or are busy with classes/life. Apart from these two late deadlines, no late submissions will be accepted.

Exams

There are two exams this semester, and they will be administered in-person, during our scheduled lecture, and completed on paper.

Exam dates:

  • Exam #1: Wednesday, February 21st
  • Exam #2: Wednesday, April 10th

It is your responsibility to familiarize yourself with these dates and ensure you are available for exams and can be on-campus for them. The exams are designed to be completed in less time than we have designated for lecture, so that no one feels rushed. Take your time on the exam problems and ask any questions that come up.

For each exam, you may bring one 8.5x11-inch paper as a cheat sheet, with anything written or typed on it (one side only). You will submit this cheat sheet along with your exam, and you will not be permitted to use any other materials or notes during the exams.

Additionally, we will use the last day of class to offer a short, one-problem exam for anyone who wants to take it. Your score on this problem can be used to replace your score on ONE problem from Exam 1 OR Exam 2. No cheat sheets are permitted for this make-up exam problem.

If you have a DRC accommodation, make sure that you have emailed your letter to laneys@northeastern.edu well before the first exam. If your accommodation is for extra time or a distraction-free environment, you’ll need to coordinate directly with the DRC to book a time to take the exam in their office.

In-Class Assignments (ICAs)

ICAs will be assigned during lecture, and we'll set aside time for you to work on them individually, and then to review the solutions as a class.

ICAs are due at 6pm the day after they are assigned. You'll submit your ICA solution for credit. This will be graded on completion. You need to complete the first 2 problems for full credit.

You may not submit ICAs late, but three of them will be dropped and not count towards your final grade.

Academic Integrity

Exams are solo endeavours; no books, notes, phones, or other devices are permitted.

On the other hand, homeworks can be collaborative. We expect that you might study with friends and work out solutions to problems together, but you must write up your own solutions, in your own words. Copying solutions from a classmate or online source is a violation of our academic integrity policy and will be referred to OSCCR.

Here are some concrete guidelines.

  • Never look at someone else's homework solutions. Otherwise you might turn in overly similar work.
  • If you produce a solution together, don't simply copy it down afterwards. You must, on your own, write your own solution in your own words.
  • If someone explains an answer to you, do not write down their exact words; instead, on your own write up your solution afterwards.
If you collaborate with (or get help from) any other student, then write their name on the the first page of your assignment at the top.

Violation of this policy has consequences both within the course and through the university’s OSCCR office. For a first violation, you will receive a zero on the assignment. For a second violation, you will receive a failing grading in CS5002. All violations will be reported to OSCCR: http://www.northeastern.edu/osccr/academic-integrity

Attendance Policy

Lectures and exams are in-person and attendance is expected. We don't want or expect anyone to come to class when they're sick, though, so we'll post supplementary videos each week that you can use to catch up on any missed material.

These supplementary videos were recorded in previous semesters. We do not record lectures in CS5002. If you need to miss class:

  • Watch the videos and read the notes posted from the given week.
  • Complete and submit the ICA for that week.
  • Stop by Laney's or a TA's office hours to make sure you're caught up and feeling confident on the material.
  • There is no need to notify us about missing class.
These supplementary videos, plus the notes from class, are meant to be helpful for days when you need to miss class, but they will definitely NOT be an identical experience! They should suffice when you miss a class or two due to illness or emergency, but we do not recommend using them as a substitute for regular participation in the in-person lecture.

Title IX

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 protects individuals from sex or gender-based discrimination, including discrimination based on gender-identity, in educational programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance.

Northeastern’s Title IX Policy prohibits Prohibited Offenses, which are defined as sexual harassment, sexual assault, relationship or domestic violence, and stalking. The Title IX Policy applies to the entire community, including male, female, transgender students, faculty and staff.

If you or someone you know has been a survivor of a Prohibited Offense, confidential support and guidance can be found through University Health and Counseling Services staff (http://www.northeastern.edu/uhcs/) and the Center for Spiritual Dialogue and Service clergy members (http://www.northeastern.edu/spirituallife/). By law, those employees are not required to report allegations of sex or gender-based discrimination to the University.

Alleged violations can be reported non-confidentially to the Title IX Coordinator within The Office for Gender Equity and Compliance at: titleix@northeastern.edu and/or through NUPD (Emergency 617.373.3333; Non-Emergency 617.373.2121). Reporting Prohibited Offenses to NUPD does NOT commit the victim/affected party to future legal action.

Faculty members are considered "responsible employees" at Northeastern University, meaning they are required to report all allegations of sex or gender-based discrimination to the Title IX Coordinator.

In case of an emergency, please call campus police.

Please visit http://www.northeastern.edu/titleix for a complete list of reporting options and resources both on- and off-campus.

Students with Disabilities

Students who have disabilities who wish to receive academic services and/or accommodations should visit the Disability Resource Center at 20 Dodge Hall or call (617) 373-2675. If you have already done so, please provide your letter from the DRC to Laney (laneys@northeastern.edu) early in the semester so that we can arrange those accommodations.