MA/CSSE 474 Announcements
MA/CSSE 474 – Theory of Computation
Winter 2015-2016 (a.k.a. 201620)

Final Exam

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Session 40

  1. If none of the sections reach the "all but 2 evals" goal, I will award the 5% bonus to the section with the highest percentage participation.

Session 39

  1. I will hold a final exam Q&A session Wednesday 3:30 (until 5:00 or until students run out of questions, whichever comes first),
    As much as possible, I will moderate, and assist students who are present in collectively answering the questions.
  2. I posted a little bit about exam material coverage to Session 41 on the Schedule page:
  3. Because the GM room has an unusual layout, I will probably assign seats for this exam.
    Watch for the assignment in your email. Or it may be on the screen when you arrive.
  4. My best guess is that this exam will be about 3 times as long as one of my 50-minute exams.
    You will have almost 5 times as long to do it, so there should be less time pressure.
  5. In addition to a provided "definition and formula" sheet provided at the exam, I will give you a piece of gold paper in class at Session 29; you can hand-write whatever you want on the front side and bring it to the exam.
    You may not provide your own paper
    I will also provide the "Turing machine macros reference" handout.

Session 38

  1. Reminder: I will be out of town this afternoon and tomorrow. Will respond to email and Piazza as soon as I can.
  2. HW17 has been updated
  3. Hw 16 and 17 solutions are on Moodle.
  4. Don't forget course evals on Banner Web

Session 37

  1. Today (and probably tomorrow) we'll use the materials that I prepoared for Friday.
  2. Bounty for course evals:
  3. Available hours today: 12:10-3:15.

Session 36

  1. HW 16 is available. Not to be turned in.

Session 35

  1. The high score on Exam 3 was 129, so I set the "possible total score" on Moodle to 129. Exam average is 77%.
  2. I will be out of town Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday, as I travel to see my specialist at Johns Hopkins Medical Center in Baltimore. I will have email and Piazza access frequently.
  3. HW 15 is due at 11:55 PM today.
  4. Hint for HW 15, problem 3c: You might find the concept of "dovetailing" helpful for this problem. If you have not seen that technique before, this reference will probably help: http://lambda-the-ultimate.org/node/322
  5. Change of wording on problem 3 from "(6 points for each part)" to "(6 points for each of the four parts)". Part c really has two sub-parts.
  6. HW 16 should be ready today.

Session 34

  1. Exam 3 was on this day

Session 33

  1. Come to your regular section for the exam (or an earlier section). 5 point penalty for coming to a later section.
  2. Snow is predicted; if you are off campus, plan to leave home earlier than usual.
  3. I am going to experiment with "Blind" grading.
    1. Your "notes and formulas page" will contain a number. Write your name on this page, and copy the number to the actual exam.
    2. Then we can grade exams without knowing whose they are.
    3. I will re-unite exams and names after they are graded.

Session 32

  1. Exam 3 Feb 9. Will cover Sections 11.1-11.8, 12.1-12.4, 12.6 13.1-13.5, 13.8, 14.1-14.3, 17.1-17.3, HW 10-14, Lectures 19-31.
  2. You may have noticed that the course material has become more difficult lately. So you should expect some harder questions on this exam.
  3. HW15 Feb 11,   HW16 Feb 15,   HW17 no turn-in,   Final Exam Feb 25, 8:00 AM GM room.
  4. The proposed notations and definitions sheet for Exam 3 is linked from Day 34 on the schedule page. You can suggest things until 8 AM MOnday

Session 31

  1. Monday's class: First half: Answer exam-related questions; second half: new material.
  2. Changes to A15 (and consequences of the changes):
    1. Having HW 15 due on Monday puts too much pressure on students before the exam.
    2. I will postpone the due date until Thursday, Feb 10.
    3. Because it is due three days later than originally planned, I may add one-to-three problems that would have been on HW 16.
    4. You will be allowed to use a late day.
    5. I may not get these changes incorporated into the schedule page and HW15 assignment documents until Thursday afternoon
    6. As this term has gone on, I have split some homework assignments and postponed others. I have also slowed down the in-class discussions of some things that I used to zip through. I may continue both of these practices. As a result we may not get through quite as much of the material as I have done in past terms. But maybe learning fewer things more thoroughly is not such a bad thing. And maybe having one less assignment's worth of problems than I had planned will allow some of you to keep your sanity at the end of the term.
    7. That being said, at the end of next week and beginning of the following week we will be encountering what is by far the most difficult material from the course. Going through it slightly more slowly should help, but it's going to be a challenge, even to the students who have been doing very well in the course.
  3. Exam averages: Winter, 2014-15: E1:64% E2:76% E3:74% Final:67%

Session 30

  1. No new announcements

Session 29

  1. HW 15 is due at 9:55 PM on Monday, Feb 8. No late day use allowed for this assignment.
  2. The schedule page includes (Session 34) a link to some previous terms' Exam 3 and solutions
  3. Day25 in-class quiz solution is linked from Session 25 in the schedule page, resources column

Session 28

  1. HW13 due Mon. Feb 1 (large)
    HW 14 Thu. Feb 4 (medium)
    HW 15 Mon. Feb 8 (small)
    Exam 3 Tue Feb 9

Session 27

  1. HW 14 has been updated for this term. Due next Thursday
  2. Today's slides contain students' anonymous feedback posts and my responses

Session 26

  1. No new announcements

Session 25

  1. HW 13 has been updated for this term. Due Monday. A larger-than-usual assignment.

Session 24

  1. I will be off-campus Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday for IVIG infusions

Session 23

  1. HW 10 Due tomorrow. Problem 6 is to be turned in.
  2. HW11 due Monday. A short and fairly easy assignment. I'll do my best to update it today.
  3. Exam 2 scores: Imultiplied the raw score by 133/95. "Perfect" score is 133.

Session 22

  1. None

Session 21

  1. Exam instructions:
  2. Reminder: The "notation and formulas" sheet that I wil provide with the exam is online.
    It was changed this morning, but will not be changed again.

Session 20

  1. No new Announcements

Session 19

  1. My solutions to Tuesday's in-class exercises are linked from Session 18 in the schedule page.
  2. Wasn't working together fun? You should try it outside of class.
  3. From Session 22 in the Schedule Page, I linked a preliminary version of the "notation sheet" that I will provide with Exam 2.
  4. HW 10 has been updated for this term. Due Friday, Jan 22.
  5. At the beginning of Monday's class, answers to your questions about exam material.

Session 18

  1. Exam2 material: 5.7-5.8, 6.1-6.4, 8.1-8.6, 9.1-9.2, 10, HW 5-9. Closed book and notes

Session 17

  1. HW 9 is available. Due Friday. It is longer than most assignments.
  2. Two old exams and their solutions are online. This year's Exam 2 will not have anything on CFGs.

Session 16

  1. There are many extra slides at the end of today's slide set that we will not cover in class but that you may find helpful.
    Those examples are done in detail in the textbook.

Session 15

  1. Before yesterday's deadline, two students told me about a final exam conflict.
    I expect everyone else to be in the GM room Thursday, February 25, at 8 AM.
  2. Optional survey on Moodle: Results are in today's slides.

Session 14

  1. Reminder: Check your schedule for final exam conflicts, and let me know today if you have a conflict.
  2. Anonymous Moodle survey on whether to let students see their rank in the class on gradbook items. Closes today at 11:55 PM.

Session 13

  1. Final exam is Thursday, Feb 25 at 8 AM.
    1. Check your schedule for exam conflicts, and let me know by tomorrow if you have one.
    2. If you do not notify me by January 5, I will expect you to work it out to reschedule the other exam.
    3. Do not create any non-academic exam conflicts (such as job interviews, flights home or to Florida, etc.).
  2. HW 6 is due tomorrow, HW 7 Friday, HW 8 next Monday.
  3. Exam 2 is Tuesday, January 19.
  4. Optional survey on Moodle about displaying student ranks in the gradebook. Closes Tuesday at 11:55 PM.
  5. If you still have questions about Exam 1 grading, please see me today.

Session 12

  1. Nothing new

Session 11

  1. I emailed my exam solutions. Please read them before tomorrow's class.
  2. HW 6 assignment document has been updated for this term. Due Tuesday, Jan 5.
    Some of the problems have been removed and will be part of HW 7.
    Most of the problems currently in HW7 will become the new HW 8. 8 will become 9, etc.
  3. The last two problems on HW 5 are challenging, and their descriptions (especially problem #2) are complex. Be sure to look at them today so you can get clarification if needed before you leave campus.
  4. In my office today: 1:00-3:15

Session 10

  1. The HW5 assignment document was updated at 7:30 AM on Tuesday.
    Changed point values for some problems, and clarified what you are expected to do for problems 2 and 3.

Session 9

  1. The Extra-credit survey for HW4 had the wrong problem numbers. This happened because of the problems I moved from HW 3. I fixed it. Since I can't change the questions on a Moodle survey that some students have already taken, I had to make a new survey and delete the old one. If you are one of the 6 people who ompleted the HW4 survey before 3 AM today, you will need to redo it. I am sorry for the inconvenience.
  2. HW 4 solution will be available on Moodle at midnight tonight.
  3. HW 5 has only three problems, but the last two are challenging problems; start early.
  4. HW5 due Friday (with "extended late day" until Tuesday)
  5. HW6 due Tuesday, Jan 5
  6. Exam tomorrow in class. See Day 10 in the schedule page (and follow the link) for particulars. An old Exam 1 is linked from Day 9, and another from Day 10.
    I also posted solutions to these.
    Manage your time well. First do the problems you are sure you can do quickly.
  7. You must take the exam during the time of the section that you are officially enrolled in.

Session 8

  1. I posted my complete solution to the NDFSM?DFSM example from yesterday's class. Linked from Day 7 in schedule page.
  2. I have a rare connective tissue disease called Scleromyxedema. Every six weeks I have two days of IVIG infusions. I will be off-campus Tuesday afternoon and most of Wednesday. I will have email during that time.

Session 7

  1. Read the Day 6 announcements
  2. I postponed the due date for HW5 from Thursday until Friday of next week. Because of the break, there will still be plenty of time to begin HW6 early.

Session 6

  1. I corrected and enhanced the online slides from yesterday's class. Mainly I added a proof of the theorem for which there was no time in class to do it. It is another good example of a simple induction proof.
  2. HW2 solution will appear on Moodle after midnight.
  3. HW3 is due Thursday at 11:55 PM. As always, you should start early. The problems will take more time if you try to do them all in the last 24 hours than if you get them all in your mind today and work on them a bit each day. Set yourself a goal to finish 24 hours before the due date; then if you run into trouble, you have time to recover.
  4. HW4 is due Monday at 11:55 PM. Smaller than usual assignment, but the minimization problem may take a while.
    You may not use a late day for this assignment, but you may earn one.
  5. Solutions to some of the HW problems are "out there". Copying them (or copying another student's work) is plagiarism, and will result in serious penalties if we detect it. "I worked with student XYZ" does not ameliorate outright copying! Details in the syllabus.
  6. Exam 1 will be in class on Tuesday, Dec 15. See Session 10 on the schedule page for info on the textbook sections that it will cover. Closed book and notes.
    1. There will most likely be a problem that requires Mathematical induction.
    2. There will be several T-F-IDK problems. These are True-False questions with a third option, "I don't know". The intent is to minimize guessing.
      Example: if a problem is worth 2 points, and T is the correct answer, you get 2 points for answering T, -1 for F, and 1 for IDK.
      Bigger example: Let's say that there are six such problems that you have no clue on. If you randomly guess correctly for three of them and incorrectly for three of them, your score for those problems is 6-3=3 (25%). If you answer IDK for all six, you get 6 points (50%), and I get better information.
      Application:In professional relationships, it is a good thing when we "know what we don't know" and tell others rather than pretending/hoping that we can guess correctly and thus risk giving wrong advice.
    3. There is a link to a previous Exam 1 in the Day 9 resources on the schedule page. Another one on Day 10.
  7. Grading HW problems from this course is difficult, partly because there are often many correct ways to do them. If you ever have questions about how a problem was graded (for example, if you think the grader did not understand your work), email that grader first. If you are not able to work it out to your satisfaction, then bring the issue to me.
  8. In my office today: Hours 5, 9, and hopefully the last part of 8. Expected tomorrow: 5, 6, 8, last part of 7.

Session 5

  1. Due to my aunt's death, I will not be in my office as much as usual during the next few days. Today: 5th hour and probably the last half of 8th.
  2. HW2 Due today at 11:55 PM, HW3 Thursday, HW4 Monday (no late days may be used for HW4)
  3. Exam 1 in class on Tuesday, Dec 15. Closed book and notes. See Session 10 on the schedule page for more info.
  4. For HW2, you do not have to use the "state diagram" notation for PDA's. High-level English descriptions are fine; mainly you need CSSE220/230-level knowledge of stacks in order to do problems 3.5 and 3.6.
  5. In general, you do not need to worry much about details from Sections 3.3 and 3.4; they give a quick overview of the major topics of the course; we will do all of these things in detail when we get to the appropriate chapters.
  6. See my Sunday note on Piazza about the need for strong induction for the HW1 "operators and parentheses" problem.

Session 4

  1. Be sure to actually submit your assignment to the homework drop box.
  2. I will see if I can find a way to make it easier for HW2.
  3. Today at 11:55 PM is the last time you can get credit for HW1. HW2 is due Monday at 11:55 PM
  4. There are 23 slides on logic at the end of today's slides that we will not do in class. See the note on the schedule page.

Session 3

  1. Recent Piazza Posts:
    1. What do we mean by "closed under ..." and "closure under ..."?
    2. That recurrence relation: HW1, Prob #13)You don't have to come up with a general closed-form for N(k); just use your recurrence repeatedly to find N(13) and N(14).
  2. To a procrastinator, having late days can be like a druggie having a roommate who is also a user.
    In this course, almost every student who is down to 1 late day "in the bank" at the end of three weeks has ended up dropping or failing the course.

Session 2

  1. See highlighted Session 1 announcements
  2. I am going to let you turn in Reading quiz 2 ubtil Wednesday at noon, since some things from today's discussion may help you with it.
    Submit now, bring to my office, or to my mailbox in the CSSE workroom
  3. Piazza is a great place to ask and answer questions about the reading assignments and homework.
    At the end of the term, if you are near a grade borderline, answering Piazza questions is something I'll take into account.

Session 1

  1. Many of the usual "start of course" topics will happen Day 02; today we introduce Deterministic Finite State Machines (DFSM).
  2. Turn in your reading quiz now. There is another reading quiz due tomorrow at the beginning of class. Reading quizzes will not be frequent once the reading mainly covers new material.
  3. Optional Q&A session about the Appendix A material tomorrow 10th hour in O157. I will not have an agenda; will respond to student questions.
  4. HW0 over background material. No problems to turn in, but take a serious look at them soon.
  5. HW1 due Thursday at 11:55 PM. Usually HW will be due on Mondays and Thursdays.
  6. HW2 due next Monday at 11:55 PM.
  7. Exams will on Tuesdays, weeks 3, 6, 9. Closed book and notes.
  8. Final exam whenever the registrar schedules it; don't miss it!
  9. Read the syllabus before tomorrow's class and bring questions to class.
  10. Look over the Reading quiz 1 solutions (will be posted on Moodle at noon).