Syllabus: Operating Systems (CS240)

The following section describes the policies for the class.

• MOTIVATION: You are responsible for all material presented in class and/or in assigned readings. Contact me as soon as practicable if you have a legitimate reason for missing any work (e.g. illness or death in the family). The sooner the better! In most cases, some requirements can be modified or waived.

• PLAGIARISM: Plagiarism or cheating of any type will not be tolerated. This includes, but is not limited to, copying or collusion on programs, projects, assignments, abstracts, documentation, wandering eyes on tests, using homework assignments from a previous semester, turning in previously submitted term papers, using other person's computer accounts to do projects, programs, etc., getting other people to do your assignments, etc. NOTE: I do not mind you discussing the logical solution to problems, but not code, diagrams, or physical solutions of any type.

  This explicitly includes the copying of portions of a book, article, or copying of an authority without explicitly crediting the author. If you are uncertain about how to cite other work properly, please ask me any time and I will give you some examples. In general, look at the research papers we discuss in class, they all cite other people's work. All textual assignments must include work written and conceived by the student, and cannot be simply an amalgamation of quotes from various sources. You may use code you previously created in other classes.

  If you plagiarize any assignment (homework, exams, projects etc), I reserve to right to do any of the following, at my discretion (1) Give you a warning (2) Fail you on the portions I believe you plagiarized (3) Give a zero (or negative points) on the assignment which was plagiarized (4) Fail you for the entire class.

  The University of Idaho bans firearms from its property with only limited exceptions. One exception applies to persons who hold a valid Idaho enhanced concealed carry license, provided those firearms remain concealed at all times. If an enhanced concealed carry license holderŐs firearm is displayed, other than in necessary self-defense, it is a violation of University policy. Please contact local law enforcement (call 911) to report firearms on University property.

• EMAIL: Email will only be accepted if it is of personal or sensitive nature. All questions regarding the class or the material are to be addressed in class. If there is interest, we can run a "CS Forum" to posted your questions so that other's can participate. The reason for this "email restriction" is that the volume of class related emails I received in recent semesters was unmanageable.

• GRADING POLICY:
  • Each Friday, at the end of the class period, there will be a mini-exam, with the solution discussed the following Monday. At least one of these mini-exams will be dropped in the averaging. The material covered by a mini-exam is not limited to the material covered during that week, e.g., it may cover material covered in recent weeks. However, this should not be confused with a comprehensive exam policy.

  • MISSING EXAM: If you are sick or need to miss an exam due to extraordinary circumstances, you need to inform me BEFORE the exam. If you do not inform me before hand you will receive 0 points for the exam. You will need to supply evidence to support your reason for missing the exam in order to get a makeup opportunity. As unexcused absences were a problem last semester I decided to enforce the aforementioned policy strictly, with no exceptions!

  • Several assignments will be given. Each is due at the time indicated in the assignment. Only working assignments will be graded.

  • All deadlines are hard deadlines! I will enforce the due date rules strictly.

  • Instructor's discretion may be used in rare instances to raise (but not lower) a borderline final course grade. It will be used only when (in my opinion) a gross statistical aberration has occurred which is so unique and so blatantly obvious that there can be no questions regarding fairness or favoritism.

  • Grading 240: the final grade is composed as follows: (60%) average of exams, (30%) assignments, (10%) attendance. Attendance is the fraction of class periods you attended. NOTE: the University of Idaho attendance policy is that a student can only miss as many classes as credits for that class. Failure to meet this can get you purged from the class!