CMPS 144L
Computer Science II Lab
Spring 2022

Time, Place, and Instructor: 
Section 1: Thursdays 3:00pm - 4:50pm in LSC 118 (Mr. Esposito)
Section 2: Fridays 10:00am - 11:50am in LSC 118 (Mr. Esposito)
Section 3: Fridays 12:00noon - 1:50pm in LSC 118 (Mr. Thomas)
Section 4: Fridays 2:00pm - 3:50pm in LSC 118 (Mr. Novitsky)

Coordinator:  Dr. R. McCloskey
Office:  LSC 191
Telephone:  941-4221 (office), 941-7774 (CS Dept. office), 941-4250 (fax)
E-mail:  robert.mccloskey@scranton.edu

Office Hours:  McCloskey's   Graduate Assistants

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Catalog Description:

CMPS 144L - Computer Science II Lab, 1 credit
(Pre-requisites: CMPS 134 and CMPS 134L. CMPS 144 is required as a co-requisite, or as a pre-requisite (with departmental permission)

Activities are undertaken that apply programming concepts from CMPS 144, including object-orientation (inheritance, polymorphism, iterators, generics), recursive techniques (recursive descent and ascent), the role of containers (e.g., stacks, queues, lists, trees, graphs) in the construction of algorithms, analysis of algorithms, and concurrency.

Student Learning Outcomes

CMPS 144L is the required co-requisite of CMPS 144. The specific activities of CMPS 144L are closely aligned with the subject matter and pedagogy of CMPS 144 and are primarily meant to enhance the student's understanding of the material studied in that course. Thus, CMPS 144L aims to support each of the CMPS 144 Student Learning Outcomes.

Grading

Each student will receive either 'S' or 'U' as their final course grade for CMPS 144L , indicating either an overall evaluation of "Satisfactory" or "Unsatisfactory" performance for the semester. Determination of the final course grade is based upon the grades received on each of the scheduled weekly lab sessions. An additional Final Exam Lab Session will be scheduled during Final Exam Week, but only those students whose final grade is unclear at that point will be invited to sit for that exam.

To earn a "Satisfactory" course grade, a student must have earned "Satisfactory" or "Noteworthy" grades (see below) in at least three-quarters of the lab sessions held.

Each weekly lab session is scheduled for a 110-minute time period and consists of several activities, each to be completed in collaboration with an assigned lab partner under the supervision of the lab instructor. Students work in teams of two unless the number of students present for a lab session is odd, in which case there should be one team of three. Lab partnerships, which are set by the instructor, are routinely changed and likewise adjusted on the fly as needed.

For each lab session, each student will receive one of the following four grades: Absent, Unsatisfactory, Satisfactory, or Noteworthy. Typically, but not necessarily, team partners will receive the same grade for a lab session, but each student has the responsibility to interact with the lab instructor so as to make clear that they made significant contributions to their team.

Some of the assigned activities are designed to be evaluated by the lab instructor "on the spot" with each team demonstrating and explaining what they have just done. Other activities require each team to develop some digital artifacts (generally source code files) that they test and refine before submitting for evaluation by the lab instructor after the session has ended.

Each lab session will begin with a brief introduction by the lab instructor meant to set forth the goals of the session and to relate the activities to be undertaken with the subject matter currently being studied in CMPS 144. The lab instructor is there to interact with the entire class, with separate teams, and with individual students as appropriate and as needed in order to provide guidance towards the successful accomplishment of each assigned activity.

These lab sessions provide structured opportunities for every student to focus on specific questions and tasks in collaboration with others (team partner most immediately, but also with the other students in the lab and with the lab instructor) in an effort to gain a deeper understanding of the subject matter of CMPS 144.

Since CMPS 144L serves to supplement CMPS 144, each lab session provides opportunities for the discussion of current and past CMPS 144 material. In particular, time is available to talk about current and past CMPS 144 programming assignments.