About CS 173
Discrete Structures is the introductory course for theory in Computer Science. You will learn the mathematical tools necessary to analyze and talk about problems that can or cannot be solved with a computer system. It is a necessity that you learn to write good proofs as well as understand concepts in Discrete Math.
Course Material and References
Textbook
The course textbook is Discrete Mathematics: Mathematical Reasoning and Proof with Puzzles, Patterns, and Games by Douglas E. Ensley and J. Winston Crawley. It is available for purchase at the Follett bookstore (...or online).Course Website
It is your responsibility to check (and refresh!) the course website at least once each day. Important announcements will be posted as well as lecture notes, problem sets, and solutions.Newsgroup
The class newsgroup is located at class.cs173 on the news server news.cs.uiuc.edu. You must sign up for access if you have not already done so.We highly recommend you use the newsgroup to communicate with the course staff and your classmates about course material related questions. It's also a great resource for getting clarifications on homework problems. However, do not post your solutions to the homework on the newsgroup where others could copy it; remember that this is a breach of academic integrity.
Old Notes and Handouts
Please note that we are not responsible for the information (including possible typos) contained in the following documents. We are providing them as-is for your benefit.
- Course notes compiled in 2003 by Lenny Pitt and Bardia Sadri
- Lecture Slides used in Spring 2006 by Cinda Heeren
- Handouts used in Fall 2007 by Jeff Erickson and Cinda Heeren
Homework Policies
Homework will be assigned weekly and due every Thursday in lecture. You are required to explain your answers to the homework assignment if called upon. Graded assignments will usually be returned the following week in discussion section.Your writing must be both clear and legible. You'll receive zero points for any answers the graders cannot decipher. We do not recommend using a standard word processing program (ie: Microsoft Word, Google Documents) to type your assignment because it's relatively difficult to typeset mathematics well in these programs. However, if you're feeling ambitious, you may want to look into learning LaTeX (pronounced "lah-tek").
Each person must turn in his own homework assignments. You are allowed to work on the problems with other students enrolled in the course, but you must write up your own solutions. Verbatim copying will be punished. Remember, upholding your academic integrity involves two things: you should neither copy your solutions from others, nor should you allow your solutions to be copied.
When working on the homework, you may use the course text, material available on the CS173 website or provided in class, discussions with students currently registered in CS173, and help from course staff. Using other sources of information is forbidden and constitutes a breach of academic integrity. In particular, searching for solutions to the homework on the internet is forbidden. We want you to learn course material; we are happy to assume you already know how to use a search engine. Be sure you've reviewed our cheating policy.
We will not accept any late homeworks; all homeworks submitted late will earn zero points. However, we will drop the lowest two homeworks before tallying your overall homework score. For more information on how grades will be assigned, please see the grading policies section, below.
Exams
There will be two midterm exams and a final exam. See the exams page for exam dates. Sample old exams are provided on this page as-is for your convenience.
We will follow university policy with regards to offering a conflict final. Since our midterms will be held in class, you will need to have a very good reason to be excused from a midterm. Requests to be excused from a midterm must be made at least one week before the exam date or as soon as you become aware of your need to be excused, whichever is later. Requests to be excused for medical reasons must be accompanied by written documentation from a doctor or other appropriate authority. In the event that you are excused from a midterm, we will use your score on the final for your midterm grade. Emergencies will be handled as necessary.
Honors Sections
Homework assignments will include honors problems. Students signed up for the honors section must do these problems. Students not enrolled in the honors section are welcome to try the honors problems for some extra credit on that homework assignment.
Honors students must also attend two presentations over the course of the semester and write up short summary (a couple paragraphs) about each one. More details to follow.
Grading Policies
The "I Don't Know" Policy
If you don't know the answer to a homework or exam question, don't write down senseless drivel hoping to get partial credit for including a few buzz words. This will probably end up with you receiving zero points for the question, and it's a waste of both your time and the grader's time. Answering "I don't know" (and nothing else) to any homework or exam question is automatically worth 25% partial credit for that question. If your answer starts with nonsense and ends with an "I don't know," you'll recieve no credit; the point here is for you to admit up front that you don't know the answer to the question. Please keep in mind that a course average of 50% or less is an automatic F.Cheating Policy
You are NOT to copy solutions from ANY source (including, but not limited to, books, people, old class notes or handouts). At a minimum, cheating will result in a zero on the homework or exam in question. Subsequent infractions or particularly egregious violations will result in more stringent penalties, including a grade of F in the course and referral for disciplinary action. See the UIUC Student Code regarding academic integrity; if you are aware of any breach of academic integrity, it is your responsibility to report it to the instructor.Regrades
If you feel that a problem was graded incorrectly on any homework or exam -- the course staff is only human, and mistakes can happen! -- then you may bring it to a course staff member within at most one week of when it was handed back in class. Attach a slip of paper briefly describing what you feel is in error. The grader will adjust your score as necessary. Regrade requests for homeworks should be given to your discussion section leader, may be appealed to the TA in charge of that homework assignment, and may be further appealed to the course instructors. Regrade requests for exams go first to the TA or course instructor who graded the problem and may be appealed to the instructors.Grading Rubric
Your course grade is composed of four parts, as detailed in the following grading rubric:There's 10% of your grade that should be very easy to obtain: participation. Your section leader will note when you participate in section. (Participation means more than mere attendance.) Your "participation" grade will be calculated as the maximum of your participation in discussion section and your weighted average of all other course grades (i.e. (homework * 0.2 + midterm1 * 0.2 + midterm2 * 0.2 + final * 0.3) / 0.9). This is to say, your participation grade can't hurt your course average.
Participation 10 % Homework 20 % Two Midterm Exams 40 % (20 % each) Final Exam 30 % Your course average is rounded to the nearest integer percent and converted to a letter as outlined below:
If you achieve the listed percentage, then you are guaranteed the corresponding letter grade. The instructors reserve the right to curve the grades in order to benefit students, but this won't be determined until they are making final course grade calculations.
A+ 97+ C+ 77-79 A 92-96 C 72-76 A- 90-91 C- 70-71 B+ 87-89 D 60-69 B 82-86 F 59- B- 80-81