Frequently Asked
Questions for CSCI 13500, Spring 2021
Homework Assignment
1. Where are
the details for homework assignments?
Labs (also called
Recitations)
1.
Where are the details for labs?
2.
Are labs answered by slides or textbook?
Lecture Quizzes and
Attendance
2.
How will attendance be
taken?
Projects
Midterm and the Final
1.
Where are
midterm exam and final submitted?
3. How
are the tests and quizzes administered?
PS (Problem Solving) or WE (Worked Example) Exercises do NOT
to submit
1.
What are exercises marked as PS and
WE?
View Lecture Recording
1.
When will the recorded
lectures be posted and where?
Gradescope
1.
Not get an invite code from gradescope.
2.
Change email address in gradescope.
3. How to submit
assignment to gradescope?
Grading
1. What if I have questions concerning grades?
Textbook
1.
How can I buy the book, from wiley
or vitalsource?
2.
I bought textbook from the school website already. Is that
fine?
3. Is the textbook required for homework?
4.
Are the
e-features mandatory?
Operating Systems
1.
If we have a Linux install, can we use it?
2.
Can we choose any C++ editor, repl.it or onlinegdb.com?
3. If we use online editor, do we still need to use
linux?
Miscellaneous
1. Is Readings supposed to be done before class?
2.
What if I do not have a camera?
3. What is privacy policy of the testing software
go proctor exams?
4.
I'm enrolled in
Professor Zamansky's recitation. Is his lab different
from other professor’s?
5.
Do you have to take 13500 and 13600 together?
Homework Assignment
Q: Where are the details for homework
assignments?
A: Go
to
https://tong-yee.github.io/135/2021_spring.html, scroll down to section COURSE
OUTLINE, click exercises. Submit these exercises to gradescope.
Exercises starts with E means homework, for example, E1.7 is a
homework assignment. To work on it, do the following:
Click link E1.7 in https://tong-yee.github.io/135/2021_spring.html,
and you will be directed to vitalsource,
showing the content of this exercise.
Sometimes we will change the problem a little to make
auto-grading in gradescope easier. For example, the
original E1.7 is changed as follows,
Declare
3 string variables, enter from keyboard using cin,
then output 3 names using cout.
To submit a solution, login gradescope,
click on link 
.
Make sure you
do homework, since E exercises are similar to exam questions.
Labs
Q: Where are the details for
labs (also called recitations)?
A: Lab belong to 135R; these two
parts are decided by recitation instructors. For example, Lab 1, 2, …,13 are
labs. Descriptions of labs are listed in https://tong-yee.github.io/135/2021_spring.html, while
submission is on gradescope *.
*
Students in recitation section of Professor Zamansky
will not use gradescope but a different testing framework
and github for lab quizzes and exercises. However,
for non-lab assignments (say, lecture quizzes, homework, projects, midterm exam
and final), you still need to submit to gradescope.
Q: Are
labs answered by the slides or textbook?
A: Recitation
instructors will guide you through labs and teach you necessary knowledge to
finish labs. Make sure you attend recitation sections. Lab quizzes and
exercises count for 25% of total grade.
Lecture
Quizzes and Attendance
A: Lecture quizzes are given in some lectures. They should be
submitted to gradescope. They are submitted for
credit without being graded. They count for 5% of total grade. Their purpose is
to count attendance.
Q: How
will attendance be taken for this class?
A:
Attendance is counted by lecture quizzes, which is submitted for credits (not
graded).
Projects
A: Projects are posted in https://tong-yee.github.io/135/2021_spring.html and
blackboard, submission is through gradescope. Each
project counts for 7% of total grade.
Midterm and the
Final
Q: Where are midterm exam and final submitted?
A: Submission of midterm exam and final are through gradescope.
Q: Are
we allowed to use notes during tests?
A:
Some cheat sheet is allowed. Here is an example.
Q: How
are the tests and quizzes administered?
A: It
will be submitted to gradescope for automatic
grading. Proctor software will be used in midterm exam and the final. More
details will follow.
PS (Problem
Solving) and WE (Worked Example) do NOT need to Submit
Q: What are exercises marked as PS and WE?
A: PS (Problem Solving) and WE (Worked Examples) in https://tong-yee.github.io/135/2021_spring.html are to
be worked through without
submission. They are preparation for exams.
View Lecture Recording
Q:
When will the recorded lectures be posted and where?
A:
Once a lecture is completed, log into blackboard. In the left panel, choose BB
Collab Sessions.
Click
menu icon 
in 
,
then in the pop up window, choose Recordings.
The
recordings of lectures are shown.
Gradescope
Q: I have never received an
invite for gradescope.
A: If
not receive invitation code, email lecture instructor ty680@hunter.cuny.edu with your full
name and email address.
Q: I want to change my email
address listed in gradescope.
A:
Each gradescope is associated with an email address.
Please send me the email address you want to use for gradescope.
Note
that you should not have more than one email address in gradescope,
otherwise your submissions will be distributed in different accounts (one email
address is listed in one gradescope account).
Q:
How to submit assignment to gradescope?
A:
Here are steps.
(1)
Log
into gradescope.
(2)
if
assignments do not show up in right pane, click Dashboard
.
(3)
Click
an assignment that is clickable (non-clickable link passes due date and cannot
submit). For example,
(4)
A
window pops up.
(5)
Open
your source code (file ended in .cpp), DRAG and DROP
in the box. Then click Upload.
(6)
Once
you click Upload, wait until successfully upload window pops up as follows.
(7)
Autograder is trying to grade your assignments. Here is a
prompt.
(8)
Once grade is finished, in the right pane, you
should see autograder result after one or two
minutes.
(9)
In the above example, my program does not
begin with introductory comments. If you want to get correct grade in this
part, write beginning comments as follows.
/*
Author:
your name
Course:
CSCI-135
Instructor:
their name
Assignment:
title, e.g., Lab1A
Here,
briefly, at least in one or a few sentences
describe
what the program does.
*/
If you want to resubmit,
click Resubmit in the bottom right corner.
(10)If you want to look at submit
history, click 
. A window pop
up, and you will see all your submission.
(11)
Click
a link, say 
.
Then its contents are shown in the window. By default, it shows results only.
If you want to look at Code. Click Code button.
(12)
If
you want to download previous submission, click Download Submission. A zip
containing the most recent submission will be downloaded.
Grading
Q:
What if I have questions concerning grades? For example, on gradescope,
I'm getting points off for comments on Lab 1B and Lab 1D, but it's the same
comments as Lab 1A and Lab 1C for which I received full credit.
A:
Different problems have different comments requirements. For detailed grading
in labs, please consult your recitation instructor. For non-lab grading
problem, contact me and I will forward your inquiries to your grader.
Textbook
Q:
How can I buy the book, from wiley or vitalsource?
A:
Here are the two steps to buy textbook and uses it e-features.
(Step
1) Go to https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Brief+C%2B%2B%3A+Late+Objects%2C+3rd+Edition-p-9781119400424,
choose
E-book rental (120 days).
(Step
2) To view wiley E-book, we need to use vitalsource.
Once
we buy/rent the book, a link will be emailed to you from Vitalsource
with the following contents:
In
short, Wiley provides materials and vitalsource adds
e-features (ie, interactivity) to those materials.
Q: I bought textbook from the
school website already. Is that fine?
A: If
you can access the textbook through vitalsource, that
is fine. If the access code does not work, you may try https://support.vitalsource.com/hc/en-us/articles/205852998-Error-messages-when-accessing-your-book-
Then
click link contact VitalSource Support and chat with a representative.
Q: Is the textbook required for homework?
A:
Yes.
Q: Are
the e-features mandatory?
A:
Yes.
Q: Is it okay to use the
second edition of the textbook (since I already have it)? or do I need to buy
the third edition of the textbook for this class?
A: If
you insist on using 2nd edition, when we assign homework/assignment,
make sure to get the problem label in the 3rd edition, which I
prefer each student to have.
Operating Systems
Q: If we have a Linux
install, can we use it?
A:
Yes. For example, if you in Mac or Linux, then C++ is installed
already. You do not need to do any extra installation.
No
need to install Linux in Mac; its operating system OS is similar to Linux.
Q: As for online C++ editor, repl.it might be better to use than onlinegdb.
A:
You can use any online C++ editor for your convenience, as long as the file you
save can be graded by gradescope.
However,
in the long run, I prefer you to use vim or Emacs to edit C++ files. In
blackboard, a resource file for vim put can be downloaded and put in your home
directory, call it .vimrc
(remember to add dot . before vimrc).
Q: If
use repl.it or onlinegdb, do we still need linux subsystem
for windows?
A:
You still need to use linux submsystem,
otherwise, your files are not saved in Linux server. Also, one goal of this
course is to be familiar with Linux Operating System.
Miscellaneous
Q: Is Readings supposed to be done before class?
A: It is not required, but I would prefer you
to read before class.
Q: What
if I do not have a camera?
A: You can either use camera in your cell phone or loan a laptop
from student help
desk.
Q: What is
privacy policy of the testing software go proctor exams?
A: It
depends on what testing software is in use. I will let you know once there are
any updates.
Q:
I'm enrolled in Professor Zamansky's recitation. Is his lab
different from other professor’s?
A:
Professor Zamansky’s
section is only for Daedalus (CSCI honors) students. He might use different
exercises for labs. Other professors use labs in the syllabus.
Q: Do
you have to take 13500 and 13600 together?
A: We
no longer have CSCI 13600. Starting from Fall 2020, CSCI 13600 is formerly
combined with CSCI 13500 as recitation section.