Mathematics 150, Fall 2002
Instructor
Larry Riddle
Buttrick 327
Telephone: x6222
Email: LRiddle@AgnesScott.edu
Required materials
An Introduction to Programming Using Visual Basic 6.0,
Fourth Edition, by David Schneider
ASC network id and password
Office Hours
I do not have regularly scheduled office hours. Rather, you are
encouraged to stop by my office at any time when you have questions or
problems and if I am not too busy I will be happy to work with you. You
may also stop by to make an appointment for a time that is mutually
convenient. Another good way to contact me is through email, particularly
during the evenings or weekends. I promise to respond to your email as
quickly as I can.
Laboratory Problems and Assignments
The only way to learning a programming language is to write
programs in that language. Therefore most of the work in this course will
involve writing computer programs. Class time will often be spent with
each of you writing or modifying small programs, either individually or in
small groups, that illustrate the important concepts in the current
chapter, and discussing those programs and concepts. This means that it is
absolutely essential that you have read the assigned material in the
chapter before you come to class.
Several longer programming assignments will be given to be worked on
outside of class. You will also be required to complete a programming
project as part of your final exam. I will supply several suggestions for
projects or you may pick one yourself. Please consult with me about the
appropriateness of your project. The project program will be due by the
end of the final exam period.
There will be a short open-book final exam. This exam will cover basic
principles such as found in the Practice Problems and Exercises in the
text. I encourage you to work through those questions as you read the
text.
Attendance
It is expected that you will attend and be prepared for every
class. Much of what you learn in this class will come from the laboratory
work done during class time. You will work on short programming problems
every class period. It is recognized, however, that circumstances may
occasionally require that you miss a class. However, you are still
responsible for all problems and material discussed in class whether you
are there or not. If you miss a class, you will need to complete the
laboratory problems for that day before the next class because
otherwise you will be unprepared for that day's lab. I speak from
experience that students who miss too many classes do not do well in this
course. Read that last sentence again.
Grading
Class attendance, Labs, Reading 10%
Programming Assignments 50%
Project 25%
Final 15%
Reading and Programming Assignments*
Read Chapters 1 and 2 for background information