CS5034: Models of Computation
Fall, 1997

Honor Code:

The Graduate Honor Code applies to this course and will be strictly enforced.

Assignments and Grading Policy:

The course will be graded on the basis of 1000 total assigned points. There will be one in-class midterm worth 100 points, and a final worth 200 points. The remaining 700 points will be based on approximately 14 weekly homework assignments. The majority of the homework assignments will be problem sets; a few will involve using tools such as Lex and Yacc.

Solutions to ALL homework assignments, unless explicitly stated otherwise, MUST be submitted as a Postscript file. Assignments will be submitted for grading by emailing the Postscript file to the CS5034 class account (cs5034@ei.cs.vt.edu) by the assignment due date/time. It is the student's responsibility to insure that the assignment has been received - on time - by the GTA. It is the student's responsibility to deliver a document that can be viewed successfully by the GTA using a standard Postscript viewer. Submitting an assignment that cannot be viewed successfully by the GTA will result in a significant point deduction for that assignment.

For any homework assignment, two students may turn in the assignment for joint credit. In this case, both students will normally receive the same grade. You are free to work with a partner on some assignments or on no assignments. You are free to use different partners for different assignments. Groups of more than two people working together on an assignment are strictly forbidden and will be treated as an honor code violation. While students are allowed to work in pairs, both students involved must completely understand the answers that they submit. To verify that this is so, the instructor reserves the right to require any student to present the answers to their homework assignment verbally, and may reduce credit given for the assignment if the verbal answer is not compatible with the written answer. ALL homework submissions must contain the following Pledge Statement:

``I understand the answers that I have submitted. The answers submitted have not been directly copied from another source, but instead are written in my own words.''

In general, assignments are due at 5:00 on a Monday. Assignments submitted ``a few minutes late'' will receive a flat 5 point penalty, regardless of the value of the assignment. All students are permitted to turn in one homework assignment (except the last one) up to one week late without penalty. Otherwise, no late homework will be accepted, except in the rare case where the instructor has given an individual extension.

If any student needs special accommodations because of a disability, please contact the instructor during the first week of class.

Electronic Information:

Information such as copies of the syllabus and assignments, class calendar, answers to frequently asked questions, copies of the overhead slides used in class and class grades will be made available electronically through the World Wide Web (WWW). Homework assignments will be distributed in both LaTeX source form and PostScript form via the class WWW pages. Those students who do not have access through their home computer can gain access from departmental lab machines. The course homepage URL is http://ei.cs.vt.edu/~cs5034.

Textbook:

The required textbook for this course is Discrete Structures, Logic, and Computability by James L. Hein. You may also wish to buy LaTeX: A Document Preparation System by Leslie Lamport. In addition, you will need access to various documents describing the tools used for certain homework assignments. Information about such documents will be provide through the class WWW pages.