CS4102 - Algorithms Course Logistics

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Syllabus | Lectures | Textbook |Quizzes | Homeworks and Grading Policy | Final Exam | Final Letter Grades |

Syllabus

The syllabus for the course can be found here. Most (but not all) of that information is summarized here.

Lectures

Lectures will be held in-person in the classroom listed on the University Registrar. Lectures will be recorded for the convenience of those who cannot intend or prefer not to for any reason. At the time of writing, UVa has a mask mandate in effect, so all attendees in lecture will be required to wear a mask when on grounds.

Covid-19 Policies and FAQ

Everyone please read this page on policies and information about how Covid-19 will affect our course.

Textbook

You will really need to read and study material other than the slides. There are many choices where you can get more details about our topics, but a textbook is the easiest option. We’ll post readings from the following textbook, and we urge you to read them or get that info from another source.

Introduction to Algorithms by Cormen, et. al., 3rd edition. Referred to as “CLRS”. UVA Library has a digital version of CLRS available online for free

Quizzes

The course is divided into 10 modules, each which lasts for about 1 week (some for 2 weeks). The 10 modules are listed below:

• Module 1: Divide and Conquer - Insertion sort, Mergesort, and Quicksort
• Module 2: Divide and Conquer - Recurrence Relations
• Module 3: Divide and Conquer - Advanced Topics
• Module 4: Graphs - BFS and DFS
• Module 5: Graphs - Kruskal’s and Find-Union
• Module 6: Graphs - Prim’s and Dijkstra’s
• Module 7: Greedy Algorithms
• Module 8: Dynamic Programming
• Module 9: Network Flow and Ford-Fulkerson
• Module 10: Bi-Partite Matching and Reductions

The course contains exactly 10 quizzes (one per module). Each quiz can be taken multiple times, and each quiz can be in one of 3 states:

• Incomplete: The quiz has not been passed to any level of satisfaction yet.
• Pass: The student has shown sufficient knowledge in this topic area.
• High Pass: The student has shown significant or near perfect knowledge in this topic area.

You will always earn your highest mark on any quiz across all attempts. So, there is never any reason not to attempt a quiz if you are unsatisfied with your grade (your grade can never decrease).

Final Exam

There is no traditional final exam in this course. During the final exam time, you will be given one last attempt at all 10 of the course quizzes. This is your last chance to pass any quizzes that are still outstanding. If you have passed all topics (or are already happy with your final grade), then you may choose not to take the final.

Homeworks

There is one homework assignment per module, that must be completed in order to pass that module (more on passing modules in a moment). The homeworks in this course were designed with the following goals / principles in mind:

• Goal 1: Homework should be low-stress to pass, but provide opportunity for deep, reflective practice with the material.
• Goal 2: Every student should be required to show effort / progress on homework. Essentially, a student should provide evidence of engaging with the homework even if the quality of the work is not yet perfect.
• Goal 3: Homeworks should be submittable at any time during the semester.

For these reasons the homework in this course is required, with recommended deadlines (with automatic extensions), and can be submitted as many times as required. The grading state for each assignment is one of the following:

• Incomplete: The student has not yet shown clear effort and engagement with the assignment. The homework is not at a passing level yet.
• Pass: The assignment is at a passing level, though may not be perfect or mastered yet. The student is encouraged to continue engaging with perfecting the assignment even though they have passed if applicable.

Passing a Module

As stated earlier, the course contains 10 modules. Each module, at any time, is always in one of the following states:

• Incomplete: At least one of the homework or quiz for this module is still incomplete.
• Pass: The homework AND the quiz have both been passed. The quiz is NOT at the high pass level.
• High Pass: The homework is passed AND the quiz is passed at the high-pass level.

Final Letter Grades

Your letter grade in this course corresponds to the number MODULES you have passed (Note this is MODULES passed, not homeworks or quizzes. To pass a module, you must pass BOTH the homework AND the quiz in that module). Please note the following things when reading this grading chart:

• Breadth matters more than depth: Note that passing MORE modules is amost always better than increasing a passing module from pass to high pass. For example, if you have 8 modules passed (3 of which are high-pass). Then passing a new module will raise your grade to a B, while raising an old module to high-pass will raise your grade to only a B-.
• Depth starts to matter more once you reach a B: Once you reach a grade of B, getting the modules to the high-pass level matters more.

Legend

• A blank row translates to No change from the row above. This makes the table easier to read.
• The number of modules at high pass is NOT summative. For example, the row for B- says 8 modules passed, and 4 of those 8 must be at the high-pass level (It is NOT the case that you need 4 additional modules at the high-pass level)