CSC-202: Coding for Audio and Video

Read This Document!

This document is not "boilerplate"! There is a lot of important information that you need to know about this course contained here. It is your guideline to the course. Not only does it give you all kinds of information (e.g. how to register for exams, how to contact the instructor, how to get help, what is required on assignments, etc etc, ), it also reiterates some key "rules and regulations" that you need to know about.

Again, be sure to read this document and be sure to refer to it as needed throughout the course.

Time and Location

Quarter: Spring Quarter, 2025

Class Time: Tuesdays, 5:45-9:00

Class Location: Lewis 1216

Instructor Information

Name: Joseph ("Yosef") Mendelsohn

Office Hours: Please see my office hours page.

E-Mail: josephmendelsohn@gmail.com

Important Dates & Course calendar

• Classes begin: Tuesday, April 1, 2025

• Last day to drop the course without loss of tuition fees: Friday, April 11

• Last day to withdraw from the course: Friday, May 16

• Midterm Exam:

  • Tuesday, May 6, regular classroom time and location

• Final Exam:

  • Tuesday, June 10, regular classroom time and location

Course Topics and Learning Goals

Is this Course Right for Me?

This is an introductory programming course with emphasis on audio and video applications. Students write simple code-based scripts for presenting and manipulating audio and video.

We will write code in HTML, CSS and Javascript to create simple, interactive web pages and to control and manipulate media elements. The course assumes an interest in (and some prior experience working with) audio and video.

IT 202 is intended for students with no prior programming experience. Students with intermediate or advanced programming experience (i.e. successful completion of more than one programming course) do not need to take this course. They are encouraged to ask their adviser to substititue an elective course in place of IT 202 (consult the instructor for more details).

Course Goals

By the end of the quarter, students will be able to:

• Write code that controls and manipulates audio and video

• Use HTML and CSS to display diverse content

• Write simple programs

• Use technical documentation for applying new methods

• Explain common approaches to using code-based applications in professional workflows

Prerequisites

• POST 110 and POST 124 or with permission

About Your Instructor

My faculty bio can be found here.

Grading Breakdown

Grading Scale

IMPORTANT GRADING NOTES

• Your lowest assignment score will be dropped (though not in the summer).

• A score of below 50% on the final exam cannot result in a course letter grade above a C-.

• A score of below 50% on the final exam may require a consultation with the instructor in which you will be required to explain your code from assignments submitted during the course.

• A score of below 40% on the final exam cannot result in a course letter grade above a D. (This is extraordinarily unlikely, and only occurs when someone has not been keeping up at all with the course.)

• Not taking the final exam will result in a failing grade for the course.

   

Course Policies

Assignments

Most weeks will have an associated programming assignment. Because I try to tailor the assignments to each particular lecture, I often wait until after the lecture to post the assignment. So you will sometimes find that the week's assignment is not available until a day or two after lecture.

On most weeks you will have a programming assignment. You may not under any circumstances submit code that you have not written yourself. It’s one thing to learn about a certain technique and to apply it, but if you are using an entire block of code that clearly was written by someone else, that would qualify as plagiarisum and an academic integrity report will be filed.

You are always welcome to consult with friends, tutors, the professor, and so on to help find or understand errors in your code. However, you may not under any circumstances submit code that you did not write yourself. If, at any point, a person or agent (e.g. ChatGPT) tells you what to type, that is cheating!

Important: Please note that you may be contacted at any time during or immediately after the course and asked to explain code that you have submitted on your assignments. A common scenario for this is when the grader spots unfamiliar code (i.e. code that involves techniques not discussed in the course). In this case, I may contact you, and you will be required to demonstrate that you can explain and can reproduce the code that you submitted. Again, this can happen at any time throughout the course.

Due Date and Time: Each programming assignment will have a posted deadline, specified on D2L. I have allowed for a "grace period". This is a 2 day period after the “due” date. (D2L calls this the “end date”) during which you can sumibt your assignments. However, there will be a 3 point (out of 40) deduction for each day the assignment is late. No late assignments are accepted beyond this 2-day extension.

"Grace Coupons": Because "life" so often can get in the way, every student is given two "grace coupons" to use on assignments during quarter. This coupon means that you can submit during the 2-day grace period without any penalty. To do so, please do NOT email me. Instead, simply write in the comments area when you submit your assignment that you wish to use a grace coupon.

Dropped Assignment: Your lowest assignment score will be dropped in the calculation of your course grade.

Note: One thing that tends to confuse students is that D2L will often show a 0 for an assignment that has not yet been submitted. You can ignore this. That is D2L’s way of keeping track of your “lowest” assignment to date.

*Make sure that you submit the correct assignment!* It is up to the student to ensure that their attachment is not empty, and also that it contains the appropriate files. Accidentally submitting, say, the previous week’s assignment will not be considered a valid excuse. [Ask me in class to tell you my story about the importance of checking your work.]

You can resubmit as often as you like: If you make modifications to an assignment that you have already submitted, you are welcome to upload the newer version to D2L provided, of course, that it is uploaded before the assignment deadline. The grader will always grade your most recent submission.

Exams

The format of the exams will be discussed as the time for each approaches.

Make-up exams will not be given without very extenuating circumstances. If you wish to petition for a make-up exam, you must notify me and provide documented evidence of the emergency that will cause you to miss the exam. If a make-up exam is granted, it will be of a form of my choosing. For example, you may be required to do an oral examination, or type code while I (or another proctor) monitors your computer.

How to Contact Me

My students are always my #1 priority, so I try to check emails frequently throughout the day. Sometimes I can reply to emails within an hour or two, sometimes it take several hours before I get to them. However, I do make every attempt to answer all emails within 24 hours. In the event that this does not happen, please do feel free to resend the email. You don't have to "apologize for disturbing" me as the fault is mine! I will never ignore an email from you. Therefore, if you do not receive a response from me, you may assume that the email got lost in the pile somewhere or ended up in my spam folder. In that case, please do resend it.**

When e-mailing me, it is very important that you include your name and course number in the subject. I have a pretty stringent spam-filter on my e-mail, so if you don’t do this, your e-mail may well end up in my spam folder. For example:**

Subject: Smith, csc-401, absence from lecture

Real-Time Communication

In addition to office hours, I am more than happy to speak with students by Zoom or by phone. If you wish to schedule an appointment, please email me at least 2-3 times that are good for you, and I will email you back with an appointment. However, office hours is strongly encouraged. Obviously for online students, it may be more practical to have phone or online meetings.

Pronoun / Name Preferences

Professional courtesy and sensitivity are especially important with respect to individuals and topics dealing with differences of race, culture, religion, politics, sexual orientation, gender, gender variance, and nationalities. I will gladly honor your request to address you by an alternate name or gender pronoun. Please advise me of this preference early in the quarter so that I may make appropriate changes to my records. Please also note that students may choose to identify within the University community with a preferred first name that differs from their legal name and may also update their gender. The preferred first name will appear in University related systems and documents except where the use of the legal name is necessitated or required by University business or legal need. For more information and instructions on how to do so, please see the Student Preferred Name and Gender Policy at http://policies.depaul.edu/policy/policy.aspx?pid=332

Getting Help in the Course

There are many options here:

Discussion Forum: Start here! Post course content questions to the course Discussion Forum so I -- or even better, one of your colleagues -- can answer. This means that the rest of the class can also benefit!

The discussion forum is definitely your best place to post questions and help each other out. Of course, while it is always great to help out fellow students, please do not simply fix other people’s problems. And I hope it's obvious that you should NEVER post answers to assignments! A major part of learning is struggling through the tricky parts, reviewing concepts and looking things up until the light bulb comes on. Still, there is nothing wrong with giving hints to point people in the right direction.

Tutoring center: Free tutoring is available for all students in this course. Please do make use of it! The tutoring center is located in the CDM building in downtown Chicago. Virtual tutoring for online students is also available. You can find out more information here. Be sure to make use of this service!

Office Hours

Please see my office hours page here.

Textbooks

There is no required textbook for this course.

Changes to Syllabus

This syllabus is subject to change as necessary during the quarter. If a change occurs, it will be communicated to you via News postings.

Getting Started

This course will use two web sites.

• The first is my personal web page at: http://condor.depaul.edu/ymendels/202/

  • This page contains links to all important documents such as course notes, example web documents, this syllabus, and other resources.

• The second is DePaul University’s course management system called ‘D2L’: https://d2l.depaul.edu

  • This is where you will submit your assignments and see your grades.

  • News postings will also be available here.

Please be sure to bookmark both of these on your browser.

News Postings

After the first few days of the quarter, all communications will occur through D2L ‘News’ postings. These postings are extremely important – particularly so for online courses. So make absolutely certain that you have “subscribed” to News postings. By subscribing, all News postings will automatically be sent to your email. Information on subscribing wil be emailed to you early in the course.

READ (don't "skim") the News postings!! Some students make a habit of just skimming these postings when they come out. Please do not do this! For online-only courses in particular, they often contain important information. Course policies may be updated, deadlines change, assignments may have typos, etc. etc. So do be sure and read them!

Course Topics

The following gives the anticipated breakdown of topics for the course. The topics covered are subject to change. Summer sessions, if applicable, will also typically have slight modifications. The "Content" tab on D2L will give you more up-to-date information.

Please see the course web page at: http://condor.depaul.edu/ymendels/202

College Policies

Incomplete

An incomplete grade is given only for an exceptional reason such as a death in the family, a serious illness, etc. Any such reason must be documented. Any incomplete request must be made at least two weeks before the final, and approved by the Dean of the College of Computing and Digital Media. Any consequences resulting from a poor grade for the course will not be considered as valid reasons for such a request. Incompletes are only granted when the large majority of the course work has already been completed.

Academic Policies

All students are required to manage their class schedules each term in accordance with the deadlines for enrolling and withdrawing as indicated in the University Academic Calendar. Information on enrollment, withdrawal, grading and incompletes can be found at: cdm.depaul.edu/enrollment.

Online Course Evaluations

Evaluations are a way for students to provide valuable feedback regarding their instructor and the course. Detailed feedback will enable the instructor to continuously tailor teaching methods and course content to meet the learning goals of the course and the academic needs of the students. They are a requirement of the course and are key to continue to provide you with the highest quality of teaching. The evaluations are anonymous; the instructor and administration do not track who entered what responses. A program is used to check if the student completed the evaluations, but the evaluation is completely separate from the student’s identity. Since 100% participation is our goal, students are sent periodic reminders over three weeks. Students do not receive reminders once they complete the evaluation. Students complete the evaluation online in Campus Connect.

Academic Integrity and Plagiarism

The course adheres to the DePaul University's Academic Integrity Policy. For complete information about Academic Integrity at DePaul University, please see: http://academicintegrity.depaul.edu/.

Cheating is any action that violates university norms or instructor's guidelines for the preparation and submission of assignments. This includes, but is not limited to, unauthorized access to examination materials prior to the examination itself; use or possession of unauthorized materials during the examination or quiz; having someone take an examination in one's place; copying from another student; unauthorized assistance to another student; or acceptance of such assistance. Plagiarism involves the presentation of the work of another as one's own. Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to the following: the direct copying of any source, such as written and verbal material, computer files, audio disks, video programs or musical scores, whether published or unpublished, in whole or part, without proper acknowledgment that it is someone else's; copying of any source in whole or part with only minor changes in wording or syntax, even with acknowledgment; submitting as one's own work a report, examination paper, computer file, lab report or other assignment that has been prepared by someone else (including research papers purchased from any other person or agency); the paraphrasing of another's work or ideas without proper acknowledgment; working so closely with another person so as to produce identical code.

The use of others' web/publication content (text, graphics, code) is regarded as plagiarism if credit is not given (see the above description of plagiarism). When you directly quote someone's work, you must put it in quotation marks. Without such quotations and reference, it is regarded as an act of plagiarism (see the above description of plagiarism). Using materials that the student prepared for other purposes (e.g., for another course or for his/her work) needs the course instructor's prior permission.

A charge of cheating and/or plagiarism is always a serious matter. It can result in an automatic F in the course and possible expulsion. More information can be found at http://academicintegrity.depaul.edu/. If you have any questions, consult with instructor.

Use of AI Agents such as ChatGPT

In a word: DO NOT DO THIS! It is surprisingly easy to figure out when students have done this. Every quarter, I find a number of these, though, fortunately, the frequency has come down quite a bit. However, consequences will be potentially severe. At the very least, a formal Academic Integrity violation will be filed and it will be placed in your academic record.

Penalties can range from a 0 on the assignment to an F for the entire course. (It has happened).

Again, I find this every single quarter. If you use one of these agents (or get "help" from any outside source such as a friend), there is a VERY VERY VERY good chance that it will be detected. This is plagiarism as it means that you did not come up with the code on your own, and is a violation of academic integrity.

Even if you use the agent without the intention of using the code, it's very easy for this unfamiliar code to creep into your assignments. Again, this happens every single quarter.

Please do not be one of these people! Going through the Academic Integrity process is very stressful for all involved and can lead to serious consequences in terms of your academic career.

To summarize: Do not ever use an Artificial Intelligence agent when working on your assignments. There is a very good chance that unfamiliar code will end up appearing in your assignments if you do. The penalties can be severe. Instead, put the time and effort into learning the course material. After all, this is the whole point if your being at university!!

Sharing / Posting of Course Materials

All students are expected to abide by the University’s Academic Integrity Policy which prohibits cheating and other misconduct in student coursework. Publicly sharing or posting online any prior or current materials from this course (including exam questions or answers), is considered to be providing unauthorized assistance prohibited by the policy. Both students who share/post and students who access or use such materials are considered to be cheating under the Policy and will be subject to sanctions for violations of Academic Integrity.

Students with Disabilities

**Students who feel they may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact the instructor privately to discuss their specific needs. All discussions will remain confidential. To ensure that you receive the most appropriate accommodation based on your needs, contact the instructor as early as possible in the quarter (preferably within the first week of class), and make sure that you have contacted the Center for Students with Disabilities (CSD) at: csd@depaul.edu.

Lewis Center 1420, 25 East Jackson Blvd. Phone number: (312)362-8002 Fax: (312)362-6544 TTY: (773)325.7296**

In Class Students - Classroom Decorum

Most of the following will apply primarily to in-class sections.

Attendance: For in-class sections, students are expected to attend each class and to remain for the duration. However, attendance will not be factored into your final grade.

Attitude: A professional and academic attitude is expected throughout this course. Measurable examples of non-academic or unprofessional attitude include but are not limited to: talking to others when the instructor is speaking, mocking another’s opinion, emailing, texting or using the internet whether on a phone or computer. If any issues arise a student may be asked to leave the classroom. The professor will work with the Dean of Students Office to navigate such student issues.

Civil Discourse: DePaul University is a community that thrives on open discourse that challenges students, both intellectually and personally, to be Socially Responsible Leaders. It is the expectation that all dialogue in this course is civil and respectful of the dignity of each student. Any instances of disrespect or hostility can jeopardize a student’s ability to be successful in the course. The professor will partner with the Dean of Students Office to assist in managing such issues.

Cell Phones: If you bring a cell phone to class, it must be off or set to a silent mode. Should you Out of respect to fellow students and the professor, texting is never allowable in class. If you are required to be on call as part of your job, please advise me at the start of the course.