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C OMPUTER S CIENCE , U NIVERSITY OF C ALIFORNIA , D AVIS

ECS122A Syllabus (Summer Session II 2016)

Design and Analysis of Algorithms

Lecture: MWF 10:00-11:40am, 202 Wellman
Discussion: M 12:10-1:50pm 6 Wellman
Instructor: Dr. Rob Gysel, rsgysel at ucdavis dot edu
Office Hours: TR 8-9am, 1037 Academic Surge (south of MSB)
Teaching Assisstants
Name
E-Mail
Yunfeng Hong
yfhong at ucdavis dot edu
Chun-Ming Lai cmlai at ucdavis dot edu

Office Hours
TBA
TBA

Course Details: Homeworks, lecture notes, and updated lecture schedules will be posted on
piazza as the quarter progresses. Quizzes will be posted on SmartSite and due the morning of
each lecture, except the first lecture and the day of the exams. There will be six homeworks,
one midterm, and one final exam.
I encourage you to discuss the material with fellow students, TAs, and myself. That said, all
written assignments must be your own work, and you should be able to explain why you believe your solution is correct if asked to do so. If it becomes clear that you do not understand
your written solution on a homework assignment, we reserve the right to subtract points from
your homework, regardless of its correctness.
Using online sources to directly acquire homework solutions is not permitted, and will result
in a referral to student judicial affairs. Piazza is available as an online Q&A platform. An important part of your education is to learn to ask and address questions in a respectful and
effective manner, so I encourage you to ask your piazza questions publicly to foster class discussion.
Course Website: Piazza: https://piazza.com/class/ir8d38gujo45xp
Prerequisite: ECS20 and ECS60 with a grade of C- or better. Prerequisites will be strictly enforced.

Subject Material: Success in this course comes from completing the written assignments and
understanding the material in lecture. Understanding the material comes from learning the
vocabulary, wrapping your head around the definitions, exploring small examples, and using
critical thinking to generalize your ideas. Acquiring these skills often takes time, effort, patience, and guidance. Ask questions in lecture, OH, or piazza early and often.

Text: Algorithm Design, by Jon Kleinberg and va Tardos. http://www.cs.princeton.edu/

~wayne/kleinberg-tardos/
Grade Distribution: Homeworks 25%, Reading Quizzes 5%, Midterm Exam 35%, Final
Exam 35%. Exams will be curved, if necessary, but only for your benefit. Letter grades will
be approximately: A = 90+%, B = 80-89%, C = 70-79%, D = 60-69%, F < 60%.

Course Policies:
Exams: Exams are closed book and closed notes, with the exception of one 3x5 inch notecard, front and back, for each exam. If you are not keeping your eyes on your paper for
any reason, I will, at minimum, move you to another seat.

Electronics: Please read this article. Do not distract others with your electronic devices.
Ensure that your phones are silent or off. If you choose to use a laptop in lecture, please
sit in the back row(s).

Homeworks: You must use LaTeX to type your homeworks. Use the homework template
on Piazza. I recommend using ShareLaTeX if you are unfamiliar with LaTeX. Figures
may be drawn by hand and included as a photo; read more here. Proofread and revise
your homeworks, with the intent of making your answers as concise as possible. If you
discuss problems with other students, you must list them at the top of your homework.
No late assignments will be accepted under any circumstances.

Cheating: The following behavior is not acceptable in this course, and is grounds for a referral to student judicial affairs.
Googling homework solutions
Talking to other students during exams
Looking at other students papers during exams
Studying with other students without listing them at the top of your homework
Uploading course content to Course Hero, Ninja Courses, or similar sites
Cheating wastes your time and my time, your tuition money, university resources, and
devalues the degrees conferred by our institution. Dont do it. Your degree is only as
meaningful as the knowledge you have acquired to get it.