CIS 338: Getting Help

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CIS 338 Getting Help

• Dr. Ralph D. Westfall
• March, 2011

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Learning Visual Basic.NET

• objective of class is for students to learn
  Visual Basic.NET programming
• if you get help that makes you a better
  programmer, that is good
• if someone else writes code for you, that is NOT
  good
• you will not learn as much as you need to learn
  to get a 'C' in this class

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Acceptable Help

• tutoring
• someone explaining how various aspects of Visual
  Basic.NET work
• demonstrating or helping you write code samples
  in a general way (not as a specific part of an
  assignment)
• e.g., for loop, if...then...else

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Acceptable Help - 2

• someone helping you find bugs
• after you have already tried
• general suggestions about what you need to do
  next if you are "stuck"
• there may be other things which could be
  acceptable
• check with me

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Acceptable Help - 3

• getting help from instructor
• "self-help" class Discussion List
  BlackboardgtDiscussionsgt
• can also check postings from previous quarter
  e.g.,
• Exercise A Fall 2009 Introductions
• some postings lost?

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Unacceptable Help

• other person writing (or dictating) code for you
• person "solving" the problem for you
• explanation of all (or most) of the steps
• copying someone's code
• letting someone copy your code
• directly, or
• not maintaining adequate security of code

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Too Much Help on One Project

• student did poorly on all but the last project,
  and poorly on midterm and final
• got a good score on last project
• enough to raise grade from an F to a D-
• I gave the student an F for the course anyway
• "Let's get real!" (someone else did work)

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What Goes Around

• student asked after first Project if I saw a
  diskette dropped on classroom floor
• same student's and another's Project 3 were very
  similar
• Student I dropped it on the floor.
• Professor Again?
• Student Yes. caught before in another class.
  Suspended for 1 year.

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Bottom Line

• 60 of course grade is from tests
• each test will have a number of short programming
  problems
• if you can't solve simple programming problems on
  the tests, your grade will be lower than a 'C'
• even if you do very well on the projects

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Getting Lucky Will Help!

• click this link to see how to get lucky in this
  class
• also tells how to get lucky in your career
• who was Thomas Jefferson?

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Discussion

• identify problems (as many as you can) that
  cheating could create for the following
  "stakeholders"
• other students at Cal Poly
• employers who hire Cal Poly graduates
• Cal Poly as a university
• the student who cheats
• others (not mentioned above)?

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2nd Discussion

• what could be done at Cal Poly to discourage
  problems associated with cheating
• by faculty/administration?
• by students?
• Honor Code (also in Syllabus link on Blackboard)

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Role Playing Exercises

• what would you say to a student who asks you to
  give him a copy of your code?
• the person says, "I won't copy it, I just want to
  understand it."
• what would you do if you saw someone trying to
  steal a friend's car?
• what if someone was trying to steal a better
  grade in CIS 338?