Guidelines for One-on-One Assistance with Programming Assignment Project Issues by Email or Zoom Video Conference

Guidelines for One-on-One Assistance with Programming Assignment Project Issues by Email or Zoom Video Conference

 

Hi all, I want to go over the requirements for receiving assistance on programming assignment projects. Many of the assignments will require students to develop their algorithms to problem solve a solution for the assignment.  One of the major focuses of the Computer Science 1course and this course is to prepare students to create their algorithms and solutions to problems. This means that students must develop algorithms to solve problems. This course will require students to write a pseudocode document, a flowchart document, or a combination of the two to represent design solutions to programming assignments.

 

What is an algorithm? It is a design that represents a recipe or step-by-step process flow of the tasks that you intend to perform in a specific order to solve the problem.  Based on the type of design artifacts reviewed through Computer Science 1 and Computer Science 2, this design typically can be comprised of a combination of artifacts.  It can be pseudocode, a flow chart, a class diagram, an IPO Chart Diagram, or a Wireframe Diagram when we get to GUI Interface Design.

 

 

 

What this means in the context of receiving assistance from me is that all students must include some type of design artifact when requesting assistance for logical errors or design consultations to programming assignments.  The design artifact that must be included will depend on the type of assistance needed. For example, if a student needs assistance with a User-Defined Object, a UML Class Diagram will be required for me to understand what features and properties you are trying to build into your User Defined Object.  If a student needs assistance with the logic flow of an algorithm within a method or collection of integrated methods, a copy of the pseudocode documentation or a flow chart describing the algorithm will be required.  These are the design artifacts for the project.  In most cases, this will also require sending a zipped copy of the project folder along with the design artifacts associated with the project assignment that you need assistance with.

 

This requirement does not include basic syntax errors in the code.  If you are getting a syntax error in your code, you may send me a zipped copy of the project by email to assist you with the syntax error without including some type of design specifications. However, you must include a brief description of the problem along with the line number in the source file of the class that is generating the syntax error.

 

 

 Here is how a typical assistance intervention will occur. Send me a zipped copy project folder, your pseudo code, flow chart, or other design artifact representing your design concept.  I will first review your design to see if there are any problems with the design.  If the design looks good, I will compare your design to the code that you implemented from the design to see if there was a flaw in transferring the concept into its implementation.   If I find problems in your design, I will provide you with feedback for improvement.  If the problem is in the transferal of the design to code, I will point out the locations in the code where the code does not match your design. This is the same process that everyone should perform while designing a project, implementing a project, and debugging the project.

 

 It is best to transfer and send the pseudocode in a Microsoft Word document.  This way we can communicate on design issues using document markup and comments in Microsoft Word.  We can communicate on coding issues by line number locations in the codes where issues may be. If you have any questions on these guidelines, send me an email with questions.  I will share student questions and answers on this topic with the entire class.

 

 

 

 

Zoom Meeting Option

 Sometimes an assistance consultation will require additional interactive synchronous dialogue. In these situations, students can also schedule one-on-one sessions or group assistance sessions with me during my scheduled office hours by requesting a Zoom Video Conference. I typically schedule Zoom Meetings in 30-minute segments.  For example, 9:00 am to 9:30 am. If I do not have the following meeting in the next 30-minute segment, meetings can flow over the assigned 30-minutes.

 

If scheduling a meeting for a programming issue, it is best to have all your design documentation and code at hand before the meeting. It is also best to send me a copy of the documentation and code along with a description of the problem before the meeting.  This will assist in maximizing the use of the time that we will have in the meeting.