CS 106

Previously known as CS 116x, CS 106 is a computer science course designed for global business and digital arts (GBDA) students, with CS 105 as a prerequisite. These students are not computer science students, and most of them will only have CS 105 as an introduction to what computer science is.

In Winter 2021, we used a website called Open Processing and this switched some processes listed here (see the following sections for more notes).

Websites

The main course website used can be found at https://www.student.cs.uwaterloo.ca/~cs106/.

We used Visual Studio Code and PuTTY to update this website.

The CS105 ISA Handbook can be used as a reference: https://student.cs.uwaterloo.ca/~cs105/ISAHandbook/CS105_ISA_Handbook.html

LEARN Setup

Currently, we use LEARN for assignment, lab, and test submissions, as well as grade distribution.

If you do not have access to LEARN, ask your instructor to enroll you as a Level 4 TA. This will give you access.

DROPBOXES

Additional resources:

https://uwaterloo.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/ISTKB/pages/1287323649/Dropboxes

https://distancelearning.elgin.edu/d2ltutorials/d2l_10_3_faculty_guides/en/Dropbox%20basics.html

The 'new assignment create/edit experience' is on by default. You may want to turn it off and use the older version to categorize the dropbox under a different category (Labs, Assignments, Final Project, etc.).

To create dropboxes: Submit > Dropbox > New Dropbox

Marking that occurs in the dropbox should be linked to the Grades section. When filling out a dropbox, the Score Out of box should match the Maximum Points in the Grades section.

To edit sections: There is an arrow pointing down beside the name of each dropbox, click on it and press 'Edit Folder'

Besides the 'Score Out Of' box should be a box to link the dropbox to the Grades section. Click on the down arrow > Choose from Grades > Link to an existing grade item. All the options there should be the existing sections from Grades.

The Availability Dates & Conditions section can be used to give 'Special Access' to students. This feature is used for reopening their dropbox after the due date. Search and select the student's name first before filling out the new due date. Filling in the dates first will reset after you search for a name!

Any rubrics you make can be linked to the dropbox in the Evaluation & Feedback section. Multiple rubrics can be linked to one dropbox!

Marking Assignments

All students are required to submit assignments in the form of a .zip file on LEARN.

In Winter 2021, submissions were a .pdf or .docx with links to their Open Processing code.

MOSS

After each assignment's due date is passed, run MOSS to detect cheating cases. Do not run MOSS only at the end of the term, students should be caught cheating as soon as possible, so they may be talked to and have all appropriate measures taken. If students who are cheating are not found using MOSS, they may continue to cheat on all subsequent assignments, which becomes much harder to deal with if numerous cheating cases are caught only at the end of the term.

In Winter 2021, students had to download a .zip file of their sketch from the Open Processing website and submit it (these files contain a JavaScript file which is checked with MOSS).

These .zip files would get unzipped and renamed after the students' quest id usernames. MOSS would get run with PuTTY, see https://cs.uwaterloo.ca/twiki/view/ISG/MossBasics

iClickers

iClickers are currently used during lectures.

Winter 2021: Due to COVID-19, this course was provided online and iClickers were not used.

Piazza

We currently use Piazza as the online discussion board for CS 106.

-- ChrissySchreiner - 2016-01-05

Winter 2021: We used MS Teams as a primary way to communicate with students and post participation questions/announcements. We also posted the announcements to LEARN or sent out mass emails.