Course Syllabus

Course Number: CS_225_40X (400/401/402/403/404/405/406/407/408)

Term Offered: All Terms 

Credits: 4 

Instructor Names: Samina Ehsan  & Ignatios Vakalis

Samina Ehsan

Hello! I’m Samina Ehsan, and I am the designer and instructor of CS-225_40X: Discrete Structures in CS. This course deals with the mathematical and theoretical concepts that you will need in the later courses in this program. I hope you enjoy the course.  

My office hours are on Tuesdays 1:00-3:00 pm Pacific Time (fixed) and via MS Teams (Channel - office_hours) and Zoom. However, you can always email me at ehsans@onid.oregonstate.edu to schedule an office hour by appointment if you are unable to attend my fixed weekly office hours. 

Ignatios Vakalis

Hello again! I’m Ignatios Vakalis, and I will be your instructor of CS-225_40X: Discrete Structures in CS as well. As mentioned, this course deals with the mathematical and theoretical concepts that you will need in the later courses in this program. I hope you enjoy the course.  

My Zoom office hours are on Mondays 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm (PST) and Thursdays 9:00 am - 10:30 am (PST). Please add those times to your calendar. If you are unable to attend my fixed weekly office hours, please email me at ignatios.vakalis@oregonstate.edu  to schedule an office hour by appointment.

The Zoom links for my office hours are given below:

Mondays 2-4 pm PST: https://oregonstate.zoom.us/j/94881988263?pwd=bk5weS9OUnNrRU53WWVTL0R2VFFqdz09  (starts  Monday, October 02, 2023)

Thursdays  9:00-10:30 am PST:   https://oregonstate.zoom.us/j/93988776890?pwd=NGFMdDhkbUFNUFRFUytSeS9RSzc2Zz09 (starts   Thursday, September 28, 2023)

 Communication Policies:

• Ed Discussion is the best way to reach us for any course-related queries. We can refer back to our previous discussions here and also as it will be visible to the entire class. So, the other students will be able to get benefit from it.  Not all posts require a reply from us (the instructional team) and often it is better for students to hash out an answer to a question. But please email us if you do not receive a reply within 24 hours.
• We can be reached via the class-specific MS Teams/ Zoom during my office hours. We also check MS Teams frequently outside my designated office hours so you can tag or DM either/both of us (@ehsans/@vakalisi)  if required.
• Sending an email at (ehsans@onid.oregonstate.edu/ignatios.vakalis@oregonstate.edu) is a preferred way only for a matter of a personal nature related to the course, or scheduling a meeting outside the fixed office hour timings, or if you have not received a reply to your post/message on Ed Discussion /MS Teams within 24 hours (please include the prefix CS225_40X_F23 in the subject). Please resend us the email if one of us does not respond within 24 hours. 
• We and the ULAs try our best to monitor Canvas email. But there are fewer options to sort and filter mail via that system so there is a much higher likelihood that we will miss things that get sent via Canvas mail. So, We strongly recommend that you do not use it.

Course Guidelines + Syllabus, Weekly Schedule, and Syllabus Quiz:

• The detailed guidelines + syllabus for this course is provided in the following document: CS-225-Detailed_Syllabus_Fall2023.pdf
• The weekly schedule for this course is provided in the following document: CS 225-Abbreviated_Weekly_Schedule_Fall2023_Updated.pdf

• Students registered to this course must take a syllabus quiz by October 14, 2023. The syllabus quiz link for this course is provided as follows: Syllabus Quiz

Please use one of the following means to get help in this class -

• Ed Discussion:

Ed Discussion is the best place to ask any course-related queries. Please post all course-related questions on Ed Discussion so that the whole class may benefit from your conversation. This also means more people will be available to respond to your discussion posts. Moreover, when you respond to posts, you'll be helping out more people. 

• Office Hours:

You can ask questions to the instructors or undergraduate learning assistants(ULAs) during their weekly office hours. Don't waste your time if you are not understanding a concept, rather ask the instructors, or ULAs for help. Please find the office hours and contact information provided below-

Instructors' Office Hours and Contact Information:

Samina Ehsan's hours are on Tuesdays 1:00 - 3:00 pm Pacific Time (Fixed) and via MS Teams (Channel - office_hours)/ Zoom. However, you can always email Samina at ehsans@onid.oregonstate.edu to schedule an office hour by appointment if you are unable to attend her fixed weekly office hours (highly encouraged). 

The Zoom link for Samina's office hours are given below:

Tuesdays 1:00 - 3:00 pm  Pacific Time 

Zoom Link:  https://oregonstate.zoom.us/j/98855845006?pwd=T0tseVR5NUJZTUlHVUs4M0txMFFWUT09

The Zoom links for Ignatios's office hours are given below:

Mondays 2-4 pm PST: https://oregonstate.zoom.us/j/94881988263?pwd=bk5weS9OUnNrRU53WWVTL0R2VFFqdz09  (starts  Monday, October 02, 2023)

Thursdays  9:00-10:30 am PST:   https://oregonstate.zoom.us/j/93988776890?pwd=NGFMdDhkbUFNUFRFUytSeS9RSzc2Zz09 (starts   Thursday, September 28, 2023)

GTA/ ULA Office Hours and Contact Information:

Contact Information:

• Mackenzie Anderson
  Email: andemac2@oregonstate.edu 
• Orlando Castaneda
  Email: castanor@oregonstate.edu  
• William Chen
  Email: chenwill@oregonstate.edu  
• Mi Do
  Email: dom2@oregonstate.edu
• Khaled Hassan
  Email: hassankh@oregonstate.edu 
• Michael McDonell
  Email: mcdonem2@oregonstate.edu
• Burkely Pettijohn
  Email: pettijob@oregonstate.edu 
• Nolan Reichkitzer
  Email: reichkin@oregonstate.edu 
• Richelle Thompson
  Email: thomrich@oregonstate.edu 
• Alexander Wong
  Email: wonga9@oregonstate.edu 
• Corey J. Wong
  Email: wongco@oregonstate.edu
• Rachel Xing
  Email: xingru@oregonstate.edu 
• Akash Verma
  Email: vermaak@oregonstate.edu  

Office Hours: 

The Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTA)  and Undergraduate Learning Assistants(ULAs) will hold fixed/by appointment weekly office hours(OH) starting from the week of October 2nd, 2023. Office hours are held via MS Teams (Channel - office_hours)/ Zoom. Please find the schedule (timezone: PST)  below:

Tutoring:

For tutoring assistance, the CoE Online Tutoring is a great resource for students enrolled in Ecampus courses.  For writing assistance, visit the Oregon State Online Writing Suite. If you have additional tutoring needs for Computer Science, or have questions about CS services, please contact Casey Patterson, CS Student Success Coordinator at casey.patterson@oregonstate.edu.

You must complete the following introductory tasks by this week- 

1.  Introduce yourself on Ed Discussion and complete the extra credit assignment.
2. Make sure that you have been added to the class MS Teams (code: rhwb8d4).
3.  Read the syllabus and weekly schedule documents thoroughly. Mark your calendar with the due dates.
4. Take the syllabus quiz.  You will find the quiz here - Syllabus Quiz (due October 14, 2023).
5.  Review the CIE Topics.