When: Tuesday/Thursday 11am-12:50pm
Where: CFA 244
Instructor: Dave Pape
e-mail: depape at buffalo.edu
Office: CFA 250
Office hours: Tue 1-2pm, Wed 11am-noon, or by appointment
TA: Derek Curry
e-mail: derekcur@buffalo.edu
Office: CFA 276
Office hours: Tues 10-11am, Wed 11am-noon
Course website: http://davepape.org/ub/dms110
Beginner programming course geared towards Media Study, Art, and humanities majors with little to no experience who want to pursue further DMS courses involving programming. This course introduces basic concepts of computing with the Javascript programming language, while incorporating a Media Study perspective. This course will teach you how to program a computer. It won't make you a particularly great programmer - like any fundamental skill, that requires years of practice. But you will learn the basics, and some of the ways that programming can be used to create digital media art. While the course specifically uses Javascript, the core concepts will apply to most popular programming languages.
Topics that we will cover include:
| Outcome: students will... | Assessment |
|---|---|
| be able to define basic programming concepts such as variable, statement, function, conditional, iteration | in-class discussion of exercises, review of assignments |
| be able to break down a computing task into discrete steps of an algorithm | functional completeness of homework assignments |
| be able to write simple programs that manipulate text or images | homework assignments |
| be familiar with the work of established artists in the medium of interactive digital art, and understand how such work is created | in-class discussion and some exercises |
| understand important theoretical essays and perspectives from various disciplines. | in-class discussion and some exercises |
| be able to read simple programs written by others and understand what they do | in-class exercises working from existing code, critique of other students work |
There is no required textbook. Instead, we will provide you with selected readings from many sources, both technical and theoretical. Most of these will be available online or electronic copies.
Your final grade will be based on in-class exercises (which will generally be done in pairs) and individual homework assignments.
Assignments will be given in class, and due in class one or two weeks later (depending on the assignment). Late work will be penalized one letter grade per 24 hour period that it's late. More than 72 hours late will not earn any points. Since individuals' programming abilities are known to vary widely, we may give you individualized assignments, to keep them at an appropriate level (in other words, each student may be given a different assignment, within a general topic for the week).
All of the following will be considered in assessing homeworks:
All homework assignments must be your own work. Work is to be done individually - do not share code with, write code for, or copy code from other students. This applies to all assignments while they are outstanding - i.e., until everyone's program has been turned in and graded. A first violation of this policy will result in failure of the assignment; repeated violations will result in failure of the course. See below for further official warnings about plagiarism.
We will give you readings related to the class, approximately once per week. These will be media theory texts, online artworks, or a mix of the two. You will be expected to post written responses to the reading/work on UBlearns, which will be graded primarily on whether they demonstrate that you have thought about the reading and its relation to what we're doing in class; good writing (grammar, spelling, etc) will also be expected and will affect your grade.
Regular attendance is expected - you are allowed up to two free absences; after that, each absence will cost you 3% of your overall grade. Being more than 10 minutes late, sleeping through class, or texting / using the internet for non-class reasons will also count as an absence.
I will send any e-mail relating to this course to your official buffalo.edu address. Be sure that you check this address. Do not ask me to send e-mail to another address instead - if you don't want to use the buffalo.edu mail system, forward your mail from there to whatever system you do use.
Also, be warned that mail from free services like Hotmail or Yahoo has a strong chance of being caught by spam filters. Hence, I recommend not sending me e-mail from such an address, if you want to be certain that I'll receive it.
This course carries a lab fee of $100.
See http://undergrad-catalog.buffalo.edu/policies/course/integrity.shtml for UB's official academic integrity policy.
Be aware that rules regarding plagiarism, cheating, etc, apply to program code in the same way as to an academic paper.
If you have a disability (physical, learning or psychological) which may make it difficult for you to carry out the course work as outlined, and/or requires accommodations such as recruiting note takers, readers, or extended time on exams and assignments, please contact the Office of Disability Services, 25 Capen Hall, 645-2608, and also your instructor during the first two weeks of class. ODS will provide you with information and will review appropriate arrangements for reasonable accommodations. See http://www.student-affairs.buffalo.edu/ods/ for more information.
See http://undergrad-catalog.buffalo.edu/policies/grading/explanation.shtml#incomplete for UB's policy on 'Incomplete' grades.
If you are planning a student production which involves using any prop which could be interpreted to be a weapon [toy gun, BB gun, knife, etc.] and you are planning to shoot on the UB campus or any other public place, you must obtain written permission from Campus Security or the equivalent authority before you shoot. If you do not, you will face serious problems including possible expulsion from the university.
Sexual Harassment of employees and students, as defined below, is contrary to University policy and is a violation of federal and state laws and regulations.
Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when:
No university employee of either gender shall impose a requirement of sexual cooperation as a condition of employment or academic advancement, or in any way contribute to or support unwelcome physical or verbal sexual behavior.
Any member of the university community who requires additional information or who wishes to make a complaint or receive a copy of the University procedures to be followed for complaints arising from matters related to the policies outlined above should contact the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Affirmative Action Administration, 406 Capen Hall, 716-645-2266. See http://equity.buffalo.edu/sexual_harass_stu_brochure.htm for more information.