Instructor: Dr. Okie, 219 Davis Hall
Phone: Office: 831-5992; Home: 951-7372 (Before 9:00 p.m., please)
Email: nokie (Feel free to send email. I'll reply as quickly as possible.)
Office Hours: MWF: 11:00 - 12:00; TuTh: 1:00-2:00 and by appointment. You are welcome to come by at any time and if not busy I'd be glad to help you. Except for classes and meetings, I'm usually in most of the day. You may want to check my complete schedule to see when my meetings and classes are normally held.
Content: In this course we will explore the theory of computation and theory of complexity. The theory of computation deals with the theoretical limits of what can be computed and complexity theory deals with the practical limits. Our main tools will be three mathematical models of computers and computation: automata, grammars, and languages. The course involves little programming, but it does cover how the theory applies to real world computing. The material in this course can be challenging, but it is also very fascinating and stimulating. I encourage you to give the course your best as we study these amazing fields.
Course Outcomes: Students who complete the course will be able to
Prerequisite: ITEC 122, Discrete Mathematics.
Required Text: Introduction to the Theory of Computation, Second Edition, Michael Sipser, Thompson Course Technology, 2006. This is an outstanding text! The author has done excellent job of identifying the essential material and presenting it clearly and in context. Make sure that you look at the errata for the book at the author's book page: www-math.mit.edu/~sipser/book.html.
Semester Schedule: We will cover all or most of chapters 0-5 and 7, in order, spending roughly 2 weeks on each chapter. If time permits we will cover some of chapters 6, 9, and 10 at the end of the semester. Exams will be held around the time we finish parts one and two.
Communication: I will post relevant course information on the course web page as well as send announcements via email. It is your responsibility to be aware of this information, as well as all information presented in class, of course.
Course web page: http://www.radford.edu/nokie/classes/420. Please remember that I frequently revise my notes pages and they can change at any time, including just before, during, and just after class.
Evaluation:
| Per cent | Activity |
| 40 | Programs, Homework, and In-class Activities |
| 30 | Two in-class tests |
| 30 | Comprehensive final exam: 12:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m., Wednesday, December 16, 2009 |
| 100 | Total |
Homework problems: Every week or so you will have homework problems taken from the end of the chapters. It is very important that you do these assignments; figuring out the answers to problems is the best way to learn the material. Also, the assignments are worth 40% of your grade. If there are 10 assignments, then each will be worth almost half of a letter grade for the course!
Assignments will be graded on correctnesss and completeness, as well as neatness, clarity, and grammar. Unless otherwise specified, assignments will be due in class and on paper. Electronic submissions will not be accepted. Please use the course grades page to verify that I recorded your grades correctly, and keep all graded work until after you have received your course grade.
Attendance: Attendance is not required; however you will find it much easier to learn the material and to make a good grade if you come to class. If you get behind in this course you are likely to find it extremely difficult to catch up! Learning the concepts takes time, and you must work on the course material regularly for it to sink in. You will not be allowed to make up any in-class activities that you miss. Good attendance and class participation can be to your benefit if you have a borderline final grade!
Laptops: During class laptops and lab computers are to be used only for current classroom activities (eg taking notes). If you want to use your laptop during class, please sit in the front of the class so that I and others can easily see what you are doing and use your laptop only for activities that are related to the current class activity. Research shows that multitasking hurts learning, and it is also distracting to others. Please remember that experience shows that inappropriate laptop use typically lowers a student's perforance in the course by a full letter grade.
Late policy: Unless otherwise specified, late assignments will not be accepted. Typically I will give each student one opportunity to turn in an assignment late, but you must ask for permission to do this.
Exams: In exceptional circumstances I may give permission to miss an exam if you contact me in advance. In such cases the weight of your final will be increased. Otherwise a missed exam will be worth 0 points.
Honor Code: This class will be conducted in strict observance of the Honor Code. Please refer to your Student Handbook for details of expected behavior.
Of course, all work that you submit for grading must be your
own. In relation to your assignments, this means that you
may discuss with
other students what a problem means; however, you may not discuss how
to do the assignment with anyone except me. Similarly, you
may discuss
with others what various definitions and theorems mean, but you must
not let anyone write your assignments for you and you must not use
someone else's solutions as a basis
for your own.
If you receive any help of any kind on an assignment (such as using material that you find in a book or on the web), then the work that you turn in must give credit for that help.
Please be aware that if I suspect that you have violated the Honor Code, then I will not hesitate to file charges with the Dean of Students Office.