CMSC421 -- Principles of Operating Systems

Syllabus

Instructor

Instructor:    Dr. William Freeman

Office:        202H

Office Hours:  By Appointment & After class on Wednesday.

E-mail:        wfreem2@umbc.edu

TA:            Gokulnath Kollayikal

Office:        TBA

E-mail:        gkolla1@gl.umbc.edu

Office Hours:  M,T 3:30-5:30

Class Time and Place

MW 5:30-6:45 AC IV 015

Textbook

Required

Operating Systems Concepts by Abraham Silberschatz, Peter Baer Galvin, Greg Gagne, 2002
Advanced Programming in the UNIX Environment, Stevens, Addison-Wesley, 1992

Course Homepage

This course has a homepage where assignments and grades will be posted. Many of the handouts will also be available off of the homepage. The URL is:

http://www.csee.umbc.edu/courses/undergraduate/CMSC421/spring02/wfreem2/

Grading

90-100	A
80-89	B
70-79	C
60-69	D
0-59	F

Grade Formula

Projects	25%
Pop-quizzes	5%
Homework	15%
Midterm	25%
Final exam	30%

Your grade is based on timely work accomplished during the semester; incomplete grades will only be given for medical illness or other such dire circumstances.

Project Submission and Grading

The critical skills cannot be learned simply by attending the class. You should budget enough time to work on the projects as well. This course requires a significant amount of work on your part. Late assignments will be penalized 10 percent per day up to a maximum of five days late, after which you will receive no credit.

You will be turning in your projects electronically. Details will be announced in class before you need to submit projects. If an assignment is due on the 13th, as long as the computer time stamps it the 13th, it is on time.

Grading will be done on the basis that you must precisely follow instructions on projects and exams. You must comment the programs as required or you will lose points.

Project Policy

All projects must be completed by your own individual, creative effort. You should never have a copy of someone else's project either on paper or electronically under any circumstances. Also, you should never give a copy of your project, either on paper or electronically, to another student. This also means that you cannot "work" on the project together. Cases of academic dishonesty will be dealt with as severely as allowed by University policy.

If your project is turned in by someone else, both you and the person copying your project will be dealt with in accord with the University’s academic dishonesty policy. This includes "substantially similar" projects.

Academic Conduct Policy

The following is taken from the UMBC Student Handbook:

DEFINITIONS OF ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT

Academic misconduct may include but is not limited to the following:

· Cheating: knowingly using or attempting to use unauthorized material, information, or study aids in any academic exercise.

· Fabrication: Intentional and unauthorized falsification or invention of any information or citation in an academic exercise.

· Facilitating Academic Dishonesty: Intentionally or knowingly helping or attempting to help another commit an act of academic dishonesty.

· Plagiarism: Knowingly representing the words or ideas of another as one's own in any academic exercise, including works of art and computer-generated information/images.

POLICY FOR RESOLVING CASES OF ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT

Individual faculty members have the right and responsibility to deal directly with any cases of academic misconduct which arise in their courses. Instances of academic misconduct may be identified in one of two ways. If a faculty member believes a student has committed an act of academic misconduct--for example, by direct observation of student behavior, by comparing the contents of an assignment with that submitted by another student, or by reviewing notated sources or references--the faculty member, in consultation with the Chair of the Academic Conduct Committee, will assess the student's alleged misconduct and the faculty member's options. If a student believes that academic misconduct has occurred, the student will notify either the faculty member or the Chair of the Academic Conduct Committee.

It is particularly important that the Chair of the Academic Conduct Committee be consulted. The Chair can provide knowledge and insight for the faculty member. Communication of instances of academic misconduct also protects the integrity of the university by providing a means of recording infractions that may be repeated by a particular student, or which may prove endemic to a particular course or department. Consultation with the Chair of the Academic Conduct Committee provides a formal record of the infraction and resolution, protecting the student, professor, and university should any questions later arise.

The student will have the opportunity to respond to an accusation of academic misconduct.

Communications

All communications with the instructor and the TA must have your name and the last four digits of your Social Security or UMBC ID Number to avoid problems with the various email aliases. This includes all email, projects, homework, written reports, etc. With the exception of in-class work, all material must be typed (or printed on the computer).

Lectures and Readings

You are expected to attend all classes, although attendance is not a part of your grades.
You are responsible for all material covered in the lecture, even if the material is not in the textbook. You are responsible for the material in the readings, even if they are not covered during lecture. (I recommend you have a study team and help each other with getting any material from lecture.)
There may be supplemental material on the course webpages that you are will have to master in addition to the material in the book.
You need to monitor the course web pages daily. All new material will be marked with a yellow icon and the word new, along with the date the material was modified. That icon will remain for at least one week. After information has been posted on the webpage for 48 hours, you will be responsible for following the instructions.

Exams

The exams will be closed-book and closed-notes.
There are quizzes, a Mid-term Exam, and a Final Exam.
You must show a photo ID for the Mid-term and Final Exams.
I do not tolerate cheating in any form. Copy from anyone is cheating. Likewise, copying from a book for any assignment is cheating! You must do your own work.

Out-of-Class Help

There is a lot of complicated topics covered in this course – topics that when understood, will help you throughout your career. Subsequently, you may have some difficulties in this class and need some extra help. You can come to me or the TA for this help. The sooner you come to us for help, the easier it is for you to catch up. Work the exercises in the book, even when it is not homework, because it is difficult to learn this material by only reading it. Writing programs to learn the concepts will prove very valuable. The TA's primary responsibility in this course is to help you. Don't waste this opportunity.

I will be available after class each Wednesday for assistance. I will also check my e-mail at least 3 times a week.

ADA Compliance

We recognize that some of you might have disabilities that require special attention from the instruction staff. Please make us aware of them so that UMBC can make suitable arrangements.

UMBC CMSC 421

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