Calendar and Coursenotes: Spring 2008
This page will show what we cover each day, including the course notes covered in class. The full course notes covered so far during the semester can always be found here.
Reading assignments are also posted for each week. The intention is that you will have finished the reading for that week by the end of the week (that is, typically you would be expected to read material after the associated lecture). However, some folks like to read it before the lecture, so I will try to get it up by the beginning of the week if I can. Note that reading for the week will often be relevent to the homework due the following Tuesday.
- Week 1: Introduction, WASI
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Tuesday, January 15: Course introduction.
Take the Whimbey Analytical Skills Inventory (WASI).
[In-class assignment: WASI, 25 points]
Today's coursenotes -
Thursday, January 17: Analyze the WASI
Today's coursenotes - Friday, January 18: Homework Assignment 1 due.
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Tuesday, January 15: Course introduction.
Take the Whimbey Analytical Skills Inventory (WASI).
- Week 2: WASI, Myers-Briggs test
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Tuesday, January 22: Errors in reasoning, analyze the WASI (continued)
Today's coursenotes -
Thursday, January 24: Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
Reading Assignment: Handout in class on the WASI and error types
Reading Assignment: "Does Personality Matter? An Analysis of Code-Review Ability" by Da Cunha and Greathead.
Reading Assignment: Read about your identified type(s) at TypeLogic.
Today's coursenotes - Friday, January 25: Homework Assignment 2 due.
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Tuesday, January 22: Errors in reasoning, analyze the WASI (continued)
- Week 3: Pairs problem solving, getting started with a problem
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Tuesday, January 29: MB review, thinking aloud/pairs problem solving
Reading Assignment: Handout in class on pairs problem solving
Today's coursenotes -
Thursday, January 31: Getting started with a problem
Quiz on Myers-Briggs catagorization
Reading Assignment: Chapters 1 and 2 of Levine textbook
Today's coursenotes
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Tuesday, January 29: MB review, thinking aloud/pairs problem solving
- Week 4: Verbal Reasoning and Analogy Problems
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Tuesday, February 5: Verbal reasoning problems
Today's coursenotes
Homework Assignment 3 due. -
Thursday, February 7: Analogy problems
Today's coursenotes
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Tuesday, February 5: Verbal reasoning problems
- Week 5: Heuristics for problem solving "in the small"
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Tuesday, February 12: Externalize
Today's coursenotes
Reading Assignment: Chapter 3 of Levine textbook
Homework Assignment 4 due. -
Thursday, February 14: Visualize: Comprehension and Memorization
Reading Assignment: Chapters 4 and 5 of Levine textbook
Today's coursenotes
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Tuesday, February 12: Externalize
- Week 6: Midterm; Heuristics for problem solving "in the small"
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Tuesday, February 19: In-class Midterm (analogy, problems related to
Chapters 3-4 in book)
Homework Assignment 5 due. -
Thursday, February 21: Heuristics -- Special Features
Today's coursenotes
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Tuesday, February 19: In-class Midterm (analogy, problems related to
Chapters 3-4 in book)
- Week7: Succeeding as a student; Heuristics for problem solving
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Tuesday, February 26: How to succeed as a student
Homework Assignment 6 due.
Reading Assignment: Chapter 6 of Levine textbook
Reading Assignment: R. McCartney, A. Eckerdal, J.E. Mostrom, K. Sanders, and C. Zander, Successful students' strategies for getting unstuck, ITiCSE '07: Proceedings of the 12th annual SIGCSE conference on Innovation and technology in computer science education, 2007, 156-160.
Today's coursenotes
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Thursday, February 28: Heuristics -- Special Features, Go to the
Extremes, Simplification
Reading Assignment: Chapters 7 and 8 of Levine textbook
Today's coursenotes
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Tuesday, February 26: How to succeed as a student
- Spring Break Week
- Week 8: Analysis of Trends; Einstellung; Lateral thinking
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Tuesday, March 11: Analysis of Trends, Einstellung
Today's coursenotes
Reading Assignment: Chapter 9 of Levine textbook
Homework Assignment 7 due. -
Thursday, March 13: Lateral thinking, sleep on it, penultimate step, symmetry
symmetry
Today's coursenotes
Reading Assignment: Chapter 10 of Levine textbook
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Tuesday, March 11: Analysis of Trends, Einstellung
- Week 9: More Heuristics; Deductive reasoning
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Tuesday, March 18: Pigeonhole Principle, Invariants
Today's coursenotes
Homework Assignment 8 due. -
Thursday, March 20: Deductive and Hypothetical Reasoning
Today's coursenotes
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Tuesday, March 18: Pigeonhole Principle, Invariants
- Week 10: Presentation and Argument
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Tuesday, March 25: Midterm on the Heurstics
List; Argument
Today's coursenotes
Homework Assignment 9 due. -
Thursday, March 27: Presentation
Today's coursenotes
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Tuesday, March 25: Midterm on the Heurstics
List; Argument
- Week 11: Problem solving in Computer Science
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Tuesday, April 1: Computation as a problem-solving technique
Today's coursenotes
Homework Assignment 10 due. -
Thursday, April 3: Problem solving and programming
Today's coursenotes
Reading Assignment: "Does Personality Matter? An Analysis of Code-Review Ability" by Da Cunha and Greathead.
Reading Assignment: "Scheduling, Pair Programming, and Student Programming Assignment Performance" by Shaffer and Edwards.
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Tuesday, April 1: Computation as a problem-solving technique
- Week 12: Problem solving in the large
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Tuesday, April 8: Defining the right problem
Today's coursenotes
Homework Assignment 11 due. -
Thursday, April 10: Generating potential solutions
Today's coursenotes
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Tuesday, April 8: Defining the right problem
- Week 13: Problem solving in the large
- Tuesday, April 15: Brainstorming, K-T Decision Analysis
Today's coursenotes
Homework Assignment 12 due. - Thursday, April 17: Planning & Evalution; Optimization and Statistics
Today's coursenotes
- Tuesday, April 15: Brainstorming, K-T Decision Analysis
- Week 14: Proof; Interpersonal Problem Solving
- Tuesday, April 22: Proof
Today's coursenotes
Homework Assignment 13 due. - Thursday, April 24: Interpersonal problem solving; Post WASI
Today's coursenotes
- Tuesday, April 22: Proof
- Week 15: Wrap-up
- Tuesday, April 29: Last day of class
Homework Assignment 14 due.
- Tuesday, April 29: Last day of class
Go to the CS2984 Homepage.