CSCI 310 Advanced Algorithms (Fall 2025)

Contact Information

  • Instructor: Michael Levet (He/Him/His)
    • Contact: lastnamefirstinitial (at) cofc (dot) edu
    • Office: Harbor Walk East 312
    • Location:
      • HWEA 300: 2:10-3:25
      • HWEA 300: 3:35-4:50
      • Zoom- Remote Synchronous, for those who wish to participate remotely.
    • Office Hours (Tentative):
      • Monday 10-11 AM; Tuesday 5:05-6 PM (Zoom)
      • By appointment
  • Syllabus
  • Official Course Textbook
  • Paul's Notes-- Calculus Review
  • Google Forms: (You must be signed in to your CofC account to access these forms.)

Announcements

  • 10/8: Due to the King Tide and potential of flooding tomorrow, I will be cancelling class. Instead, there will be a recorded video lecture to watch. I will update you all when this video is online. Stay safe and dry.
  • 9/29: I am required to submit Midterm Grades to the university between 10/2-10/8. More information below:
    • There have been two attempts at Standards 1-3, 5-6, and one attempt at Standards 4, 7-9.
    • Standard 0 is the Syllabus Quiz.
    • I have based Midterm Grades on #Standards where you have demonstrated proficiency at least once.
    • Historically, the first quartile cutoff has been a good gauge of whether folks are on track for a C- or better.
    • We have:
      • First Quartile: 6.25 standards
      • Median: 7 standards
      • Average: 7.18 standards
      • Third Quartile: 8 standards
    • I will thus be issuing Midterm Grades as follows:
      • A: 9-10 standards
      • B: 7-8 standards
      • C: 6 standards
      • C-: 5 standards
      • D: 4 standards
      • F: 0-3 standards
    • I have posted Progress Reports to Gradescope. Please compare your records against mine.
    • If my records do not match yours, please submit to the Regrade Request Google form and not email.
    • I reserve the right to correct my records, positively or negatively, if I find I have made a mistake.
    • Your Midterm Grade has been posted to OAKS.
    • Requizzing Period 1 will be graded before the drop deadline of 10/24.
  • 9/27:
    • HW5 has been graded. The Proficiency cutoff for Standard 7 required (i) Progress or better on all problems, and (ii) Proficiency or better on at least two problems.
    • HW8 has been posted.
      • Recall that it is due on 10/15 at 9 PM.
      • For this assignment, extensions will be reserved for emergency situations only.
      • Please read Page 3 of the HW8 PDF file carefully. It will likely answer many of your questions (e.g., how to format your answers).
      • Recall that mathematical expressions and equations must be typed on HW.
      • On a quiz for Standard 13 or Standard 14, you will be given two functions and asked to compare them.
  • 9/23: Per the discussions in class today regarding HW8:
    • HW8 will be posted sometime after class on 9/25 (no later than the end of the day on 9/27-- I will email when it is open).
    • HW8 will be due on 10/15 at 9 PM.
    • I will be holding office hours over Fall break on 10/13 and 10/14 10-11 AM. There will not be office hours on 10/14 from 5:05-6 PM.
    • I will be available via email and to meet by appointment over Fall break.
    • This is a long HW. I expect that you all will plan accordingly.
    • As RQ1 opens on Thursday 10/16, extensions will be limited to emergency situations.
  • 9/19: HW4 grades have been posted.
    • The cutoff for Proficiency on Standard 5 required >= Progress on Problems 2-4, and >= Proficiency on at least two of Problems 2-4.
    • The cutoff for Proficiency for Standard 6 required:
      • >= Progress on Problems 5, 6(a), and 6(b).
      • Proficiency on both 5 and 6b, OR Outstanding on Problem 5 and Progress on Problem 6(b).
    • As a reminder, Standard 6 is one of the more challenging standards in the course. While all standards count equally, they are not all of the same difficulty. The more mechanical standards are marked with a (*) on the Syllabus (see Section 3.2).
  • 9/9: HW3 grades have been posted.
    • The cutoff for Proficiency on Standard 3 required scores of >= Proficiency on both Q2 and Q3.
    • You may submit Standard 4 by October 1 at 9 PM to OAKS, regardless of whether you attempted Standard 4 initially.
  • 9/3: HW2 grades have been posted. The cutoff for Proficiency on Standard 2 required:
    • Progress or better on all questions, and
    • Proficiency or better on at least 4 out of 5 questions (2a and 2b were treated as separate questions).
  • 8/30:
    • I will be out of town 9/12-9/19 for a conference.
      • Lectures and handwritten notes for 9/16 and 9/18 have been recorded and posted to OAKS.
      • Class and office hours will be cancelled during that time.
      • Please do feel very welcome and encouraged to email me, as you normally would. I will do my best to respond in a timely manner. However, please plan for slower response times than usual.
    • Here are the upcoming HW deadlines:
      • HW4 will open on 9/2 at 5 PM. It will be due on 9/15 at 9 PM.
      • HW5 will open on 9/4 at 5 PM. It will be due on 9/23 at 9 PM. This is to ensure that you have an opportunity to meet with me during office hours before submitting the assignment.
      • HW6 will open on 9/15, and it will be due on 9/29 at 9 PM. This assignment is short. If you are spending much more than an hour on a single standard, then you should reach out for help.
      • HW7 will open on 9/23 at 5 PM. It will be due on 10/6 at 9 PM.
    • Here are the upcoming Quiz deadlines:
      • Quiz- Standard 2 will open on 9/11 and will close on 9/13 at 9 PM.
      • Quiz- Standard 3 will open on 9/18 and will close on 9/20 at 9 PM.
      • Quizzes- Standards 5, 6 will open on 9/25 and will close on 9/27 at 9 PM.
      • Quizzes- Standards 7-9 will open on 10/2 and will close on 10/4 at 9 PM.
      • Quizzes- Standards 10-11 will open on 10/9 and will close on 10/11 at 9 PM.
    • Here are details about Requizzing Period 1 (RQ1).
      • It will open on 10/16, and close on 10/18 at 4 PM.
      • It will consist of one quiz per standard, for Standards 1-3 and 5-12.
      • This will be your third scheduled attempt at Standards 1-3 and 5-11.
      • This will be your second scheduled attempt at Standard 12.
      • There will be a third scheduled attempt at Standard 12, date TBD.
      • If you have demonstrated proficiency twice on a standard already, then you do not need to attempt it on RQ1. There is no benefit to your grade in doing so.
      • I will post progress reports reasonably before RQ1, so that you can plan accordingly.
  • 8/27:
    • HW1 has been graded. Your Standard 1 Overall score on Gradescope is your grade on HW1. If you earned a Proficiency or Outstanding, then you have checked the box once towards Standard 1. The cutoff for Proficiency on Standard 1 Overall was >= (Progress, Proficiency, Proficiency) on (Q2, Q3, Q4) in that order.
    • Please note that the "points" on Gradescope are labels and carry no numeric value. The labels are Outstanding (4), Proficiency (3), Progress (2), Attempted (1), No Attempt (0). Gradescope does not let me use letters instead of numbers. So in particular, if your Standard 1 Overall score is a 3, that is full credit and not 75%.
  • 8/26:
    • HW3 is now posted. It is due on 9/8 at 9 PM.
    • For Standard 4, you will be able to (re)submit it at a later date (TBD) after I grade HW3.
    • You may submit at that later date, even if you do not attempt Standard 4 by 9/8 at 8 PM.
    • Recall that Standard 4 will only have two attempts (as outlined above, and on the Syllabus); hence, the revisions.
    • You will have three scheduled quizzing opportunities on Standard 3. Therefore, Standard 3 on HW3 is not eligible for revisions.
  • 8/20:
    • HW2 will become available on 8/21 at 5 PM. It is due on 9/1 at 9 PM.
    • Quiz- Standard 1 will become available on Thursday 9/4, and it will be due on Saturday 9/6 at 9 PM.
  • 8/7:
    • Website created.
    • The Syllabus Quiz and HW1 are both due on 8/26 at 9 PM.
    • The Syllabus Quiz will open immediately (as soon as OAKS becomes availaable), and HW1 will open on 8/26 at 5 PM (after the second section ends).
    • Please complete this optional Day One Survey.
    • Regarding LaTeX, I use MikTeX as my compiler on my local machine. Many folks are partial to Overleaf, which is a free online service. Because Overleaf is a third-party service, it may go out at inopportune times (such as during a quiz or requizzing period). For this reason, I am explicitly refraining from recommending Overleaf. You can use it at your own risk. There are many other LaTeX compilers-- you are welcome to use your favorite one.