This class will be held in person, according to current University of Maryland policy. Lectures will be recorded on a best-effort basis, with videos posted on Canvas. We will reevaluate this format as the semester progresses and may make adjustments in response to evolving conditions and university guidelines.
| Office hours | ||
|---|---|---|
| Aditya Acharya | adach@umd.edu | Tuesday/Thursday, 4–5 pm, Zoom (link on Canvas) |
| George Li | gzli929@umd.edu | Friday, 1–2 pm, Zoom (link on Canvas) |
| Basaam Malik | basaam0@umd.edu | Wednesday, 2–3 pm, IRB 2207 Open Area |
| William Xu | wxuxu@terpmail.umd.edu | Monday, 3:30–5:30 pm, IRB 2207 Open Area |
Primary: Jon Kleinberg and Éva Tardos, Algorithm Design, Pearson (2006).
Supplemental: Thomas H. Cormen, Charles E. Leiserson, Ronald Rivest, and Clifford Stein, Introduction to Algorithms, MIT Press (1990).
| Assignments | 40% |
| Midterm exam | 25% |
| Final exam | 35% |
Your lowest assignment grade will be dropped. If you are unable to complete an exam or assignment by its deadline due to an excused absence (as per the UMD course policies), the remaining assignments will be reweighted. Students who complete less than half of the coursework should expect to withdraw.
There will be five homework assignments during the course. Assignments will be made available on Canvas and should be submitted using Gradescope. Please check that you are able to upload solutions by making a test submission well in advance of the first assignment deadline, and make sure your account is associated with the correct section of the course. Please submit completed assignments as PDF files, either as a typeset document or a clear scan of handwritten solutions, by the deadline stated on the assignment. Gradescope will not accept submissions after the deadline, and late assignments will not be accepted under any circumstances so that solutions can be made avilable promptly. You can replace a submission as many times as you like before the deadline (only the final version will be graded), so you are encouraged to make early submissions.
Your answers to the assignment problems should be written neatly and concisely, and you should always aim to present the simplest possible solution. Your assignment grades will be based on both correctness and clarity. Graded assignments will be available on Gradescope. If you think a problem has been graded incorrectly, you may submit a regrade request on Gradescope. Regrade requests must be submitted within three days after an assignment is returned and should include a detailed justification.
You are encouraged to discuss homework problems with your peers, with the TAs, and with the course instructor. However, your solutions should be based on your own understanding and should be written independently. You should not read solutions for the same or similar problems to the ones you are assigned until after your assignment has been submitted. For each assignment, you will be asked to state that you have followed these guidelines, and to include a list of students in the class with whom you discussed the problems.
The class will include a midterm exam and a comprehensive final exam. You may consult textbooks and notes during the exams, but you cannot use any other resources. Exams are currently scheduled to be held in person, although it is possible that this will change in response to evolving conditions and university guidelines.
You will take the midterm exam during the scheduled class time on Thursday, March 10. You will take the final exam at the registrar-scheduled time of 1:30–3:30 pm on Tuesday, May 17.
We will follow the standard University of Maryland course policies. You should be familiar with them.
President Pines provided clear expectations to the University about the wearing of masks for students, faculty, and staff. Face coverings over the nose and mouth are required while you are indoors at all times. KN95 masks are required in all classroom settings and recommended everywhere. There are no exceptions when it comes to classrooms, laboratories, and campus offices. Students not wearing a mask will be given a warning and asked to wear one, or will be asked to leave the room immediately. Students who have additional issues with the mask expectation after a first warning will be referred to the Office of Student Conduct for failure to comply with a directive of University officials.
Any student eligible for and requesting reasonable academic accommodations due to a disability is asked to provide, to the instructor by email, a letter of accommodation from the Accessibility and Disability Service office within the first two weeks of the semester.
If you plan to observe any holidays during the semester that are not listed on the university calendar, please provide a list of these dates by the end of the first two weeks of the semester.