For registration issues, please feel free to contact us through the query form after reading the REGISTRATION page

Basics of Scientific Computation

The Course

First Meeting (Week 1)

All students are required to attend the first meeting.

Code and Credits:

PHYS 200 - 2300200 - 3 credits

Instructors:

Dr. Sinan Kaan Yerli (Z15) yerli@metu.edu.tr
Dr. Hande Toffoli (439) ustunel@metu.edu.tr
Dr. Çağatay K. Dönmez (Z22) cdonmez@metu.edu.tr - Teaching Assistant

Goal

Gain the ability to convert (science based) problems into algorithms and solving them using a computer language.

Course Material

There will be no formal textbook. For the course content Colab Notebooks will be made available online.

Registration

At the beginning of each semester, three sections (Section 11, 12 & 13) of the course will be pre-filled according to student' status with the following elligibility criterion:

for Fall semesters, only regular students are selected:
1. The student should be in his/her 3rd semester OR
2. The student shouldn't have taken any 2nd year must courses in his/her 5th semester.
for Spring semesters, only irregular students are selected :

1. The student doesn't satisfy any of the regular conditions listed above.

2. The student is a double major student (originating either from Physics or another department)

The number of students for each semester is limited to 96. After applying above rules if there are still empty seats left then they will be filled by the student's entrance semester to the department: the oldest will get the first empty seat (for both FALL or SPRING semester).

Structure & Schedule

The course will consist of

In-class lectures (1 hour) – ALL sections have to attend the lecture at the same time.
- FALL semester: Tuesday @10:40 - 11:30 in U1
- SPRING semester: Monday @12:40 - 13:30 in P3
Laboratory (2 hours) – in LAB1 (Department’s Computer Lab on the ground floor)

You will get a chance to practice what you have learnt during the lecture. The following lab days are fixed for both semesters:

- FALL semester: Thursdays
- SPRING semester: Fridays

You will attend the lab hours in one of three sections:

- Section 11: Morning – 09:40-11:30
- Section 12: Noon – 11:40-13:30
- Section 13: Afternoon – 13:40-15:30

The lab is in the basement: take the first right past the foyer, go through the swinging doors, turn right and walk straight ahead. There are 32 PC’s set up for your use in the lab.

Lab sections will be assigned according to your surname and will be announced at the beginning of the semester.

Weekly Schedule

Grading

Notes:

Attendance to class and lab is an important part of this course. At each lecture or lab session, we will take attendance and mark it directly in ODTUCLASS.
If you are absent in the lab then you will loose Quiz and Exercise points.
If you miss two or more lab sessions, you will directly fail from the course.

Mid-term and final exams will be computer-based and held in LAB1 (see section Exams below)
Each lab session is divided into "Quiz + Exercise + Quiz"
- Quiz-1 (30 min) content will be related to previous week's lecture content.
- Exercise (45 min) content will be related to current week's lecture content.
- Quiz-2 (30 min) content will be related to current week's lecture content.
Special Cases: Week 1: No Quiz-1 and No Quiz-2; Week 2: No Quiz-1.
A common project has to be completed within the Lab hours in two weeks time (see section Projects).

Exams

INTEGRITY is very important for us.

We definitely DO NOT tolerate CHEATING.

Please DO NOT attempt it!

Rules for mid-term and final exams

The exams will be held in the PC lab on computers.
- Section 11: 09:45 - 11:15 (90 minutes)
- Section 12: 11:45 - 13:15 (90 minutes)
- Section 13: 13:45 - 15:15 (90 minutes)
You will use PC's in the PC LAB.
- On the day of the exam, come to the lab as early as possible and make sure everything works!
- You have to login to ODTUCLASS before exam starts (logging times will be checked).
Leave all your belongings including cell phones (turned off) at the instructor's desk.
- You are only allowed to use the keyboard and the mouse.
On the desktop:
- Only a single window running a browser (firefox or chrome).
- The browser should only contain ODTUCLASS tab.
- A common cheat-sheet will be avilable in ODTUCLASS and can be opened as a tab.
Your last saved version will be graded.
No talking, no question; Otherwise you will be dismissed from the exam.

Warnings - Technical

You are not allowed to use your personal computer.
Nothing allowed on or around the PC or the chair.
You are not allowed to have USB keys attached to your PC.

You are not allowed to use the editor spyder.
If you have other applications running you will be dismissed from the exam.

Warnings - Others

You cannot leave the exam before 1/2 of the allowed time has passed (i.e. 45 minutes).
You cannot submit your codes after you leave the lab.
All external submissions (being not physically in the lab) will be treated as incidences of cheating.

Content of the exam:

2 questions
Your answers will contain only coding: No explanation, no comments, no extra information (they will all be discarded).
Since you are allowed to run your code it should not contain syntax errors.
Each answer has to be submitted as a separate file to the related assignment on ODTUClass. However, all of them have the same starting and ending times. It is your responsibility to SUBMIT ON TIME. THERE WILL BE NO TIME WARNING.

Lab Sessions

Can I attend the other section's lab sesion?

Short answer: No.

It makes all grading complicated within ODTUCLASS. However, if you have a valid and official reason use the Query Form in ODTUCLASS.

What happens if I miss a lab session?

If you miss a single lab session you might get a make-up if you have a valid reason for not attending. Use the Query Form in ODTUCLASS (type: makeup).
If you miss two or more lab sessions, you will directly fail from the course.

How do we object to grading?

Short answer: Use the Query Form in ODTUCLASS.

Use the Query Form in ODTUCLASS (type: regrade) for regrading. Grading for Quizzes and Exercises are handled by your TA. Rest will be handled by the instructor. Note that, you will have +1 week to object after the activity grades are announced.

How do I upload a file to the system (a proof of excuse, files requested by TA)?