Textbook

Charles N. Fisher, Ron K. Cytron, Richard J. LeBlanc, Jr, Crafting a Compiler, Addison-Wesley, 1^ed, ISBN-13: 978-0-13-606705-4

There are two textbooks on reserve in the Arthur Lakes Memorial Library.

Learning Methods

This will not be a traditional lecture course. Instead, it will be taught using an active learning technique known as formal learning groups. Here is how they will work.

A semester will have three rounds of learning groups (LGs), each about five weeks long. Students will be randomly assigned to learning groups at the beginning of each round.

1. "Lectures" will begin immediately with learning group time. LGs should review the previous assignment's learning goals and discuss the new content. LGs are expected to rearrange the room furnishings to accommodate their group work. Instructor(s) will circulate through the learning groups to record participation points, observe discussions, and answer questions.

2. After the initial group time lecture will take two different shapes depending on instructional needs:

   1. There will be a brief discussion of the current assignment's topics, perhaps working through a few example problems. This will be led by the instructor but guided by student input. Important topics in the next reading assignment will be introduced to the students. And the duration of the lecture period will be short problem solving time (still in learning groups) or a more formal (but short-lived) lecture period.

   2. Or, there will be a more formal lecture over the current important algorithms and data-structures being covered in the LGAs.
3. Before the end of most lecture periods, learning groups will have an opportunity to see the next group assignment and discuss how the work load will be divided among the members.

Student Evaluation

Students should familiarize themelves with the collaboration policy for graded work.

Learning Group Quizzes

At the end of each learning group round, there will be a quiz over the material covered during the learning group. These are Learning Group Quizzes. These quizzes will be taken independently by each LG member, but each member's course grade will be based (in part) on their individual performance as well as their learning group's performance.

Assignments

Programming and written assignments may we worth different numbers of points, but their percentile grades are all weighted the same when calculating the "Assignment" portion of your course grade.

Institutional Support

1. Those students who qualify for disability accommodations must request Student Disability Services deliver each professor a Confidential Letter of Required Accommodations to ensure accommodations are met. More information is at this link.

2. The Writing Center, located in Stratton 306, is here to help all members of the Mines community with writing projects at any stage of the writing process. Writing Consultants will help you understand an assignment; brainstorm, develop and organize ideas; cite sources; narrow your focus; and/or fine-tune your writing for polish, clarity, adherence to grammatical conventions, etc. You are welcome to bring in your scholarship letters, application letters, theses, dissertations, academic journal articles, resumes, cover letters, research papers, summaries, abstracts, NHV essays, EPICS writing assignments, and personal writing projects with which you would like help. To make an appointment, please visit our online scheduling system at: http://mines.mywconline.com. Questions can be directed to Shira Richman, Writing Center Director, at: srichman@mines.edu or 303-273-3484. We look forward to working with you.