We expect that all students will need help at some point in this course. If you find yourself needing help, this is not cause for embarrassment: it is completely expected, and our goal is to ensure that you are able to receive the help you need. A good rule of thumb is that if you spend an hour on the assignment without making any progress, seek help! Please be sure to seek help early and often through any (or all!) of the following resources:
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Your Study Group Building a support system of friends with whom you can struggle and work through the challenges you encounter is one of the best ways to seek help. You will quickly learn how much you can figure out working together!
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Departmental tutors: Southwestern University provides undergraduate tutors for many courses - including CS 1! Tutors are here to help you get help on your homework, or to help clarify concepts from class that you did not fully understand. Please see the home page for tutoring times and locations.
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Note: department tutors are the ONLY students outside of the class from whom you may ask for help. You should not ask for help from Southwestern students who are not tutors - especially students who have taken this course before.
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Discord: I have created a discord server that you can use for any questions related to course logistics, material, or assignments. You can get coding help through discord, or just use it to get to know your classmates better. Please use discretion and don't broadcast your code in a way that other students can easily copy it. Posting code snippets is fine, but if you are going to post more than 3 lines of code you should message me privately. You may post error messages publicly. Please see the homepage for the link to the Discord server..
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Student Hours: There are specific times during the week that I will designate as student hours - that is, these are times that I can guarantee that I will be in my office, and my only priority will be to help students with class work. You may come to student hours to clarify lecture material, or to get help with any of the assigned course work. Even if you do not have any questions, you may come to student hours to work until you get stuck. Please see the home page for student horu times and locations.
Please fill out this google form to vote on what are the best student hour times for you! By making your voice heard, you will help me ensure that student hours are at the most convenient time for as many people as possible. If none of the student hour times that we settle on works for you, and if none of the tutoring hours works for you, then you can email me to schedule a time to meet for help.
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Email: Please send me emails as often as you need! But note that in my class, you are never allowed to apologize for sending an email or asking for help, and you are never allowed to dismiss your own questions as "dumb".