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README-en.md

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 ![main1.png](images/main1.png)
 
-[verano2016 - Coralys]
 
-The Introduction to Computer Programming course provides an introduction to the fundamental concepts of computer programming and the solution of problems through algorithm design, including parallel programming techniques. Students will have a full understanding of the basic components of a program starting with control structures using conditional and iterative instructions with logical expressions, as well as the definition and use of variables and data types. They will develop procedures and functions for common tasks that are repeated or more complex tasks that require decomposition, including recursive functions. They will use structured data types such as arrays, queues, files and pointers. Also, the students will be exposed to the computer's structure: input and output, memory, and the central processing unit. A general look into the Computer Science field and its effect in society, including ethical implications in computation, is included.
+This is the first of a series of lab experiences that were developed as part of the NSF-sponsored project "Development of engaging and readily transferable laboratory experiences for the introductory programming course" (DUE-1245744). The main goal of these lab experiences is that the students of introductory programming courses will practice the concepts and skills learned in class and obtain attractive products that will motivate them to further explore the endless opportunities of fun and applicability of Computer Science.
 
-During this semester the students in the Introduction to Computer Programming course will be participating in the project: "Engaging Introductory Programming Laboratory" (EIP). In this project, sponsored by the TUES program of the National Science Foundation, students will be able to work on laboratory experiences where they will practice the concepts and skills learned in class and obtain attractive products that will motivate them with the possibilities that Computer Science offers them.
-
-Each of the laboratory experiences will use libraries and programming sections that have been developed by professors and students of the Computer Science program of the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras campus. When the laboratory experience is completed, the student will not only reinforce the concepts learned in class, but will also get to know products that he or she will be capable of producing with a bit more knowledge and experience in computing. 
-
-In today's laboratory experience you will learn how we will work in the upcoming meetings, how to access the files that will be used, and how to turn in the work. You will also learn to manage the basic elements of Qt, the platform that will allow us to develop and execute projects in C++.
+Each of the laboratory experiences uses libraries and reusable code developed by professors and students of the Computer Science program at the University of Puerto Rico, Rí­o Piedras campus ([http://ccom.uprrp.edu](http://ccom.uprrp.edu)). When each laboratory experience is completed, the student will not only reinforce the concepts learned in class, but will also get a glimpse of the products that he or she may achieve with a bit more knowledge and experience in computing.
 
+In this first laboratory experience you will learn the workflow for the the upcoming meetings, how to access the files that will be used, and how to turn in your deliverables. You will also learn how to manage the basic elements of Qt, the platform that will allow us to develop and execute projects in C++.
 
 ## Objectives:
 
-1) Understand the goals of the laboratory for the Introduction to Computer Programming course (CCOM-3033).
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-2) Get to know the laboratory experiences prepared and the general expectations of the laboratory sessions.
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-3) Get to know the programming in pairs strategy.
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-4) Get to know the rules of the laboratory sessions and the methods of evaluation.
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-5) Practice the use of *Git* and *Bitbucket* to download and store the necessary files for each laboratory experience.
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-6) Practice how to compile, fix errors, and execute a program using Qt.
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-## About the laboratory
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-### Course and evaluation policy
+1) Get to know the laboratory experiences prepared and the general expectations of the laboratory sessions.
 
-* All of the students should be registered in the Moodle page for Section 1 of the Laboratory using the email they most frequently read. The page can be found in moodle.ccom.uprrp.edu. All of the information, materials and assignments for the course will be on this page; each student is responsible for checking the page regularly and understanding the calendar for turning in their work.
-* All cellphones must remain off during the laboratory session. If one of these devices interrupts the session, the professor will assume it's an emergency and will ask the student to leave the laboratory. Moreover, the cellphone must not be on vibrate or emit light signals, and it cannot be on the desk. Just shut it off and put it away. This way you may concentrate while in class.
-* Only the laboratory laptops will be used.
-* The laboratory session will start promptly, so you should arrive on time. In the case of something extraordinary happening in which the professor shall be absent or late, the Department will be notified. If you arrive more than 15 minutes late, please do not enter the laboratory. If you leave the laboratory, let it be for an emergency; it is expected that once the session starts, the student will remain in the laboratory until it is finished.
-* For each laboratory session, there will be documents in Moodle related to the laboratory experience that you should read before arriving at the laboratory. Read and follow the instructions in the *Pre-Lab* session. The documents for each laboratory experience will be available in Moodle the Friday of the previous week.
-* There will be a *Pre-Lab* quiz that you should take during the first 10 minutes of the laboratory session. The quiz is taken using Moodle and will not be available after 10 minutes from the time the laboratory session begins. The quiz will be related to the concepts learned in class that will be necessary for the laboratory experience, and will also include reading comprehension questions for the week's laboratory session instructions. Quizzes will not be reset or retaken. However, the worst grade will be eliminated.
-* The laboratory experiences will be worked on in pairs. After each laboratory experience, each pair should hand in the files indicated in the instructions using Moodle. The final hand in date to hand in the files for each experience is the Tuesday that follows the laboratory session. Since the laboratory experiences will be worked on in pairs, only one member will hand in the work.
-* When the work for each laboratory session is finished, each student must take a *Post-Test* which lasts 10 minutes. With the Pre-Lab and Post-Test we evaluate the utility of the laboratory experience in learning the concepts and skills. The Post-Test will not be worth any points in the laboratory grade, but will be used to give a bonus on each laboratory experience. The Post-Test will be available on Moodle on Friday when the laboratory session is held, until 11:59pm of the following Tuesday.
-* Feel free to come by my office to clarify any doubts. If the door is open, you are welcome to come in; if it is closed, please wait for office hours. In the case of you having a scheduling conflict with the assigned office hours, you may schedule a meeting at any moment.
-* Responsibility and honesty are very important qualities for the Computer Science Department. 
+2) Practice the use of *Git* and *Bitbucket* to download and store the necessary files for each laboratory experience.
 
-
-#### Evaluation
-
-* The laboratory grade will be 25% of the course grade.
-* The "Pre-Lab" tests will be 40% of the laboratory grade.
-* The work turned in will be 60% of the laboratory grade.
-* The criteria to obtain a bonus of 5 points in each laboratory experience are as follows:
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-    1)  You obtain 80 in the Pre-Lab and maintain or improve your grade in the Post-Test. 
-    
-    2)  You obtain 75 or more in the Pre-Lab and improve by 15 points or more from Pre-Lab to Post-Test.
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-    3)  You obtain 80 or more in the Pre-Lab and improve by 10 points or more from Pre-Lab to Post-Test.
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-    4)  You obtain 85 or more in the Post-Test.
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-* The total score for the delivered work will not be more than 100. 
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-
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-### Programming in pairs
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-During the entire semester the laboratory experiences will be worked on using the programming in pairs technique. Each pair will use one computer and each student in the pair will have one of two roles: conductor or navigator. The conductor will be in charge of writing and editing the code or the requirement for the laboratory. The navigator will read and evaluate what the conductor is writing to indicate if there was an error or to make suggestions. The pairs for each laboratory session will be announced on the Moodle page.
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-### Pre-Lab and Post-Test
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-Each laboratory experience contains a section called *Pre-Lab*. In this section you will find the objectives for the experience and the concepts you should review and study before arriving at the laboratory. There will be a link on the Moodle page for a short quiz that you should take during the first 10 minutes of the laboratory session. The quiz will not be available after the 10 minutes have passed from the time the laboratory session begins. The concepts that you should review for the laboratory experience are concepts covered during the course conference sections. The short quiz will also have reading comprehension questions for the laboratory instructions.
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-The *Post-Test* is a short test about the same skills and concepts that are evaluated in the Pre-Lab. The Post-Test will be available on Moodle from the Friday of the laboratory session, until 11:59pm on the following Tuesday. These tests allows us to evaluate the efficacy of the laboratory experience in the learning of concepts and skills throughout the course. The points obtained will be used as a bonus for the laboratory grade.
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-### Turning in the work
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-When each laboratory experience is over, each pair should hand in the files with the implemented code or some other material. These deliveries will be done using Moodle and the instructions will be included in each laboratory experience.
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+3) Practice how to compile, fix errors, and execute a program using Qt.
 
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@@ -93,17 +24,17 @@ When each laboratory experience is over, each pair should hand in the files with
 
 ### Electronic book
 
-The instructions for the laboratory experience for this semester are contained in the electronic book you can access in http://eip.ccom.uprrp.edu/_book-en/.
+The instructions for the laboratory experience for this semester are contained in the electronic book you can access in [http://eip.ccom.uprrp.edu/_book-en/](http://eip.ccom.uprrp.edu/_book-en/).
 
-In the Moodle page we will indicate the name of the corresponding laboratory for each week and you can access the instructions using the index of the electronic book.
+We will publish the name of each week’s lab experience in our course’s Moodle page.
 
-This is a preliminary version of the book and therefore may contain errors. We would appreciate it if you would tell us if you find any errors or if you have any suggestion that could help clarify the instructions.
+This is a preliminary version of the book and therefore may contain errors. We would appreciate it if you would tell us if you find any errors or if you have any suggestion that could help clarify the instructions. Please notify us at: eip.uprrp@upr.edu. 
 
 ### Bitbucket and Git
 
-*Bitbucket* is a repository or deposit for digital files which can be accessed online and allows the development of group projects in an ordered and simple manner. The files for the Introduction to Programming Laboratory will be stored in this site and can be downloaded to your personal computers using *Git*.
+*Bitbucket* is a repository or deposit for digital files that can be accessed online and allows the development of group projects in an ordered and simple manner. The files for the Introduction to Programming Laboratory will be stored in this site and can be downloaded to your personal computers using *Git*.
 
-*Git* is an open source program used to manage program files developed in groups. You can obtain this program in <http://git-scm.com/>. At the start of each laboratory experience you will download the necessary files to one of the classroom laptops using the command `git clone url` from the terminal in each computer.
+*Git*  is an open source version control system that is primarily used for software development. The EIP team used Git during software development of the lab experiences. You as a student probably will not need to use of Git's version control capabilities for the coding assignments in the lab experiences. However, you will use Git to download the lab experience's source code files at the beginning of each session, e.g. using `git clone url`. You can obtain *Git* at http://git-scm.com/.
 
 ### Terminal and Linux