CS1800 Syllabus – 2026 Fall
Northeastern University

While there are innumerable reference sources for these mathematical topics, we will be citing relevant chapters and sections for each week's lectures from the book Discrete Structures by Harriet Fell and Javed A. Aslam. You can freely find a PDF of the book online; feel free to refer to it before or after lecture as needed.

CS1800 lectures introduce key concepts and dive into examples and applications. We recommend taking notes in writing (paper or tablet) rather than trying to type them. Both lecture sections are in the morning, but please do your best to show up ready to work on problems together.

We invite everyone to raise their hands to ask and answer questions during class, and to engage in discussion with classmates. However, we know it’s not always the easiest thing to speak up in a big classroom, or to clarify your thoughts in real time.

Therefore, you can also ask Laney questions directly via the Lecture Question Form. Laney will review these questions during the break and after lecture, and respond during lecture or on Piazza, keeping you anonymous.

CS1802 is a co-requisite for CS1800; make sure you're signed up for both!

CS1802 Recitations are dedicated time set aside to work on practice problems that specifically prepare you for the current problem set or upcoming exam. The recitation is your opportunity to solidify your understanding of lecture material, ask questions, and get support for the current problem set or upcoming exam.

Practice Problems, and their solutions, will be released each week for recitation. These practice problems are labelled according to which Problem Set or Exam topic they will help you prepare for. You do not need to complete every practice question; we encourage you to do at least one per topic, and to prioritize the topics you would like to practice.

There are a total of 8 PSes (released and due as listed on the schedule page). The 7 best scores will account for 4% each for a total of 28% of the final grade depending on problem sets.

See Problem Set policy section below for more logistical details.

The Problem Sets are designed to prepare you for the in-class, in-person, written exams during the semester and the final at the end of the semester. The 3 exams (see schedule page for dates) have specific topics of focus while the final is cumulative and comprehensive.

The final is worth 14% with 1% extra credit opportunity.

See the Exam Policy section below for logistical details.

The project will be worth 22% and will involve a small group of students choosing a area/subject and presenting how one or two topics from CS1800 are relevant in that area/subject. Further logistical details coming soon, see Project section below for more details (when they are filled in).

Your final grade for CS1800 will use the following percentage ranges when we convert to letter grades.

There is the option to test out of this course before the add/drop period ends if you believe that some past course you've taken has already covered the materials in this course. Please email Prof. Varma at ak.varma@northeastern.edu about the test out option.

We believe that diversity and inclusiveness are essential to excellence in academic discourse and innovation. In this class, the perspective of people of all races, ethnicities, gender expressions and gender identities, religions, sexual orientations, disabilities, socioeconomic backgrounds, and nationalities will be respected and viewed as a resource and benefit throughout the semester. Suggestions to further diversify class materials and assignments are encouraged. If any course meetings conflict with your religious events, please do not hesitate to reach out to Laney to make alternative arrangements.

As this course includes some discussion, it is vitally important for us to create an educational environment of inclusion and mutual respect. This includes the ability for all students to have their chosen gender pronoun(s) and chosen name affirmed. If the class roster does not align with your name and/or pronouns, please inform Akshar and Laney of the necessary changes.

CS1800 is an in-person class, and attendance is expected for both lectures and recitations. However, we don’t take attendance and we don't want or expect anyone to come to class when they're sick. We'll post the lecture notes from each day, along with short videos that you can use to catch up on missed material.

These videos were pre-recorded. We do not record lectures in CS1800. If you need to miss class/recitation…

• Watch the videos and read the notes posted from the given lecture. Write down notes as you read/watch, just as you would if present in-person; it’ll help.
• Complete the practice problems from your recitation, on your own or with a friend or in office hours.
• Stop by Akshar/Laney/TA's office hours to make sure you're caught up and feeling confident on the material.
• There is no need to notify us about missing class.

The videos, plus the notes from class, are meant to be helpful for days when you need to miss class, but they will definitely NOT be an identical experience! They should suffice when you miss a class or two due to illness or emergency, but we do not recommend using them as a substitute for regular participation in the in-person lecture.

You must be present in-person for scheduled quizzes. Dates are posted in this syllabus, on the course website, and on Canvas. Make sure you familiarize yourself with the schedule so that you don’t miss the exams.

You may also consult sources, including generative AI, for your problem set and project. However, you must follow the guidelines above, list all outside sources you referenced and how you used them, and never copy anything directly from AI-generated content.

You are also responsible for all work you submit; AI sometimes makes mistakes. We will not answer questions about AI-generated solutions during office hours or on Piazza.

See also: Keep the robots out of the gym.

Violation of the academic integrity policy has consequences both within the course and through the university’s OSCCR office. For a first violation, you will at least receive a zero on the assignment. For a second violation, you will at least receive a failing grading in CS1800. All violations will be reported to OSCCR: http://www.northeastern.edu/osccr/academic-integrity

You can submit any/all PSes up to 48 hours late with no penalty. However, once the late deadline has passed, no submissions will be accepted for any reason. This policy exists so you take extra time when you’re especially busy, not feeling well, tending to your family, etc.; we won't make any exceptions to this policy.

Beyond the 48 hour late policy, the lowest PS score will be dropped and only the best 7 PS scores are used towards your final grade. Do note that this policy is to help in case circumstances caused your performance for one of the PSes to be much worse than your average performance. It does not mean that you can give up on a PS without attempting, hoping that you will make it up in the remaining PSes. The goal of the PSes is to prepare you for the exams and skipping one is doing a disservice to your learning.