0. On-line information
On-line information about 6.033 is available on the Web at the URL http://web.mit.edu/afs/athena.mit.edu/course/6/6.033/www/home.html. (You can also get to this home page by starting at the URL http://web.mit.edu.) We will also discuss the Web as a topic in itself (see, for example, reading 25 on the reading list). During the term, all handouts will be electronically available on the Web and in the 6.033 course locker. On an Athena workstation, type "add 6.033; cd /mit/6.033/handouts".
We are on the brink of a revolution in publishing. We expect that electronic publishing (as opposed to paper distribution) will happen in the next decade. To be part of this revolution and to experiment with it, 6.033 will attempt to avoid paper publishing and publish all handouts electronically. We will attempt to provide each handout in a form that can be read by any Web browser. We expect you to check the 6.033 home page regularly, since all assignments and the breaking 6.033 news will disseminated through the Web.
1. Staff
Professor M. Frans Kaashoek (lectures) NE43-522 3-7149 kaashoek@lcs.mit.eduProfessor Jerry Saltzer (recitations) NE43-513 3-6016 Saltzer@mit.edu
Professor Fernando J. Corbató (recitations) NE43-524 3-6001 corbato@lcs.mit.edu
Professor Bill Dally (recitations) NE43-620 3-6043 bdally@ai.mit.edu
Professor Michael Hawley (recitations) NE43-218 3-7268 hawley@media.mit.edu
Kevin Lew (assistant) NE43-521 3-5261 lew@lcs.mit.edu
Brent Phillips (assistant) NE43-503 3-5155 panther@lcs.mit.edu
Todd Dampier (assistant) NE43-630 3-7710 dampier@ai.mit.edu
Sramana Mitra (assistant) NE43-632 3-7768 smitra@lcs.mit.edu
Neena Lyall (course secretary) NE43-523 3-6019 lyall@lcs.mit.edu
2. Recitation sections
The recitation sections are currently scheduled as follows, but don't be surprised if some last-minute changes are needed:
Professor TA
Section 1 T-Th 10 34-303 Dally Lew
Section 7 T-Th 11 34-302 Dally Phillips
Section 2 T-Th 11 34-303 Hawley Lew
Section 5 T-Th 11 26-310 Corbató Dampier
Section 6 T-Th 12 34-303 Hawley Phillips
Section 8 T-Th 1 34-303 Corbató Mitra
Section 3 T-Th 1 26-302 Saltzer Dampier
Section 4 T-Th 2 26-302 Saltzer Mitra
Go to the section you were assigned by the registrar, or the one that fits with the rest of your schedule. We will figure out where you are, and also whether or not we need to ask you to attend a different section to get things balanced better. Note that recitations in 6.033 are deliberately smaller than average, because they consist of free-form discussion.
3. Friday at 2 p.m.
The registrar's schedule shows lectures Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 2 to 3 p.m. That isn't exactly what we have planned. There will be regular lectures on Mondays and Wednesdays; we reserved the Friday hours for special events. The most notable special events are three one-hour QUIZZES, scheduled for March 10, April 7, and May 12. Other special events are lectures by staff of the M.I.T. Writing Program, on February 10 and March 3. Sometimes we discover that an interesting visitor can be cajoled into giving us a guest lecture, in which case we will schedule it on Friday. And, finally, if winter gets any worse and we encounter a week of snowed-out lectures, we may try to get back on schedule by using the Friday lecture hour. The message here is: reserve that block in your calendar, even though it isn't going to be used every week; make sure the reservation is clearly marked for the three quiz dates.
The handout "6.033 At a Glance, Spring Term, 1995" summarizes all these events and more.
4. Textbooks and readings
There are four things you need to have in order to accomplish the reading assignments in 6.033.
1 Tanenbaum, Andrew S. Modern Operating Systems, Prentice-Hall, 1992. (ISBN 0-13-588187-0)
2 Brooks, Frederick P. The Mythical Man-Month, Addison-Wesley, 1975. (ISBN 0-201-00650-2, paperback)
3 Ward, Stephen, and Halstead, Robert. Computation Structures, McGraw-Hill, 1989.
4 Readings for 6.033. This is a package of stuff obtainable from the EECS instrument room, 38-501.
The book by Ward and Halstead is the text that you used in 6.004. If you have already sold your copy to someone else, don't panic. We will be assigning just one chapter from it, and if necessary you should be able to borrow one from a friend or find it in a library to get through that assignment.
To get the Readings for 6.033, follow this procedure: Pick up a coupon sheet (copies handed out today and available from the course secretary), fill it in, and take it together with $21.50 to the cashier's office, 10-180. The bursar will give you a receipt, which you can take to room 38-501 to exchange for the notes. The packet you will receive there contains most readings, but we may have a second installment. The important thing is to keep track of the coupon that you find in that packet, because it entitles you to the later update packet.
The other two books should be available either at the Coop or at Quantum Books.
5. Assignments and Grades
Grades in 6.033 will be based on the results of three quizzes, about a dozen weekly one-page written reports, at least two written case studies, and your participation in recitation.
Each week, you will be asked to address a question pertaining to one of the reading assignments. Your response should be a one-page written essay. Our emphasis in evaluating these essays will be on essential issues, not technical details. Your ability to explain clearly the significance of the paper (in the context of the question) is what matters.
The case studies are longer, 8-10 page papers that you write, and in which you engage in a design exercise or consider a question in more depth than the weekly reading reports allow. Case studies will be handed out about two weeks before they are due. The first case study will be done individually; the second case study may be done in teams.
Since an important part of 6.033 is discussion of current literature, your recitation participation will influence your grade significantly. So significantly that we hesitate to try to assign weights to the individual components such as quizzes and case studies. Everything is important; your recitation instructor will assign your final grade based on his personal assessment of what you got out of the course, integrating all the methods of evaluation he can think of.
There will NOT be a final examination.
6. Collaboration
Our policy is simple, based on professional standards: On quizzes you should not collaborate. On all other assignments you are welcome to work with anyone else on ideas and understanding, but your writing should be your own and you should carefully acknowledge all contributions of ideas by others, whether from classmates or from papers you have read.
7. The Writing Requirement, Phase II
Since 6.033 is one of the few Course VI subjects that asks students to hand in assignments containing complete sentences in the English language, the M.I.T. Writing Program takes a special interest. This interest will take two forms this term:
1. We will forward a copy of your first weekly writing assignment to the Writing Program for evaluation and comment. (These comments usually come back about three weeks later.) In addition, if you ask us to, we will forward to the Writing Program any case study on which your 6.033 grade is a B or better and which contains at least ten pages clearly identified as having been written by you. (Sometimes case studies are a team effort, in which case you may have to volunteer to be the team scribe if you want to take advantage of this option.) Assuming the evaluator in the Writing Program likes your stuff, you will receive credit for Phase II of the M.I.T. writing requirement.
2. The staff of the Writing Program will offer up to four sections of a 6.033 writing practicum. Here is their advertisement for the practicum:
****NEW WRITING SUBJECT ATTACHED TO 6.033
Students taking 6.033 have the opportunity to enroll in sections of:
21W 781 "The Practicum in Engineering Writing"
Each section will:
-- offer instruction in writing and revising 6.033 assignments
-- offer instruction in oral communication skills
-- meet once a week for two hours
-- be limited to 15 students per section
-- satisfy Phase Two of the Writing Requirement (with a grade of B or better)
-- offer six-units of elective credit
Course 6 seniors who have not completed the Writing Requirement may take this subject instead of 21W 780 or 21W 783.
One section will meet from 3-5 PM on Tuesday.
Two other sections will be scheduled based on responses from students preregistered for 6.033.
The possible times for these sections are M 3-5; M 7-9 PM; W 3-5; Th 3-5.
For further information call x3-3039 or Email perelman@athena.
More details about this opportunity can also be found in handouts from the Writing Program.