Courses

For brief descriptions of courses and scheduled instructors, please consult the official Dartmouth Course Descriptions and Requirements published by the Office of the Registrar. For detailed information about the terms and times that courses will be offered, the most reliable source is the Timetables page on the Registrar's site. (Click on Subject Area(s), then search for COSC courses.)

COSC 94: Reading Course

COSC 94 is an independent study of a certain subject and can be taken any term.  It is a custom-designed, faculty-guided, independently operated, course in computer science - and its topic and nature can be drawn from the wide range of course topics and types you see in the curriculum. Examples include reading textbooks, research literature, and tutorial material; watching online lectures from other universities or programs; developing code; designing algorithms; analyzing data; and more.  

You need Instructor Permission to enroll for these courses. This is given by the Undergraduate Program Director. To get this permission, you need to follow the following steps:

• First, you need to identify an advisor who will guide and evaluate your independent study. This person must be a CS faculty member. This includes regular faculty members (tenure track / instructors) and adjunct faculty members. Approach the professor early; at least one or two terms in advance is recommended. 

• Together with the faculty member you need to create a proposal. The proposal must describe the material being learned, and the planned approach.  A typical proposal is 1.5-2 pages long comprising of-

  1. Course goals and objectives + a personal rationale you to pursue this independent study. 
  2. Materials : Textbooks, Notes, Websites, Videos, etc.
  3. A Semi-detailed Schedule. For each of the 9-10 weeks, you should point to the material you will be studying. At the very least, the topic.
  4. Description of evaluation procedure : assignments/labs/projects, etc + when they will be due.

          The workload should be equivalent to a regular course.

• You need to submit the proposal to the Undergraduate Program Director, cc-ing your advisor. The advisor must confirm that they have approved the proposal and that they will indeed be supervising, and at the termination of the course, grading the student.

COSC 99: Thesis Research

COSC 99.01 and COSC 99.02 is individual research on a topic carried out with a thesis advisor. This is open only to COSC majors or COSC modified majors with CS as the primary part.  COSC 99.01 and 99.02 constitute a two-course sequence and must be taken in two consecutive terms, either fall/winter or winter/spring, normally in the senior year.  In order to receive credit for COSC 99.01 and 99.02, a written thesis must be approved by the thesis advisor. 

You need Instructor Permission to enroll for these courses. This is given by the Undergraduate Program Director. To get this permission, you need to follow the following steps:

• First, you need to identify a thesis advisor and ask them to commit to being your advisor. This person must be a CS faculty member. This includes regular faculty members (tenure track / instructors) and adjunct faculty members. Approach the professor early; at least one or two terms in advance is recommended. 
• Along with your advisor you must draft a thesis proposal which should be 1-2 pages long. It should contain a tentative title, the proposed problem of research, and an outline of some approaches to tackle these problems. 
• You need to submit the proposal to the Undergraduate Program Director, cc-ing your advisor. The advisor must confirm that they have approved the proposal and that they will indeed be supervising, and at the termination of the course, grading the student.