| title | author | permalink |
|---|---|---|
Policies |
Ron Cytron and Josh Gelbard |
policies/ |
##Grading Policy
Your course grade in CSE132 will be based on a weighted average of the following components:
###Studio work (20%) Your work in studio will typically be undertaken in small groups. You must be arrive on time and be present in studio to receive credit, and you must work steadily through the session until the TAs have cleared your group's work. You are not graded on how far you get, but on how well you explore the issues you are investigating.
###Lab Assignments (45%) Lab assignments are designed to provide practical experience with central topics of the course. For most labs, you will be able to work in pairs. For each lab assignment, you will have lab conferences with a TA to explain your design, demonstrate your working solution and to present of your implementation. Your presentations at these conferences are part of your grade on the assignment. Each assignment will have a rubric that details how the work will be graded. See the late policy for how turning in assignments late will affect your grade.
###Exams (25%) There will be two exams (the midterm (10%) and the final (15%)) to evaluate your understanding of concepts covered in lecture and in the readings. There will be a help session devoted to reviewing for each exam.
###Quizzes (10%) Quizzes will cover material from lecture and the reading assignments. Any question related to the lecture or reading assignments to date is fair game on a quiz. Quizzes will occur during class (most likely at the beginning or end of class) or in studio sessions, and may not be announced in advance. Since attendance is required, a missed quiz will count as a zero. Your lowest quiz score will be dropped from your quiz average.
Your course grade will be determined approximately as follows.
98 and up A+
93-97 A
90-92 A-
88-90 B+
83-87 B
80-82 B-
70-79 C
60-69 D
below 60 F
Grades will be recorded on blackboard before the graded assignments are returned to you. Please check there periodically to be sure everything is correct.
If you have concerns about your grade at any time during the course, see the instructor or contact the Head TA. Please do not direct these kinds of questions to other TAs, unless it is a question about an assignment graded by that particular TA.
##Late Policy
Success in CSE132 depends critically on keeping up with the assignments. At the same time, we don't want you to be stressed out over deadlines. With this in mind, the the following late policy has been established. Please read it carefully so that you understand your options. Exceptions to this policy will be granted only in the case of a documented extended illness, documented family emergency, directly conflicting religious observance, or documented university conflict (such as travel for an athletic event). Consult the course calendar for quiz dates, exam dates, and lab assignment due dates.
###Quizzes
Quizzes (including those that are randomly given) must be taken on the day they are given. Make-up quizzes will be given only in unusual circumstances.
###Exams
Exams must be taken on the day they are given. If you anticipate that you must be away from campus on the day of an exam, you should notify the instructor by email at least one week in advance of the date of the exam. Include in your email the reason for the anticipated absence and a list of alternative times when you could take the exam. If you are ill on the date of an exam, you should provide the instructor with documentation of the illness and arrange for a make-up exam date as soon as possible. In any case, you must not discuss the contents of an exam with anyone between the time it is given and the time you take the exam.
###Lab Assignments
Start assignments right away, so you have time to complete them and submit them by the due date. If you wait until the last minute and get stuck, you may have trouble getting help. Also, by finishing labs on time, you will be ready to start each new lab as soon as it is assigned.
The deadline for any assignment may be extended at the discretion of the instructor. The CEC labs may be unavailable for brief periods due to unforeseen circumstances. Such outages are to be expected and will not normally result in an extension.
Two late coupons: Each student is issued two virtual late coupons for use during this semester. A coupon can be used to extend the time of a lab assignment by exactly one weekly lab session. No penalty will be assessed for the late lab, but the virtual coupon will be consumed. Using a late coupon is the only mechanism for submitting a lab late, and at most one coupon can be spent on any lab.
If you are working on an assignment with a partner, each member of the team must contribute a late coupon for an assignment to be accepted late.
Lab assignments require that you give a demonstration of your working lab to a TA. This may be done during a lab section or during normally scheduled TA hours. Normally, you will do this demo during your lab section, but sometimes you may have a scheduling problem and need to demo during a different lab section. In any case, you should complete your demo by the end of lab sessions (5:30 PM) on the Wednesday your assignment is due, or a late coupon must be used.
Since lab sessions serve as the normal time to demo assignments, the TAs will first demo individuals or groups that have finished the assignment before answering questions. If you are doing a demo in a lab section, you must sign up for your demo at the beginning of the lab section (within the first 15 minutes). This is necessary to avoid everyone clamoring to do demos in the last 5 minutes.
###Studios
As stated in the attendance policy, studio sessions are required.
If you are ill or have a conflict and cannot attend studio, contact the Head TA on Piazza to discuss options for making it up outside of class. This will usually result in you being granted permission to demo that studio during TA hours sometime the same week.
##Attendance Policy
###Lecture Attendance:
Each week's lecture session establishes the background, context, and conversation for the week's work in studio and lab. These sessions will involve some presentation by the instructor of lecture material, but they will also include code reviews and class discussion of the course material.
It is therefore essential that you attend the lecture session. Random quizzes may be given during such sessions, and these will not be announced in advance. You must be present to take the quiz.
###Attendance in Studio:
On most Mondays, we meet in studio session in the lab space. For such sessions, attendance is required to obtain credit for this portion of the course. Some Mondays will be reserved for work on assignments. While attendance on such Mondays is not required, the TAs and instructor will be present to offer help and guidance, so you are encouraged to attend.
###Attendance at Lab Sections:
Lab sections are held each Wednesday to facilitate your work on assignments. When an assignment is due, you must be present to discuss or demo your work. For team assignments, all members of the team must be present for any to receive credit.
###Exams: A missed exam counts as a zero. If you are ill on the day of an exam, notify the instructor as soon as possible. The illness must be documented by health services or other reasonable authority in order to make up the exam.
##Collaboration Policy Honestly represent your work. The material you turn in for course credit must be a fair representation of your own work. Copying another's work is strictly prohibited.
Give help appropriately. When helping someone, it is important not to simply give them a solution, because then they may not understand it fully and will not be able to solve a similar problem next time. It's always important to take the time to help someone think through the problem and develop the solution. Often, this can be accomplished by asking them a series of leading questions. Remember the old saying:
Give someone a fish and they'll eat for a day. Teach someone to fish and they'll eat for a lifetime.
Give credit for help received. If you receive help from people (besides the TAs and the instructor), you must list their names where appropriate using comments in the material you submit.
Work individually or in groups. Studio work is collaborative and is always performed in groups of two to four people. Working in groups can be beneficial because you can discuss design options and catch each other's mistakes. Pair programming is permitted for most lab assignments, subject to the following rules:
1. Only two people may work together. (Groups of three or more are not allowed.)
2. You must work side by side on the entire lab. It is your responsibility to schedule time to complete the lab when both of you are available.
3. You must take turns at the keyboard, preferably switching at each step of the assignment.
4. You must discuss each solution as you are completing the lab (not just watch the other person type).
5. You may NOT divide up the assignment and each do part of it. Both partners must participate in completing the entire assignment.
If in doubt, ask your instructor. Be sure to ask in advance if you have any doubts about whether a certain type of collaboration is acceptable. Academic integrity violations carry severe penalties and may result in a failing course grade and/or dismissal from the course or the university.