CSE370 Structure, Policies and
Guidelines
1. Lectures: Attendance and participation of
all of them is strongly encouraged and expected. Lecture materials are closest to what is
covered in the exams (over homework or lab). If you come to the lectures, you will
likely do better on the exams.
2. Laboratory:
There will be 9 weekly lab assignments (the last assignment spans 2
weeks). Although you'll be able to
use the lab all week, attendance at one of the scheduled times is very important
as that is when the TAs will be available. We will work hard to ensure that the
laboratory assignments take no more than the three hour sessions to
complete. You should attend the
session for which you are registered. With permission of the TA, you can attend
the other section in case of unusual circumstances.
3. Assignments:
There will be 8 weekly homework assignments. They will be based on topics covered in
lectures. There will be also
reading assignments from the Contemporary Logic Design (2nd edition) text each
week which is critical to keep up with the class materials.
4. Exams:
There are two in-class midterms (1/30 and 2/23) and one final exam during
finals week.
Your course grade will be computed as follows:
Homework assignments are due at
the beginning of the class (
The lab grades are based on
completion checked by the TAs. Don’t fall behind because each lab
is worth more than 2% of your grades!
We also provide extra credit assignments/labs.
Unless specifically stated otherwise, we encourage
collaboration on assignments, provided (1) you spend at least 15 minutes on
each and every problem alone, before discussing its general concepts with others,
(2) you only discuss general concepts or related examples - not the specifics
of a problem on the assignment, and (3) you write up each and every problem in
your own writing, using your own words, and understand the solution fully.
Copying someone else's work is cheating (see below), as is copying the homework
from another source (e.g., prior year's notes, etc.). Please write down the name of
classmates you collaborated with at the top of your assignment.
Cheating is a very serious offense. If you are caught
cheating, you can expect a failing grade and initiation of a cheating case in
the University system. Basically, cheating is an insult to the instructor, to
the department and major program, and most importantly, to you and your fellow
students. If you feel that you are having a problem with the material, or don't have time to finish an assignment, or have any number
of other reasons to cheat, then talk with the instructor. Just don't cheat.
To avoid creating situations where copying can arise, never
e-mail or post your solution files in public directories. You can post general
questions about interpretation and tool use but limit your comments to these
categories. If in doubt about what might constitute cheating, send the
instructor e-mail
describing the situation.
We will try to ensure that the workload is typical for a
four-credit course, namely, nine to twelve hours per week outside of the lectures.
If we do not succeed, please let us know.
Explain which parts of the course are causing you to spend too much time
non-productively.
We have
structured the course so that spending an hour or two per day will maximize
your efficiency. You will work this way in the real
world—you cannot cram a three-month design assignment into the last
night—so you may as well work this way now. Plus, you will understand the
material better. If you leave the homework for the day before it is due, then you
will not have time to study for the exams, and you will not have time to ask
questions when (not if) the
software misbehaves.
The homework assignments are
generally due on Wednesdays at the beginning of class (except when there is an
exam or a holiday). The homework
assignments will be distributed approximately one week
before their due dates.
Your assignments must be neat
and legible. We will not spend time trying to decipher messy work. We urge you
to use the graphical and word processing tools that are readily available to
you in all the labs in the department. Please make good use of the schematic
diagram editor in the tools you'll be using to make neat circuit diagrams to
include in your assignments.
Assignment problems will
sometimes be graded on a random basis. To get full credit for an assignment,
you must, of course, turn-in solutions for each assigned problem. Only a subset
of the problems will actually be graded in detail. You will not know in advance
which problems this will be - so make sure to do all of them.
Please review the assignment
solutions carefully before questioning a grade with either the instructor or
the teaching assistants.
We have two midterms and one final exam. Note their dates and times. Any difficulties with attending the exam times must be dealt with by prior arrangement with the instructor.
Software tools frequently
consume more time than they should. We have designed the assignments to get you
up to speed gradually (over the period of a few weeks), but undoubtedly there
will be some start-up cost (as with any new tool). Essentially, you are
learning a new language, a compiler, and getting familiar with a process. Every
tool imposes a certain model. Your frustration can be high until you assimilate
that model and learn to use it effectively. Be sure to use the tutorials, and
do not spend countless hours making no progress. Ask for help. Remember that
these tools are written by engineers for engineers and will not necessarily
conform to expectations you may have of consumer-oriented tools such as Word.