CSE 143, Winter 2021: Assessments

Policies

Please make sure you've reviewed the following policies:

• Collaboration and academic conduct
• Grading
• Code Quality Guide
• Commenting Guide

Take-home Assessments

Note: unless otherwise noted, all assessments are due at 11:59:59pm PDT. If you have trouble submitting an assessment and the deadline is approaching, you should email all the files to Brett and your TA before the deadline so we have your submission on record. Submissions received after the due date may not be accepted even if there were technical difficulties turning in the assessment if you did not email us your solution before the cutoff.

All assessments will be submitted and graded via Ed.

Revision and Resubmission Process

Once per week, you may revise and resubmit a previous take-home assessment to demonstrate improved mastery. Your resubmission will be graded and the new grades will fully replace your previous grades. (Note that this means your grades may go down if you introduce new errors.) See the full policy in the syllabus for more details.

While feedback from your previous submissions is an important starting point for improving your work, addressing the feedback you receive does not guarantee any particular result on your resubmission. We will make every effort to provide feedback on all areas that could be improved, but oversights may occur. In addition, changes to address one area of feedback may introduce new errors or concerns in other areas. It is your responsibility to ensure that your work meets all expectations. Be sure to consult not only your feedback, but also the assignment specification, code quality guide, and other course resources and materials.

To resubmit a revised assessment, follow these steps:

1. Make any desired revisions directly in your assessment in Ed and click Mark. As with your initial submission, you can make changes and click Mark as often as you like.
2. Fill out this Google Form for 3/8 - 3/14. You will need to provide the Ed submission number you would like to use. You will also need to to provide a description of the changes you made from your last submission. (Failure to do so will result in your resubmission not being accepted.)

You must complete both steps for your resubmission to be considered complete. Resubmissions in Ed in will not be graded unless the Google Form is also filled out correctly. If you are having difficulty accessing the Google Form, try following these instructions.

The resubmission period for each week runs from Monday to Sunday. Resubmissions must be received by Sunday at 11:59pm PDT to be considered for that week. You may only make one resubmission per week, though you may change which submission or which assessment you are resubmitting throughout the week by modifying your responses in the Google Form. Resubmissions received each week will be graded and feedback released by the following Monday.

Culminating Assessments

Culminating assessments are designed to give you an opportunity to engage with all the material covered during course up to the time of the assessment. Unlike take-home assessments, which primarily emphasize the most recent concepts, culminating assessments give similar levels of focus to all topics.

While culminating assessments will include solving problems, and may have the look and feel of an exam, they are not graded on correctness or accuracy. Your grade on a culminating assessment is based only on your completion of the required elements (outlined below). Culminating assessment are graded SU–no grades of E or N will be given.

Simulated Midterm

The first culminating assessment will be a simulated midterm. This assessment will look similar to a traditional CSE 143 midterm exam, but you will not be graded on the accuracy of your answers. Instead, you will be asked to compare your responses to a published key, annotate your answers to indicate areas you made mistakes, and meet with your TA to discuss your work.

Format

The simulated midterm will be conducted in Ed, and will consist of a series of problems of two types: mechanical problems where you answer questions about or predict the results of executing provided code; and programming problems where you write code to satisfy a given prompt. The assessment will also include a "cheat sheet" of notes that may be helpful in completing these problems.

To best simulate the circumstances of a traditional midterm, we recommend adhering to the following procedures:

• Spend no more than 60 minutes working on the assessment (even if that means you do not complete all problems).
• Complete the entire assessment in one sitting.
• Do not use any outside resources (notes, sample code, the textbook, internet searches, calculators, etc.) while completing the assessment.
• Do all of your work in the Ed lesson for the assessment, and do not write, run, or debug code in any other environment.

These procedures will help to create a reasonable simulation of a traditional midterm and to provide the most accurate indication of your current level of mastery. They are highly recommended, but are not strictly required, and you will not be penalized for failing to follow these procedures. However, the further you stray from these suggestions (e.g. by taking extra time or by utilizing outside resources), the less useful your performance will be in helping both you and the course staff evaluate your current mastery and provide meaningful support going forward.

Requirements

To receive an S grade on the simulated midterm, you must complete the following three steps:

1. Make a good-faith effort to complete the simulated midterm

Work on as many problems as possible on the simulated midterm, ideally by following the procedures outlined above. You will not be graded on how many problems you attempt or complete or on the accuracy of your respones. However you must attempt enough of the problems to indicate a good-faith effort, and the activity will be most useful if your give your best possible effort.

2. Annotate your work based on the provided key

After you have completed the assessment, compare your responses to the provided key. Annotate your work in Ed using the feedback utility to indicate where you made mistakes and what those mistakes were. You must include enough annotations to make clear that you have thoughtfully considered your work and where your responses were incorrect. Again, you will not be graded on the accuracy of your responses, so it is in your best interest to be honest and thorough in your annotations.

3. Schedule and attend a check-in session with your TA

After you have completed and annotated your simulated midterm, you will attend a 10- to 15-minute, one-on-one session with your TA to discuss your work. (Your individual TA will tell you how they will schedule your session.) In this session, you will go over some of the problems on the assessment and discuss both how you could have improved your work on those problems and how you can improve your mastery of the material going forward. You should come to your meeting with a plan for what you would like to discuss and/or specific questions you would like answered. Note that, in the 10-15 minute meeting, you will likely not have time to review every problem on the assessment. Be sure to decide ahead of time which problems or concepts you would most benefit from discussing.

Timeline

Week of February 8-12

Prepare for the simulated midterm however you see fit. Look for communication from your TA on how to schedule your one-on-one session. (Each TA will set their own process and schedule.)

Friday, February 12

The simulated midterm will be released.

Sunday, February 14

The key for the simulated midterm will be released and you may annotate your work if you have already completed the simulated midterm.

Week of Febuary 15-19

Schedule and attend your one-on-one session with your TA. You will need to complete and annotate your simulated midterm at least 24 hours prior to your session to ensure your TA has time to review your work. Be sure to follow your TA's procedure for scheduling and attending your session.

Simulated Final

The second culminating assessment will be a simulated final. The simulated final will follow essentially the same process as the simulated midterm (see above), with the exception that you will not meet with your TA to discuss your work. Instead, you will complete a short written reflection in which you will describe any difficulties you have and pose questions to your TA. Your TA will respond to your questions in written feedback.

Format

The simulated final will be conducted in Ed, and will consist of a series of problems of two types: mechanical problems where you answer questions about or predict the results of executing provided code; and programming problems where you write code to satisfy a given prompt. The assessment will also include a "cheat sheet" of notes that may be helpful in completing these problems.

To best simulate the circumstances of a traditional final exam, we recommend adhering to the following procedures:

• Spend no more than 110 minutes working on the assessment (even if that means you do not complete all problems).
• Complete the entire assessment in one sitting.
• Do not use any outside resources (notes, sample code, the textbook, internet searches, calculators, etc.) while completing the assessment.
• Do all of your work in the Ed lesson for the assessment, and do not write, run, or debug code in any other environment.

These procedures will help to create a reasonable simulation of a traditional final exam and to provide the most accurate indication of your current level of mastery. They are highly recommended, but are not strictly required, and you will not be penalized for failing to follow these procedures. However, the further you stray from these suggestions (e.g. by taking extra time or by utilizing outside resources), the less accurate your evaluation of your current mastery will be.

If you would like to practice on similar problems before working on the simulated final, a database of practice problems (without solutions) is available. Solutions for these problems will not be provided, but you can use them to get a sense of what the problems on the simulated final will look like.

Requirements

To receive an S grade on the simulated final, you must complete the following three steps:

1. Make a good-faith effort to complete the simulated final

Work on as many problems as possible on the simulated final, ideally by following the procedures outlined above. You will not be graded on how many problems you attempt or complete or on the accuracy of your respones. However you must attempt enough of the problems to indicate a good-faith effort, and the activity will be most useful if your give your best possible effort.

2. Annotate your work based on the provided key

After you have completed the assessment, compare your responses to the provided key. Annotate your work in Ed using the feedback utility to indicate where you made mistakes and what those mistakes were. You must include enough annotations to make clear that you have thoughtfully considered your work and where your responses were incorrect. Again, you will not be graded on the accuracy of your responses, so it is in your best interest to be honest and thorough in your annotations.

3. Complete the written reflection

After you have completed and annotated your simulated midterm, you will complete a written reflection to describe your own assessment of your strengths and struggles on the simulated exam and to ask questions you would like your TA to respond to. This will be your main opportunity to point out areas where you would like specific feedback and to get any confusion or difficulties clarified. Be sure to think carefully about what you would like your TA to focus on when they review your work. Your TA will provide written feedback addressing questions from your reflection.

Timeline

Week of March 1-5

Prepare for the simulated final however you see fit.

Friday, March 5

The simulated final will be released.

Thursday, March 11 (tent.)

The key for the simulated final will be released and you may annotate your work if you have already completed the simulated final.

Sunday, March 14 Monday, March 15

Submit your completed and annotated simulated final, along with your completed reflection, by 11:59pm PST.