Please read and understand our Policies on permissible collaboration, and on what constitutes cheating.
The course has the following elements:
– 4 problem sets due on alternate Fridays (see Schedule); assignments typically posted 10 days before due date.
– Due at start of class.
– Late Homework will receive a 10% penalty if turned in no more than 1 weekday late. Afterward, NOT accepted.
– 4 in-class, short-answer Quizzes, each day a Homework is due. (Quiz will typically take the final 20 minutes of class that day.)
– Quiz material will be similar to Homework; if you understand the Homework, the Quiz will be easy.
– 4 Programming Projects due on alternate Fridays (see Schedule); assignments typically posted 10 days before due date.
– Turned in electronically by 11pm on due date.
– Late Project will receive a 10% penalty if turned in no more than 1 weekday late. Afterward, NOT accepted.
– Project 1 will be done solo.
– Projects 2-4 will be done in teams.
Software tools frequently consume more time than they should. If you have not programmed in Unix before, you will likely have some start-up cost. Read the manuals, work together, and do not spend countless hours making no progress. Ask for help from the TAs or instructor.
Your assignments must be neat and legible. We will not spend time trying to decipher messy work.
We will grade all your assignments and quizzes numerically: 40 points per Homework, 40 points per quiz, 200 points for the Programming Projects collectively (*), 240 points for the Final Exam, and 40 points for class participation. At the end of the quarter, we will calculate your total points P, normalize (choose X and Y based upon the points earned by the entire class), and assign your final numeric grade as follows:
grade = Min[ ((P – X) / Y), 4.0 ]
We will round up or down using standard conventions: 3.84Þ 3.8; 3.85Þ3.9.
(*) Grade percentages for Programming Projects:
P1: 5% (40 points)
P2: 5% (40 points)
P3: 7% (56 points)
P4: 8% (64 points)
Please review the assignment solutions carefully before questioning a grade with either the instructor or the teaching assistants.
If you miss an assignment as a result of unavoidable circumstances, send the instructor a one-line email asking for an extension, the reason for your request, and the date you anticipate handing in the assignment. You know which circumstances are avoidable and which are unavoidable.
If you have a reasonable but avoidable reason for requesting an extension, send email to the instructor at least 24 hours before the assignment is due, citing a reason for the extension as above. Assume the extension is granted, unless the instructor responds to the contrary. Avoidable extension requests made after the assignment is due will generally be rejected.
Please review the quiz solutions carefully before questioning a grade with either the instructor or the teaching assistants.
If you miss a quiz as a result of unavoidable circumstances, talk with the instructor about taking a makeup quiz the last week of class.
If you have a reasonable but avoidable reason for missing a quiz, discuss the situation with the instructor at least 24 hours before the quiz. Requests made after the class takes the quiz will generally be rejected. For reasonable requests, the instructor will grant permission to take a makeup quiz during the last week of class. However, try to avoid missing a quiz, because 1) you will lose the continuity of learning which the quizzes provide; and 2) you will probably be busy with many other things during the last week of classes.