CSE370 Workload, Grading, and Policies

Workload

The course consists of the following elements:

  1. Lectures: There will be 26  lectures. Attendance and participation at all of them is strongly encouraged and expected.
  2. Laboratory Assignments: There will be a total of nine (9) laboratory assignments (there will not be a laboratory meeting during the first week and the last assignment will span two 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. Laboratory assignments will be closely tied to the written homework assignments and are intended to give you a taste of working with real digital hardware. We will use them to reinforce key concepts. 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. Reading: We will cover most of the Contemporary Logic Design (2nd edition) text. Readings will be part of each weekly assignment.
  4. Assignments: Weekly problem sets involving digital logic analysis and design, to be solved with and without the use of computer-aided design tools. The last assignment will include a larger design project and will span two weeks.
  5. Midterm exam : In class.
  6. Final exam: A two-hour exam during finals week.

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 in whichever way you feel the most comfortable (person-to-person, e-mail, feedback form) and 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 quizzes, and you will not have time to ask questions when (not if) the software misbehaves.

Software tools frequently consume more time then 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.

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.

Grading

We will compute your course grade as follows:

Your grade will be determined by how well you understand the material as evidenced by the assignments, labs and tests. We would like nothing better than to give the entire class a 4.0

Assignments

Your weekly assignments are due at the beginning of class on the assigned due date. Assignments handed in during or immediately after class will incur a 10% penalty. We will penalize your assignment 10% per day for each additional day late.  Assignments due Friday will be charged 20% if turned in over the weekend, 30% if turned in on Monday, etc.

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.

Collaboration

Homework: Unless specifically stated otherwise, we encourage collaboration on homework, provided (1) You spend at least 15 minutes on each and every problem alone, before discussing it with others, and (2) You write up each and every problem in your own writing, using your own words, and understand the solution fully. Copying someone else's homework is cheating (see below), as is copying the homework from another source (prior year's notes, etc.). The quiz problems will be very similar to the homework problems; if you truly understand the homework, then the quizzes will be easy. If you have copied the homework....

Cheating

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. 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. 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 email describing the situation.

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