CSE370 Workload and Grading

Workload

The course consists of the following elements:

  1. Lectures: there will be a total of 29 lectures. On the days when a quiz is scheduled, the lecture will be 15-20 minutes shorter.
  2. Sections: there will be a total of 10 section hours during the quarter. This time will be used to review the material, do sample problems, demonstrate the use of the design tools you'll be using, and answer questions that have arisen during lecture or doing the assignments.
  3. Reading: we will be covering most of the Katz text. Specific reading assignments will be specified with each of the weekly assignments.
  4. Assignments: problem sets involving design problems, to be solved with the use of computer-aided design tools, including a substantial design project for the last three weeks of the quarter.
  5. Quizzes: there will be a 15 minute quiz every other week for a total of four over the duration of the quarter.
  6. Final exam: a two hour exam during finals week.

We will try to keep the workload at what is typical for a course of four credits, namely, eight to twelve hours per week outside of the lectures. If we do not manage to do this, please let me know using the feedback form and explain which parts of the course are causing you to spend too much time non-productively.

Software tools frequently consume more time then they should. We hope that we will design the assignments in such a way as to get you up to speed with the tools slowly but undoubtedly there will be a bit of a start-up cost with any new tool. Consider it to be similar to learning a new language and compiler and getting familiar with the process. Every tool imposes a certain model. Frustration can be high until you assimilate that model and learn to use it. Until you learn to use the model effectively make sure to ask for help and not spend countless hours making no progress.

You are expected to turn in neat and complete weekly assignments. We strongly urge you to use the graphical and word processing tools you will have available on our computing environment to prepare them. This will include a schematics editor, state diagram editor, and waveform display.

We will make solutions available on the course web for each of the assignments, quizzes, and final exam in a timely fashion.

Grading

The grade for the course will be computed as follows:

The instructor will grade all the quizzes and the final exam. Weekly assignments #1 through #7 will be graded by the graduate teaching assistant. Assignments #8 and #9 will be graded by both. Weekly assignments will be accepted up to the start of class on the due date. Assignments turned in during or after the lecture at which they are due will be penalized 10%. Assignments will not be accepted once we have left the lecture room on the due date (unless there are serious extenuating circumstances). Grading of the weekly assignments will be on a coarse scale of 1 to 10. It is expected that you will carefully review the solutions provided on the course web before questioning a grade with either the instructor or teaching assistant.

Comments to: cse370-webmaster@cs.washington.edu (Last Update: )