Grading Scheme

Grades:
Grades will be based on class participation (5%) homeworks (15%), two mid-term exams (15% each), a final exam (20%), and a project (30%).
Class participation:
Students are expected to contribute to learning by asking questions and making relevant comments in class. Quality is more important than quantity. Disruptive activity contributes negatively. Please make sure all disruptive devices are disabled while in class.
Homeworks:
Homeworks include programming and non-programming ones. No collaboration is permitted. You are allowed to discuss the problems at a high level, but the final solution must be your individual work.
Exams:
All exams are open book, open notes. You are free to bring with you any resources that you find useful. However, no communications are permitted other than between students and me.
Project:
In addition to the programming and other homeworks, the course features a semester-long group project. Students will work in groups of three or four to design and implement a substantial database application. Projects will be graded based on a written project report, the submitted source code, a demonstration, and a question-and-answer session following the demo.
COS 580:
There will be additional readings assigned to COS 580 students. The readings will be a mix of some classic papers of the database field and more recent publications. COS 580 students are expected to be comfortable reading such papers. There will also be additional and/or different questions on the exams and homeworks. Similarly, COS 580 students will be held to a higher standard during the question-and-answer session following the project demo.