Students are expected to complete and submit all assigned coursework in good
faith; those who fail to do so may be assigned a failing grade regardless of overall numerical
score.
component
%
class participation
5
classroom exercises and journal
10
homework assignments
25
project proposals (versions 1, 2, & 3)
20
(5 + 5 + 10)
midterm exams 1 & 2
20
(10 + 10)
final exam
20
Class participation:
Students are expected to contribute to learning by asking questions and making relevant
comments in class and on the class newsgroup. Quality is more important than quantity. Disruptive activity
contributes negatively (see policies).
Classroom exercises and journal:
Our work in the classroom will include a number of short group exercises,
meant to solidify understanding of the concepts being discussed. One or more such exercises are likely to be
part of most class meetings. Students must maintain a journal of their progress through the course and submit
the journal near the end of the semester for grading. The journal consists of neatly organized classroom
exercises and other material as announced in class. The exercises and journal will be graded primarily for
effort, group work, and other contributions, and less so for simple correctness. Since attendance is not
mandatory (see policies below), some low-scoring exercises will be dropped for each student.
Please see me if you have concerns about the interaction of this component and the attendance
policy.
Homeworks:
Homeworks include programming and non-programming ones, often mixed. No collaboration is
permitted. You are encouraged to discuss the problems and solution strategies at a high level, but the final
solution and details must be your individual work. If you are unclear on the boundary between permissible and
non-permissible interactions in this regard, please ask me.
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 instructor.
Midterm exams will be held during regular class meetings, and will be roughly an hour long.
The final exam follows the usual university schedule, and is thus held outside of regular class
meetings.
Project Proposals:
The sequence of three project proposals serves to develop a systematic plan for a capstone
project. The details are outlined in the guide for Capstone project proposals (Reading 1). Further details will
follow in class.