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 reports (versions 1, 2, & 3)
25
(5 + 5 + 15)
source code and demo (versions 1, 2, & 3)
25
(5 + 5 + 15)
final oral presentation
10
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.
Project Reports:
The sequence of three project reports serves to systematically document the project. Some
details are outlined in the guide for Capstone project proposals (Reading 1). Further details will follow in
class. Students are strongly encouraged to continually seek feedback on their working drafts from their project
advisors, Capstone instructor, academic advisors, and others.
Source code and demo:
Well packaged and documented source code is an important component of the Capstone
project. The code will be evaluated on not only how well it functions but also on aspects such as clarity and
elegance. The source code does not have to be released under any specific license (although a free software
license1
is strongly recommended); however, no legal encumbrances (such as nondiscolsure agreements) will be
entertained. All code must be submitted electronically (only) as outlined in the Submission Instructions
section below.
Final Oral Presentation:
Every student must make an oral presentation of his or her work on a date near the
end of the semester. The date will be selected to ensure good attendance by department faculty and others,
and will be announced in the first few weeks.