Grading Scheme

Grade components:
Students are expected to complete and submit all assigned coursework in good faith; those who fail to do so may earn a failing grade, regardless of overall numerical score.

component % grade
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.