Grading Scheme

Grade components:

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

component	% of grade
class participation	5
newsgroup activities	5
homeworks	25
three quizzes (short exams)	15
three midterm exams	30
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 below.

Newsgroup activities

Discussions on the class newsgroup are an important mode of learning. To encourage everyone to participate actively in these discussions, there is a portion of the grade assigned to how well, and how often, students participate on the newsgroup. Details of how newsgroup activity is scored will be described in class. Briefly, students’ scores will reflect the number and regularity of their messages, the significance of the observations they make (including questions), and the initiative and self-directed learning they reflect.

Homeworks:

Homeworks include programming and non-programming ones, often mixed. No collaboration is permitted. Everyone is encouraged to discuss the problems and solution strategies at a high level, but the final solution and details must be individual work. If the boundary between permissible and non-permissible interactions is unclear, please ask for clarifications.

Exams and Quizzes:

All exams and quizzes 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. The use of computers during exams is strongly discouraged, but brief use may be permitted provided it does not cause a disturbance, at the discretion of the proctor. You may use the Internet, but only as a library to look up material you may find useful. Ask for clarifications in case of any doubt. The exams are designed to require no equipment other than a pen and paper, along with the textbook and assigned readings.

Midterm exams will be held during regular class meetings, and will be roughly an hour long. Each quiz is a short exam, roughly half an hour long, held during part of a class meeting. The final exam follows the usual university schedule, and is thus held outside of regular class meeting times, and often at a different location.

© 2019 Sudarshan S. Chawathe
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