Grading Scheme

Likely to change based on class discussions during the first week of classes in Fall 2020.

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
homeworks	50
final exam	20
newsgroup activities	15
midterm exam	10
class participation	5

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.

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:

Fall 2020 note: The exams may be modified to be take-home (or rather, at home, exams) with more flexible times.

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. 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.

The midterm exams will be held during a 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 meeting times, and often at a different location.

© 2020 Sudarshan S. Chawathe
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