Course Policies

Accommodation
Attendance
Lateness
Extensions
Grading
Collaboration and Academic Honesty

Accommodation

If you have a learning disability or any other special need, please contact me and we can discuss how I can help you. I'd like everyone to do well in my classes, regardless of other difficulties.

Attendance Policy

• Notification: I appreciate it when students drop me an email to say that they'll miss class or a scheduled meeting with me.
• Material: You are responsible for anything that happens in class, even if you are not there. If I cover something that is not in the book, you are responsible for that material, even if you are absent. If I announce that there will be a quiz next week, and you're not there to hear the announcement, you must still take the quiz at the appointed time.

  I will typically make post announcements on FirstClass, so be sure to check that regularly, whether you attend class or not.

• Tardiness: Please try not to arrive late to class, as it is disruptive to the class and discourteous to your fellow students. I understand that anyone can occasionally be delayed, and you should certainly come to class even if you'll be late, but please don't make it a habit. I start class on time, and I would like you to be there. You are responsible for material at the beginning of class, too.

• Tests: Tests in my classes are announced well in advance, so if you know you will miss one, you must make prior arrangements with me. I will typically require you to take the test early, so "prior arrangement" means talking to me as soon as you reasonably know you are going to miss the test, and at least a couple of days in advance.

  Obviously, there are situations in which prior arrangement is not possible, as in a sudden acute illness, or similar emergency. In cases like that, just do your best, and we'll work out a reasonable resolution.

• Assignments An assignment is due by the due date, even if you are absent. I almost always give at least a week for an assignment, so there will rarely be circumstances for which you will need an extension, though it does happen, so please talk to me. A protracted illness or family emergency are reasons for extensions, but a brief migraine headache is not. (I know that migraines can be incapacitating, but they don't last for several days.) If you feel you need an extension, come talk to me about it, but extensions are not usually granted after the fact, except in extreme cases.

• Dropping the Class Since I don't take attendance, I would appreciate the courtesy of letting me know if you decide to drop my class. Sometimes, dropping a class is the right thing to do, so don't be embarrassed. Just let me know.

Many things in life must be done both well and on time. (Consider the decision-making of a physician in an emergency room.) You should always strive to do both. Nevertheless, sometimes that is impossible, and so we must compromise on either quality or timeliness. (This is what real-time systems are about, and it is one aspect of my research.)

My standard late policy is intended to encourage students to hand work in on time, but not to be a disaster if you're a day or two late. I think students can learn more by doing a job well, even if the late penalty costs them a little, than by turning in a poor job on time.

The following policy is what I enforce unless otherwise stated in the course syllabus.

Ten points (one letter grade) is deducted per day.

For programming assignments and other "soft copy", the time you turn it in is the time of the email message to me or the timestamp on the file in the drop folder. Anything handed in on paper will be turned in at the beginning of class.

Extensions

We all have complicated lives: family members get sick, interviews take us out of town for half a week, other classes have major assignments due, and so forth. I would like people to do good work (if not their best work) on an assignment, as long as that doesn't entail undue delay. If some circumstance arises outside of your control in which an extension would make a difference, please talk to me. I will try to be accommodating when I can.

Sometimes things happen that affect the whole class: the computers are down, the power goes out, the campus is shut down due to snow, and so forth. If some such calamity occurs, "the clock stops" on that assignment, and only resumes once the calamity has definitely ended. So, if the server goes down at 10pm when an assignment is due at midnight, there's no need to call me at home and ask for an extension (yes, this happened). Just assume that I'll do something reasonable. In this case, the deadline was moved to the next midnight. I understand that this can cause a hardship for students who, for example, need to leave campus the next day, which would not have caused any difficulty were it not for the calamity. In that case, an individual extension is warranted.

The end of the semester is a busy time for all of us, and I cannot do a good job grading assignments and preparing exams if I am grading a flurry of late assignments. Therefore, I'm very reluctant to grant extensions beyond the the last day of classes.

Grading Standards

Here are the percentage cutoffs that I use for determining letter grades.

Average	Grade
93-100	A
90-93	A-
87-90	B+
83-87	B
80-83	B-
77-80	C+
73-77	C
70-73	C-
60-70	D
below 60	F

Percentage grades are rounded off to the nearest whole number, and if you are just on the edge, you will receive the higher letter grade.

Curving

Sometimes everyone in a class deserves an A. Sometimes no one does. The classic curve requires me to give as many Fs as As, as many Ds as Bs, and the bulk of the grades will be Cs. Furthermore, the philosophy of curving says that there is no absolute standard of performance, but that as long as you do better than your classmates, you deserve a good grade, even if you have not mastered the material. Instead, I believe that a grade of A should mean excellent performance and complete mastery of the material. Consequently, I avoid curving.

It does happen, however, that a particular exam or assignment is too hard or too easy, in which case I will make adjustments for that, typically by moving the scores up/down so that the class median falls in the B's.

Mistakes

I try hard to be consistent and fair, but I am not infallible. If you think that I (or the teaching assistant) have made a mistake in grading a homework, program, test, or whatever, come and discuss it with me. You must logically argue that it is a mistake or is inconsistent, and not just plead for extra points.

Such discussions must be done in private in my office. I don't discuss individual grades during class, even if we are going over a test or anything else I have just handed back.

Graded Work

You should keep all your graded work until after the semester is over and you have received your final grade. It sometimes happens that I mis-record one of a student's grades, and if you have kept your graded work, such clerical errors can be fixed.

Extra Credit

Students who have just done badly on an assignment or exam sometimes ask me for an extra credit assignment, but that's not fair to other students in the class. I would have to allow everyone in the class to improve their grade as well, but then all I've done is add more assignments to the class. The way to improve your grade is to study hard and do better on the upcoming tests and assignments. I'm happy to help you do that.

Collaboration

Since I believe that collaboration fosters a healthy and enjoyable educational environment, I encourage you to talk with other students about the course and to form study groups.

Unless otherwise instructed, feel free to discuss problem sets with other students and exchange ideas about how to solve them. However, there is a thin line between collaboration and plagiarizing the work of others. Therefore, I require that you must compose your own solution to each assignment. In particular, while you may discuss problems with your classmates, you must always write up your own solutions from scratch. It is unacceptable for two students to turn in copies (or near copies) of each other's solutions. I will interpret such a situation as a violation of the Honor Code, and will bring it before the General Judiciary. When in doubt about acceptable levels of collaboration, please ask me for clarification.

In keeping with the standards of the scientific community, you must give credit where credit is due. If you make use of an idea that was developed by (or jointly with) others, please reference them appropriately in your work. E.g., if person X gets a key idea for solving a problem from person Y, person X's solution should begin with a note that says ``I worked with Y on this problem'' and should say ``The main idea (due to Y) is ...'' in the appropriate places. It is unacceptable for students to work together but not to acknowledge each other in their write-ups.

When working on homework problems, it is perfectly reasonable to consult public literature (books, articles, etc.) for hints, techniques, and even solutions. However, you must cite any sources that contribute to your solution. Assignments and solutions from previous terms of this course are not considered to be part of the ``public'' literature. You must refrain from looking at any solutions from previous terms of my classes. It is my policy that consulting solutions from previous terms of my classes constitutes a violation of the Honor Code.