Assignments serve two purposes: getting you feedback on your learning, and giving us input on your mastery (towards course grades). The various assessments and activities in the course are designed towards both purposes:
Homework will be due once or twice a week. The bulk of each assignment will be due on Tuesday evenings, but we may ask for a preliminary part of an assignment to come in sometime before the weekend.
For most homeworks, you will need to fill out a short questionnaire immediately after submitting the assignment. Your answers will indicate how you approached parts of the assignment. We will use these to give you immediate feedback on straightforward details about your work (then get back to you with comments on more subtle issues and an actual grade a few days later).
Barring exceptional circumstances, late assignments will not be accepted (full policy below).
There will be three exams: a paper-based midterm and final (in class, dates will be on the syllabus page by the first day of the term), and a computer-based programming-oriented exam during the next-to-last lab session. You must take all three exams in order to pass the course.
Quizzes will arise occasionally, announced at least 3 days in advance. Quizzes will typically be done through myWPI outside of class.
Labs are primarily places for you to get feedback (with the exception of the one lab used for the programming exam, as described earlier). You will submit lab work, but it will not be graded. Staff permitting, we will reserve part of each lab time for small-group review and discussion on your approaches to recent exercises.
There are four broad intellectual themes in the course: data structures, testing, programming in Java, and general program design practices. Most assignments will touch on multiple themes. Course grades are based on how well you master the themes, not on your performance on individual assessments. On each assignment, you will earn points towards some of the themes. In computing final course grades, the themes will be weighted as follows:
Throughout the term, you will have access to a summary of your performance to date on each theme. I grade this way because you are here to master certain topics and skills, not to produce scores on the collection of questions known as an exam. I believe that breaking down grades by content rather than multi-theme assignments provides more useful feedback to both of us as to your mastery of course material.
Failure to submit required but ungraded information, such as the post-homework questionnaires and informational surveys, may result in a loss of up to 10% of a perfect course grade.
We expect you to keep up with the myWPI discussion board. You are responsible for knowing about all announcements and assignment clarifications (we assume you will check the board daily). You can subscribe to the forums to get messages sent to your email.
We expect you to spend roughly 12-15 hours a week on this course outside of lectures. A few students will handle the course in less time, but most of you will need a minimum of 12 hours a week to keep up with lectures and the assignments. If you're not spending this much time and not doing well, you need to spend more time practicing the course material. If you're spending much more time than this and still not doing well, come see us so we can figure out why.
We expect you to come to office hours (prof's or the TA/SA's). As you work through an open-ended assignment, you'll encounter two kinds of questions: technical questions (how do I do X?) and process questions (how do I approach X?). We can answer easy technical questions on the discussion board. Deeper technical questions and process questions don't have simple answers, and we need to work on those questions in person. If you ask such a question on the discussion board, we will ask you to come in to office hours.
We expect you to treat your classmates and the course staff with respect. Respect your homework partner by responding to her/his email, showing up to meetings or canceling them in advance, and doing whatever work you agree to do for the pair. Be courteous on the discussion board (constructive criticism is encouraged, but no name calling, etc). If an assignment is unclear to you, ask us for a clarification rather than assume we're purposefully trying to make your life miserable.
Of course, if you are having a problem with your homework partner or a member of the course staff, please let Professor Fisler know. If your problem is with Professor Fisler, talk to the CS dept head, Professor Wills.
If you have an issue that warrants emailing the staff, please do NOT send the same email separately to multiple course staff at once. We all need to know which questions have been answered, so we can help as many of you as possible.
Routine lab issue, such as missing credit, late lab submission for a pre-arranged reason: contact your lab leader, who is the SA with a * next to their name for your lab section on the staff page.
Question about your grade on an assignment: Start with the TA who graded your work (the grader's name will be on all feedback). If you can't resolve the issue effectively with the TA, come to Professor Fisler. This policy helps us maintain consistency across all the students handled by an individual grader.
Turnin not configured properly for your homework team: Contact Mike (mrcalder@wpi), who will maintain turnin this term.
Clarifications on assignments, expectations, etc: The discussion board or office hours. Many of the course staff subscribe to the discussion board, which means we get email notification as soon as you post. Thus, the board is just as fast as email, more people (ie, classmates) may see your question and be able to respond, and it's easier for us to manage.
Make-up exams will only be allowed in the event of a documented emergency or religious observance. The two exam dates are listed on the syllabus. You are responsible for avoiding conflicts with the exams. Do not plan to leave campus for the term before the final exam.
In general, late assignments are not accepted. If an emergency arises or you know in advance about a conflict, contact Professor Fisler to arrange an extension (the TAs/SAs cannot give extensions). One pair member forgetting to turn in an assignment will not be considered an acceptable excuse for an extension.
Collaboration is prohibited on exams and quizzes. Collaboration is encouraged on homework assignments and labs. You may discuss problems across pairs, but each pair is responsible for writing up their own solution from scratch.
Violations of the collaboration policy on any assignment or exam will result in an NR for the course and a referral to the Student Life Office, in accordance with WPI's academic honesty policy. Exceptions to this rule are possible only if you admit your violation to Professor Fisler before we detect the violation (this gives you a chance to pass the course if, for example, you cheated in desparation the night an assignment was due, then felt guilty about it in the morning). If we detect the violation before you admit to it, no exception to the NR policy will occur. Egregious violations (such as breaking into another student's account to copy a solution) may still earn an NR even if you admit to them. You can safely assume that we will not begin grading an assignment before noon on the calendar day after the assignment is due.
As examples, each of the following scenarios would constitute cheating (this list is not exhaustive!):
In constrast, the following scenarios would not constitute cheating:
If you are unsure whether an activity would constitute cheating, ask one of the staff.
Students requiring accommodation due to disabilities must speak with Professor Fisler at the start of the term (and at least one week before the due date in question) to work out appropriate arrangements. Such arrangements require documentation from the Office of Disability Services (ODS). Students with disabilities who believe that they may need accommodations in this class should contact the ODS (124 Daniels Hall, (508) 831-4908) to initiate the necessary paperwork.
Students requiring accommodation for religious observance must make alternate arrangements with Professor Fisler at least a week before the date in question.
In the event of a medical or family emergency, contact Professor Fisler to work out accommodations.