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CS 3723/3721 Programming Languages Spring 2013 | |
Grading Policy | ||
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- Course Grade: I do not use a predetermined percentage of total points for each grade, but I determine the percentage at the end of the course based on my assessment of how hard the different parts of the course were. Generally, however, I draw the C/D line somewhere around 70% of total points.
- Recitations: Each recitation is described on a separate web page. All recitations will be counted for credit. As described in the page on submission of recitations (submission), recitations after the first due time are worth only 75% maximum, and recitations after the second due time are not counted. Recitations are not like homework in a math class, but they are an especially important part of this course, more like laboratories in an engineering class -- you must complete a majority of the recitations to get a reasonable grade in the course, and a student with perfect exams and no recitations will fail the course. The recitations cover material that is not adequately tested elsewhere.
- Rules for Recitations: (Sign-in sheets:
Mon,
Wed,
Fri)
[Several of the rules below are present because seats at
the Monday recitation are so tight: 46 out of 48 taken. I worked hard
to find a way to give you extra options for attending recitations.
Please don't punish me by demanding yet additional options.]
- You must attend a recitation each week. This is a serious requirement. If you are unable to attend a session, then (of course) you must still do the work and submit the recitation alone (without a partner).
- Sign in each week. You must sign the sign-in sheet. There will be very serious consequences for someone signing another person's name. If you are working with a partner, both must sign in. Equally unacceptable is to sign in and leave, or show up at the end and sign in. Forgetting to sign in is not serious, but please try to sign in always.
- Work individually or in pairs. Normally I expect students to work in pairs. From week to week you may work individually or with another student, and you may switch the student you work with, however you like, consistent with other rules below.
- At most two can work together. Never more than two. No exceptions!
- Partners submit a single recitation with both names on it. Forgetting to put both names on the submission is also not serious, but please try to get both names on.
- Partners must work together during a scheduled recitation session. The only way that two people can submit the same recitation with two names on it is if they both sign in to the same recitation session and work together during that session. I don't plan on any exceptions to this rule. If during some week you can't work together during a scheduled recitation session, then you can't submit the recitation together for that week. You can work individually or with another partner that week.
- Attend any session on Friday. Any pair or any individual can attend the recitation session on Friday, any week that you like.
- Normally you must be enrolled in the Monday or Wednesday session to attend one of these. Those labeled "M" should attend on Monday, if they don't go on Friday. Similarly, those labeled "W" should attend on Wednesday, if they don't go on Friday. A "mismatched" or "M-W" pair should attend on Friday. If there is room at 11:05, then you can go ahead and sign in to the reverse session ("M" on Wednesday, or "W" on Monday, or "M-W" pair on Monday or Wednesday). Be aware that Monday has 46 enrolled for 48 slots (as of 2013-01-06 and the last few slots could disappear). So you can't count on finding any room on Monday. Room on Wednesday is much more likely, and there should always be room on Friday. You may repeat a session if you wish.
- Get help and hints. The teaching assistant will be available to help. The instructor may often be available for help, perhaps in his office.
- Leave early if done. Usually you won't be able to finish in 50 minutes.
- Exam Seating: I may use assigned seating for exams, either alphabetic or reverse alphabetic order, or some other assigned order. I may ask you to leave alternating columns of seats empty.
- Make-up Exams: In general I don't give makeup exams, but just count the other course elements for greater credit. If you know before the exam that you won't be able to make it, let me know and we can often work something out. Active-duty military should contact me because I know that military demands can be inflexible.
- Final Exam: The final exam will have most of its emphasis on on material after the mid-term exam.
- Attendance: Attendance at lectures and recitations is required. Recitations will have a record of all attendance.
- Recitation Grade: It is possible to get different grades for the lab and for the course, though this is not usually common. In no case will a grade >= C- be assigned to one part, with a grade < C- to the other part. (It makes no sense to fail a student in one part, while passing them in another.)
- Grade Distributions: I do not provide information to students about the performance of other students. In particular, I do not give exam averages or distributions, since such information is irrelevant -- you are not competing with other students for a limited number of good grades, and a single course is too small a unit in which to expect a normal distribution of grades.
- Exam Grading: If you have questions about the grading of the mid-term exam, you should write your concerns on the exam itself, indicating each problem and the reasons for concern. Then I will regrade the entire exam. You are expected to list all concerns at one time, so that only one iteration is needed.
- What your grade will be: I do not answer questions of the form: "What grade do I need on the final to make X grade in the course?" There are too many variables for me to speculate in this way, and I can only recommend that you try hard, consistent with keeping good grades in other courses (and staying sane).
Revision date: 2013-01-06. (Please use ISO 8601, the International Standard Date and Time Notation.)