Grading

Grades will be based on the following metrics:

Programming Assignments

The value of learning by first hand implementation cannot be overemphasized. A significant part of the grade will be based on programming assignments.

Tests

There will be one mid-term and one final test.

Lecture Summaries and Class Participation

You will be expected to mail in a short, less than 200-word, summary of each week's lectures before 5:00 PM, Friday of each week. Send an e-mail to the instructor with the subject “B629 lecture summary: week <n>” summarizing in your own words what you understood by what was covered in the week, where <n> is the week number into the course. Feel free to raise questions or concerns about the material covered in the lecture. It will also serve as a dynamic feedback mechanism for the class. In addition, in an advanced graduate-level course in-class discussions can dramatically improve the learning for everyone (including the instructor!). In order to provide you an incentive for sending the summaries and participating actively in class discussions these will be worth 10% of the grade.

Programming

Programming assignments must be turned in by 11:59 pm on the due date. This includes the code and the accompanying documentation. You must also e-mail the instructor the “contribution statement” by this time. Late submissions will incur penalties at the rate of 5% points per hour until 3 hours and 20% points per day for up to 4 days.

At this graduate-level class you are expected to be able to make small decisions about implementation when the assignment specifications do not mandate something in particular. In such cases we will follow the general principle of MADADI—Make A Decision and Document It.

In order to encourage fairness in group programming assignments, in addition to a project report submitted by each group each of you will also submit a short statement of what you thought were the relative contributions of the partners in the project. Your partner(s) will not see this statement.

Programming assignments will be graded primarily on the completeness and correctness of your implementation. Any departure from the requirements of the assignment should be documented. Similarly, if the specifications left some aspects of the assignment vague that forced you to make a choice the documentation should justify your choice. Most assignments will also carry opportunities for extra credit. Coding style will not carry explicit points, but sticking to a consistent and readable style of coding with thorough bottom-up testing is likely to dramatically improve your chances of finishing your assignment on time and ensuring its correctness.

Collaboration

You are free, indeed encouraged, to discuss assignments with others, but you must write your own programs. I expect the students to be mature enough, and interested enough in the subject, that they will not jeopardize their opportunity to learn by copying code.