Grading Policies

Grade

Grades are calculated in two ways:

For 3-credit students: $$\text{Grade} = \max\left(\text{Method 1}, \text{Method 2}\right)$$

For 4-credit students: $$\text{Grade} = \text{Method 1}$$

Late Policy

WE DO NOT ACCEPT LATE HOMEWORK. The lowest homework grade will be dropped.

General Rules

• After grades are released for any homework set or exam you have two weeks in order to clarify any misgivings you may have about the grade you received. Once two weeks have passed, the assigned grade is considered accepted and no further complaints will be considered.
• The grade curve (if required) will be separate for 3-credit and 4-credit students, and will not include the participation grade i.e. it is possible to earn 105% grade.

Homework

There will be five homework assignments. The homeworks will consist of a combination of machine problems and written exercises to be submitted on the course relate website. All homeworks are due at Midnight CT on the specified day.

Submitted solutions to the machine problems must be written in Python 3, using only standard libraries (numpy / scipy). We will sometimes block libraries as required.

Solutions to the written problems must be submitted as LaTeX typeset PDF’s. Each question must begin on a new page. You may use WYSIWYG latex editors such as LyX if you are unfamiliar with LaTeX.

Grading

You get exactly one submission per homework set. In particular, this means that:

• After you click "Submit Assignment" in the top right corner, you will not be able to make changes to your work.

Academic integrity

Feel free to discuss the assignment with each other in general terms, and to search the Web for general guidance (not for complete solutions). All solutions should be written up individually. If you make substantial use of some information from outside sources, be sure to acknowledge the sources in your solution. In particular, please acknowledge all other students you worked with on the homework/projects.

We will follow the departmental honor code policy.

Project

All students will participate in a predictive modelling competition hosted by Kaggle. Details will be provided in subsequent weeks. You are free to use any methods you like, however, you will be required to submit your source code for the final submission. The course project will be introduced in class, including further details on the use of computing resources.

The Project Grade will be based on predictive performance as compared to four baselines (i.e. A : 100%, B : 85%, C : 70%, D : 55% of the grade). Beyond this, additional performance gives you bragging rights! Your grade will be based on the final submission due Dec 21, Midnight

Computing

Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Products have provided cloud computing resources for the project. Details will be provided in class.

Exams

Midterm: Oct 15 during class time, Final: Dec 14 1:30pm - 4:30pm (likely to be shorter)

• Exams must be taken during the class time for which they are scheduled except in cases of severe emergency (e.g., loss of life or limb). Examples of events that do not qualify as emergencies include (but are not limited to): transportation problems, conflict with work schedule, important family vacation, or computer problems.

• For any type of foreseeable absence, documentation must be received by the instructor at least one week before the exam to be acceptable, at which point the instructor will determine whether a make-up exam will be allowed.

  Make-up exams are not allowed without proper documentation as described above or for university-approved activities. Make-up exams are not allowed for any type of unexcused absences, including missing class to study for a test, oversleeping, not being ready to take the exam, or having to work at an outside job.

  For health-related or other absence because of an emergency, the instructor must be notified at least two hours prior to the exam to receive consideration for a make-up exam, but preferably as early as possible. An hour before the exam at the latest, the instructor will provide guidance on whether a make-up exam will be allowed.

• No aids other than a writing utensil and paper are allowed in exams. In particular: If you are seen near a phone, MP3 player or other digital device (turned on or not--it does not matter) during an exam, you will receive a grade of zero for the exam.

• Only exams taken in accordance with these rules will receive credit. Any deviation from these rules will lead to the exam in question being assigned a grade of zero.

Conflict exams

Since exams are taken in class conflict exams will generally not be provided.

Accommodations

Please let Sanmi » know as soon as you can if you need special accommodations (extra time etc.) on exams. Thanks!

Additional Participation Credit (up to 5%)

This may be earned by participating in lecture & online discussions, scribing lectures and by reporting mistakes in the lecture notes. Note that it is possible to earn 105% grade.

Scribing Lecture: All students are encouraged to scribe at most one lecture for participation credit. You will be awarded the credit only if your notes are of a reasonable standard (as determined by course staff). Otherwise, you will be given an opportunity to improve and correct your notes.

We require one set of notes from the scribe team. The scribe team should take detailed notes during the lecture, then convert their notes into LaTeX format of 5-8 pages long. Scribe notes must be submitted within 1 week after the lecture. Please submit your scribe notes on Relate

• Please use the LaTeX template. Scribing expectations are further elaborated upon in the template.

• Here is an example lecture scribe note.

Student responsibilities

Please read and understand the UIUC student code (link opens PDF).

In particular, make sure to read and understand Paragraph §1‑402. The rules there along with the rules in this tutorial form the foundation for making sure you and everyone else in the class receive a fair, transparent grade.