Course Policies

Grade

Your grade is composed of the following components:

See below for details on each of those grade components.

Grading Scale

All your grade components will be added up with the percentage weights indicated and result in a single number. This number will determine your letter grade, according to the following scales:

If you are signed up for the four-credit-hour section, a larger, likely multi-part project assignment will be posted about halfway through the class and will count for three homework sets and factor into your homework grade correspondingly, diminishing the weight of the other homework.

Online Quizzes

There will be a short quiz due before each class. All these quizzes contribute a small amount to your grade. The intent of these quizzes is to remind you of the material covered in the prior lecture and to help you practice applying it. Each quiz should take you no longer than perhaps 15 minutes to complete.

These rules apply to the quizzes, unless otherwise stated:

• Quizzes will be posted at least 24 hours before the next lecture. You will find links to this material on the class calendar page in the section for the upcoming lecture and on the main course page.

• Quizzes will usually allow three graded attempts.

  Of these, the one with the highest grade will count.

• We would like to encourage you to do each quiz without reference to outside resources, especially on the first attempt, to maximize your opportunity to recall class content. On subsequent attempts, you can refer to answer explanations that are available on many questions once you submit the first attempt. If those still do not help, referring to outside resources (e.g. the textbook, our notes, Wikipedia, the forum, or asking a generative AI tool) may be helpful.

• Please don't take these quizzes as a group, or speak with your peers about the answers. The same academic integrity policy as for homework applies, for further details see the Section of this document regarding Collaboration on Homework.

• Each quiz has a deadline. Generally, that deadline will be the beginning of the next class. After that deadline has passed, you can still take the quiz for half-credit for three days. Once that period has passed, you will be able to review your answers and the correct answer, but you will not be allowed to take the quiz again for credit. (You may repeat the quiz to practice, however.)

• There is no time limit on these quizzes other than the deadline, as long as you click "End Session" and "Confirm" before the deadline.

  If you do not submit your quiz before the deadline, it will automatically roll over to half-credit.

  After the half-credit deadline expires, you will lose the ability to make changes to your quiz. The current state of the quiz at that point will count as your submitted answer (for half credit).

• IMPORTANT: You must fully submit your entire quiz in order to receive credit. To do so, you must press the "Submit Assignment" button in the upper right corner. This is separate from submitting a final answer to a single question.

Homework

There will be generally weekly longer-form homework sets over the course of the semester. One of these sets will be due every week, as shown in the class calendar.

Late homework

Homework submitted after the deadline will count for half of its original worth. This offer is good for up to one week after the original deadline. After that, no late work will be accepted.

Homework will typically come out during the day on Wednesdays and be due the following Wednesday, as indicated in the class calendar. Each homework set will typically consist of a combination of coding and written responses.

• Solutions to the homework sets will be posted after the due date. If you are submitting homework for the half-credit due date, feel free to use the posted solutions in writing up your own solution. You may however not directly copy the sample solution. What you submit must still be written by you, not just copied.

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.

• No resubmissions of work already graded. If, between the posted solution and your graded work, you still have questions, feel free to raise those on the discussion forum or during the TAs' office hours.

• Homework sets submit themselves automatically at (or soon after) the deadline. If you would like to make use of the half-credit opportunity, you must select "At deadline: Do not submit session for grading". Otherwise, the homework set will automatically be submitted at the deadline. This is particularly true if you have not worked on the homework set at all but wish to work on it during the half-credit period.

• We do not accept partial submissions on the homework. (e.g. we will not let you submit problem 1 and 2 before and 3, 4, 5 after the deadline.) There will also be no resubmissions of work already graded. If, between the posted solution and your graded work, you still have questions, feel free to raise those on the discussion forum or during the TAs' office hours.

Collaboration on Homework

• You may discuss your approach (but not your code or your writeups) with your peers. All parts of each homework set must be your own work. You must have typed/written every part of your homework yourself. In some cases, code/pieces of work from elsewhere may be allowed--if so, this will be stated in the instructions. In that case, you must acknowledge the source.

• Code from demos as well as submissions/answers from previous semesters may not be used in coding problem submissions. Unless otherwise stated, you must submit code you have written from scratch.

• If we notice that your work has considerable overlap with someone else's or with old submissions or solutions (and we do check), you will receive an allegation via the university's FAIR process and will be given the opportunity to state your case in front of a panel of faculty and students. It is important that you understand your rights (and obligations) in this regard as given in the UIUC student code.

Exams and Final Exam

There will be a number of exams during the semester, along with a longer final exam. The exams and the final exam will take place in the computer-based testing facility ("CBTF"). The exams will be offered over a period of a few days. You must schedule a time block within that time span in which to take the exam. You must schedule your exam using a self-service web site provided by the facility. Instructions will be given in the class calendar.

All exams and the final are cumulative.

Taking exams in person at the CBTF

• You will take your exams as scheduled with the CBTF, and only on the scheduled day and time. If you do not take the exam (e.g. by not scheduling an appointment, by not reporting to the facility at the scheduled time, or by not performing the required work), the exam will be counted for a grade of zero.

• There will be no exceptions to the exam scheduling policy 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. The policies of the facility apply during each exam for aspects such as late arrival and emergency closures.

• 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. Since we allow you to take the exam over a period of a few days, conflict exams will generally not be allowed.

  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 provided by the facility 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 or final.

• 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.

CBTF/Exam Policies

• The policies of the CBTF are the policies of this course, and academic integrity infractions related to the CBTF are infractions in this course.

• If you have accommodations identified by the Division of Rehabilitation-Education Services (DRES) for exams, please consult this page for the types of accommodations that the CBTF can directly provide. The linked page also lets you upload your Letter of Accomodation (LOA), so that your accommodations are automatically taken into account when scheduling your exam. Note that you must do this a number of days prior to your first exam reservation (see the page for details); do not wait until the first exam to upload your letter. If there are accommodations specified in your LOA that the CBTF cannot directly provide, please contact the instructor, at least a week before the first exam.

• Any problem with testing in the CBTF must be reported to CBTF staff at the time the problem occurs. If you do not inform a proctor of a problem during the test, then you forfeit all rights to redress.

• In addition, each exam offers an "Evidence Box" at the end. If you have doubts and/or questions about some aspect of the exam, you may use that box to record your thoughts. This may later help you demonstrate (e.g.) that you had certain knowledge during the exam or that you observed certain things during the exam. Please also make any information you put into the evidence box available to your CBTF proctor.

Extra credit opportunities

• Ask and answer good questions on the discussion forum. Every numerics-related question that an instructor or one of your peers 'likes' on the forum is worth 0.1 points on your final course grade, up to a maximum of 1 point.

Student responsibilities

Please read and understand the UIUC student code.

In particular, make sure to read and understand Paragraph §1‑402. The rules there along with the rules in these policies form the foundation for making sure you and everyone else in the class receive a fair, transparent grade. Please see also the Collaboration on Homework Section above.

The penalty for academic dishonesty of any form will be a grade of zero on the affected assignment and a reduction of one letter grade in the course.

Use of Online Learning Support Platforms (including Generative AI)

Artificial intelligence (AI) language models, such as ChatGPT, and online assignment help tools, such as Chegg®, are examples of online learning support platforms: they can not be used for course assignments except as explicitly authorized by the instructor. The following actions are prohibited in this course:

• Submitting all or any part of an assignment statement to an online learning support platform;
• Incorporating any part of an AI generated response in an assignment;
• Using AI to brainstorm, formulate arguments, or template ideas for assignments;
• Using AI to summarize or contextualize source materials;
• Submitting your own work for this class to an online learning support platform for iteration or improvement.

If you are in doubt as to whether you are using an online learning support platform appropriately in this course, I encourage you to discuss your situation with me.

Any assignment content composed by any resource other than you, regardless of whether that resource is human or digital, must be attributed to the source through proper citation.

Unattributed use of online learning support platforms and unauthorized sharing of instructional property are forms of academic dishonesty and will be treated as such.

(based on wording from UMN)

Special Requests

We are usually willing to provide quiz and homework extensions or make other exceptions provided a well-justified request is made in a timely manner. By far the best way to get a prompt response to such questions or other personal issues related to the class is to send a message to the CS450 help desk.

Grade Acceptance and Complaint Period

After grades are released for any homework set, quiz, or exam, you have three weeks in order to clarify any misgivings you may have about the grade you received. Once three weeks have passed, the assigned grade is considered accepted and no further complaints will be considered.