Grading
The course grade is based on two exams (mid-term and final), a course project (consisting of several smaller graded assignments), and additional assignments such as short paper summaries. For each assignment, a numeric grade will be assigned from 0 to 100. The final score is determined using the relative weights shown below. All assignments must be submitted by the day and time indicated. Late assignments will receive no credit! Programming assignments will generally be submitted electronically by simply copying your work into a specified directory. Note that electronic submissions may be closed automatically by the clock. You may update your submission as many times as you like before the deadlines, so it is recommended that you submit something as soon as it is working, and update your submission regularly. Thus, there is no excuse for failing to submit an assignment. Exceptions will be made only for grave emergencies outlined in the duLac student handbook.If a student believes than an error has been made in grading an item, it must be brought to the instructor's attention within seven days after the item has been returned. Factual and clerical errors will be gladly corrected. Matters of judgement are left to the instructor's discretion.
Also note that this course is one of the three core courses and may also be counted as one of the qualifying courses for the Ph.D. program in Computer Science and Engineering!
| Assignment | Weight |
| Paper Summaries and Participation | 10% |
| Annotated Bibliography | 10% |
| Project Proposal | 5% |
| Progress Report | 5% |
| Draft Paper | 5% |
| Final Project Presentation | 10% |
| Final Paper | 15% |
| Mid-Term Exam | 20% |
| Final Exam | 20% |
Collaboration
Your course project is the only team-based part of the course, all other assignments are to be done individually, unless otherwise noted. Note that due to the COVID-19 situation, team collaboration may be more difficult and individual projects are encouraged (but team projects can still be proposed). You must be the sole author of all code and other written material that you submit for grading. You may not read, re-use, or submit code created by others. However, you may discuss general ideas, algorithms, and problems with your classmates (and it is highly encouraged to form study groups for the reading materials). Any activity that falls into the gray area between "authorship" and "discussion" should be assumed off-limits unless explicitly approved by the instructor. The midterm and final exams are to be taken alone.
You must read, understand, and abide by the Department Honor Policy and the University Academic Code of Honor, both available on the web. At key points during the semester, the matter of appropriate collaboration will be discussed in class.
Any violation of these rules will be considered a very serious matter and will result in a referral to the University honor committee and the appropriate rector and academic advisor. Penalties may include failure of the class and suspension or expulsion from the university.