CPSC 329 Assessment and Policies

You are expected to regularly check your HWS email and the course web page (especially the syllabus page). Assignments, handouts, and other information relevant to the class as a whole will be posted on the course web page. Email will be used in the case of a particularly time-sensitive announcement (e.g. an announcement about a homework which is due in the next class meeting) or for matters which are only relevant to a few people in the class.

You are expected to be on task during class - web surfing, texting, playing games, doing assignments for other courses, etc. are not acceptable. Except in the case of an emergency, leaving the classroom during class is not acceptable. (Take care of any necessary business before or after class!) Also, please do not use headphones during lab - you may miss important announcements to the class about assignments, and it makes it difficult to interact with you about the assignment.

Readings: Readings are to be completed for the class period where they are listed on the syllabus page.

Class Prep Assignments: Sometimes there may be a small assignment to be completed before class in order to set the stage the the day's discussion. These assignments are due in class and will be graded primarily on having made a serious effort to consider the questions.

Projects: This is a course about software development, so most of your time will be spent developing software. There will be a series of smaller projects focusing on particular topics in the first two-thirds of the course and a substantial final project in which you will cover the full process from specification to functional software in the last third of the course. All projects will be group projects and all members of a group will receive the same grade.

Labs: Lab sessions will be held on Tuesdays in the Rosenberg 009 computer lab. Labs will be an opportunity for hands-on activities and working on group projects.

Exam: There will be one take-home exam (or "individual assessment") following Thanksgiving break.

Participation: "Participation" covers a number of aspects of engagement in the course: attendance, completion of assigned preparatory work (readings, class prep assignments), meaningful contributions to class discussions, and pulling your weight on group assignments.

Grades: Grades in this course will be computed as follows:

• Projects: 33% (other than the final project)
• Final Project: 33%
• Exam: 20%
• Participation: 14%

Following reasonable conventions is important for readability of your code. The course coding standards specify the particular conventions you should use in this course; not following these standards can result in points lost on assignments.

You are expected to attend and be on time for all class and lab sessions and to be present for the full class period. Attendance is especially important in this course because there is no textbook to help you catch up on missed material, and because not all of the material is black-and-white - discussions with others are valuable in building your ability to make good choices. In addition, announcements are made at the beginning of class and late arrivals may miss important information.

Because attending and participating in class and lab is an important part of your experience in this course, any unexcused absence after the first two absences (whether excused or unexcused) will result in a 5% deduction from your final grade. It is your responsibility to make sure that you sign the attendance sheet each day; a few slip-ups will be allowed but repeatedly forgetting to sign in may result in the accumulation of unexcused absences.

Excused absences include absences due to sports competitions, official Colleges activities such as musical performances or debate competitions, academically-related events such as attending a conference, religious observances, illness, or personal or family emergencies. A reason must be provided in order for such an absence to be counted as an excused absence. (Note that providing a reason does not automatically make an absence excused - it must also be one of the reasons listed above.)

Missing class for other reasons - such as being too busy, oversleeping, or leaving early for a vacation - is considered to be an unexcused absence. Any absence for which no reason is provided is automatically considered to be unexcused.

You are responsible for acquiring any notes, handouts, assignments, and other material missed as the result of an absence, whether excused or unexcused. This should be done promptly to avoid falling behind.

Every effort should be made to hand assignments in on time, even if you are absent from class that day. If a last-minute emergency prevents you from handing in completed work on time, the assignment will be accepted late without penalty only if arrangements are made as soon as possible to get the assignment handed in. If you need more time to complete the assignment, then you need an extension (see below).

Work will not generally be accepted late - planning your efforts (and how much you take on) so as to meet deadlines even in the case of unexpected surprises is an important component of software development. In addition, aspects of projects may be discussed in class shortly after the due date.

Exceptions are expected to be rare but may be granted in special circumstances. Any requests for extensions must be discussed with me as far in advance of the deadline as possible. Note that leaving early for a vacation, being busy, having a bunch of assignments due at the same time, and computer failures are not considered reasons for extensions - schedule your time carefully, save often, and make backups of your files.

The final exam timeslot will be used for final project presentations. This group activity will be difficult to reschedule, however, if one of the Colleges-approved reasons for rescheduling the final exam (religious observance, post-season athletic competition, or three or more final exams scheduled on the same day) applies, speak to me as soon as possible to determine what arrangements can be made.

No work will be accepted after the end of the Registrar-scheduled final exam time slot.

The HWS Principle of Academic Integrity governs all of the work completed in this course. Specifically:

• The exam is to be completed solely by the student whose name is on the paper. Only resources allowed in the exam instructions may be used, and the only person you may discuss the exam with is the instructor.

• Any individual assignment (such as class prep assignments) must be your work - your ideas and your effort. Unless otherwise specified, you may discuss ideas with and get help from others but:

  • You must write up your solution independently and in your own words - you may not sit down with a friend and complete the assignment together. It should be obvious that you also may not borrow or copy solutions or code from someone or somewhere else.

  • You must fully understand the solution and where it comes from. (You should be able to explain it to someone else.)

  • You must acknowledge who you worked with or got help from in the assignment writeup.

• For group assignments (such as projects), full collaboration between group members is allowed and expected. Unless otherwise specified, discussion with or getting help from students outside the group is discouraged but not forbidden. (Leverage the knowledge and expertise within your group first.) Written acknowledgement of any collaboration outside the group is expected.

For all assignments, copying part or all of someone else's solution is expressly prohibited and it is never acceptable to be in possession of someone else's program or solution before you have handed in your own. Decompiling or reverse-engineering someone else's code (including provided code) is also prohibited.

Failure to acknowledge help received will generally result in a warning the first time, and point deductions for subsequent offenses. Submitting work which is unreasonably similar to another person's work and/or not being able to explain any part of your solution will result in a minimum penalty of a 0 on the assignment. A second such offense is grounds for failure in the course. Plagiarism offenses may also be referred to the Committee on Standards.

There are no exceptions to this policy; ignorance of the policy and desperation ("It was the night before it was due and there wasn't anyone else to ask!") are specifically not excuses for violating the policy. If you are having trouble with the course material, come to the instructor! - it is never advantageous to "borrow" someone else's solution, and the time spent trying to disguise this "borrowing" is far better spent getting help.

From the HWS Catalogue: (available online at http://www.hws.edu/catalogue/policies.aspx)

Principle of Academic Integrity

The faculty of Hobart and William Smith Colleges, recognizing the responsibility of the individual student for his or her own education, assumes honesty and integrity in all academic work at the Colleges. This assumption is the foundation of all intellectual efforts and lies at the heart of this community. In matriculating at the Colleges, each student accepts the responsibility to carry out all academic work with complete honesty and integrity and supports the application of this principle to others.

Categories covered by this principle include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Examinations: Giving or receiving assistance during an examination or quiz violates this principle.
• Papers: The adoption or reproduction of ideas, words, or statements of another person as one's own, without due acknowledgment, is considered plagiarism and violates this principle.
• Library Use: Failure to sign for materials taken from the library and similar abuses of library privileges infringe upon the rights of other students to fair and equal access and violate this principle.
• Reports and Laboratory Exercises: Giving or receiving unauthorized assistance and the fabrication of data or research results violate this principle.
• Computer Use: Any deliberate attempt to prevent other users access to computer services, deprive them of resources, or degrade system performance violates this principle. The use of programs or files of another computer user or the use of another person's account number or password without permission also violates this principle.

Academic dishonesty is determined in every case by the evidence presented and not by intent. Questions of intent and circumstances under which an infraction occurred may be considered in determining a penalty.

As with papers, verbatim copying of programs and problem solutions constitutes plagiarism. Also as with papers, plagiarism is not limited to verbatim copying - copying the significant ideas and structure of someone else's program/problem solution also constitutes plagiarism.

But aren't all programs which solve the same task/solutions to the same problem pretty much the same, so won't my program/solution look like everyone else's even if I worked by myself?
It is true that programming languages are simpler and more structured than human languages like English, and so two independently-written programs solving the same problem will be more similar than two independently-written papers on the same topic. However, "more similar" doesn't mean "the same" - there is still flexibility in many aspects of the program, and each programmer will express themselves somewhat differently. It is clear when two programs were derived from the same source, and I routinely run a plagiarism-detection tool on all handins.
Problem sets are similar - there is enough room for variation in most solutions for it to be clear when solutions were derived from the same source.

Programming/problem solving techniques are often explained via examples - what's the difference between using an example and "copying the significant ideas and structure"?
Nothing - the whole point of examples is to provide the significant ideas and structure of the solution, with the idea that the details would be modified for the particular situation.

OK, then, so I can't use any examples because that constitutes plagiarism?!
No, not exactly. What is and isn't allowed is a matter of degree. Let's first define "example" and "solution":

• An example illustrates a technical point or problem-solving strategy, applied to a different problem instance than the one you are trying to solve. An example can't be used as-is to solve your specific problem, but can be adapted to address some aspect of the problem. For example, an example demonstrating the proper syntax for a while loop is OK to use when writing a program which involves a while loop (as long as the point of the problem isn't to write exactly the while loop given in the example).
• A solution gives a significant amount of the answer to your particular problem (or an extremely similar problem). Quantity is relevant here - you may view something as just an example (because it doesn't solve your exact problem), but if a single source covers most of what you need to do, it may well be what I consider a "solution".

Using "examples" (as defined above) is generally OK but using "solutions" is not.

There's a fuzzy middle ground here, and I'm still not sure exactly what is OK and what isn't.
Then ASK! - before you get into whatever situation you are wondering about. A few additional guidelines which may help:

• Any materials provided as part of the course (examples in the textbook, from class, and directly posted on the webpage) are acceptable to use/adapt (unless specifically forbidden, such as on exams).
• Any solutions written by another student (either this term or in previous terms) are not acceptable to use as "inspiration" or a guide when you are working on the same assignment. (Looking at someone else's work later, after the assignment has been handed in, is fine.)
• Use caution with materials from other sources - think "examples, not solutions" and ask if you have any questions. In fact, ask even if you are sure something is allowed. (Specifically looking through other materials to find solutions to problems you've been assigned is not acceptable.)
• Use common sense - the purpose of assignments is for you to practice and gain understanding of the material, and for you to demonstrate what you have mastered. If you are mostly just tweaking something written by someone else - even if you spend a lot of time renaming variables and inserting comments - then what you are turning in isn't your work.

There is a steady schedule of assignments and the course material is cumulative - don't fall behind! It is important that you budget your time and start on assignments early so that you have time to think about problems and deal with unexpected surprises.

The primary resources for this course are your group (for group assignments), other students in the course (when allowed), and the instructor - during lab, during office hours, and dropping by or scheduling a meeting outside of office hours.

For more general help, such as with writing, study skills, or time management, you are encouraged to check out the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL).

At Hobart and William Smith Colleges, we encourage you to learn collaboratively and to seek the resources that will enable you to succeed. The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) is one of those resources: CTL programs and staff help you engage with your learning, accomplish the tasks before you, enhance your thinking and skills, and empower you to do your best. Resources at CTL are many: Teaching Fellows provide content support in 12 departments, Study Mentors help you find your time and manage your responsibilities, Writing Fellows help you think well on paper, Q Fellows support you in courses that require math, and professional staff help you assess academic needs.

Study Mentors: The CTL resource especially valuable to students either just starting college OR adjusting to the demands of their choice of Major is the Study Mentors program. Study Mentors engage directly with each student in the process of adjusting to new academic demands: they help you find the time you need to engage with both your academic and co-curricular activities, accomplish the tasks in front of you, and enhance your reading and study time. Study Mentors may be especially important for those of you who are involved in many activities; work on or off campus; are studying for Teaching Certification, graduate school exams, or prepping for fellowships; or who have one or more unusually demanding courses on your schedule. To meet with a Study Mentor, one option is to go to the TutorTrac link provided on the CTL webpage and make an appointment. You can also contact Ingrid Keenan, x3832, keenan@hws.edu, or drop in at the CTL office on the 2nd floor of the library.

If you are a student with a disability for which you may need accommodations, you should self-identify, provide appropriate documentation of your disability, and register for services with the Coordinator of Disability Services at the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL). Disability related accommodations and services generally will not be provided until the registration and documentation process is complete. The guidelines for documenting disabilities can be found at the following website: http://www.hws.edu/academics/ctl/disability_services.aspx

Please direct questions about this process or Disability Services at HWS to David Silver, Coordinator of Disability Services, at silver@hws.edu or x3351.

last updated: --Fri Aug 26 22:34:56 EDT 2016--
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