CPSC 124 Assessment and Policies

Assignments, handouts, and materials from class will be posted on the course web page, specifically the schedule page. You will need to check this page regularly to make sure you stay up-to-date.

Some things (such as warmups) may be posted on Canvas. There will always be a reference to the existence of this material on the schedule page so that you don't need to monitor both Canvas and the schedule page for due dates - use the schedule page for this.

Email will be used for individual communications and for time-sensitive announcements, so you should also regularly check your HWS email account.

Learning is much more effective if you are engaged in the material. You should come to class prepared for the day's activities, and should be on task during class - please do not surf the web, text, play games, do assignments for other courses, etc during class time. Also please do not wear headphones during lab as it makes it difficult to interact with you.

Note taking on paper is encouraged as it avoids the distraction of electronic devices and the act of handwriting helps with retention of information. If you use a laptop or other device to take notes, you are encouraged to turn off notifications and close other applications to reduce the temptation of those distractions.

Arriving late, leaving early, and coming and going during class is distracting to me and your fellow classmates. Please endeavor to arrive on time, and to take care of any necessary business before or after class so you can be present for the whole class period. If you know in advance that you will need to miss part or all of a class, please let me know.

Following reasonable conventions is important for the readability of your code. Coding standards will be introduced explicitly and by example; you can also find the particular standards we'll use in this course summarized here. Programs will be graded on how well they adhere to these standards, and not following these standards can result in points lost on assignments even if the program runs correctly.

You are expected to be on time for all class meetings and lab sessions, and to be present and engaged in the class/lab for the full period. ("Engaged" means paying attention and participating when appropriate, not just physically present but doing something else.)

While attending and participating in class and lab should be a high priority, it is understood that there are sometimes circumstances when you may be unable to attend class/lab. It is especially important that you not expose others to illness if you are sick.

If you miss class or lab, you are responsible for making up missed content - make sure that you check the schedule page for new assignments and materials from class, and come to office hours if you have any questions or need help with any aspect of the material. This should be done promptly to avoid falling behind.

However, any absence, no matter the reason, puts a greater burden on you to catch up on content missed and means that you miss out on discussions, activities, and opportunities for participation and practice that take place in class and lab. Students who regularly miss class and lab often end up falling behind and not doing as well in the course.

As a result, missing more than six classes or more than two labs will lower your engagement grade. Missing four, five, or six classes or two labs will also lower your engagement grade unless you are proactive about communication regarding your absences (including notifying me of an upcoming absence as soon as you know about it), diligent about making up missed content, and more engaged in other aspects of the course (completing more warmups, participating in class, asking questions, etc).

Repeated late arrivals or early departures may be counted as an absence.

There is a steady workload throughout the course and the material is cumulative - foundational topics introduced earlier are used and built on throughout the rest of the course. This means that it is important to be organized and to stay on track; you cannot skip a topic and figure that you'll just jump in again with the next one, and once you get behind it can quickly snowball. However, as with attendance, it is understood that there may sometimes be extenuating circumstances which make meeting every deadline difficult.

Late work is only accepted as specified below.

• Partial credit will be given for warmups handed in after the 10pm deadline but before class the next day, and no credit after that. Warmups are intended to identify what needs further attention in class and will often be discussed in class, so they are less valuable after the fact.

• Additional attempts can be made for syntax quizzes and skills checks after the due date as long as at least one attempt has been made before the due date.

• In general, labs and projects will not be accepted late. An exception is a late handin for an assignment completed on time (as established by timestamps), which will be accepted with a small point penalty if the late handin was due to a handin error or forgetfulness.

Extensions allow work to be handed in after the due date without penalty. Extensions are expected to be rare - they are intended to accommodate exceptional circumstances, not to routinely miss deadlines.

• Extensions will not be granted for warmups.

• For labs and projects, a two-day can be requested (up to one per assignment), but it must be requested before the due date. You do not need to provide a reason as it is assumed that you have an important one - an extension does not magically create time without strings attached, and comes at the expense of time available for the next assignment. As a result, extensions should not be requested lightly.

If you need more than an occasional extension or there are circumstances outside your control which are significantly impacting your ability to focus on academics for several days or more, it is essential that you reach out promptly to discuss a plan for getting back on track.

Exams should be a high priority; the date of the final exam is on the schedule page so you can plan ahead. Only your dean can reschedule the final exam.

No work will be accepted after the end of the Registrar-scheduled final exam time slot except in the case of an incomplete.

The HWS Principle of Academic Integrity, stated below, governs all of the work completed in this course. From the HWS Catalogue: (available online at https://www.hws.edu/catalogue/academic-policies.aspx)

Principle of Academic Integrity

The faculty of Hobart and William Smith Colleges has oversight of the curriculum and the classroom experience, and insists that students undertake all academic exercises with the utmost honesty and integrity. This principle of academic integrity lies at the heart of our learning community and forms the foundation for everyone's academic efforts.

Starting with adherence to the principle of academic integrity, the individual student bears responsibility for his or her own education and must undertake all academic work with complete honesty and integrity. As well, each student must do his or her best to assure that this principle extends to all others in the community. Categories of academic work covered by the principle of academic integrity include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Examinations: Giving or receiving assistance during an in-class or take-home examination, quiz, or any other academic exercise, except as specifically authorized by an individual course instructor, violates this principle.
• Papers: The presentation 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, destruction or theft of any library materials, 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. Failure to attribute the source for any information or writing derived from any computer source (database, website, internet, etc.) and incorporated in any academic work submitted is also a violation.
• Advising and Registration Forms: Forging an adviser's signature or altering any signed document will result in the student's de-registration. The student will not be allowed to re-register until the adviser has approved any changes. Any student suspected of forgery of any faculty or administrator signature may face disciplinary action by the student's dean or the Committee on Standards, a faculty, student, and administrative committee charged with enforcing the academic and behavioral expectations of the Colleges' community (for more information about the Committee on Standards, please review the Disciplinary Process section, Hearing Bodies of the Community Standards).

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 sanction.

• The final exam and final project, skills checks, and syntax quizzes measure your individual level of mastery of the course material, and thus are to be completed solely by the student whose name is on the paper. The only resources you may use are those explicitly authorized in the instructions.

• Labs and projects are for practice and learning. While it can be very productive to work on problems with your peers, it is also easy to underestimate how much you yourself understand and can do in such situations - so often something looks easy when someone else does it! With this in mind, you should always make the first attempt on a problem or programming task yourself using only the resources provided for the course (textbook, slides and examples posted on the schedule page, other resources linked on the course webpages). After that point, you are encouraged to come to office hours and/or go to Teaching Fellows. You may not collaboratively write solutions or code, and you may not copy solutions or code written by others, even if you contributed ideas.

• Warmups are about self-assessment and identifying points that need more attention in class. For that reason, they should be completed individually, without discussion with or help from others. (Though discussion is encouraged after you've submitted the warmup!) Warmups are graded on effort rather than correctness so your grade won't suffer if you don't get an answer right.

In all cases, copying part or all of someone else's solution or code 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. This includes both computer files and paper copies. Decompiling or reverse-engineering someone else's code (including provided code) is also prohibited. Even if you aren't copying exactly, using someone else's program or solution "as a guide" to completing your own is still plagiarism - you are misrepresenting someone else's ideas and effort as your own. Furthermore, it is still plagiarism even when there's a right answer and anyone solving the problem would have arrived at a similar result - the salient point here is that you didn't arrive at the result by your own effort, and what you are handing in as your work is not an accurate reflection of your ideas about how to solve the problem.

The use of examples, however, is permitted and encouraged - examples are a primary means for learning new things. The difference between an example and a solution is that an example doesn't directly solve the problem - you must understand the ideas in the example and then apply those ideas in a new context.

Your first source of information should be the course materials (textbook, slides, and other materials made available on the course website) and reference materials linked on the course website, but unless otherwise prohibited (such as on exams), you can use other materials (such as reference books or websites) as technical references to learn about a particular topic. However, looking for and/or copying a solution is not acceptable (even if you make some modifications) - the idea here is that someone else's solution is not helping you practice applying the material for yourself, and doesn't show your own level of mastery. Generative AI systems such as ChatGPT or Codex, "homework help" or "study aid" sites such as Chegg or Course Hero, and sites where you post a homework problem or question and solicit answers from others may not be used in the completion of graded work. (Use of generative AI for study purposes is discouraged since they are unreliable sources.)

If any case you are unsure about what is acceptable and what crosses the line when it comes to collaboration and use of outside resources, please ask first!

Note taking on paper is encouraged as it avoids the distraction of electronic devices and the act of handwriting helps with retention of information. (Anything that appears on the projector screen - slides or code - will be posted on the schedule page soon after class, so you don't need to copy down all of that material in your notes.) If you do use a laptop or other device to take notes, you are encouraged to turn off notifications and close other applications to reduce the temptation of those distractions.

There is a steady workload throughout the course, and the material is cumulative - foundational topics introduced earlier are used and built on throughout the rest of the course. Review each day's material soon after class and start on assignments early, take advantage of office hours and Teaching Fellows, and seek additional help promptly if you are stuck on something or want to discuss ideas. Letting a point of confusion slide often snowballs, and it is easy to find yourself falling behind.

Your first resource if you need help with any aspect of the course material should be the instructor - ask questions during class, stop by office hours, send email, or drop by or schedule a meeting. The Teaching Fellows, described more below, are also a valuable resource for help with completing assignments.

Don't only ask "what do I do?" but also "how do I know that's what to do?" The particular program is not the point of assignments - this course is about the process by which a program is created to achieve a particular goal, and it is that process that you are practicing when exercises as you to write a program to achieve a particular task.

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 13 departments, Study Mentors help you manage your time and responsibilities, Writing Fellows help you think well on paper, and professional staff help you assess academic needs.

I encourage you to explore these and other CTL resources designed to encourage your very best work. You can talk with me about these resources, visit the CTL office on the 2nd floor of the library to discuss options with the staff, or visit the CTL website.

Teaching Fellows: CTL works with the Math/CS Department to offer one resource that will be essential to your learning in this course, the CS Teaching Fellows. The Teaching Fellows are accomplished computer sicence majors and minors who are paid to assist other students. They hold regular study hours Sunday-Thursday. To get the most out of this resource, I recommend that all students in this course begin attending the TF hours next week and attend once or twice weekly (to study, to ask questions) throughout the semester.

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 Mentor 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 for both your academic and co-curricular activities, and can help you find strategies to 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, make an appointment via StudyHub on the CTL website. You can also contact Ingrid Keenan, x3832, keenan@hws.edu, or drop in at the CTL office on the 2nd floor of the library.

It is the policy and practice of Hobart and Williams Smith Colleges to create inclusive learning environments. If you are a student with a disability and there are aspects of the instruction or design of this course that present barriers to you, please begin the process of registering with Disability Services by completing the Intake Form on Accommodate.

Students are always welcome to contact the Disability Services team: Shanelle France, Associate Director of CTL for Disability Services and Thom Mascia, Disability Services Accommodation Manager are the main contact staff for Disability Services. Email: CTL@hws.edu Phone: 315-781-3351

Additional information can be found on the Disability Services webpage.

last updated: --Sun Jan 21 04:21:18 EST 2024--
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