|
A216 Code of Conduct and Course Guidelines for Students and Instructors.
This is a Computer Science course. That means it deals with structure and organization. It will take discipline on the part of every student who wants to do well in the class. This discipline will entail a set of responsibilities and expected behavior for every student. The instructors also have an important role to play and they also have a set of responsibilities and expected behavior. You will be learning "real world" skills and with that comes "real world" responsibilities and we will expect nothing less from each and every student. These policies are consistent with other courses offered in the School of Informatics.
Expected Behavior for Instructors.
As Instructors in A216, it is our responsibility to be prepared to insure you get the most out of this course at all times. To that end, we assume these responsibilities:
- Every effort will be made to keep the A216 Web pages up-to-date. A similar effort will be made to keep the A216 Lecture OnCourse postings current and accurate.
- However, the only absolutely guaranteed accurate statement of the course schedule and the course content will be what is stated by the Lecturer in the lectures. This is your primary, and only guaranteed source of accurate information throughout the term.
- Every effort will be made to insure that all Lab Assignments and/or Homework Assignments are clearly written and that the Instructions for submitting them are organized and easy to follow.
- We are not responsible for errors or inaccuracies in either the Web pages or OnCourse. If you skip class and miss something, it is all and only your responsibility. DO NOT depend on the Web Pages or OnCourse as your only source of information.
- We will all hold regularly scheduled office hours and also accept appointments. If we have to cancel our office hours, we will announce this in advance, if possible, and post a note to the course newsgroup at the earliest possible moment.
- We will be willing to answer questions submitted via email. However, we will not respond to email questions about a particular assignment (of any kind) submitted less than 24 hours before that particular assignment is due. Make sure you understand this policy.
- We will make sure the Lecture Materials and Lab Materials are prepared and organized and that we are also prepared and organized so that you can get the most out of every Lecture and Lab offered during the course of the term.
Expected Behavior for Students.
As a student in A216, you are responsible for the consequences of your actions and your choices. Here are the things you are expected to do
as a student in this course:
- This is an information technology course. While IU policy requires all faculty, staff, and students to check and respond to email at least once every 24 hours, in this course we expect you to check and respond to email at least twice every 24 hours. If class or personal circumstances warrant, we would expect you to be checking email hourly. Missing an opportunity because you "didn't check email yesterday" will not get you another chance.
- Be most concerned about your grade BEFORE you have earned it.
- Read, understand, agree to, and abide by the entire contents of
this page as well as any additions made to this page during the course of
the term and any supplementary statements made during lab or lecture.
- Take the necessary action to catch up on material if you miss a
lab meeting or regular class meeting.
- The importance of the class activities depends on how
well you want to be prepared for assignments, and lab. Only YOU can
control how much of the class you wish to attend.
- Visit us during office hours or send email to arrange an
appointment to get help on course material, or to prepare for absences
you know are coming up.
- Notify us in advance or visit us as soon as possible after an
emergency so we can advise you about your options for the course.
- Plan to accomplish your assignments so that you can meet the
deadlines, barring an extreme emergency. The
logical consequence of turning work in late is a 0 (zero) for that
assignment.
- Students occasionally ask at the end of the semester if there is
any extra work they can do to raise a low grade. There is not. There
will be no extra credit work. Do the work assigned well and turn it in
on time to earn the best grade you can.
- Please see us in person if you believe your grade was not
computed correctly. We will arrange an appointment to discuss it. We
do not discuss grades over e-mail or by phone--there is too great a
chance that something important may be overlooked.
Logical Consequences of Expected Student Behavior.
Failure to understand and abide by this Code
of Conduct and associated Guidelines will have dire consequences at
the end of the term. "Not knowing about it" will never be an
acceptable excuse. If you are unsure or have any questions about
anything at any time (within the limits described in this document) ,
PLEASE ASK. That is why we hold office hours.
If you miss a meeting, you are responsible to find out
from another student if anything has been changed. If you miss an
assignment, homework, or other work because you missed class and something
was changed, that is your responsibility and not the responsibility of
the Instructor or the Lab Instructors. REMEMBER:
Late assignments are automatically scored a 0 (zero).
Assignment/Homework Due Dates, Quizzes and Consequences of Handing Things in Late.
- Due dates and times for Lab Assignments/Homework/Team
Projects will be clearly announced in class and posted on the Web
Pages.
- All Lab Assignments will be due on the day/date indicated,
BEFORE MIDNIGHT unless otherwise indicated. (REMEMBER: We will be willing to answer questions
submitted via email. However, we will not respond to email questions
about any particular assignment submitted less than 24 hours before
that particular assignment is due. You can consult the Homework Assignment page to check the exact
dates of each Lab Assignment.
- There will be a Quiz given at the beginning of one of the
lab sessions, approximately once every two weeks. The quizzes will be
done on paper and you will have no more than the first 10 minutes of
the relevant lab session to complete them. This is the only time you
will be able to complete the Quiz assignment. Attempting to do Quizzes
in another lab will not be possible or acceptable. Quizzes will cover
material presented in the Lectures AND the Labs AND the weekly Reading
Assignments.
- Everything during the term will be handed in
electronically except the two Projects, the Quizzes, and any CATs or
other work done during the M/W meetings. Thus, everything will have a
Date/Time Stamp, so we will know when it is handed in.
- If you hand in an assignment late, it will be immediately
scored a 0 (zero). Make sure you are clear about this. If you hand in an assignment even .01 (one-hundredth)
of a second late, it will be reported as late and automatically scored
a 0 (zero). ALL TIMES are the system time of the computer you
are HANDING INTO, namely, Canvas. The Canvas time is controlled by
or the same as the time on One.IU and other IU Central Systems. The
time as indicated on your MAC or PC is NOT RELEVANT.
Don't make the mistake of assuming your computer time is the same as
the time on Canvas. This late policy applies to all
Assignments. Similarly, if either project is handed in late, the same
policy will be applied.
- To check the time on any Central IU System, you
must be at a command prompt. If you type "date" at the command
prompt, Date and Time will be displayed.
- SPECIAL Canvas NOTE: There is a
added feature with the Canvas "assignment" system we use for
A216. When you submit, the date/time stamp will be clearly visible to
you. If that date/time is after the official deadline, you will be
able to see this immediately and be aware of the
consequences.
NOTE: System failures, unless they are
of disastrous proportions, will not be an acceptable excuse for
missing a due date. It is up to you to make sure the work gets done in
a timely fashion. Your can help yourself by making sure you are aware
of SCHEDULED UITS SYSTEM DOWNTIMES. These are also
not excuses for missing a due date.
SUGGESTED STRATEGY: This applies
specifically to the Lab Assignments only. You can submit your Lab Assignments as many times as
you wish until the deadline. Only the last submission
will be graded. HOWEVER, if your last submission occurs AFTER THE
DEADLINE, the date/time stamp will make this obvious and that
submission will not be graded, as noted in the "SPECIAL OnCourse NOTE"
above. I would recommend that you get as much of each assignment done
as you can as early as you can, and submit it early. You can then go
back and polish off that last 10% that may mean a perfect score. When
you've done that, you can resubmit. In the meantime, you are prepared
for a system failure, because you already have something handed
in. 90% still beats 0.
Using the Handin Programs: Each
Assignment will include instructions on how to handin things
electronically. Failure to accurately follow the instructions will
result in a penalty of 25-50% of the total score, depending on how
much work the Lab Instructor has to do to find and grade your
work.
HOWEVER, if your failure to follow
the Handin instructions or any other instructions related to any
project or assignment has an impact on the ability of other
students to do their work or interferes with the instructors ability
to discharge their responsibilities, the penalty will be more severe,
including a possible score of 0 (zero).
If You Have Questions about Point Totals on Assignments or
Projects.
For the entire term, once the scores for Assignments,
Quizzes, CATs, or other work are posted to the OnCourse system, you
have exactly one week to meet with your
Lab Instructor during office hours or by appointment if you have
questions about your score. It is your responsibility to make the
contact if you have questions. After the one week has passed, all
scores are final.
NOTE: We will not resolve these issues via email. It
must be done in person. Email can be used to set up a meeting to
discuss your questions.
Medical or Other Emergencies and Special Arrangements.
We recognize that medical and family emergencies can
arise. It is your responsibility to notify the
Lecturer of any such problems as early as
possible.
In addition, you can expect the Lecturer to ask for
some form of written documentation for any such emergency, if you
expect to be given extra time to complete some work, or any other
special consideration. NOTE: A note indicating you went to the Student
Health Center or some other physician will in no way guarantee you
will get any sort of extension or other consideration.
If you miss any assignment or homework for any reason without
contacting the Lecturer in advance, no special consideration will be
given, meaning the work will be automatically scored a 0 (zero). Every
incident will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
NOTE: Your Lab
Instructor cannot make any special arrangements for you or on your
behalf. Only the Lecturer can do so. Don't put your Lab Instructor in
an uncomfortable position by asking about it. Please come directly to
me.
I am usually in my office by 7:30am Tuesdays,
Thursdays and Fridays and am logged on virtually all the time. I also
have voicemail available on my office phone. If there is a problem on
the day of some course work being due, then you MUST contact me at the
earliest possible moment. However, doing so will not guarantee any
special arrangements.
Incompletes.
The Computer Science Department takes a very dim view of Incompletes, as do I. The Department follows the guidelines set out in the College of Arts and Sciences Bulletin.
A student is only eligible for an Incomplete if:
- The work for the course is substantially completed, and
- The work is of passing quality.
Any student who requests an Incomplete, even if the student meets the above conditions, can not assume an Incomplete will be granted. Also note that an Incomplete cannot be requested as a way to complete work for which the deadlines have already passed.
Academic Honesty
Make sure you are aware of the Department's Statement of Academic Integrity. The Department takes a very dim view of any form of Academic Misconduct and any such incidents in A216 will be pursued vigorously.
Other Considerations.
As with the rest of this site, this page may change in content based on announcements made in class. It is your responsibility to keep yourself up-to-date.
|