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CS 276

Assignments and Grading

Table of contents

  1. Problem Sets
    1. Self-Scoring
    2. Collaboration
  2. Exams
  3. Scribe Notes
  4. Class Participation

There are three kinds of assignments:

  • Problem Sets: Typically involve writing proofs.
  • Exams: There will be two midterms and one final exam. All exams will be held in class.
  • Scribe Notes: Students can suggest improvement to scribe notes for any past lecture.

Details about each kind of assignment can be found below.

Final grades are based on the following weighted combination:

  • 25% Midterm 1
  • 25% Midterm 2
  • 30% Final Exam
  • 10% Problem Sets
  • 10% Class Participation (includes scribe notes)

Late Policy: Assignments submitted late will lose 5% for every hour that they are late. For example: if you submit 1 minute late, you lose 5%. If you submit 61 minutes late, you lose 10%.

Problem Sets

Problem sets are assigned weekly (or biweekly) and will typically involve writing proofs. You will submit your work on Gradescope (use entry code ZJYXVZ to join).

You don’t have to write a perfect solution to get a perfect score. You will receive full credit if you complete every problem, get most of the details correct, and complete the self-scoring.

Drop Policy: We will drop your lowest 1 problem set scores.

Self-Scoring

After the submission deadline, you will score your submission based on how rigorous and correct your solutions are, using the following rubric:

  • 5 points: The solution is complete and largely correct. There may be small mistakes.
  • 3 points: The main approach is right, but there are major gaps in the solution.
  • 1 or 2 points: The main approach is not correct.

The self-scoring is due one week after the problem set is due.

Your actual grade may be different from the self-score if the course staff choose to revise the score.

Collaboration

You are encouraged to collaborate with other students on the problem sets, but you must write your solutions individually and list all of your significant collaborators. You may collaborate with other students by explaining the meaning of a question, or exploring a potential approach to solving the question. However, you should never possess, read, or copy from another student’s exact solutions.

Similarly, you may use books or online resources to help solve homework problems, but you should not copy solutions verbatim, and you must cite all your sources.

Any student found to be violating these policies or cheating otherwise risks automatically failing the class and being referred to the Center for Student Conduct.

Exams

There will be two midterms and one final exam. All exams will be held in class during the regular class meeting times.

  • Midterm 1: Tuesday, February 17
  • Midterm 2: Thursday, March 19
  • Final Exam: Thursday, April 30

Important: No substitute exams will be offered. Students must ensure they have no conflicts with the scheduled exam dates. Students are responsible for making sure they can attend all exams.

Scribe Notes

Each student can suggest improvements to the scribe notes. For this:

  1. First clone the github repo for the scribe notes.

  2. Make any changes locally.

  3. Create a pull request of your changes. The course staff will review and approve your changes, which will then become part of our scribe notes.

  4. Please make any revisions to your notes that the course staff may suggest.

Class Participation

Class participation consists of:

  • Actually coming to class
  • Interacting in class (asking questions, participating in discussions)
  • Contributing to improving the class notes (scribe notes are part of class participation)

Some examples of good class participation include answering questions on Ed and participating in lecture discussions.