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A290/A590 Important 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.
Expected Behavior for Instructors.
As Instructors in A290/A590, 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 A290/A590 Web pages up-to-date.
- However, the only absolutely guaranteed accurate statement of the course schedule and the course content will be what is stated by the Instructor in the meetings. This is your primary, and only guaranteed source of accurate information throughout the term.
- Every effort will be made to insure that all MINI 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 the Canvas site. If you skip class and miss something, it is all and only your responsibility. DO NOT depend on the Web Pages or Canvas as your only source of information.
- We will all hold regularly scheduled office hours or specified preferred appointment times and will also accept other 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 Course 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 A290/A590, 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 lecture.
- The importance of the lecture and class activities depends on how
well you want to be prepared for tests, assignments, and lab as
relevant. 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 explanation or 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 class meeting, you are responsible to find out
from another student if anything has been changed. If you miss an
assignment, homework, or exam because you missed class and something
was changed, that is your responsibility and not the responsibility of
the Instructor or the UIs. 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 Assignments/Homework will be
clearly announced in class and posted on the Web Pages and on Canvas.
- All 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.
- Almost everything during the term will be handed in
electronically. 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). Only Canvas-submitted work will be eligible for evaluation and Canvas will lock every MINI or ASSIGNMENT at the specified deadline.
Make sure you are clear about this. If you hand
in an assignment even .01 (one-hundredth) of a second late, you will
not be able to submit 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 CAS (UITS) and SILO (SoIC). 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
CAS/CANVAS. This late policy applies to all Assignments submitted
electronically.
- To check the time on Silo or any other central
system, type "date" at the command prompt. Date and Time will be
displayed.
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 Status.IU. These are also
not excuses for missing a due date.
SUGGESTED STRATEGY: This applies
specifically to all work submitted to Canvas. You can submit your work to a Canvas assignment 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 dropbox will be locked and that
submission will not be received, as noted 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 Instructor and/or UIs have 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 course, once the scores for Assignments
or any other work are posted to the Canvas Gradebook, you have exactly one week to meet with the course
Instructor or the Undergraduate 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
Instructor of any such problems as early as
possible.
In addition, you can expect the Instructor 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 Instructor 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: The
Undergraduate Instructor cannot make any special arrangements for you
or on your behalf. Only the Instructor can do so. Don't put the
Undergraduate Instructor in an uncomfortable position by asking about
it. Please come directly to me.
I am usually in my office by 7:30am TRF 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 Program/School of Informatics and
Computing 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
Every student is expected to understand
AND abide by the IU Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, &
Conduct. Being unaware of your responsibilities will not
be accepted as an explanation for any behavior that violates this
Code. The Program/School takes a very dim view of any form of Academic Misconduct and any such incidents in A290/A590 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.
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