Contents
Grading Policy
Grading is one of the aspects of a course that instructors enjoy even less than students. Still, we are stuck with them, so here goes.
| Portion of course | Percentage of Final Grade |
|---|---|
| Final Exam | 15% |
| Quizzes (2 dropped) | 30% |
| Labs | 15% |
| Homeworks | 40% |
Your final grade is computed based on the percentage of possible points you have earned.
Final grades will be computed such that a weighted raw score of 60% (before any rounding) is at least a D-, 70% is at least a C-, and so on. Depending on the actual difficulty of quizzes, exams, and assignments, we may map final scores to higher grades at the end of the semester.
Credit for late assignments
Late homework submissions will receive a 10% penalty up to 48 hours late, and a 15% penalty up to 72 hours late, and will not be accepted past that time. Late quizzes will not be accepted; if you had an unexpected conflict on the quiz, we may make other accommodations, like dropping an additional quiz for you. Late labs will usually not be accepted. Exam makeups will be handled case-by-case as needed.
If you would be late because of illness, sudden family issues, or other events that you could not reasonably have planned for, very often we can make a different accommodation; please ask about your particular circumstances.
Academic Honesty
Using code found online
Your submissions for labs and homeworks should not make extensive use of code found online. Incidental use (utility code that does not solve a significant part of any of the objectives of the assignment) is okay, but must be clearly cited. (Some examples of incidental code would be looking up code to output a matrix for debugging or to create a copy of a matrix in an assignment about optimizing a matrix calculation.) If you are unsure whether something would qualify as “incidental”, please consult the course staff first.
Homeworks are individual
We expect all homeworks and quizzes to be completed individually. You may not share code (including reading other students’ code or providing other students with your code) or consult assignment solutions from previous semesters. You are encouraged, however, to discuss the assignments in general and provide advice to other students that does not amount to sharing code, pseudocode, or instructions that otherwise essentially solve the assignment. We may use automated tools to look for similarities between homework submissions that suggest excessive collaboration.
Labs are collaborative
Labs may be done collaboratively, including sharing code. Your lab submissions should indicate who you worked with.
Quizzes
Quizzes are open book, open notes, and open to other references. However, you may not ask anyone else for help on a particular quiz question. This includes, for example, asking about the question on any online discussion fora before the quiz is due. You may not share your quiz answers or reasoning with other students before the deadline for each quiz.
Consequences
If we believe you have cheated, we may apply an arbitrarily harsh grade penalty up to and including an F in the course. This penalty is independent of (and potentially in addition to) any findings of the University Honor System.
Special Circumstances
Disability
If you may require an accommodation to fully access this course, please contact the Student Disability Access Center (SDAC) at (434) 243-5180 or sdac@virginia.edu.
Other circumstances
If you have other sorts of special circumstances (including but not limited to illness, family issues, religious observances etc.) please also do not hesitate to contact the course staff about your circumstances.