CSCI 306: Grading

Grading Rubric

Course grades will be based on the following:

1. Class Participation: 10%
2. Labs, Exercises, Projects: 50%
3. Exams: 40%

Average Points	Symbol	Interpretation
90-100	A	Excellent
80-89.9	B	Good
70-79.9	C	Satisfactory
60-69.9	D	Poor(lowest passing)
0-59.9	F	Failed

Attendance Policy

Since most of the work for this class will be done in pairs or teams, class attendance is very important, especially on days when we are completing assignments that we have already begun. If you do not show up, then your partner(s) must complete the assignment on their own. To encourage participation and attendance, the instructor will use short pop quizzes on occasion. In order to get full participation credit, you must also be an active participant on piazza.

Assignment Policy

Late work is strongly discouraged. Late assignments will be penalized 10% per day. No assignments will be accepted more than 5 days late (weekend and holidays do count).

Incorrect assignments (e.g., submitting the wrong file, forgetting to include your partner's name, etc. ) will be assessed a penalty of 10%. Programs that do not compile/run will receive a deduction of 10-20% (in addition to points lost for missing features).

Homework and exams will be graded and returned as quickly as possible, generally within two weeks.

Getting Help

The class goal is to develop effective software engineering skills, which includes the ability to use online help forums. Please try to post a question on piazza rather than contacting me directly ( a link can be found in the Canvas shell).

Piazza "Rules of Engagement"

Online forums can be quite intimidating, so the following guidelines are suggested:

• Be polite. This also applies to assignment clarifications (e.g., writing "This requirement makes no sense" may not be the best phrasing. Try something like "I'm not clear what requirement X means. Should I do [x] or [y]?")
• A Piazza post is not a text message; use complete sentences and correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar.
• When asking a question, do not post large blocks of code. A couple lines of code, to clarify your question, may be appropriate. Before posting, ask yourself: would this be giving most of the answer to another student? Thinking about how to phrase the question may help you solve the problem.
• When answering a question, do not post the exact code from your homework solution. Possible exception would be something that takes one line and is primarily a syntax question. E.g., to a question like "How do I set the color of my rectangle" you might answer with something like "You need to set the color before drawing. If g is a Graphics object, you can do g.setColor(Color.CYAN);"
• Using pseudocode is an excellent way to answer questions.