Policies

Communication

We will be using Piazza for discussions outside of class. Rather than emailing general questions to a professor or TA, we encourage you to post your questions on Piazza, so everyone can benefit from the answer and any discussions around it.

Grading

We shift total points with respect to the highest cumulative score achieved by a single student (not considering extra credit). In more detail, let the highest cumulative score by a student be highest, and the total possible points be max. Define delta = max - highest. If you have cumulative points z, then your score is calculated as z + delta, and your percentage as (z + delta)/max. We then translate a percentage into a letter grade as follows:

• 89.5 – 100: A
• 79.5 – 89.4: B
• 69.5 – 79.4: C
• 59.5 – 69.4: D
• < 59.5: F

The total points possible are allocated as follows:

• 35% Homework
• 30% Exam 1
• 30% Exam 2
• 5% Class Participation

Note that there are three exams: we will drop your lowest exam score.

Your participation score is based on your participation in class and recitation, in office hours, and/or in Piazza.  Being active in at least one of these venues will result in full points. If you don’t participate in any of them, then you will likely receive no points.

Late Days

Late days interfere with the ability of course staff to quickly turn around assignment grades and solutions. The problem is we cannot give out solutions or graded assignments until everyone has turned in their work. Therefore, we only offer late days in emergency or exceptional circumstances, such as hospitalization. We do not offer late days for personal scheduling issues such as interviews, class load, etc.

Ethics, and Cheating

The course staff will treat all students ethically and fairly. We, in turn, expect the same from all students.

Any lapse in ethical behavior will immediately result in −1,000,000 points, as well as be immediately reported to the appropriate university disciplinary unit. Really. No matter what. The course staff looks at students who cheat or plagiarize as far beneath someone who fails the course.

This course will follow CMU’s policy on cheating and plagiarism. Note that the policy gives several examples of what constitutes cheating and plagiarism. If you have any questions, you should contact the instructors.

Students should behave ethically. This means obeying the law, but that is not enough. Behaving ethically means you avoid activities that do harm or may do harm to people, the environment, or other computers. In short, don’t be a nuisance.

Note just because you can do something (or you read about others doing it) does not make it ok. For example, scanning a network may not be illegal (I am not a lawyer, so I shy away from definitive statements). However, scanning can crash computers. For example, we know of several very popular commodity-grade IP cameras that crash when you scan them. Sure, the camera software is buggy. But is there any reason for you, not being a professional, to crash a camera monitoring a baby? Launching exploits, “testing” the security of a system without explicit permission from all necessary parties, and so on are all unethical for the purpose of this course.

Collaboration. Students are encouraged to talk to each other, to the course staff, or to anyone else about any of the assignments. Assistance should be limited to discussion of the problem and sketching general approaches to a solution. Each student must turn in his or her own solution, derived from his or her own thoughts. Course staff may verify a student did the prescribed work by asking for a verbal explanation, and failure to correctly re-explain a submitted solution is considered a strong indication of cheating.

Work Life Balance

Take care of yourself. Do your best to maintain a healthy lifestyle this semester by eating well, exercising, avoiding drugs and alcohol, getting enough sleep and taking some time to relax. This will help you achieve your goals and cope with stress.

All of us benefit from support during times of struggle. You are not alone. There are many helpful resources available on campus and an important part of the college experience is learning how to ask for help. Asking for support sooner rather than later is often helpful.

If you or anyone you know experiences any academic stress, difficult life events, or feelings like anxiety or depression, we strongly encourage you to seek support. Counseling and Psychological Services (CaPS) is here to help: call 412-268-2922 and visit their website. Consider reaching out to a friend, faculty or family member you trust for help getting connected to the support that can help.

If you have questions about this or your coursework, please let us know.