Collaboration

You are welcome and encouraged to collaborate on Prepares, Peer Instructions, and Homeworks. You can find study partners by requesting ones at the beginning of the semester survey, in class, or in the discussion forum. However, you should not “split up” the work and only look at a portion of the material, as this will deprive you and your partner of valuable learning opportunities. Instead, we encourage you to work together actively or each attempt it independently and then come together to discuss. Submitting an identical file/writing/code with your partner(s) is considered a violation of the Duke Community Standard and will be reported to the conduct office. You should also not share your solutions with anyone you do not actually study/work with.

You must complete the in-person exam independently and the Practicum should only be done and discussed within your group. You should not discuss them with any other classmates until after grades have been returned. You may not show your solutions to other students and should not view other solutions. Doing so will be considered a violation of the Duke Community Standard.

The group projects will be completed in groups, and while some group members may focus on different aspects of the project, all group members should be actively engaged in the overall project, each doing a fair share of work, and regularly communicating with group members.

Large Langue Model Usage

This class considers large language model (LLM) usage on par with collaboration with another person (though they do not count as an actual person in your group). This means you may use them with Prepares and Homeworks. Peer Instructions make less sense, so if you do, let the professor know she’s curious how that would work. You may use LLMs with your project to help you generate ideas and code. The same is true for the Practicum. But you should not assume it is correct. You and your group take ultimate responsibility for the quality of the work you submit.

If you use LLMs, you must cite that usage and note what it generated, what it inspired, and what you did without it.

Finally, the usage of LLMs is new. We do not know what the best practices with it for your learning. Therefore, you should take care not to let it short-circuit your learning where it becomes a crutch that you cannot function without. Not all companies allow the use of LLMs, and right now, you are expected to be able to do good work without them. Moreover, any interaction you have with an LLM service means the company is collecting data on your interactions. Therefore, we currently do not require the use of LLMs due to concerns about data privacy.

Attending Class Online

Current evidence from this class shows that online attendance is not conducive to learning compared to in-person attendance. However, online is still an option to stay committed to equity, so students can attend when factors outside their control prevent in-person attendance. Therefore, if you wish to attend class online for a particular day, you must request it via the request to attend class online form. You can find the form on the forms page.

Academic Integrity

All students must adhere to the Duke Community Standard (DCS): Duke University has high expectations for students’ scholarship and conduct. In accepting admission, students indicate their willingness to subscribe to and be governed by the rules and regulations of the university, which flow from the Duke Community Standard.

Regardless of course delivery format, it is the responsibility of all students to understand and follow all Duke policies, including academic integrity (e.g., completing one’s own work, following proper citation of sources, adhering to guidance around group work projects, and more). Ignoring these requirements is a violation of the Duke Community Standard. Any questions and/or concerns regarding academic integrity can be directed to the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards at conduct@duke.edu.

Covid

We will be following the Duke Covid Safety Protocol. You are welcome to go further than the protocol states.

If you have to quarantine or isolate due to Covid-19:

  • Class is hybrid. So you can still attend online if you feel up for it.
  • You must still answer the peer instruction questions we use that day to get credit.
  • If you cannot answer the peer instructions on time, fill out the short-term illness form. This will provide documentation that if your peer instruction scores dip below the cutoff for full credit and your situation should be considered to have an alternative grading applied to your overall grade.

Academic Support Resources

The Academic Resource Center (the ARC) offers services to support students academically during their undergraduate careers at Duke. The ARC can provide support with time management, academic skills and strategies, course-specific tutoring, and more. ARC services are available free to any Duke undergraduate student, studying any discipline. (919) 684-5917, theARC@duke.edu, or arc.duke.edu.

Academic Accommodation

If you are a student with a disability and need accommodations for this class, it is your responsibility to register with the Student Disability Access Office (SDAO) and provide them with documentation of your disability. SDAO will work with you to determine what accommodations are appropriate for your situation. Please note that accommodations are not retroactive and disability accommodations cannot be provided until a Faculty Accommodation Letter has been given to me. Please contact SDAO for more information: sdao@duke.edu or access.duke.edu.

Religious Accommodation

Students are permitted by university policy to be absent from class to observe a religious holiday. Accordingly, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences and the Pratt School of Engineering have established procedures to be followed by students for notifying their instructors of an absence necessitated by the observance of a religious holiday. Please submit requests for religious accommodations at the beginning of the semester so that we can work to make suitable arrangements well ahead of time. You can find the policy and relevant notification form here: https://trinity.duke.edu/undergraduate/academic-policies/religious-holidays

Long Term Health Issues

If you have or develop a chronic health issue that will interfere with your participation in this course, please contact your academic dean to seek accommodations as directed by Trinity College.

Personal Distress or Emergencies

If a situation of extreme personal distress or an emergency interferes with your participation in this course, please contact your academic dean to seek accommodations as directed by Trinity College.