This is a hybrid, flipped, just-in-time class

This class is a hybrid, flipped, just-in-time class. Hybrid means we will have a Zoom session associated with the class. The class is hybrid for the sake of equity. We do not want students unable to attend due to external factors outside of their control. However, if you can, we strongly recommend you attend in person. The two modalities are different, and we have much more experience and research-backed methodology on how to learn effectively in person than online. Flipped means you will first learn the material before class and have already made an initial attempt at understanding it, including some simple comprehension quizzes. Just-in-time means we use the data from the quizzes to drive what happens in class. Based on the quiz results class focuses on what everyone least understood from the material and everyone gets an opportunity to apply what they learned using example questions. Solutions to the examples are released after class.

Covid Precautions

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.

Modules

This course is divided into modules that are typically 1 week long. Each module has multiple components, so you engage with the material multiple times to enhance your learning. All due dates are at 11:59 PM unless otherwise noted.

• Prepare [Due: Typically Monday]. Will typically contain videos and/or readings to introduce new content, as well as quizzes (usually one per video/reading) to ensure comprehension. The quizzes will be on Sakai and auto-graded.
  • You can take the quizzes up to three times to correct initial misunderstandings.
  • A score of 80% total for the quizzes in that specific Prepare (e.g. sum(points_earned_on_all_quizzes)/sum(points_possible_on_all_quizzes)) will result in full credit for that Prepare. Otherwise, the percentage grade is based on 80% of the possible points (so a total of 72 points out of 100 results in 90%).
  • These are due 2 days before class, so we have enough time to create and plan the peer instructions for the class.
  • There is a 24-hour late window (typically the entire Tuesday). During the late window, you can only submit once and only if you have never submitted before.
  • You are allowed one extension request on one Prepare. Request this extension on the forms page.
• Peer instructions [Due: day of class]. During class, we will have peer instructions to check your understanding as we go through the content. They are created based on the class’s performance on the Prepares, so they focus on what everyone is weakest on. These are questions that you answer individually. Based on the class’s performance, we may split into groups to discuss answers and then answer the question again to help everyone’s understanding.
  • Your score is based on participation per question, not correctness. You need 80% of the possible points across the entire semester to receive full credit.
  • These will be available ONLY while they are being used during class. If you miss one, that is why you only need 80% of the possible points to get full credit. It will not be reopened for you. This rule is to strongly encourage attendance so we can learn together as a group.
  • Answering the question for one of the rounds earns you the point for that question.
• Worked Examples. During class, we will also work on notebooks together. They do not factor into your grades and are not available for every module. When they are available, they come with an attached autograder that you can run locally to see if you have solved the problems correctly.
• Homework [Due: Typically Sunday]. Will typically consist of a set of coding/data analysis or statistics problems to complete in a Jupyter notebook and submit on Gradescope. We may work through several of these problems in class together, especially if there are no worked examples. You may submit as many times as you want to Gradescope. A score of 90% on a Homework will result in full credit.

Homework Slip Days

Homeworks will typically be due on Sunday. If you want to submit late, you must use slip day “tokens.” You have 9 slip days for the entire semester. To use your slip days, you need to fill out the slip day form within 24 hours of the due date, so we are aware to expect a submission and a rough idea of how many days you plan to use. To submit, submit your homework like normal during Gradescope’s 1-week late period. The total number of slip days you use will be based on the calendar day in Duke’s time zone when your active submission was submitted, not what was stated on the form. You do not need to submit the form more than once per assignment.

For example, if the assignment was due on Sunday and your active submission was submitted on Tuesday, you used 2 slip days for that assignment. Assuming this is the first time you used slip days, you will have 7 slip days left.

If you run out of slip days, you will need to contact the professor through the class email (cs216s23@cs.duke.edu) to discuss getting more. In the Sakai grade book, you will find a column telling you how many slip days you have used. The “denominator” of the column will be the number of default tokens anyone has. If you receive more, we cannot change that number individually for you. You will need to keep track of how many tokens you can spend yourself.

Exams and Exam Retakes

To assess understanding of the material, there will be (tentatively) three exams that will span 3 modules each. These exams will be timed, taken at home, and available for a fixed set of days. They are usually two parts, and each part will likely have a time limit of 2 hours. That does not mean we expect you to take 2 hours. The teaching staff tests and times the exams with the goal of estimating that most students will take at most 2 hours on the exam.

Each exam will have a retake opportunity during the following exam period. We will take the highest of your scores per exam part. Therefore, if you are satisfied with your grade for one part of an exam but not the other, you only need to do the exam retake of the part you are dissatisfied with.

Regrades

Regrades are through Gradescope. The regrade window opens 24 hours after the assignment is returned and closes after 1 week. The 24-hour delay allows everyone time to consider their grade and consult with each other and the teaching staff before submitting a regrade. Regrade requests should explain specifically why you believe a different grade is more appropriate, not just ask for more partial credit without any reason. Regrades requests also mean that your entire submission may get regraded. Please note that grade changes (apart from clear grader errors) are rare.

Projects

Instead of a final exam, this course has an open-ended collaborative project. In groups of four or five, you will choose a research topic that can be explored through data science. You will formulate research questions, acquire data, and perform your own data processing, analysis, and modeling to answer your research questions. The projects have three stages of deliverables.

• Proposal – A document that highlights a topic, data source(s), research questions, and a collaboration plan.
• Prototype – A document that highlights methods, preliminary results, and an updated collaboration plan.
• Final Report and Video Presentation – A document that provides a complete description of the topic, research questions, methods, results, and conclusions, along with a recorded presentation involving all group members.

More details will be provided about each deliverable closer to their due dates, including a rubric for grading. Project Deliverables will be graded for satisfying the necessary criteria, i.e., satisfying the basic requirements will result in full credit. This is intended to encourage creativity to allow project groups to explore widely in terms of topics, research questions, and methods without fear of a grade penalty. We will also provide constructive written feedback on project deliverables separate from the criterion grading in order to help teams make progress.

Grades

The final course grade, as a percentage, will be calculated as the following weighted average:

• Prepare 15%
• Peer Instructions 5%
• Homework 25%
• Project 10%, broken down by deliverables:
  • Initial Plan 0.5%
  • Proposal 1%
  • Prototype 2%
  • Video Presentation 3%
  • Final Report 3.5%
• Exams 45%

Final numerical grades will be converted to letter grades as follows. Letter grades of A+ are awarded only for students with a grade of A and exceptional course projects as determined by the instructor.

• [90, 95) = A-, [95, 100] = A
• [80, 83) = B-, [83, 87) = B, [87, 90) = B+
• [70, 73) = C-, [73, 77) = C, [77, 80) = C+
• [60, 63) = D-, [63, 67) = D, [67, 70) = D+

The “B+ Option”

Sometimes life gets in the way of learning. Rather than have you give up on the class, we have created a “B+ option.” Taking this option means you will not do a project, and any project grades you have will be made a 0. Since the project is worth 10% of the overall grade, this naturally caps your grade to a B+. If you take this option, we will work with you to stretch out deadlines and move exams such that you have time to learn the content and show us that you have gained competency in the class material.

To take this option, you must meet with Prof. Stephens-Martinez. Not submitting a project milestone is grounds for moving to this option.