Academic Integrity. All participants in this course are expected to uphold the Duke Community Standard; that is, to agree that “…I will not lie, cheat, or steal in my academic endeavors; I will conduct myself honorably in all my endeavors; and I will act if the Standard is compromised.” In all cases, failure to uphold this standard will result in referral to Office of Student Conduct. Any work that copies, paraphrases, or in any other way uses materials not your own without citation will be considered in violation.
Collaboration. Homework assignments should be completed and submitted in groups of one or two students. If two students work together on homework, they should not “split up” the assignment, each only completing (for example) half of the problems. Rather, they should complete each portion of the assignment by working together physically in the same space (for example, pair programming) or by each implementing the feature independently and then coming together to merge their solutions.
The group projects will be completed in groups of three to five, and while some group members may focus on different aspects of the project, all group members should be actively engaged in the overall project and regularly communicating with group members (it is not acceptable, for example, for a group of five to assign five independent tasks, not meet for two or three weeks, and then attempt to simply stitch the pieces together).
For both homework and the group project, cross-group collaboration is not allowed. Violation of the collaboration policy will also be considered in violation of the Duke Community Standard.
Disability Accommodation. Students with disabilities who believe they may need accommodations in this class are encouraged to contact the Student Disability Access Office at (919) 668-1267 as soon as possible to better ensure that such accommodations can be implemented in a timely fashion.
Grades. All assignments in the course will receive a letter grade corresponding to a point value out of 4 on the following scale.
| A | 4.0 | C | 2.0 |
| A- | 3.7 | C- | 1.7 |
| B+ | 3.3 | D+ | 1.3 |
| B | 3.0 | D | 1.0 |
| B- | 2.7 | D- | 0.7 |
| C+ | 2.3 | F | 0.0 |
Final course grades will be calculated according to the following weighted average on the 4 point scale. The weighted average on the 4 point scale will be converted to a final letter grade according to the same chart above, rounding to the closest letter category. For example, a final weighted average of 3.9 would receive an A, whereas a weighted average of 3.8 would receive an A-. Ties will be broken in the student’s favor, so for example a weighted average of 3.5 would receive an A- rather than a B+.
| Homework (8 total) | 40% |
| Mini-project | 10% |
| Term-Project | 50% |
The term-project grade will be broken down as follows.
| Proposal | 10% |
| Prototype | 10% |
| Final Presentation | 10% |
| Peer Assessment | 10% |
| Final Report | 60% |
Late Work. Assignments are always due on Fridays by class time (10:15 am Durham time). Given the exigencies imposed by COVID-19 and remote work, we have a generous late policy for assignments which applies to homework and project deliverables. There is a 72 hour grace period, meaning that assignments turned in within 72 hours of the deadline (i.e., by the following Monday mornings) will not be penalized for lateness. After that, assignments will be penalized by one category reduction per day (i.e., from A to A-, then from A- to B+, etc.) up to one week after the assignment due date (that is, class time the following Friday), after which late assignments will no longer be accepted. This means that if you still have not completed the assignment one week after the due date, you should turn in what you have for partial credit rather than receive a 0. Note that assignments will not be accepted after the last day of class for the semester, which is Friday, Nov. 13, 2020, meaning that final term-project reports will not be accepted late.
Regrade. Students who wish to have a grade changed must make a written request through the regrade request feature on Gradescope no later than one week from the day the assignment is returned. Regrade requests should explain specifically why the student believes a different grade is more appropriate for the submitted work, not just ask for more credit. Note that grade changes (apart from clear grader errors) are rare.
Attendance. Students are expected to be available during the scheduled class meeting times, otherwise they should contact the instructor as soon as possible. Students are encouraged but not required to attend lectures live as personal and home circumstances permit. Recordings of all lectures will be made available. In addition, we will occasionally use in-class time for project collaboration, peer feedback / workshopping project deliverables, and project presentations, and students are expected to participate online synchronously in these events.
Short Term Incapacitation. If a student is unexpectedly incapacitated for health reasons or some other personal emergency, they are responsible for submitting a short-term incapacitation form as directed by Trinity College. Note that the definition of incapacitation is “An incapacitating health issue is one in which you are hospitalized, under medical care for a short-term condition, or otherwise sufficiently debilitated as to be unable to perform basic academic tasks. Colds, headaches, or other such mild complaints that result in your feeling less than 100% are not considered incapacitating, and you should not use the Incapacitation Form in such instances.”
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.
