Course Policy

This page is organized as follows:

1. Assignments
2. Exams
3. Grading
4. Attendance
5. Standards of Conduct
6. Disabilities

Assignments

There will be two kinds of assignments: reading and homework assignments and programming projects. All assignments will be handed out or announced in class. If you miss a class session, it is your responsibility to find out what you missed. You should expect to spend about 3-4 hours per week on the reading and written assignments, and an average of 3 hours per week on programming projects. Note, however, that each programming project is estimated to require 8-10 hours, so your work load in weeks that projects are due may be higher (with other weeks being correspondingly lower).

Written assignments will focus on the reading assignments and the coming week's lectures. Exercises that use material not yet discussed in lecture will be graded generously. For the reading and written assignments, no late assignments will be accepted unless arrangements have been made in advance or unless unusual circumstances warrant an exception.

Programming projects are designed to allow you to gain hands-on experience with a specific language and programming paradigm (e.g., AspectJ for object and aspect-oriented programming, Haskell for functional programming, PHP for Web and procedural programming, and Prolog for logic programming). Late projects will be accepted, but projects turned in late will be penalized 10% for each day or partial day of lateness for up to five days. After five days, projects will not be accepted unless other arrangements have been made in advance or unless unusual circumstances warrant an exception. All written assignments and programming projects are to be done individually. While you may discuss the assignment in general terms with others, your solutions should be composed, designed, written and tested by you alone. If you need help, consult the TA or the instructor.

Exams

There will be two mid-term exams and one final exam. The final exam will be comprehensive. The mid-term exams will take place during the regular class session and each will be 80 minutes in length, and the final exam will take place on the date specified by the university. Refer to Important Dates for the tentative exam schedule.

Make-up exams will be given only when you have unusual circumstances, such as incapacitating illness or presenting a research paper at a conference. If you believe that you have an unusual circumstance that warrants a make-up exam, notify us as soon as possible. If you will be attending a conference or other event, you must make arrangements for a make-up exam in advance. Under any circumstances, you may be required to provide official documentation before a make-up will be administered.

Grading

Your semester grade will be based on a combination of written assignments, programming projects, quizzes, and exams. The approximate percentages are as follows:

In addition, a bonus of up to 5% is available for lecture attendance and participation. To earn this bonus, you must arrive at lecture on time and participate in class discussion in a constructive and prepared manner, e.g., by asking or answering questions that demonstrate that you have read and attempted to understand the material.

Your grade is independent of anyone else's grade in this class; that is, we do not grade on a curve. Everyone can get an A in this class. Our purpose in grading is to uphold a standard of quality and to give you feedback, it is not to rank students.

Although we will not always make fine distinctions in points, the nominal minimum standards are given by the following table.

The instructor reserves the right to adjust these criteria downward, e.g., so that 88% or higher represents an A, based on overall class performance. The criteria will not be adjusted upward, however.

Attendance

Lecture attendance is not mandatory but is recommended. You should understand that your success in the course will improve greatly by attending class regularly. It is your responsibility to keep up to date with notes, assignments and exam.

Standards of Conduct

You are expected to conduct yourself in a professional and courteous manner, as prescribed by the UTEP Standards of Conduct. Graded work (homework, projects, exams) is to be completed independently and should be unmistakably your own work, although you may discuss your work with others in a general way. You may not represent as your own work material that is transcribed or copied from another source, including persons, books, or Web pages. Instructors are required to-and will-report academic dishonesty and any other violation of the Standards of Conduct to the Dean of Students.

Disabilities

If you feel that you may have a disability that requires accommodation, contact the Disabled Student Services Office at 747-5184, go to Room 106E Union, or email dss@utep.edu.

Last modified by Yoonsik Cheon: $Id: policy.html,v 1.8 2010/12/30 20:57:32 cheon Exp $