TAM 2XX Course Policies:
Below are the course policies for the TAM 2XX courses (210, 211, 212, and 251). Please read through them and familiarize yourself with the policies regarding course logistics.
Absences:
- Excuses from assessments will only be given in the following circumstances:
- Illness.
- Personal crisis (e.g., car accident, required court appearance, death of a closerelative).
- Required attendance at an official UIUC activity (e.g., varsity athletics, band concert).
- You are using accommodations from your DRES letter.
- In all cases you must complete the Excused Absence Request Form found on your course homepage and upload a scan of the official written documentation explaining your absence.
- In cases (a) or (b) an official excuse letter from the Dean on Duty (or for illness or injury, a doctor's note with specific dates to be excused from schoolwork) must be submitted via the online form within 2 weeks of the due date of the missed assessment, but no later than reading day. In cases of extended or unusual illness, late submission of excuse documentation will be considered.
- In case (c) an official letter from the designated university official must be submitted via the online form at least one week prior to the due date of the missed assessment.
- In case (d) you must submit your DRES letter and state the specific accommodations you are requesting to use.
- Notwithstanding the above, at your professor's discretion you may be required to make up any excused work or attend substitute instruction or assessment.
Academic integrity, harassment, and discrimination:
Academic integrity infractions, harassment, and discrimination of any kind will not be tolerated. See the University's Student Code, Article 1, Part 4 and the Campus Conduct Policy. Please report any concerns immediately to your professor.
Academic integrity infractions will be dealt with using the most stringent available counter-measures. All infractions are documented through the campus-wide FAIR database, that remains part of the student's permanent record. All infractions in this database will be referred to the Senate Committee on Student Discipline for review and potential additional sanctions. Typical pentalties in TAM 2XX courses for academic infractions include dropping one course letter grade. Students have been expelled from the university for cheating.
Infractions include, but are not limited to, cheating, plagiarism, and assisting others in a manner not prescribed or allowed for in the original assignment or directions. Notably, for homework assignments, students are encouraged and allowed to work together. The philosophy is that homeworks are formative assessments, meaning they are intended to foster learning. This is in contrast to summative assessments, including quizzes and exams, that measure individual student mastery of course concepts, for which students are of course forbidden from assisting each other.
Computer-based testing deserves special mention. This testing is typically given across multiple days. During the entire time period of testing, students are strictly forbidden from discussing any aspect of the test/quiz whatsoever with other students. This includes specifics of questions, general aspects of questions, comments on the difficulty of the quiz, etc. This policy is strictly enforced to preserve the integrity of the computer-based testing.
Contact and obtaining help:
The two main ways to obtain help are online at Campuswire, or in person at office hours. You can also speak with your professor briefly after lecture. Please do not send email directly to CAs, TAs or professors for routine help or absences.
This class uses Campuswire for ALL communications between the instructor, TAs, CAs, and students. Students should not communicate with instructors via email. This is so we can ensure a faster response and keep everyone informed about what's going on.
Students are encouraged to post public messages on Campuswire ("Post to Entire Class"). If you like, you can post anonymously, but we encourage everyone to use their name because it makes a friendlier and more welcoming environment. We will never judge anyone for asking anything on Campuswire, and you will see professors, TAs, and CAs making mistakes and saying stupid things as well!
You can use the private feature on Campuswire by posting a message visible only to the Instructors. To do so, choose the "Post to instructors and TAs" option in the dropdown menu located at the bottom right corner of the window.
The use of Campuswire should not replace the in-person Office Hours time, since some questions cannot be fully addressed via an online forum.
Gradebook:
All assessment scores are stored on Canvas. Note that we are only using this website for grade reporting. All other class-related information will be posted only to the official class website or Campuswire. Any errors in grade reporting appearing on Canvas must be reported to "Instructors" via Campuswire within 2 weeks of the due date of the assessment item or by the last day of class, whichever is earlier.
Final grades:
The total score s corresponds to final grades as follows.
| 97% ≤ s < 100% | A+ | 93% ≤ s < 97% | A | 90% ≤ s < 93% | A- |
| 87% ≤ s < 90% | B+ | 83% ≤ s < 87% | B | 80% ≤ s < 83% | B- |
| 77% ≤ s < 80% | C+ | 73% ≤ s < 77% | C | 70% ≤ s < 73% | C- |
| 67% ≤ s < 70% | D+ | 63% ≤ s < 67% | D | 60% ≤ s < 63% | D- |
| s < 60% | F |
Lectures:
Prompt and regular attendance at lectures is essential for your comprehension and success in the course.
iClickers:
Short quizzes are conducted during lectures using iClickers. You can use either a physical remote or the iClicker app. An iClicker remote can be purchased from any of the bookstores. You must sign up for an iClicker.com account, and register for the class you are enrolled in by searching for it once you are logged in.
iClicker participation grade is worth 5% of final course grade. Your lowest six iClicker scores for the semester will be dropped automatically. These drops should be reserved for unexpected occurrences such as sickness or a family emergency. No missed iClicker scores will be excused for the semester regardless of the reasons.
Computer-based quizzes:
This course uses the College of Engineering Computer-Based Testing Facility (CBTF) for its quizzes and exams: https://cbtf.engr.illinois.edu.
The policies of the CBTF are the policies of this course, and academic integrity infractions related to the CBTF are infractions in this course.
If you have accommodations identified by the Disability Resources and Educational Services (DRES) for exams, carefully go through and follow these instructions: https://cbtf.illinois.edu/students/dres. Please note, The CBTF cannot add DRES accommodations at the time of an exam. They MUST be uploaded 5 business days beforehand.
Any problem with testing in the CBTF must be reported to CBTF staff at the time the problem occurs. If you do not inform a proctor of a problem during the test then you forfeit all rights to redress.
Review all instructions on the CBTF website before your first exam: https://cbtf.illinois.edu/students
Discussion sections:
Discussion sections start in Week 1 of the semester. Prompt and regular attendance at your discussion section is required. You must attend only the discussion section in which you are enrolled. You will not receive a grade for the worksheet if you attend the wrong discussion section.
Most discussion sessions will consist of a group worksheet exercise, which is a high-energy and efficient 50-minute learning experience. Students will be placed in permanent groups of three to four people during the third week of classes. If you are more than 5 minutes late to a discussion session then you will not receive credit for the section. All members of the group should be working together as a team. The TAs and CAs will be evaluating team work, problem-solution skills and interpretation of the problem.
There are two main goals for the discussion worksheets:
- Gain experience in team-work. This is a critical skill in all areas of engineering, from large-scale industrial projects to academic research. Working productively in teams is a skill that must be learned just like math or physics, and regular practice is essential. Often you will have to work with people who you do not especially like, or who you find it difficult to work with. It is important to lean how to manage these situations so that the important work is still accomplished.
- Apply engineering concepts to real-world problems. Each worksheet focuses on a real-world problem that you will have to use your engineering skills to solve. This will include using the material from class, but also knowledge from previous engineering, math, and science classes. You will also have to think like an engineer, and understand when to make approximations, how to judge the appropriateness of different models, and which mathematics and physics is most useful for a given engineering problem.
We also hope that these discussion worksheets will help you to meet other engineering students and we encourage you to get together outside of lectures and discussions to work collaboratively on homeworks and exam study.
Online homeworks:
Weekly online homeworks will be assigned via PrairieLearn. Each assignment is due at 11:59pm on the assigned due date. Due dates are available inside PrairieLearn. These assignments place an emphasis on mastery. The idea is to keep doing questions until you master the underlying concept or method. Once you do, you should be able to answer these questions very quickly.
The way this works in PrairieLearn is that each question has a value, a point total, and a point maximum. If you answer a question correctly, two things happen:
- The point total increases by the value, until you reach the point maximum.
- The value increases (2x, 3x, 4x, etc.).
- The value increases (2x, 3x, 4x, etc.).
If you answer a question incorrectly, one thing happens:
- The value goes back to what it was originally (1x).
This system rewards repeated correct answers, which tend to demonstrate mastery. There is no penalty (other than resetting the value) for answering a question incorrectly, so don't be afraid to submit an answer. Similarly, don't be afraid to keep doing a question after you reach the point maximum - your point total with never go down!
If you click on the "?" just to the right of the line about available credit, you'll see all the dates associated with this homework. In particular, it says:
- you can receive 100% until Main End Date
- you can receive 80% until Extended End Date(two days later)
- you can receive 0%, but can keep doing problems as practice for the rest of the semester.
Note that your score will never go down. For example, if you achieve 90% by the Main End Date, you won't be able to increase your score after that time, but you won't be penalized for not reaching 100% - your score will remain 90% forever. On the other hand, if you achieve only 70% by the Main End Date you will be able to increase your score after that time (to a maximum of 80%) until the Extended End Date.
Special accommodations:
To obtain disability-related academic adjustments or accommodations, students with disabilities must contact their professor and Disability Resources and Educational Services (DRES) as soon as possible. Students who require special accommodations for exams should schedule to take their exam at DRES, and DRES staff will communicate with the professor to organize the exam. There is no need to inform the professor about this in advance.
If you have accommodations identified by the Disability Resources and Educational Services (DRES) for exams, please submit your Letter of Accommodations (LOA) here before you make your first exam reservation. This must be done each semester you use the CBTF.
Final Exam:
Please visit each course's home page for details regarding the final exam.