Grading Formula and assigned work for CS 173

Your final average is a weighted combination of your averages on examlets, homeworks, discussion problems, and tutorial attendance. Specifically

When we translate these averages into final letter grades, a score of 90 will be at least an A-, 80 at least a B-, 70 at least a C-, 50 at least a D-. If the raw scores are running excessively low, we may revise these cutoffs to be more generous. However, this has happened only very rarely in recent years. In past terms, at least half of the grades have been A's and B's.

Monitoring grades

You are responsible for keeping an eye on your PrairieLearn gradebook and promptly reporting apparent errors. See the FAQ for how to report grading and/or entry problems.

If the scores you are receiving alarm you, seek help.

Readings and lectures

Video lectures will be posted each week. However, you are also expected to prepare for each lecture by doing the posted readings. Basic material (e.g. basic definitions) is typically not covered in the videos. (The first-week videos are more comprehensive because we are just getting started.)

Examlets

There will be bi-weekly examlets - these account for most of your final course average. We plan 6 bi-weekly examlets, each 1 hour 50 minutes long.

Sign up for each examlet far in advance! Signups will open on PrairieTest 16-18 days before each examlet. Timeslots may fill up, and we will not accept "the CBTF ran out of timeslots" as an excuse for missing an examlet.

We do not drop any examlet scores. See the missed work page for how to arrange a makeup.

There will also be a short final exam which will partially cover the most recent material like any other examlet, and partially review old material, with one long induction proof and with short questions that sample topics from earlier in the term. The final is the same length and worth the same amount as a normal examlet.

At the end of the semester (most likely the last week of the semester), you can optionally choose to retake one of the examlets. (You do not have to declare in advance which you're retaking - the choices will be offered to you when you've started the retake at the CBTF.) Your retake score will replace your original score if it is better (or fill in a zero if you never made up a missed examlet).

Before the first examlet, familiarize yourself with the basic CS 173 exam instructions. Only the most critical parts will be explicitly included on the individual exams.

Questions on examlets are sometimes exact copies of homework or study problems, or problems used in past terms. They might be entirely new. Or they might look similar to past problems but differ in critical details. We make no promises about whether you will or won't be doing a problem that you've seen before. Similarly, makeups and retake exams may use previously-seen problems and/or new ones. Therefore, when studying for an examlet, concentrate on mastering general skills rather than memorizing specific solutions.

Tutorial attendence

You are expected to attend the tutorial you are registered for. During tutorials, you will work on problems in small groups, getting feedback from course staff. Bring the manual of discussion problems (on a device is fine) and a notebook for recording your work.

The expectation is that everyone present at a tutorial will receive 100% credit for that week's tutorial problems. However, we reserve the right to take off points (or even give zero credit) if behavior during tutorial suggest that you aren't making a good-faith effort to do the work as intended. We hope this will be extremely rare.

Attendance will not be taken at the first tutorial. In addition, we will drop one more tutorial. Specifically, if we hold k tutorials over the course of the term (not counting week 1), you will receive full credit if you attended at least k-1.

Homeworks

Weekly homework consists of

Both are due 11:59pm each Saturday on PrairieLearn (except for 1/23 and 3/27, see the calendar on the front page). You are expected to do the autograded homework on your own. You may not ask other people (or the piazza forum) for the answers to those questions (or minor variations of them). However, you may freely discuss general concepts with friends or on piazza. You may also get specific help from course staff e.g. at office hours or using a private post on piazza.

You should do all the posted study problems on each topic to prepare for the corresponding exam. Each week, you will submit one of these problems, typed, on PrairieLearn. It will be graded for good-faith completion (not correctness). You are allowed to freely discuss the study problems with other people in the class. However, the typed-up submission should be your own work (e.g. written in your own words).

We'll drop your lowest homework grade, and your lowest study problem grade, when computing your final average.