We will have two sections of CS 357 in the Fall 2021 semester:
Section M: Online, TR 12:30pm - 1:45pm
Section N: In-person, TR 12:30pm - 1:45pm, Location pending
Students registered in either section will have to complete the SAME assessments via PrairieLearn: homework, quizzes, group activities, machine problems. All lecture content will be delivered via pre-recorded videos. There will be no difference regarding acess of material or course evaluation between these two sections.
So what makes them different? The way students will interact to complete their weekly group assessments:
Section N: students will complete the group assessment in the classroom, during lecture time on Tuesdays. Attendance is required. The maximum capacity for this section is 80 students.
Section M: students will complete the group assessment online via Zoom on Tuesdays at 12:30pm or 8pm. During the first week of classes, we will only have the 12:30pm option (and because of that, we will not require attendance).
Your grade is composed by the following assessments, all delivered via PrairieLearn.
| Assessment | Contribution | Section M | Section N |
|---|---|---|---|
| Final exam | 15% | Follows non-combined schedule, ONLINE with Zoom Proctoring | Follows non-combined schedule, ONLINE with Zoom Proctoring |
| Bi-weekly quizzes | 35% | Thursdays, 12:30-1:45pm, ONLINE with Zoom Proctoring | Thursdays, 12:30-1:45pm, ONLINE with Zoom Proctoring |
| Homework | 25% | Submitted weekly via PrairieLearn | Submitted weekly via PrairieLearn |
| MP | 10% | Submitted 5 times during the semester via PrairieLearn | Submitted 5 times during the semester via PrairieLearn |
| Group Activity | 11% | Tuesdays, meet online (12:30pm or 8pm) | Tuesdays, 12:30-1:45pm, in-person, classroom attendance required |
| Lecture Activity | 4% | Pre-recorded videos available via PrairieLearn on Tuesdays and Thursdays with corresponding short questions | Pre-recorded videos available via PrairieLearn on Tuesdays and Thursdays with corresponding short questions |
All your grade components will be added up with the percentage weights indicated and result in a single number. This number will determine your letter grade, according to the following scales:
| Grade | Point Range |
|---|---|
| A+ | [97, 100) |
| A | [93, 97) |
| A- | [90, 93) |
| B+ | [87, 90) |
| B | [83, 87) |
| B- | [80, 83) |
| C+ | [77, 80) |
| C | [73, 77) |
| C- | [70, 73) |
| D+ | [67, 70) |
| D | [63, 67) |
| D- | [60, 63) |
| F | < 60 |
The top 5% students will receive an A+ (assuming that they all have a score of A, which has always been the case in previous semesters).
Any questions, concerns, or misgivings regarding a specific grade must be raised within one week of the release of the grade. After one week has passed, the assigned grade is considered accepted and no further complaints will be considered.
We will be using Python with the libraries numpy, scipy and matplotlib for in-class work and assignments. No other languages are permitted. Python has a very gentle learning curve, so you should feel at home even if you’ve never done any work in Python.
For the homework assignments and quizzes, the coding can be done directly on PrairieLearn. Class demos will use Python 3 in a Jupyter notebook.
If you wish to install Python and the Numpy+Scipy+Matplotlib stack, you are free to do so in any way that works. We recommend using Anaconda, which is a (free) Python distribution that includes Numpy+Scipy+Matplotlib. In addition, you should use Python 3.
The course staff has created a short Python tutorial that is available as a PrairieLearn assessment, for students that have not worked with Python before, or need some brushing up.
You will complete two weekly lecture assignments, corresponding to the Tuesdays and Thursdays lectures, which will appear in PrairieLearn with the label L#. You can find all the topics listed on the schedule page.
Each assignment will consist of short to medium size videos, and short questions corresponding to the video content. These are short activities that should be completed on the day they are open (Tuesdays and Thursdays), but they can be completed for 100% credit by the following Tuesday at 9am. This schedule will ensure students complete watching the relevant material for the group activity on Tuesdays. These assignments combined count towards 4% of your final grade. There will be a total of 24 lecture activities, and the lowest 4 scores will be dropped.
If you don’t complete the lecture activities before the Tuesday deadline, you have two other late deadlines for reduced credit: 90% credit if you complete them before the quiz date corresponding to the same topic, or 50% credit if you complete them before the last day of classes. You can find all the due dates directly in PrairieLearn.
Students will be placed in groups of 3-4, and they will work together to complete an assignment delivered via PrairieLearn with the label GA#. Groups will be only formed starting from week 3, and students will have the opportunity to create their own groups during the first two weeks. These assignments combined count towards 11% of your final grade.
Students in the N section will complete this activity on Tuesdays during lecture time, and attendance is required. Students in the online section M will complete this activity remotely. There will be synchronous and asynchronous options. You can find more information about the group activities in the collaborate page
These assignments combined count towards 11% of your final grade. The lowest 2 scores will be dropped.
The homework sets will be assigned via PrairieLearn with the label HW#.
The due dates are indicated both in PrairieLearn and also in the lecture schedule
(the schedule may be subjected to changes during the semester). Each homework is due at 8pm on the due date.
If you don’t complete the homework by the recommended deadline, you can still complete it by the last day of classes for 96% credit.
In the PrairieLearn assessment page, if you click on the “?” just to the right of the line about available credit, you’ll see all the dates associated with this assessment, and how I am setting the credit:
* You can receive 100% until Main End Date
* You can receive 96% until Late End Date
The “Late End Date” corresponds to the last day of classes, December 08 2021.
There will be a total of 20 individual HWs, combined they will count towards 25% of your final grade. The 2 lowest scores will be dropped.
There will be a total of 5 MPs assigned via PrairieLearn with the label MP#. These are longer programming assignments.
The due dates are indicated in the lecture schedule (the schedule may be subjected to changes during the semester).
Each MP is due at 8pm on the due date. If you don’t complete the MP by the recommended deadline, you can still complete it by the last day of classes for 96% credit.
If you click on the “?” just to the right of the line about available credit, you’ll see all the dates associated with this assessment, and how I am setting the credit:
* You can receive 100% until Main End Date
* You can receive 96% until Late End Date
The “Late End Date” corresponds to the last day of classes, December 08 2021.
There will be a total of 5 individual HWs, combined they will count towards 10% of your final grade. There is no drop of MP scores.
Throughout the semester, you will take 6 quizzes (50-minute) that will have a mixture of short questions and short coding questions (similar to the questions that appear in your HW, L, GA and practice assessments).
Quizzes will count towards 35% of your final grade and the lowest score will be dropped.
You will have a Practice Quiz open 9 days prior to each quiz. Your actual quiz will be generated using the same question pool used to generate the practice quizzes, with the exception of the coding questions. The practice quiz will be unavailable starting at 11am during quiz day.
Quizzes will take place online during lecture time on Thursdays 12:30pm-1:30pm. The schedule page shows all quiz dates. Note that quizzes will automatically close at 1:30pm.
Check the quiz page for more information.
Students with valid reason (for example, the ones located at a different timezone or with a time-conflict override) will be able to take the conflict quiz, which will be scheduled later in the same day at 8pm Central Time. Students will need to make the request to take the conflict exam during the first two weeks of the semester, and they will take the quiz during the conflict time for the entire semester. Students will not be able to change their quiz time starting from week 3 (unless for extenuating circumstances).
Conflict quiz request form: https://forms.illinois.edu/sec/1814595834
These quizzes will follow the CS honors code and UIUC Academic Integrity policies. You will be expected to comply with the Student Code, and the rules of CBTF-online. The list below summarizes some of the guidelines provided on these other resources:
You must not communicate with anyone about quiz content during the quiz period, staring from 12:30pm Central Time on the exam day (Thursdays, as listed on the schedule) and finishing at 9:30pm on the same day. All office hours will be also canceled during this period. No questions should be posted on CampusWire, or any other digital space, discussing quiz content.
Students that have DRES accommodations will need to complete the following form by the end of week 2. You will be asked to upload your Letter of Accommodation.
When you finish your quiz, you will see the correct answers and your score on the quiz. You will not have access to the quiz once your assigned quiz period is finished. If you want to talk about the quiz with the instructor or TA, you must wait until the quiz period is over, and then you can ask questions on CampusWire, or office hours. You are not allowed to post screen shots of quiz questions on CampusWire.
The final exam will follow the University non-combined schedule, on Friday December 10, 7:00pm-10:00pm.
The final exam will follow the same rules of the quizzes. We will use PrairieTest to deliver the exam online with Zoom proctoring.
I often get this question from students: “How can I study for this course?” I will give here my recommendation, based on observations, my own experience as student, and feedback received over the years. Of course, every student is different, and the recommendations below may not apply to you.
1) Watch the pre-recorded videos and complete the short questions (PrairieLearn lecture activities). Some students prefer to read instead of watching videos. If that is your case, you can take a look at the lecture slides and/or notes from the Resources page.
2) Start the homework AFTER you go over the course content and have a good understanding of the material. Use the homework to test your knowledge. Go back and review the concepts when you get a questions marked as incorrect. I know it can be tempting to just keep trying until you get the question marked as correct (the so desirable PrairieLearn green badge!), but you will be missing the opportunity to actually learn from your mistakes.
3) Watch the pre-recorded videos before the corresponding group activities. You will have more productive and interesting conversations with your team mates if you know the content.
4) When preparing for the quizzes, take a look at the review questions from the Resources page.. They may help you figuring out what you know and what you still need to learn. Go back to the videos, slides and/or notes from concepts that you have not mastered yet.
5) This semester I am making Practice Quizzes available. Don’t start creating your Practice Quizzes until you completed the steps above. This is a great opportunity to really see how well you have learned the material before you take your actual quiz.
You must not discuss any aspect of the quizzes and final exam until all students complete the assessment. That means you must not have any conversation about the quiz content until 9:30am on Fridays after the Thursdays with scheduled quizzes.
You can discuss your approach with your peers. All parts of each homework set or machine problem must be your own work. You must have typed/written every part of your homework yourself. It is okay to copy code/pieces of work provided by the instructor and available on the course website (however, to keep good practice, you must acknowledge the source).
Here is your opportunity to learn, teach and interact with your peers! Exchange ideas, get creative, and make sure you carry your share of the work load.
Students that violate any of the course policies will face penalties as provided by campus rules regarding academic honesty.
Academic integrity infractions, harassment, and discrimination of any kind will not be tolerated. See the University’s Student Code, Article 1, Part 4. Please see the Students’ Quick Reference Guide to Academic Integrity for more details.
Please see the departmental Honor Code for details on integrity and procedures.
Excuses from assessments will only be given in the following circumstances:
A. Illness
B. Personal crisis (e.g. car accident, required court appearance, death of a close relative).
C. Required attendance at an official UIUC activity (e.g. varsity athletics, band concert).
In all cases you must fill out the excused absence request form and upload the appropriate documentation.
In cases (A) or (B) an official excuse letter from the (Dean on Duty) must be uploaded with the form within 2 weeks of the due date of the missed assessment, 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 uploaded at least one week prior to the due date of the missed assessment.
Notwithstanding the above, at your professor’s discretion you may be required to make up any excused work or attend substitute instruction or assessment.
If you have accommodations identified by the Division of Rehabilitation-Education Services (DRES), please submit your DRES letter using the following form:
Submit your Letter of Accommodation https://forms.illinois.edu/sec/1528734110
If you have accommodations for quizzes (e.g extended time), you must submit your letter by the end of week 2.
Diminished mental health, including significant stress, mood changes, excessive worry, substance/alcohol abuse, or problems with eating and/or sleeping can interfere with optimal academic performance, social development, and emotional wellbeing. The University of Illinois offers a variety of confidential services including individual and group counseling, crisis intervention, psychiatric services, and specialized screenings at no additional cost. If you or someone you know experiences any of the above mental health concerns, it is strongly encouraged to contact or visit any of the University’s resources provided below. Getting help is a smart and courageous thing to do – for yourself and for those who care about you.
Counseling Center: 217-333-3704, 610 East John Street Champaign, IL 61820
McKinley Health Center:217-333-2700, 1109 South Lincoln Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61801