Our research shows that students learn more and generally prefer to work with other students to complete in-class activities. Students will complete group activities (GA) every Tuesday, either during lecture time (section M at 12:30pm CT and section ZJ1 at 8:00pm CT) or at another designated time selected by the group (section N). The required group activities (couting towards grade) will start on week 3. For in-person collaboration, we encourage groups of 2 or 3 students, since this formation makes it easier for students to look at each other's laptop screen. We will have practice group actitivies during the first two weeks of classes.
During the in-person Thursday lectures, we will complete IPython (Jupyter) notebooks to implement some of the numerical methods covered in the pre-lecture videos. These lectures will be recorded, and the complete notebooks will be available in PrairieLearn (labeled with WS#). Attendance is not required. Note that we will not be covering new content during these demo classes. They are optional for students who want additional help understanding the notebooks, or who benefit from the in-person interactions with course staff and other students (new content is only introduced during the asynchronous online recorded pre-lectures).
No activity during this time slot. Students can watch the recordings from the in-person section at a later time.
During quiz weeks, students from this section will be taking the quizzes syncronously during the Thursday lecture slot. Check quiz schedule here. In the weeks without quizzes, students will able to join Zoom Meeting B to get help from course staff. Think of this as a special office hours designated to ZJUI students. Attendance is not required. Stop by if you need assistance. Students in this section can also watch the recordings from section M.
We have pre-arranged canceled classes to offset the time spent taking CBTF quizzes. You can find this information on the Schedule page.
Tuesday week 1 - General announcements and course policies: This lecture will be offered in a hybrid format at 12:30pm CT for students in sections M and N: students in section M will join in-person from CIF 35, students in section N will join remotely using the Zoom Meeting A. The same lecture will be repeated online via Zoom Meeting B at 8pm CT for students in the ZJ1 section.
Thursday week 1 - Mock group activity (GA0): We will have a mock GA on Thursday, to make sure all students are familar with this format of class activity. Students in section M will be sitting at tables with up to 8 students, but they will form smaller groups of 2-3 students to complete GA0. Students in section N and ZJ1 will be randomly assigned to groups of 2-3 students using the Zoom breakout rooms. This will be a great opportunity to meet other students in the class. This GA is not required and will not count towards your grade.
Section N students connect to the Zoom Meeting A at 12:30pm CT.
Section ZJ1 students connect to the Zoom Meeting B at 8:00pm CT.
Tuesday week 2 - GA1: We will have the first GA covering an intro to Python. Students in section M will again form groups of 2-3 students. Students in section N will be randomly assigned to groups of 2-3 students using the breakout rooms in Zoom Meeting A at 12:30pm CT. Students in section ZJ1 will be randomly assigned to groups of 2-3 students using the breakout rooms in Zoom Meeting B at 8:00pm CT. This GA is not required and will not count towards your grade, but it is a great opportunity to get familiarized with Jupyter notebooks and Python programming language.
During the first two weeks, students will have the opportunity to select their groups using PrairieLearn Survey 1: Select your group and time to meet (not for credit), under the constraint that each group should have 2-3 students.
In case you don't know anyone in the class, you will have the opportunity to meet other students during GA0 and GA1, when we randomly place students in groups. You can also use CampusWire to find teammates.
The group selection survey will close on Friday of week 2. Students that do not make their selection by the deadline will be placed at random groups.
You will be able to check your assigned group (group and table number) by Monday of week 3 via PrairieLearn Survey 2: Find out your assigned group (not for credit).
Attendance: All students will complete the group activity during lecture time (12:30pm-1:45pm CT) from CIF 35. Attendance is required and you must bring your I-Card to class. Students that prefer an asynchronous experience and prefer to not be required to attend lectures at a designated time should register in the online section.
Access: Students must bring the I-Card to the classroom to get access to PrairieTest. The GA will be available via PrairieTest from 12:30-1:45pm CT. Students must "End" the GA in PrairieTest if they complete the GA before 1:45pm CT (so that they can have access back to PrairieLearn. Students who need to complete parts of the GA after class will have access to the GA via PrairieLearn, starting from 1:50pm CT, until 3:30am (Wednesday) CT.
Group formation: Starting from week 3, we will mark the tables with numbers. Students who selected their own groups will receive a table number and should go their assigned table at the beginning of the class. Students without assigned groups will sit at any of the open "not-assigned tables" (they will be marked accordingly).
Support: We will have course staff in the classroom to help students during class.
Absences: If you are not feeling well or believe you may be ill, please do not come to the classroom. You have two options in this case: a) you can submit a request for excused absence (if you are not able to complete the classroom remotely due to illness - check the syllabus for further instructions) or b) you can contact your teammates and make arrangements to connect with them remotely via Zoom.
Attendance: Students will complete the group activity on Tuesdays at a time of their choice between 12:30pm and 3:30am (Wednesday) CT. We strongly encourage students to meet during lecture time (12:30pm-1:45pm CT), especially the ones that were not pre-assigned to any groups, or the groups that cannot agree on a different meeting time.
Access: The GA will be available via PrairieTest from 12:30-1:45pm CT. Students must "End" the GA in PrairieTest once they are done, so that they can have access back to PrairieLearn. Students who want to complete the GA after 1:45pm (or need to complete parts of the GA after class) will have access to the GA via PrairieLearn, starting from 1:50pm CT, until 3:30am (Wednesday) CT.
Location: Students are encouraged to meet in-person, whenever possible. Discuss with your group if this is something that would work for you. You can meet at your dorm, library, your favorite coffee place, or from the Monumental Study Steps or Cafe area at CIF.
Group formation: Students that do no pre-select their groups will be placed at random groups. Every student will have an assigned team starting from week 3, and the team number will correspond to their breakout Zoom room number.
Online Support: We will have course staff available from 12:30pm-1:45pm CT (class time) to support students in the online section. If you did not make any prior arrangement with your group to meet at a pre-defined time and location, you must join the Zoom Meeting A at 12:30pm CT.
We will be using the Queue to coordinate support for the Zoom breakout rooms. To get assistance from course staff, you will need to post a message on the Queue indicating your breakout room number. We will not be able to answer questions using the Main Room from Zoom.
In-person Support: We will have course staff available from 12:30pm-1:45pm CT (class time) at Grainger Library room 404. You can meet with your group at the open study area in the 4th floor of Grainger Library, and get in-person assistance by stopping by room 404 (just around the corner).
Absences: If you are not able to complete the GA remotely due to illness, you can submit a request for excused absence (check the syllabus for further instructions). If you believe you are ill, but still would like to complete the GA with your group, you can do it remotely.
Attendance: Students will complete the group activity during lecture time (8:00pm - 9:15pm CT).
Location: Students are encouraged to meet in-person, whenever possible. Discuss with your group if this is something that would work for you.
Group formation: Students that do no pre-select their groups will be placed at random groups. Every student will have an assigned team starting from week 3, and the team number will correspond to their breakout Zoom room number.
Support: We will have course staff available from 8:00-9:15pm CT (class time) to support students in the online section. If you did not make any prior arrangement with your group to meet at a pre-defined time and location, you must join the Zoom Meeting B at 8pm CT.
We will be using the Queue to coordinate support for the Zoom breakout rooms. To get assistance from course staff, you will need to post a message on the Queue indicating your breakout room number. We will not be able to answer questions using the Main Room from Zoom.
Absences: If you are not able to complete the GA remotely due to illness, you can submit a request for excused absence (check the syllabus for further instructions). If you believe you are ill, but still would like to complete the GA with your group, you can do it remotely.
Students in each group will work together to complete an assignment delivered using a combination of PrairieLearn and Jupyter notebooks. The assignments are autograded (and corresponding) scores are shared among all the members of the group that participated in the activity.
At random times during the semester, we may investigate if students are joining the group assignment, but not participating in the activity (we have this data from PrairieLearn log files!). If we conclude that a student joined the GA just to get the score (i.e. did not actively participate), they will be reported for academic integrity violation. The minimum sanction is a zero in that assignment, but other sanctions may be imposed.
We are not expecting (or enforcing) that all students should be making submissions, and typing answers. It is okay for teams to decide what works best for them when completing the GA (for example, one person types all the answers, while others discuss and support the team). However, we expect to see all students at least entering the join code, moving from one question to another, and completing the trivia question at the end of the GA.
Note that participation should be a responsibility of the entire group. Do not provide the "join" code to a group member who is not actually meeting with the group (either online or in-person).
After each GA, students will receive a feedback survey in PrairieLearn, labeled GAF #, to be completed individually. This survey will be opened on Tuesdays from 12:30pm to 3:30am (Wednesday) CT.
In order to receive extra credit points on the total final score (0.01% for each survey, capped at 0.1% for all surveys combined), students MUST complete the survey AFTER they completed the corresponding GA. Students that submit ANY survey for extra credit without completing the corresponding GA will forfeit their rights to earn all extra credit points related to feedback survey activities.
Check this page to see the results from the icebreaker questions added in the GAs.
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