ICS 311 Spring 2017 Assessment (Grading)

The approach to assignments, exams, and relative weighting is intended to assess multiple aspects of your developing expertise in design and analysis of algorithms. In summary, the components and their default weights (percentage of the overall grade) include:

• Daily Quizzes: 10%
• Class Participation & Peer Evaluation: 5%
• Homework Problems: 30%
• Midterm Exams: 30% (two at 15% each)
• Final Exam: 25%

We reserve the right to adjust the total number of points depending on circumstances.

Points, Percents and Letter Grades

To determine letter grades, we use a 4-percent spread per grade increment, i.e., 100-97=A+, 96-93=A, 92-89=A-, 88-85=B+, 84-81=B, 80-77=B-, 76-73=C+, 72-69=C, 68-65=C-, 64-61=D+, 60-57=D, 56-53=D-, 52-0=F. To adjust for variability in the exam difficulty between the semesters, the exams will be graded on a curve with a B average. If upon inspection of the distribution of grades we feel that too many students who understand the material are not getting the grades they deserve, we may then make adjustments in favor of students (especially for those who did well on exams).

Components

Quizzes (10%):

At the begining of every class there will a quiz based on the readings and screencasts. These quizzes will test basic understanding of the chapter on which the day's topic is based, such as whether you can simulate the operation of the data structure or algorithms or get the main point of the analyses of their relative merits. Most quizzes will not involve mathematical analysis or proofs: problems requiring deeper thought will be left for the classwork and homework problems.

Solutions will be given in class immediately after the quizzes and will be graded in class. Therefore, it is important that you show up to every class on-time, as quizzes cannot be made up.

Class (Group) Problems, Class Participation and Peer Evaluation (5%):

All regular classes will include signicant time working in small groups on problems that help expose conceptual issues in the material and prepare you to work on the take-home portion on your own. Class problems will require much more thought than the problems given on the quizzes. You turn your work in as a group (a single shared document in Google Docs per group). We will discuss the solutions as you make progress. Although your solutions to the in-class exercises are not graded, active participation in the group discussion is an important part of your learning. You will be graded on your class participation through Instructor's observation as well as through the evaluation from your peers as follows:

Each week in which there is a problem set, each individual in the group will assign points distributed across the other individuals in the group to assess how effectively they collaborated in the group. You should allocate the points according to how well the others worked as team members, including their role in team functioning (e.g., keeping the group focused and organized, or playing another important role), and how much they helped others understand the material (e.g., by explaining what they understood), as well as their contributions to the actual problem solution. Even asking good questions can be a contribution.

Each week you will have 6 points to distribute across all of your peers. You can distribute the points equally, give them all to one person, or do something in between. For example, if everyone participated equally, you would give the same number of points to each person; while if there was one person who did more work and the other who did less you might move a point from the latter to the former.

This is fair under changing group sizes. Suppose everyone allocates points equally. Then:

• If there are 4 students, each gets points from 3 other students, but each is dividing 6 points across 3 students, so each student gets 3*(6/3)=6 points.
• If there are 3 students, each gets points from 2 other students, but each is dividing 6 points across 2 students, so each student gets 2*(6/2)=6 points.
• If there are 2 students, each gets points from 1 other student, so each student gets 1*(6/1)=6 points

Some additional rules:

• You need not allocate all the points available to you (for example, if you feel that other group members were not helpful).
• You cannot allocate any points to yourself! Points allocated to yourself will not be recorded.
• You will allocate these points when you turn in your homework assignment. To encourage you to do this, you will be given one extra credit point for each assignment in which you assess your peers.

Homework Problems (30%):

On 13 of the weeks you will have homework problems in which you do more extensive work following up on the class work. The homework problems will combine the topics of both days of the week. We encourage you to work on the homework problems in groups (can be different from the group during in-class exercises). However, the final write up must be performed individually, in own words, that means copying solution from each other is NOT permitted. Using internet to find solutions to homework is also NOT permitted and will be treated as plagiarism (see Class Policies for more details). Exam questions often are similar to homework problems, so this is your chance to make sure that you understand concepts and can work out problems on your own, not just in a group context.

Dual submission: Both electronic and a hard copy versions of the homework must be submitted to receive credit. The electronic version is due on Fridays at 10pm in Laulima. An identical hard copy of what you submitted in Laulima is due in lecture on Monday. The hard copy is the only version that will be graded. The Laulima submission is there simply to verify that you finished working on the homework before the Friday deadline. If there is any discrepancy between the copy in Laulima and what you bring to class, you will receive 0 for the whole homework. The purpose of the Friday deadline is so you can begin learning the new material for the following week over the weekend, and not continue working on your homework until Monday.

Midterm Exams (30%, two at 15% each):

There will be two midterm exams taking one class period each. Problems will be harder than those on the quizzes, and some may be as hard as those on class and homework problems. Problems will cover both understanding of the algorithms and how to analyze them. They will cover the most recent set of lecture topics, but cumulative "review" questions may also be included. Exams will be closed-book, however, you will be allowed a single double-sided letter-sized sheet of notes. No electronic devices will be allowed. The instructor and TA will grade all midterm exams.

Final (25%):

The final exam will take place at the time scheduled by the university and will be longer than a midterm exam. It will cover the final set of lecture topics, but also include review of the entire semester. It will be different from the midterm exams, emphasizing the ability to apply concepts from the semester. Since the final is longer and is cumulative as well as covering recent material, it is weighted more (25%). The exams will be graded by the instructor and the TA.

Extra Credit

We no longer offer extra credit options other than the extra points discussed above. These complicate the grading too much.

Flexibility

We each have our own strengths. If a student performs significantly better on one area than others, we may elect to put greater weight on the area that gives the student a better grade. We are more willing to do this with strong exam performance, as exams are not easy and are proctored so we know it's the student's own work.