Course Policy

Homework

Homework will be posted about every second Wednesday on Piazza. (In pdf format. You will have to print it for yourself or read it from the screen using acroread or a similar viewer.) The submission deadline is typically two weeks later. Late submissions get no credit, since I will post the "official" solution after the deadline, to give you feedback. (You may still want to submit a late assignment, for no credit, just to get individual feedback.) You will not be able to pass the exams without actually spending many hours per week on them. Copying a solution you found (in case you discover that it has been given earlier or elsewhere) or somebody else's solution just paves your way for failing on exams. If you do not agree with your homework grade, you can discuss it with me within one week of receiving it.

Exams

A midterm (one class period length) and a final exam. Only a single double-sided sheet of handwritten notes ("crib-sheet") is allowed: no books or notes. The final exam covers the whole material. If do not agree with your exam grade, you can discuss it with me within a week of receiving it.

Attendance

Attendance is mandatory. I will also discuss material not in the textbook, and you will be responsible for this just as for the one in the book.

Work expected

The amount of work required by this course depends much on the student's preparation but it is not unusual for a student to spend 8 hours a week just on the homework assignment.

Grading

What follows is the system by which I intend to compute your final grade. If I see some reason to change this system, I will.

• 25% Homework
• 25% Midterm (in class), for PhD students only 15%
• 35% Final exam (two hours), for PhD students only 30%
• 15% Class participation (the latter is determined using my subjective judgement on how regularly I see you in class and how much you try to understand the material and respond to questions directed to class)

For the PhD students in class, there is an extra requirement.

• A project. Typically, unless the student recommends something else, this involves reading a paper and writing a 2-page summary of it. There will be a personal interview where you will have to tell me about the paper, without holding it in your hand (you may hold your own notes).

This extra work of the PhD students will account for 15% of the grade (the missing percentage from the exams).

Incomplete grade (I grade) will be given only in truly exceptional circumstances (did not happen in the last few years).

Collaboration

It is your responsibility to know and understand the provisions of the CAS Academic Conduct Code. Copies are available in room CAS 105. Cooperation is recommended in understanding various concepts. But the actual solution of assignments must be your individual work, except for what you specifically credit to other sources. (Your grade will be based on your own contribution.) For example, copying without attribution any part of someone else's work is plagiarism, even if you modify it and even if the source is a textbook. If you show your solution to any classmate or you read any classmate's solution before your submission, you are guilty of inadmissible collaboration. Pleas, like "it is unfair to punish me for helping others" will have no effect, since you were warned. There is nothing to be added to this statement except to emphasize that I MEAN IT and have always enforced it: I will refer cases of suspected academic misconduct to the Dean's Office. (And of course, plagiarized work gets no credit.)