Course Policy
- Homework
-
Homework will be posted every week.
(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 one week 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
-
One midterm (one class period length) and one 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 25%
- 15% Class participation
(the latter is determined using un-announced quizzes and other ways to check your attendance,
plus my subjective judgement of your active participation and effort to understand)
For the PhD students in class, there will be some extra requirements.
-
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.
- Homework grading.
This extra work of the PhD students will account for 20% of the grade (the
midterm and final yield 20% less for them).
- 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.)