Syllabus
| Grading |
| The graded coursework consists of individual assignments, 2 group projects, 1 exam, and "participation," which will be explained below. The percentage breakdown is as follows: |
| Assignments | 25% | |
| Projects | 50% | |
| Final exam | 25% | |
| Participation | 5% | |
| Total | 105% |
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You'll notice that the total is greater than 100%: Participation in class counts toward your grade - this is earned by giving your classmates feedback when they give presentations, and by speaking up in class or electronically. I tend to value quality over quantity, so the folks who only say one or two things during the term, but make very insightful remarks or ask really good questions, will be just fine. Showing up and being attentive also count towards participation - instructors can usually get a good sense for who's serious and who's goofing off. Good participation has the potential to bump your grade up: this is the carrot approach. If the carrot (i.e., incentive) approach does not seem to be working, and I notice that attendance in the course is dropping off, I reserve the right to make participation a "stick" (i.e., a disincentive), by taking percentage points away from the other graded materials (Assignments, Projects, Exam) and making them add up to less than 100%, so a lack participation takes away from your grade. The grades in this course are not curved - it is possible for all students to get an A, and for all students to get an F. Of course, if a particular assignment or exam question proves to be difficult for a majority of the class, I reserve the right to curve that item. The exams are cumulative, covering all material presented up until the exam is administered. Questions will be taken from the reading materials, my slides, and what I might talk about in class (see: incentive to attend). Some of the questions will be recitation-oriented (i.e., "do you remember"), but some will require applying your knowledge to new problems - this is why I encourage you to discuss ideas with classmates, so you're prepared to answer "what-if" style questions. Some of you may wonder why this class has both projects and exams: well, you can't learn how to grapple with user interface development without doing it yourself, ergo the projects, and many of you take this course as preparation for the HCC prelim, ergo the exams. You will probably find that this course requires more reading than most computer science courses (or, rather: you won't be able to get by without doing the reading as you can in many computer science courses). The readings chosen for this course are great introductions to UI design and to user testing- and both are easy to read. The readings should be easy to complete prior to the days they are listed on the schedule. |
| Late Policy |
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Electronically submitted coursework: each assignment and project will be reduced by 10% of a grade (e.g., a 100 will become a 90) for each 24-hour period it is late by. I will be strict about this: if an assignment must be submitted by 12:00 midnight, and the timestamp shows that it was uploaded to Blackboard at 12:01 A.M., I will dock the grade. I know - sometimes uploads take a while to complete. This is not an adequate excuse. My advice: plan ahead. In-class presentations: several of the projects will be presented in-class, and a significant part of the grade for the project will consist of the presentation grade: you must be there for your own presentations. You should also be present for your classmates' presentations: you will be completing feedback forms to be given to the presenters, which will go towards your "participation" grade. |
| Cheating |
| Cheating is not tolerated by the university. All work submitted must be yours and yours alone. That said, some of the best learning that can happen in schools is when one discusses ideas with peers. Talking about ideas is fundamentally different from "copying" or "giving answers," and this difference can easily be seen in the work. Designs (for user interfaces, for experiments) are almost always improved by discussing ideas, so don't hesitate to ask your classmates what they think of your plans. All work must be completed individually, however (unless the assignment is a group assignment, in which case, each group member is responsible for an even percentage of the work - this will be factored into individual grades). |
| Changes to the Schedule |
| I reserve the right to adjust the schedule if the pace of the class seems too slow or too fast. Some of the days I may have to cancel a class or two to accommodate travel to conferences; if that arises I will place a note on the schedule as soon as possible. |