Policies: CPSC 314, Computer Graphics, Sep 2013

Policies CPSC 314 Computer Graphics September 2013

Grading | Grace Days | Severe Illness or Other Problems | Plagiarism

Grading

Evaluation criteria Programming Assignments (40%), Weekly Quizzes (3%), Participation (5%), Midterms (24%), Final Exam (28%)

40% Programming Assignments ( 6% A1, 11% A2, 11% A3, 12% A4) - students MUST get a passing grade on the assignments to pass the course. Assignment complexity increases as the course progresses.

3% Weekly quizzes - we will have a do-at-home quiz each week starting from week two. Each quiz will have several multiple choice questions, typically selected from the questions posted by students as part of the weekly review (see below). The quizzes will usually be posted on the course connect account Tuesday and will need to be submitted by Friday noon the same week.
5% Participation - this component of the grade will be based on three factors: in-class note-taking, classroom participation and submission of review questions.
- Note taking - Each student will be expected to take notes during at least three lectures and post those on the discussion board (a sign-up sheet will be passed around during the first class). Points (including bonuses) will be given for both quantity and quality of notes uploaded (with quality evaluated by fellow students).
- Classroom participation will be evaluated based on student response rate to clicker questions and general classroom involvement (bonuses may be given to particularly active students). Typically at least one clicker question per-class will be administered.
- Review questions - Each student will be expected to submit at least one review question (via Piazza) per week, due Monday noon on the material covered the week before. Each question submission needs to include: a question, four multiple choice answers, and an explanation of the correct answer. If your question is selected for a quiz your grade for the quiz containing it will double. If two of your questions are selected, the grade will triple.
24% Midterms (12% midterm 1, 12% midterm 2)
28% Final - students MUST get a passing grade on the final to pass the course.

The course grading scheme may be modified at the discretion of the instructor. Midterm and final exam scores may be scaled at the discretion of the instructor.

Assignment Grading: There will be face-to-face grading for all assignments, where the student will sign up for a slot to demo the assignment program to the grader in the lab. You will be asked to explain the algorithms used in your program to the grader. If you cannot explain an algorithm, at the discretion of the grader, you will not receive credit for the entire assignment or part of it.

Attendance: Attendance and active participation in all lectures and your registered lab section is expected. You are responsible for all material presented there. Most material for both the lectures and the labs will be made available online. However, there is no guarantee that everything covered in lecture and labs will be in the posted material.

Late Assignments

It is important that assigned work be completed on time, because subsequent assignments depend on your comprehension of earlier work. To allow for unforeseeable circumstances, you will be allowed three days of grace during the term, which can be used on any assignment with no explanation required. Use these as you wish to help manage your time, but use them wisely. It is strongly recommended that you do not use all your grace days early in the term. You can use all three on one assignment, or spread the days across multiple assignments.

Once your grace days are all used, late assignments will receive a grade of zero. Exceptions to this late policy will be made only with advance approval from the instructor; or medical, emotional, or other problems documented in writing as below.

Severe Illness or Other Problems

See the UBC Policy on Academic Concession.

Documentation of Severe Illness or Other Problems: It is the responsibility of the student to provide adequate documentation of the situation and to inform the instructor in a timely manner so that the necessary appropriate action can be taken. Often assignments will be granted no-penalty extensions, but all cases are subject to the instructor's discretion. Usually it is expected that the student will provide a written explanation of the situation to the instructor within three days of returning to the University after any absence or period of illness or other problem. In no case will documents be considered more than seven days after a student has returned to the University. A written explanation must be submitted along with supporting documentation (i.e. a doctor's note in cases of illness); talking to or emailing the instructor is not an acceptable substitute for submitting the required supporting documentation.

Late/Missing Assignments: One of the following courses of action will be taken after receipt of appropriate documentation of the situation.

At the discretion of the instructor, the student will be allowed to turn in an assignment or quiz late.
Alternatively,at the discretion of the instructor (for example, when the delay is too significant), the student will be excused from completing that assignment and will receive their average grade on all handed in assignments as a fill-in mark.

If the missed work is a significant portion of the term mark, then a standing of AEGROTAT may be awarded, as provided for by the University's policies. Students will be consulted before a course of action is chosen, but the final decision will be that of the instructor.

Missing a Midterm or the Final Exam: Students who miss a midterm due to illness will receive their final exam grade as a fill-in mark. Students who miss the final exam due to illness should consult the Faculty of Science Policy on missed exams immediately after (or preferably even before) the exam. Note that a student who does not complete a sufficient portion of the assignments and midterms during the term may not qualify for academic concession if they miss the final.

Religious Holidays: Students who are scheduled to attend classes or write examinations on the holy days of their religion must notify the instructor in writing three weeks in advance of the religious holiday they wish to observe. The instructor will provide opportunity for students to make up the missed work or examination without penalty.

Plagiarism and Cheating

Read the Computer Science Department's Guidelines and Practices Regarding Collaboration. Consult the University's policies and procedures regarding academic offenses for more information on plagiarism and the penalties sanctioned by the University.

Collaboration

Collaboration between students is not permitted in CPSC 314 except in explicitly declared joint programming assignments. As explained in the CS collaboration guidelines, general discussion of programming and written problem sets is allowed. However, source code may not be shared: all forms of reuse, such as electronic copying of a current or former student's source files, typing in source from a printout, or typing in source read from another student's screen, will constitute an act of plagiarism in the context of CPSC 314 .

Citation

You are expected to cite all sources of inspiration (Internet or book or human) in your writeups. Acknowledging your sources of information in writing is the best way to avoid grey areas of possible academic misconduct. You do not need to cite anything covered in lecture or in the assigned readings, or discussions with the instructor or TAs. You should cite all other sources in writing: either at the end of the README documenting your program for the programming part of the assignments, or in a list at the bottom of the written part of the assignment. In the case of written assignments, any people with whom you have had extended discussions should be listed at the bottom of the paper that you turn in. Casual discussions of a few minutes do not need to be documented, but study groups do. The Web is full of fantastic resources for students: detailed tutorials with well-annotated source code; archives of mailing lists and newsgroups that contain programming questions and answers; and explanations of how to avoid, fix, or work around common (or uncommon) errors. You are welcome to use these resources responsibly, as long as you cite the sources. For example: if you looked at code fragments from the Web or from other books, list the Web sites or book titles in the References section of your README. Looking on the Web for ideas and information is permitted and encouraged. Even looking at sample graphics code is permitted, but simply copying that code and handing it in as your own is not. You will be asked to explain algorithms during the face-to-face grading slots, if you are not able to do so you will not receive credit for all or part of the assignment.

Due Diligence

In the context of CPSC 314, every student is held responsible to ensure that:

his or her files (which contain material the use of which, by another student, would constitute an act of plagiarism as herein defined) are inaccessible to other students,
current or out-of-date hardcopy of her or his files (which contain material the use of which, by another student, would constitute an act of plagiarism as herein defined) is inaccessible to other students, and
communication with other students does not include information the use of which, by another student, would constitute an act of plagiarism as herein defined.

Failure to comply with any of these responsibilities, either knowingly or through negligence, will also be considered an act of plagiarism indistinguishable from that of the other student(s) and subject to the same penalties.

Plagiarism on Exams

All instances of plagiarism on exams will be referred to the Chair of the Undergraduate Affairs Committee and the Dean of the Faculty of Science.

Cheating

Cheating includes, but is not limited to: falsifying any material subject to academic evaluation; having in an examination any materials other than those permitted by the examiner; and using unauthorized means to complete an examination (e.g. receiving unauthorized assistance from a fellow student); giving somebody else money to complete course assignments instead of doing them yourself.

Penalties

The first offence within the context of CPSC 314 (across all years, terms, etc.) shall cause the student to receive a mark of 0 for all assignments, and the Chair of the Undergraduate Affairs Committee will receive a report detailing the particulars of the case. Further disciplinary action may be undertaken by the department, faculty, or university.

A second offence within the context of CPSC 314 (across all years, terms, etc.) shall cause the student to receive a grade of 0 for the course, the student will not be permitted to enroll in further offerings of CPSC 314, and the Chair of the Undergraduate Affairs Committee will receive a report detailing the particulars of the case. Further disciplinary action may be undertaken by the department, faculty, or university.

Students not enrolled in CPSC 314 who are involved in a 314-related plagiarism incident will not be permitted to enroll in future offerings of CPSC 314, and the Chair of the Undergraduate Affairs Committee will receive a report detailing the particulars of the case. Further disciplinary action may be undertaken by the department, faculty, or university.

Although the instructor reserves the right to exercise leniency as she sees fit, the instructor usually considers cheating to be an insult to all other course participants, and aggressively prosecutes cheaters in order to create a level playing field where individual efforts are rewarded appropriately.