Statement of General Rules
and Course Policy for CSCI 1228

Lecture Policies

I do not require attendance at either lecture or lab. However, I do require that, if you are in the lecture or lab, that you not be creating any sort of a disturbance. If you talk in lecture, you should be talking to me. If I ask a question in class, you can just call out the answer -- no need to raise your hand. If you think someone else has given an incorrect answer, you can suggest an alternative. (No need to tell the other person that they're wrong!)

Note that I welcome questions from the class during lecture. If nobody asks any questions, I'm liable to conclude that everyone understands what I'm saying perfectly, and so I should move on to some more challenging material. I love doing more challenging material.

Computer Accounts

As a student in CSCI 1228, you will have two separate accounts:

  1. your Windows account that lets you log onto the local SMU network;
    Your Windows account is the account you received when you became a SMU student. Your professor and lab instructor have no control over this account, and you should see the Help desk with any account problems you encounter. Your user-name for that account is your s-number (s9990000, for example).
    and
  2. a Website account for submitting your assignments/labs.
    Your Website account is the account that lets you submit assignments and labs, check your grades, and otherwise maintain your Website account. Your user-name for that account is your A-number (e.g. A12345678). The initial password for signing up is also your A-number. You must change you password when you sign up for the course. If you forget this password, you should get in touch with your professor or a lab instructor to have it reset.

    You must sign up for the CSCI 1228 Web site in the first week of classes. You cannot submit materials unless you sign up. Once you sign up for the web site, you are allowed further access to the protected areas of the site. You can access your Website account from any computer connected to the Internet. If you are accessing your Website account from a public-access computer, make sure that you close the browser. Failure to do so may enable other users to access the protected areas under your username.

Online Submitted Materials

All source code submitted for credit must conform to the style guidelines for the course. Mostly this means the code you submit is as neat and readable as the code in the text (and the code I supply to you). You will be graded on style.

The assignment/lab will tell you the name that your files should have. You must name your program properly. The assignments are collected by the computer, and it expects the names to be as indicated. For example, if the assignment says the file is to be called Assign1.java, then the program should be named Assign1.java. It should not be named Assign01.java, Assign1.Java, assign1.java, Assign 1.java, Asgn1.java, Assignment1.java, Assign1.javac, or any other thing.

Note that when you pass in your assignment, the system will give your files the names it's expecting them to have. Thus if the system is expecting a file to be named Assign1.java, it will call whatever file you pass in Assign1.java. BUT if you originally named it assign1.java instead, then the system is going to run into a problem when it tries to test your file. It won't compile. Instead of seeing the wonderful output your program produced on your computer, the grader is going to see an error message. That will cause annoyance and delay. There will be a penalty applied to files with the wrong name.

The passin system will tell you if your file has the wrong name. It will add a little note in red text to the message saying it's been passed in. Pay attention to the messages you get when you pass in your assignments.

Your labs and assignments must include a javadoc comment at the top (right after the import commands). For example, your first assignment might have something like this:

/** * Produces a short description of me. * * @author Mark YOUNG (A00000000) */
(The part in blue will change with each assignment. The part in red should be replaced with your information.) See JavaAverage.java for an example.

The original copy of any on-line material submitted for grading must be kept in your account until the end of the course, or until the mark for that material has been recorded and you are satisfied with the mark received. The recorded mark for a subsequently "missing" assignment is final.

Late Policies

I do not accept late assignments. Don't bother asking for an individual extension; I will not grant one, and I will probably not even acknowledge the request. If you think there is a reason why the whole class should be granted an extension, feel free to ask me about it.

No student will be permitted to write a test or examination early, for any reason. If, for medical or other legitimate reasons, you are unable to write a test or exam at the scheduled time, you must so inform the instructor at the earliest possible time, and other arrangements may be made. Similarly, if you have or develop a medical condition or other problem that is affecting, or is likely to affect, your performance in the course, your instructor must be notified at the earliest opportunity.

Talk with your friends, but do your own final work...

All submitted assignments, tests, and exams (that is, every submission for course marks) must consist entirely of work done only by the student making the submission. That is, every pen stroke or key stroke of work submitted by each student must have been done by the student whose name appears on the submission, and no team work of any kind will be accepted for course submissions.

You are welcome to help each other out with suggestions of how to proceed on a given questions. You can point out each others' syntax errors or logic errors, and provide guidance on how to correct them. You do not, however, provide code to each other. You don't type code for them; you don't dictate code to them; you don't show them your code for them to copy.

Working with other students to exchange ideas and to solve problems is encouraged in this course. For example, you may work together to develop the algorithm for a program or method. But copying another person's work, electronically or otherwise, or having someone use your account or another account to complete work for you is strictly forbidden. Students will receive a grade of zero for work violating the academic integrity rules. All offences will be reported to the registrar and all appropriate departments. Find and read the policy on academic integrity in the university calendar (calendars available on-line here -- look in section 2 for a subsection with "Academic Integrity" in the title).

Obtaining Final Course Grades

Final course grades must be obtained from the Registrar, not from the instructor. Instructors will not release any information, including any informal assessment of "how you did", until after formal grades have been released by the Registrar. When you have your grade in hand, you may call or meet with your instructor to discuss your exam or any other part of your course performance, if you wish.