Online Instruction Resources

In-person classes are cancelled for the rest of the spring semester. This means some things in the class will need to change, but our focus will be making sure everyone can still have a successful and productive semester.

Changes to Class Format

• Lecture content will be delivered via Zoom and video recordings.
• Quizzes will be administered via Canvas, with more emphasis on short answer-style questions instead of multiple choice.
  • Group quizzes are cancelled; the 5% of your grade usually allocated to the group quizzes will instead be allocated towards class participation.
  • The final exam is cancelled; instead, I will simply drop your lowest quiz score. That way if you need to miss one, it’s no big deal.
• Labs will now be graded offline. You are welcome to have us check your lab during office hours, though.

Class Participation

Since we will be working remotely this is an incentive to keep up with the class material and stay connected with others in the class.

You’ll need to earn 10 class participation points over the remainder of the semester. These can be earned by:

• Asking a thoughtful/relevant question or starting a discussion about the lecture material
• Asking or answering a question on Piazza that is endorsed as a “good question/answer” by the instructor or TAs.

Getting Help (Office Hours)

In-person interaction will be replaced with Zoom video conferencing

• The instructor and TAs will hold their usual office hours via Zoom
• The lab sessions will serve as additional office hours for you to ask questions and get help

Office Hours Guidelines

While it’s easy to help in person, working remote can slow things down and make it harder to quickly jump from student to student. Therefore, we are adding some structure to the office hours process:

1. First, if you can ask your question on Piazza, do so! The instructors and TAs will be monitoring Piazza during office hours and answering questions here as a first priority. Asking a question helps everyone.
   • On the flip side, please be sure to monitor the questions posted here. Avoid asking repeat questions!
   • Please remember that if you want to share code, you should post a private message.
2. If your question doesn’t fit the Piazza format, then check your code into GitHub before making an appointment to meet over Zoom. These appointments will be limited to 10 minutes to keep things moving quickly and fair for everyone, so you want to give us all the information you can in advance.
   • There is a Zoom link for each instructor/TA on the course website.
   • When you initially join the meeting, you will be placed in a waiting room. The instructor/TAs will then move you into the meeting once it’s time for your appointment.
   • We can accommodate other timezones and appointment needs, please get in touch if this applies to you.

TLDR: use Piazza first. Plan ahead, have your question ready, and help give us as much info as you can so we can help you quickly. Office Hours Appointment Link (10 min).

Finally: please do not forget that you are still required to follow the university Honor Code. Collaboration that involves directly sharing code violates the honor code and will be dealt with in a no holds barred, scorched-earth fashion.