CSE 2221 and CSE 2231 Course Policies

You are responsible for understanding these course policies for CSE 2221 and CSE 2231, which should be treated as part of the course syllabus.

Homework Assignments

Homework assignments are due via Carmen in PDF format by the start of class on the due date. Late homework generally is not accepted, because often the purpose of a homework assignment is to prepare you before class to ask questions in class. That is, some (or most) of the homework is not designed for you to practice what has already been discussed in class. So, you should be prepared for the possibility that you are unable to "ace" all the homework assignments even if you are an excellent student.

Homework assignments should be done in a professional manner. You should make your solutions look nice in addition to having good content. Please use a computer to prepare homework assignments and convert them to PDF for submission on Carmen. Each homework assignment is graded out of 2 points: 1 point for "adequate effort" in preparing the content, and 1 point for style/presentation.

Project Assignments

Project assignments are due one hour before your section's meeting start time on the due date and are to be submitted on Carmen. Maximum credit of 10 points is reduced by 2 points for each day (24 hours), or part thereof, the assignment is late. After a project assignment is 48 hours late, no credit is given.

Project assignments should be done in a professional manner. We observe specific design and coding standards, just like most professional software development organizations. Adherence to these standards will be worth a substantial fraction of each project assignment. Please pay attention to the sample code you are given. Each project assignment is graded out of 10 points based on a specific rubric (different for each project) that might not be shared in advance, but that includes substantial points both for content and style/presentation. Here is a general guide.

To reiterate, as with everything in this class, we expect a high level of professionalism in your project submissions. Professionalism in this case means making sure that every one of your solutions attains a high level of neatness, organization, and quality.

In particular, projects will be graded with these criteria in mind:

• Solutions must address the problem at hand. Specifically:
  • The solution represents a good-faith attempt to actually address the requirements for the assignment.
  • The program compiles and executes.
  • The program is correct, i.e., it doesn't simply appear to run correctly on some inputs; it actually meets all the requirements and works correctly under all circumstances.
  • The program is efficient: do not violate any of the course standards and discipline in the name of efficiency, but strive not to introduce unneeded inefficiencies in your solution.
• The solution constitutes a high quality product expected of a professional. Specifically:
  • The program is easy to read and to understand, i.e., it is well commented and adheres to the course standards and discipline (these are discussed in class and in lab assignments). In addition, method and variable names are meaningful, all potentially confusing/complex code is well documented, and all warnings provided by Eclipse have been addressed and removed (except in those few cases where your instructor may allow an exception).
  • The general design of the program is clear and reasonable.
  • All procedure and function headers include comments explaining what the method is supposed to do (not how it does it), including the purpose of each formal parameter, return value, precondition, and postcondition. Be as precise and careful as you can be.

In addition, projects will have their own additional criteria that you need to adhere to. Read the project assignment carefully to make sure that your code does what it is supposed to do.

Again remember: strive for professionalism in your work. The grading scale above reflects the fact that programmers and software engineers employed in the "real world" need to produce high quality work. Even small mistakes can be costly—in dollars, in time or even in some cases in lives. Learning to produce professional work is a skill that must be practiced, just as with any other skill. And the best time to start practicing it is when you are learning how to code. Get into good habits now and you will keep them into your professional career.

Exams

If you expect to be unavailable for an exam, please make alternate arrangements in advance. You need a documented valid excuse for missing an exam.

If you have trouble writing in English (and this goes for native English speakers, too), then practice! Points are deducted for incomprehensible answers — sometimes more than for wrong ones.

Accommodation for Disability

If you need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability, you should contact your instructor to arrange an appointment as soon as possible. At the appointment you and the instructor can discuss the course format, anticipate your needs, and explore potential accommodations. We rely on the Office for Disability Services to verify the need for accommodations and to confirm accommodation strategies. If you have not previously contacted the Office for Disability Services, we encourage you to do so.

Cooperation, Collaboration, and Professional Ethics

Generalities

The fundamental principle that determines the scope of acceptable collaboration is that it is never permissible to pass off as your own the work of someone else. If you have doubts about what is appropriate, ask your instructor for a ruling in advance. Violations are surprisingly easy to detect and they are dealt with according to OSU rules on academic misconduct. All students are expected to complete assignments while observing Ohio State's standards for academic integrity. It is the responsibility of the Committee on Academic Misconduct to investigate or establish procedures for the investigation of all reported cases of student academic misconduct. The term "academic misconduct" includes all forms of student academic misconduct wherever committed; illustrated by, but not limited to, cases of plagiarism and dishonest practices in connection with examinations. As obligated by university rules (Faculty Rule 3335-5-487), the instructor must report all instances of alleged academic misconduct to the committee. For additional information, see the Code of Student Conduct (http://studentaffairs.osu.edu/resource_csc.asp) and Ohio State's COAM Home Page and FAQ (http://oaa.osu.edu/coam.html).

Specifics

The specific policy on collaboration with others in CSE 2221 and CSE 2231 is fairly liberal — but please don't be tempted to test its limits. Here are some ground rules about the "fringe area":

• Except on exams, you may — in fact, you are are encouraged to — talk with others about general problem and solution ideas, software design, program logic, etc. For example, you may ask others taking the class for assistance with computers, Eclipse, and Java, including interpreting the meanings of error messages as well as providing general advice about what causes them, as long as it falls well short of fixing them for you.
• You may not turn in an assignment solution from a previous offering of the course, even if you have previously taken the course, you did the assignment yourself the first time, and you think it might save you some time to turn in an old solution.

The default situation is that an assignment is meant to be done by an individual working alone. For such an assignment:

• You may not write or otherwise record any part of your solution to an assignment while someone is providing anything more than the sort of permissible general advice mentioned above.
• You may not accept from anyone a physical or electronic copy of any part of a solution to an assignment that could help you in completing the assignment. (This includes any solution or partial solution copied from the internet!)
• You may not give or show to anyone a physical or electronic copy of any part of a solution to an assignment that could help them in completing the assignment. This includes unwittingly providing someone else with your solution to an assignment by posting your solution to a publicly accessible web site such as pastebin, github, bitbucket, coursehero, etc.

Some assignments are explicitly required to be done by a team of individuals ("teammates"), and others are explicitly designated as permitting teamwork. Your name and the name(s) of all your teammates must be clearly visible on the submitted work. One team member must submit one copy of the solution on behalf of the entire team, and all teammates receive the same grade for that assignment. For such an assignment:

• You may not write or otherwise record any part of your solution to an assignment while someone other than a teammate is providing anything more than the sort of permissible general advice mentioned above.
• You may not accept from anyone other than a teammate a physical or electronic copy of any part of a solution to an assignment that could help you or your teammate in completing the assignment. (This includes any solution or partial solution copied from the internet!)
• You may not give to anyone other than a teammate a physical or electronic copy of any part of a solution to an assignment that could help them or their teammate in completing the assignment.

Religious Accommodations

Our inclusive environment allows for religious expression. Students requesting accommodations based on faith, religious or a spiritual belief system in regard to examinations, other academic requirements or absences, are required to provide the instructor with written notice of specific dates for which the student requests alternative accommodations at the earliest possible date. For more information about religious accommodations at Ohio State, visit odi.osu.edu/religious-accommodations.

Weather or Other Short-term Closing

Should in-person classes be canceled, your instructor will notify you as to which alternative methods of teaching will be offered to ensure continuity of instruction for this class. Communication will be via CarmenCanvas.

Unless otherwise announced by the university, online or distance-learning classes will occur as scheduled.