Grading

The final grade in this course will reflect my assessment of your performance in the course. This includes your participation; your mastery of the key learning objectives; your demonstration this both in written form and in code (if applicable); your application of what you’ve learned to working on a team; building an interesting product; and communicating what you achieved at the end of the semester.

Individual assignments are scored and weighted (see below), and used to determine class rank which in turn is used to determine your grade. Note that you will not get a numeric “final score”, just a final grade. I will follow the guidelines from the University Bulletin:

  • A -> High Distinction
  • B -> Distinction
  • C -> Satisfactory
  • D -> Passing, but Unsatisfactory

Marks for assignments

Throughout the semester, there will be homeworks, assignments, presentations, quizzes etc., small and large. Those assignments are all given a 0-100 mark. We use Gradescope for all assignments.

  • All assignments have a due date.
  • Written homeworks must all be in pdf form with your name and homework number at the top.
NOTE: You have a maximum 3 weeks after a mark has been posted to call our attention to a possible error, oversight or misunderstanding. That is your responsibility. After that, the mark as recorded in Latte will not be changed.

Weighting of marks

  • Class Participation: ~20%: Do you show up on time (or let the teachers know ahead of time if you cannot?) Do you ask good questions, and contribute to the discussion? Do you keep up with homework? Do you make a good faith effort at responding to all “Participation Only” work?

  • Individual Assignments: ~40%: Does the program work as required? Does it use language, platform and framework features in a good way? Is it well designed? Does it follow good object oriented practices? Does it avoid code smells? Has testing been considered? Has performance been considered? For non coding assignments, I will pay attention to whether you are just regurgitating the reading or really engaging with it. So, give a personal perspective or insight, make connections with other readings, your other classes, your own reading and research. Have an interesting point of view. Pay attention to writing good, professional English. Many students find that they benefit from using the Brandeis Writing Center to review first drafts.

  • Team nT Deliverables: ~40%: Did all the specified functionalities get implemented? Are there complete unit tests, and are they being run? Does the code reflect good coding practices? Where possible is there good OO design? Did you measure performance and properly interpret the findings? What was done to address scaling problems, what tools, techniques and creativity? In the end, how well does nT scale and how do you know? How professional and attractive is UI, how is the fit and finish? How narrowly did you read the requirements, or did you go beyond them? Can you explain how it works?