Except for the introductory programming assignment and quizzes that must be completed individually by each student, all lab and project assignments are to be completed in groups of students assigned by the instructors. Each team must turn in work that is wholly their own: teams are encouraged to discuss problems, strategies, ideas, algorithms, etc. with other teams, but their write-ups (including software) must be done independently.
Members of a team are required to work together on the problems. Further, each team member is expected to understand all aspects of the team project, its implementation, and underlying concepts. Proper team planning will require, at a minimum, one in-person meeting. On every lab assignment and project (except the first programming assignment), each team will certify when their team met and who attended, noting any exceptions. With each problem’s solution being the product of the group, all members will be held accountable for violations of the honor code. Students must sign the statement below, noting any qualifications necessary to render the statement true:
“I participated and contributed to team discussions on each problem, and I attest to the integrity of each solution. Our team met as a group on [DATE(S)]. “
An example of a reasonable qualification might be: “Bob was out of town when we met, but Alice and Carol were able to meet later on. Bob’s ideas were emailed to us and are reflected in our final solutions.” We expect exceptions to be rare, but we understand that life can be complicated! The certification should be signed by each team member, and a photo of the certification attached to the submission. The group project reports should also include a statement of contribution. In each group project report, students must also include the statement below, noting any qualifications necessary to render the statement true: “Contribution of Authors: [Team member A] did [Task XXX]; [Team members B and C] did [Task YYY]; [Team members A, B and C] did [ZZZ]. [All authors] [gave feedback on the software development, contributed to writing the report/making the demo presentation, and approved the final version for submission.]” (*Modify the texts in brackets according to your specific team situation and member contribution. Ideally, each member/subset of members contributed to something unique, and all authors contributed to giving feedback and writing/making the final report/demo/presentations and approving the final version for submission.)
Note that every student on a team will receive the same grade on that project. Students will evaluate their teammates; a student’s evaluations will affect their participation grade upon the discretion of the course staff.
It is not acceptable to use code or solutions from outside class (including those found online) unless the resources are specifically suggested in the assignment statement. Non-permitted materials include (but not limited to) previous years’ and other course materials (regardless of whether it originated from staff, students, etc.), the textbook’s solution manual, etc. The use of any external material in the completion of course assignments and projects must be explicitly cited.
Lab equipment (cameras, robots, computers, cables, soldering irons, etc.) must not be removed from the lab for any reason. Removing equipment without explicit authorization from the course instructor, even if only “temporarily borrowing it”, will be reported to campus police as theft. Students should treat lab equipment with great care: much of it is fragile and can be broken. That having been said, mistakes happen. If hardware breaks, students should immediately report it to the course staff along with a description of what happened when it broke.
Projects reports are due at 11:59pm EST on their corresponding due date and should be submitted electronically to Canvas (including a photo of the signature page). Late reports will be penalized 10% for each day (or fraction of) that they are late; after three days, no credit will be given.
Requests to regrade any lab or project must be submitted in writing no later than one week following the return of the assignment/exam. It is important that requests be self-contained in writing such that you can carefully enunciate any errors or issues in grading. Well-formed and valid regrade requests will allow the course staff to properly address and rectify any mistakes.