CS 39 (Fall 2007): Amit Chakrabarti: Administrative Details

CS 39 Home

Computer Science 39
Theory of Computation

Amit Chakrabarti

Fall 2007

Administrative Details

Homework

Homework assignments will be given out roughly once a week There will be a homework given out each Monday and it will be due at the beginning of next Monday's class. (We might change to a Wednesday-to-Wednesday schedule in mid-November; stay tuned for an announcement if this happens.) Homework is to be submitted before you come into class into the box near the Sudikoff main entrance marked "CS39 HW in".

A few important notes on the homework assignments:

Start early: Some problems will be hard and are not typically solved in one sitting. Start early and let the ideas come to you over the course of a few days.
Be rigorous: CS 39 is a theory course, and so mathematical rigor will be expected in your solutions.
Be concise: Express your solution at the proper level of detail. Long, verbose answers are strongly discouraged. Give enough details to clearly present your solution, but not so many that the main ideas are obscured.
You can discuss with others: Some of the problems will be difficult, and it will often be helpful to discuss them with others. Feel free to form study groups. However, the idea is for everyone to understand the problems and experience working through the solutions, so you may not simply "give" a solution to another classmate. In particular, each student must write up his or her own homework solutions and must not read or copy the solutions of others. If you work with others on a problem, you must note with whom you discussed the problem at the beginning of your solution write-up.
Work on your own before talking to others: Although, as I said above, you can discuss the homework problems with others, you will learn the most by first trying out each problem on your own. Make as much progress as possible on your own before you meet with your study group.

Late Submission Policy

Any homework submitted late carries an immediate 20% penalty (unless you have a very good excuse and have discussed it with me in advance), and an additional 10% penalty per calendar day after that. No homework will be accepted after the next homework is due, or after the final. In this course, if you do not do homework on time, you will soon find yourself overwhelmed, so please be regular with your work.

For any late submission, it is the student's resposnsibility to ensure that the grader receives the homework. Please do not just put your late submission in the usual homework submission box. Make sure you personally see the grader receiving your late submission and timestamping it.

The late submission policy for the finals is simple, and drastic. A final exam submitted after the deadline will be returned ungraded and will earn zero credit. So please don't do that!

Challenge Problems

Occasionally, the homeworks will contain one or two "challenge problems". They are to be thought of as "extra credit" work and will be tallied separately from regular score. If you end up on a borderline between two grades at the end of the course or are being considered for a citation, this extra credit will count in your favor. However, failure to solve challenge problems will never be counted against you because grades are assigned on the basis of regular scores.

You should work on these challenge problems if you find them interesting and you think that they might teach you something. It is unwise to skimp on regular homework problems in order to attack these challenge problems, though.

Working Together and the Honor Principle

Students are encouraged to work together to do homework problems. Groups who work well together in class should consider working together to do homework. What is important is a student's eventual understanding of homework problems, and not how that is achieved.

The honor principle applies to homework in the following way. What a student turns is as a homework solution is to be his or her own understanding of how to do the problem. In preparing the draft of the homework to be turned in, a student may not consult the notes or homework solutions of another student or any solutions to homework problems in past offerings of the course posted on the web. Students may consult any source (including those just forbidden for the final draft), except for another student's final draft, in learning how to do homework problems. Students must state what sources they have consulted, with whom they have collaborated, and from whom they have received help. However students are discouraged from using solutions to problems posted on the web for previous offerings of the course, and as just stated, must reference them if they use them.

The honor principle applies to exams as follows. Students may not give or receive assistance of any kind on an exam from any person, including the professor.

Students with Disabilities

Students with disabilities enrolled in this course and who may need disability-related classroom accommodations are encouraged to make an appointment with the professor to discuss the matter, by Oct 10, 2007. All discussions will remain confidential, although the Student Accessibility Services office may be consulted to discuss appropriate implementation of any accommodation requested.