This page describes how Assigments will be handed in and handed back to students during Spring 2020. In other terms, this was all done in hardcopy. This term, we will be using LEARN and its Dropboxes.
PLEASE NOTE: the ONLY usage of LEARN for this course will be for Assignment submission and return. None of the other possible functionalities of LEARN will be used. No one in our teaching team will be monitoring other LEARN features.
Class discussion will take place on our Piazza newsgroup. Any questions about assignments are to be sent as email, directed to me and to the head TA Andreas (regardless of your section) as spelled out in the Communications section of the Structure webpage for this course.
Assignments have strict due dates, shown per the Eastern time zone (Waterloo's time). On or before an assignment's due date students should select the appropriate Dropbox on LEARN (e.g. to hand in Assignment 1, select the A1 Dropbox). NOTE: If the submission date for your assignment is past the due date, you should expect a grade of zero (even if the Dropbox has not shut down). The boxes may remain open a bit longer only to handle students with truly exceptional circumstances, who MUST contact us and explain.
Please note that when we grade, we are able to divide the Dropbox into Sections, and look at all essays in one section at a time. (This is expecially important for A5 and A6, largely graded by the TAs, where it will be your TA who grades your essays). You will be asked to upload pdf and you can only have one submission attached to your name. While you can replace this ONE file before the due date, only the last copy that you upload will be viewed and graded. Comments on the Assignment will be returned to you and a grade will eventually appear on LEARN for this assignment (after a period of time, not immediately).
Although I typically am not very particular about how you choose to typeset your essays, I will ask this year that the essays be single-spaced, so consuming a modest number of pages in total. Remember that you are being asked to upload PDFs, as well.
Note that the grades for Class Participation, A5 and A6 are only determined after our last class is over, late into the month of August. We typically post to the newsgroup when these are all being handed back.
One of our assignments is somewhat different and merits an explanation. A2 asks each student to complete a specific sheet of questions. That sheet will be posted to our website on the Handouts page on the date indicated in our Timetable. Students will be asked to provide responses to the questions as a pdf submitted to the A2 Dropbox under their name. We will ask you to imagine writing in the space provided, in order to estimate how long your responses should be. While there won't be a strict limit, please respect the spirit of the assignment. Offer more than a few words but please do not overdo it. Assignment 5B only counts towards your Class participation grade. The sheet for this will also be provided on the Handouts page on the date indicated in our Timetable.
Note that TAs assist with the grading of A5 and they may have a few brief requests with respect to layout and spacing of essays, which will be conveyed closer to the due date.