Syllabus

COURSE INFO

  • Lecturer: Jay Summet
  • Email: summetj [at] gatech.edu
  • Office: CCB 135
  • Office Hours:
  • TA: Kareem Bedri
  • Email: abedri6 [at] mail.gatech.edu
  • Kareem's office hours (CCB 337):
    • Mon/Wed 2-4pm

Textbook

Course Objectives

This course is primarily built around hands on labs and projects.

Class

LETTER GRADES

Letter grade assignments are given according to the following cutoffs with no rounding:

  • 90.0 <= A <= 100
  • 80.0 <= B < 90.0
  • 70.0 <= C < 80.0
  • 60.0 <= D < 70.0
  • 0 <= F < 60.0

Grading Policies

There is no curve in this course. The grading breakdown is as follows:

Attendance Policy: You will begin the class with a 105% grade in the attendance category. Every day you do not attend class your attendance grade will drop by 5%. This means that you can skip any 1 day of your choosing while maintaining a perfect 100% score in the attendance category. (Or, you may maintain perfect attendance and take the 5% extra credit.) If you have a Dean of Students or Institute excused absence it will not count against your attendance grade. It is your responsibility to sign the attendance sheet before it is collected. If you are late, we may apply a penalty lower than 5% but above 0%.

Timely handling of grade disputes: Disputes of grading on assignments, skill demos, quizes, etc must be discussed within one week of their return or posting.

Late Work and Missed Exam Policy: Assignments are due before the date and time indicated. There are no makeups for missed exams. Any request for exceptions to this policy should be made in advance when at all possible.

Email Policy for this Course

Please try to use your official Georgia Tech email when sending email to the instructor or TA. Please attach [cs3651] to the beginning of the subject of your email! Please also indicate who you are within your email. :)

Assignment Submission

Almost all electronic assignments will be submitted via T-Square. Assignments turned in electronically should be submitted using PDF or plain text files. Do NOT submit .doc, .docx, .odt, etc. In general, assignments should be written in 12 pt, Times-Roman font (or similar) and double spaced. Electronic assignments will be submitted through T-Square in the "Assignments" tab. Emailing your assignments to the instructor is unacceptable. We will also make use of the "Resources" tab as a repository for useful documents and readings.

Access T-Square at https://t-square.gatech.edu/

Assignments & Collaboration

Include a header at the top of each file you turn in detailing the following information:

Plagiarism is the "use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work." [Wikipedia] and is considered academic dishonesty and an honor code violation.

Keep in mind that you are allowed to work with other students currently in CS3651. Do give credit though by listing your group collaborators and citing others work when appropriate.

Projects

In this class you will complete several hands-on projects. Smaller projects for past classes have included a Balsa Wood Bridge Contest and a team Rube Goldberg Machine contest. In the summer semester we may not have time for smaller project, so your entire project grade may come from the final project.

The largest will be a 3 person team final project. Your team will propose a project, build it, track your progress using a simple SCRUMM system, document your project with a website and video, and give a final presentation of your project at the end of class.

Example projects can be seen on previous class websites:

Presentations

Each team will be required to present their project proposal, status report, and a final project as a presentation.

Course Expectations

  1. Class attendance is required.
  2. Keep up with the reading and videos! Readings/Videos should be completed before class on the date indicated on the Calendar.
  3. Take responsibility for your course work submissions; it is your job to make sure that you successfully turned in what you meant to turn in. Be sure to verify your submission. This is how you make sure that you get credit for the work you do.
  4. Be prepared when you go to get help from a TA or your instructor. Bring your work with you.
  5. Take initiative. Begin your assignments early and if you think you need help, come prepared. Use the resources that are provided for you, and be determined to succeed from the start.
  6. Read, understand, and follow the Georgia Tech Academic Honor Code