Homeworks and Policies

Homework & Class Policies

Course Grading:

Here are the number of points each part of the course is worth (tentative):

It is fine with me if you want to take the class pass/fail or even to audit the class, as long as it is OK with your program director. I am happy to sign whatever forms are needed. Note you will get much more out of the class if you do the assignments.

Late Policy:

• Assignments are due before the beginning of class (1:25pm Eastern time) on the specified day. (The idea is that you won't be motivated to skip class to finish your homework.)
• Homeworks are to be uploaded to Canvas in the appropriate place, in the format described by each homework page. If there is a problem uploading, emailing the submission to me will "timestamp" your submission, but please still upload as soon as you can.
• A penalty of 5 points out of 100 will be immediately applied after the start time of class.
• An additional 5 points will be subtracted for each additional day late (including weekends and holidays).
• Assignments cannot be turned in more than 1 week late (7 days from due date) - later than this will result in a zero (0) on that assignment.

Office Hours:

The TA, Chaoran Chen, will hold office hours at a time and place TBD or by Zoom.

The Professor, Brad Myers, will hold office hours at a time TBD in his office, NSH 3513 or by Zoom.

For either office hour, you can show up in person, or else we will be available through a Zoom room which you can find on Canvas.

Diversity Statement:

It is my intent that students from all diverse backgrounds and perspectives be well served by this course, that students’ learning needs be addressed both in and out of class, and that the diversity that students bring to this class be viewed as a resource, strength and benefit. It is my intent to present materials and activities that are respectful of diversity: gender, sexuality, disability, age, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, race, and culture. Your suggestions are encouraged and appreciated. Please let me know ways to improve the effectiveness of the course for you personally or for other students or student groups. In addition, if any of our class meetings conflict with your religious events, please let me know so that we can make arrangements for you.

Resources:

• Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion: csdi@andrew.cmu.edu, (412) 268 - 2150, www.cmu.edu/student-diversity
• Report-It online anonymous reporting platform: www.reportit.net, username: tartans, password: plaid
• All reports will be acknowledged, documented, and a determination will be made regarding a course of action. All experiences shared will be used to transform the campus climate to be more equitable and just.

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

If you have a disability and have an accommodations letter from the Disability Resources office, I encourage you to discuss your accommodations and needs with me as early in the semester as possible. I will work with you to ensure that accommodations are provided as appropriate. If you suspect that you may have a disability and would benefit from accommodations but are not yet registered with the Office of Disability Resources, I encourage you to contact them at access@andrew.cmu.edu.

Cheating Policy

(see also below)

• No Cheating!
• All regular homework assignments in this course are individual: you are required to do them by yourself.
• Final projects are group projects -- you must work with your partner(s).
• Each person must do their own work independently.
• No copying anybody else's work.
• No copying answers from any other course's assignments.
• No copying code from the Web.
• No copying from a previous version of this course.
• For homeworks where you are supposed to do a user study, it is considered cheating to make up the data --
  you must run a real person and record what they actually said and did.
• Penalty for cheating: a zero on the assignment, and possibly other penalties as well.

DISCIPLINARY ACTION FOR CHEATING OR PLAGIARISM:

While there is a university-wide disciplinary committee which handles serious disciplinary matters referred to it, the responsibility for establishing disciplinary guidelines rests with each department. Since the affiliation of this course is with the Human-Computer Interaction Institute (HCII), we will follow the set of rules established by that department. The following are the rules to be applied uniformly by the HCII:

First, cheating in any form is not permitted as an ethical or professional behavior and will not be tolerated. Cheating includes, but is not necessarily limited to:

• The use of unauthorized materials including computer programs in preparation of an assignment or during an examination.
• The submission or use of falsified data.
• The submission of work that is not the student's own.
• Plagiarism- use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work. (See below)
• The use of an alternate/stand-in/proxy during an examination.
• Supplying unauthorized data to another student for the preparation of an assignment or during an examination.
• Collaboration in the preparation of an assignment, unless specifically required or allowed by the instructor, will usually be viewed as cheating. Each student, therefore, is responsible for understanding the policies of the instructor offering any course as they refer to the amount of help and collaboration permitted in preparation of assignments.

Should any student be found guilty of cheating on a quiz, exam, homework or project, at minimum a zero grade will be recorded and then averaged in with the other grades (should there be any) for the term. Depending on the circumstances, and at the discretion of the instructor and the Department Head, the student may be failed in the course and may be expelled from the University. In any case, the University will be notified of any case of cheating or plagiarism. A repeated occurrence of cheating will be treated as an automatic failure (R grade) and expulsion from the University.

A subtler form of cheating arises in the form of plagiarism, which is defined as "passing off as one's own the ideas or works of another." Making use of reference material and failing to note (either at all or properly) the original source constitutes plagiarism. When two or more people work together on an individual project and each then turns in his/her individual report as though no collaboration was involved, this also is plagiarism. Simply rewriting another's words or thoughts, or rearranging another's materials, is in every sense plagiarism - unless the student properly and completely references such material, each and every time it is used and to the full extent of usage. Should a case of plagiarism arise, the initial responsibility for judging the seriousness of the offense will rest with the instructor. If the instructor feels that the student was simply sloppy in referencing the material used and plagiarized, a judgment of sloppy professionalism rather than cheating will be made. The grade for the paper, project or thesis will be lowered by at least one grade point. On the other hand, if the instructor feels that the student plagiarized flagrantly, and intentionally meant to mislead the instructor into thinking that the work was the student's own original work, the grade for the report, project or thesis will be recorded as zero.

It should be emphasized that any group collaboration that involves individual take-home projects, papers or theses should be carried out only with considerable discretion. That is, students are encouraged to discuss and collaborate among themselves on the various principles which are exposited in class or covered in the reading material, etc.; but any group discussion or collaboration which involves any specifics of take-home projects, papers or theses should be avoided - unless the ideas or efforts of others are properly noted. Put differently, when individual work and thinking is called for, group thinking and/or work is entirely inappropriate and is a form of plagiarism. In any case of cheating or plagiarism, the student may request a review of the instructor's decision by the department head, who will then make the final decision for the department. The student, of course, can appeal any faculty decision to the University Committee on Discipline. In a case of flagrant cheating by a graduate student on a thesis, the matter will be forwarded to the Disciplinary Committee for stronger action.

• Academic Disciplinary Actions process is available in The Word.
• University Policy on Academic Integrity.

Take care of yourself

This semester was supposed to be "back to normal," but it doesn't seem like it will. We are all under a lot of stress and uncertainty at this time. Make sure to move regularly, eat well, and reach out to your support system or me if you need to. We can all benefit from support in times of stress, and this semester is no exception.

Do your best to maintain a healthy lifestyle this semester by eating well, exercising, avoiding drugs and alcohol, getting enough sleep and taking some time to relax. This will help you achieve your goals and cope with stress.

All of us benefit from support during times of struggle. You are not alone. There are many helpful resources available on campus and an important part of the college experience is learning how to ask for help. Asking for support sooner rather than later is often helpful.

If you or anyone you know experiences any academic stress, difficult life events, or feelings like anxiety or depression, we strongly encourage you to seek support. Counseling and Psychological Services (CaPS) is here to help: call 412-268-2922 and visit their website at http://www.cmu.edu/counseling/. Consider reaching out to a friend, faculty or family member you trust for help getting connected to the support that can help.

If you or someone you know is feeling suicidal or in danger of self-harm, call someone immediately, day or night:

• CaPS: 412-268-2922
• Re:solve Crisis Network: 888-796-8226
• If the situation is life threatening, call the police:
  • On campus: CMU Police: 412-268-2323
  • Off campus: 911

If you have questions about this or your coursework, please let me know.