Important announcements will generally be made in class or lab, but you should also regularly check the course website. I will post news about any changes to the syllabus or schedule for a course on the course websites; these will be dated so you can more easily see when I've made a change. I also send email to the entire class occasionally; because I use the MSOE email lists, those messages are only sent to your MSOE email address. You are responsible for managing your MSOE email account so that you can receive messages from your instructors.
Grades will be based on a weighted average of all graded work. The weights for the main categories (tests, labs, homework, etc.) will be given during the first week of class. In general, the MSOE grading scale will be used. A more favorable scale may be used when appropriate, such as when it would result in better agreement between clusters of scores and assigned grades.
Note that I do not assign Incomplete course grades except in exceptional circumstances; see the following section for information regarding my assignment completion rules.
Lab results and other assignments must be submitted at or before the
specified time on the specified due date. Late assignments will be
penalized by 10% of the maximum grade for every day they are late (note:
I count Saturday and Sunday combined
as one day).
Any
assignment more than 5 calendar days late will be assigned a grade of 0!
Why? because many labs build off the previous labs, and you can quickly get left
way behind if you don't keep up.
Certain assignments, such as homework, demos, final reports, final projects,
etc., will not be accepted late. No assignments will be accepted after
11:00pm Friday of week 10, except when explicitly noted.
All assignments must be completed (even if they are late and receive a 0 grade). You
will not pass the course if you do not hand in all assignments, substantially complete. You cannot simply
disregard an assignment and take a 0 grade.
Any work you submit must be substantially complete and functional. If you submit work that is incomplete or non-functional, and you have never sought my help in resolving problems you may have encountered in getting your assignment to work, you will receive a grade of no higher than 50.
If you have a valid excuse for missing an exam, you must contact me in advance to discuss your situation and to make arrangements to take the exam at another time. Exams missed without making such prior arrangements may only be taken later under the most exceptional of circumstances (you must provide sufficient formal documentation).
Students are expected to observe high standards of professional ethics. These standards include honesty in all matters and giving proper credit to the contributions of others. Cheating is a serious offense. In general cheating includes an attempt to pass off another person's work as one's own or an attempt to gain a grade through deceit or distortion of the truth. Read through your student handbook for MSOE's full definition of Academic Honesty and the repercussions for cheating.
Many labs and assignments must be completed individually, while others may be completed in small groups. If the assignment does not specify otherwise, it is to be conducted individually. Even with individual assignments, you are allowed and encouraged to discuss the assignment with your classmates, but you must do your own work. Discussing an approach to use to solve a problem, for example, is permissible, but examining another student's solution is not acceptable - regardless of whether you have his or her permission. Do not under any circumstances copy a solution from a classmate, either in part or in whole. (Note that, when creating a software program, renaming variables and routines while retaining another student's program logic is still copying - don't do it).
You must acknowledge the original ideas of others unless they are widely known in the field. If you have any doubt, you should acknowledge the idea. If you have questions about any of these standards or what you should do in a particular situation, please see me. Failure to observe these standards will result in penalties ranging from a 0 on an assignment to an F for the course.
Recycling of work (borrowing heavily from previous work, including prose and code design or implementation, often done for a different class) is allowed with certain restrictions. First, you must discuss how you intend to recycle your work with me and gain approval well in advance of the assignment due date. Also, you must cite your prior work.
Regular attendance is a foundational element of academic success and attendance will be recorded at various times throughout the quarter. However, I realize that there are life circumstances that may prevent you from attending a class or lab. You should check with me if you need to miss class for any reason so that we can ensure that you have a plan to stay up to date on the material.
You are expected to stay in attendance during an entire lab session and use that time to make progress on your assignment. You may leave early only if you demonstrate a finished, working version of your assignment. If you fail to attend the lab session, you may receive an F for the assignment.
If you miss a quiz or exam because you missed class without notifying me ahead of time (except in extreme circumstances), you will receive a 0. You must be present in order to receive a grade.
An instructor has the option to administratively drop students from a course for various reasons, including chronic absense. I generally will not do this, except in extreme cases of team-based courses (such as SE2030, SE2800, or SE319x) where a student's absense affects the team's ability to succeed. If you wish to drop the course on your initiative, please consult the Registrar's Office.
Take full advantage of your access to me during my regularly scheduled office hours, and feel free to make an appointment with me if those times don't work for you for some reason. This is a teaching institution, and I am here to help you fulfill your educational objectives. I'm readily available to help if you need a deeper understanding of course material or surrounding subjects, or if you just get stalled on a problem. Before coming to MSOE, I had practiced software engineering as a full-time profession for about 20 years, and I'd like to share and impart at least some of that experience to you.
This page was last updated on 02/08/2018.