Attendance and Responsibility

Class attendance is generally mandatory, but we are reasonable. If you must miss a class for a legitimate reason please inform us and your lab partners as early as possible so that we can plan appropriately and provide you with makeup materials.

Reading Preparation

The Course Syllabus contains reading assignments that are to be done before class. Please don't come unprepared - it not only makes your class time less effective, but slows down the class for your peers.

Grading Policy

We would like nothing more than for everyone to get an A. Our grading will be based on our expectations of how well you should understand the material presented in the course. Grading will not be based on comparisons with classmates. The grade we provide will not be recorded on your transcript, but will only provided to you. A grade of D or better will result in a pass for the course.

Your grade for the class will be computed from your performance on weekly assignments and larger projects. The general breakdown is as follows:

These percentages serve as guideline for determining the final grade, but the staff may stray somewhat from this weighting if necessary.

Homework

• Unless specified, collaboration on homework is encouraged. Please write the names of people you collaborate with, that help you, or whom you help next to each problem that you turn in. Also, please write the amount of time that you spent on each problem so that we may monitor the pace of the class.
• Homework is due at the beginning of class on the day that it is due.
• Homework should be submitted on paper in a fashion that makes it easy for the staff to verify successful completion and your comprehension of the material. We will provide detailed instructions with each assignment.
• Late homework is generally not accepted, though we are reasonable. Contact us before homework is due to request an extension. Extensions are not granted to habitual users and not guaranteed.
• The overall homework score will be a simple average of all assignments.

Project Reports

Reports are due for major in-class labs that we conduct. These reports will be concise and. the primary method of communication will be graphical (figures of key results) accompanied by brief explanations of figures. We will provide more detail with each report and examples before the first report is due.

You will be also be asked to review drafts of Project Reports written by your classmates. Each review will involve a short write-up to be delivered to the author. You will be graded on the completeness of your suggested changes and these reviews will count as a homework grade.

Exams

There will be two exams in the course. The details will provided a reasonable time before the exams.
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