Course policies

This chapter contains the official course policies that students must follow during the semester. Other chapters may summarize, explain, or link to these rules, but the policies stated in this chapter are the main reference. If another section appears to describe a rule differently, this chapter prevails.

The practical organization of homework assignments, exams, oral sessions, and related course activities is explained in Course activities, especially Activity mechanics. Partial-grade reporting is an administrative note explained in Evaluation. This chapter states the enforceable requirements and what happens when those requirements are not met.

Activity rules and consequences

As explained in Course activities, homework assignments and partial exams include a Written component and an Oral component. The final exam \(E_F\) has no Oral component and consists only of the Written component. These rules apply to homework assignments and exams and define the requirements for language, team work, DataLab, deadlines, allowed resources, oral components, and eligibility-related cases. Homework assignments are denoted by \(H\) with a subscript, such as \(H_1\) and \(H_2\). Partial exams are denoted by \(E\) with a subscript, such as \(E_1\) and \(E_2\).

Required number of questions. For \(E_1\) and \(E_2\), teams must answer 3 out of 4 questions. For \(E_F\), teams must answer 4 out of 5 questions. Answering more than the required number of questions may result in a significant mark deduction.
Team work and coordination. Exams and homework assignments are team activities. Each team activity must have at least one student responsible for coordinating the team so that the activity is complete, correctly located, and ready on time. Team size, team changes, expulsion of a team member, and team agreements are governed by Team policies.
Required language. The Written components of exams and homework assignments must be completed in English. If a Written component is not completed in English, at least 50% of the Written component mark may be deducted. For Oral components associated with homework assignments and partial exams, each team may choose to present in English or Spanish.
Use of resources and AI tools. Students may use all available resources, including generative AI tools and virtual assistants, for the Written component of homework and exam activities, subject to the instructions, academic integrity standards, privacy requirements, and team-work rules of each activity. During Oral components, I will normally display the submitted homework or partial-exam answer on screen. Students may not use AI tools, electronic assistance, written notes, scripts, prepared guides, or any other support material.
DataLab format and location. DataLab is a very stable platform and is the official workspace for homework and exam activities. In this course, there is typically no separate final submission step after the notebook is placed and saved in the required DataLab location; students are responsible for ensuring that their work is saved and located correctly in DataLab for grading. All homework and exam activities must be completed in DataLab as Jupyter notebooks (.ipynb) and placed in the correct team workspace inside the “submissions” folder. Although DataLab may allow uploads in formats such as PDF or Microsoft Word, those formats are not acceptable for evaluated homework or exams unless I explicitly authorize them under the exceptional platform-failure rule below. Some activities may require additional formats, such as videos or external links; when this happens, the required links or evidence must also be included in the corresponding Jupyter notebook. I evaluate the notebook or activity evidence available in the required location at the specified deadline. At that time, missing, incorrect, empty, corrupted, or wrongly located notebooks, links, files, or activity evidence will receive a zero for the team.
Same-version oral component. The Oral component must be based on the Written component version that was available in the required DataLab location at the deadline or submitted during the partial-exam period. Teams prepare an oral explanation based on that submitted version, but they may not prepare or use a separate presentation file, corrected notebook, slide deck, or improved version for the Oral component. If the submitted version contains mistakes, students should identify those mistakes and explain how they would correct or address them.
Non-presenting teams during oral sessions. During oral presentation or oral defense sessions, a team that clearly knows it is not scheduled to present in the corresponding session or block may choose one of three options: remain in the classroom as audience members, complete a Campus Contribution Mission, or leave the classroom to organize, practice, or work on its own Oral component. If students complete a Campus Contribution Mission, the mission must be a brief, safe, respectful, and positive action completed on campus during the corresponding class session. The mission must include photo or video evidence showing that it was completed during that class session and that each student claiming attendance through the mission actually participated. Students completing a Campus Contribution Mission must not record identifiable people without their consent, disturb others, create risk, spend money, leave campus, or violate university policies. If the required Campus Contribution Mission evidence is missing, unclear, completed outside the class session, or does not show real participation, the student or students involved will receive an absence for that class session. Students may also leave for team oral preparation; in that case, no evidence needs to be submitted. If a team is scheduled to present later in the same session or block, the team must return on time.
Backups and exceptional platform failure. Because online platforms may experience occasional downtime, students must have RStudio installed on their local computer as a backup. Only in the extreme case of an unexpected DataLab platform failure, and only with my prior authorization, the activity may be sent by email before the deadline as a well-presented PDF produced through RStudio from a Markdown document rendered to PDF, Overleaf, or another similar tool. After completing the final exam \(E_F\), students will no longer have editor access to DataLab. Therefore, I suggest creating a personal backup of any documents they wish to keep.
Homework deadlines and late work. Homework assignments must be completed and ready for evaluation by 10:00 a.m. on the homework deadlines listed in Schedule. At that time, I may change the team’s DataLab access from editor to viewer, which means the team can no longer continue editing the activity. If the required notebook or activity evidence is not ready in the correct DataLab location by the specified deadline, the team will not be allowed to complete or correct it later. Once access changes from editor to viewer, no late work is accepted.
Final-exam eligibility. Students may lose the right to take the final exam due to excessive absences, according to current university regulations. In those cases, the student will not have access to the team’s DataLab workspace for the final exam. See Attendance and tardiness policies.

Team policies

These policies apply to all team activities in the course. They are intended to make team work transparent, manageable, and fair.

Team size and formation. Teams may consist of one, two, three, or four students. Students form teams at the beginning of the semester.
Team agreements and contribution records. I strongly advise each team to create written rules and expectations at the start of the semester. These may include communication norms, task division, deadlines, and how contributions will be documented. These agreements are internal to the team; I do not intervene in ordinary internal team arrangements. Not having internal rules is not a problem if the team works well and no conflict arises. However, if a team later seeks penalties, expulsion, or other actions under these policies, the absence of written rules and contribution records may make those actions difficult to justify or authorize.
Switching teams. A student may switch teams only with written consent from the team they are joining and written notice to the team they are leaving. This requires email evidence that CCs all members of both teams and me. I must authorize the change to confirm that no team exceeds four members. Requests must be submitted at least one week before the next team activity so that both teams have enough time to prepare and recognize the change in membership. Requests made after this deadline will be rejected.
Expelling a team member. A team may request the expulsion of a team member when there is clear evidence that the member has not met previously agreed team expectations. To proceed, the team must provide a previously signed team agreement that defines expectations, such as communication, deadlines, and contribution standards, together with evidence showing that the member did not meet those expectations. Without a signed agreement and clear evidence, I cannot authorize the expulsion.
Unauthorized changes. Students may not change teams or expel a member on their own. Any team change or expulsion is official only after it follows the policies above and receives my authorization. Until then, the original team membership remains in effect for all graded activities.

Attendance and tardiness policies

These policies define how attendance, tardiness, online presence, and exceptional Zoom attendance are handled.

Late enrollment. Late enrollment is handled by the Registrar’s Office. Students who complete their enrollment late are still responsible for attending class from the beginning of the semester whenever possible. If a student misses the first class session or sessions because their enrollment is not yet resolved, those missed sessions will be recorded as absences. To avoid this situation, students should contact me as soon as possible, preferably using the welcome email sent before the beginning of classes, so I can provide instructions for attending class while the enrollment process is completed.
Face-to-face tardiness. In face-to-face classes, two tardies count as one absence. Tardies accumulate over the course of the semester. A tardy is recorded if the student arrives immediately after attendance is taken and remains for the rest of the class. If a student is marked as present or tardy, this can be changed to an absence if they leave the classroom or do not stay until the end of the class.
Online attendance. In online classes, there is no tardiness policy. Attendance is based on the Zoom activity log, measured by minutes connected. Each session results in either an attendance or an absence. Students must be connected for at least 90% of the class to be marked present. Students must join using their own Zoom login credentials to verify identity and correctly attribute attendance.
Camera use in Zoom sessions. Unless I explicitly state otherwise for a specific session or activity, students may keep their camera either on or off during Zoom sessions. Camera status does not determine attendance; attendance is based on the applicable attendance rule.
Online connectivity. In online classes, connectivity problems do not excuse absences. Attendance is determined solely by the Zoom activity log. Students are responsible for ensuring reliable access and joining with their own Zoom account.
Zoom sessions in a face-to-face course. In face-to-face classes, we usually hold a few Zoom sessions during the semester (see Schedule for details). During these sessions, the policy is the same as in online classes.
Exam-session attendance. No physical presence in the classroom is required for any exam, including the final exam \(E_F\). In 1.5-hour exam class sessions, the full session is assigned for the team to complete the exam, and students are not required to join Zoom. In 3-hour partial-exam class sessions, the first 1.5 hours are assigned for the exam, and students are not required to join Zoom during that part. Students must join Zoom individually during the second part of a 3-hour partial-exam session to register attendance for that day.
Weather-related emergency switch to Zoom. In face-to-face classes, it is possible that an occasional session may be moved to Zoom due to extreme weather conditions that cannot be reasonably anticipated. If this happens, I will notify students by email with updated instructions.
One-time Zoom exception for face-to-face sessions. In face-to-face classes, students may attend a designated face-to-face session via Zoom once per semester as an exception. If this applies to you, notify me by email. If it happens a second time, the student may still attend via Zoom, but I will record an absence in accordance with current university regulations.
Maximum absences. The maximum number of allowed absences is governed by current university regulations. According to the academic regulations, if a student exceeds the allowed number of absences during the semester, the student loses the right to take the final exam.
Attendance records. Students are responsible for keeping track of their own absences and tardies during the semester. I can answer brief questions about attendance records in class when time allows. Preferably, students should ask these questions by email or consult the official system used to record grades and attendance.