Colorado State University Logo | Spring 21: CS 150 - Culture and Coding (AUCC 3B/GT-AH3) Colorado State University Logo | Spring 21: CS 150 - Culture and Coding (AUCC 3B/GT-AH3)
Spring 21: CS 150 - Culture and Coding (AUCC 3B/GT-AH3)
Computer Science

Grading

The following policies all relate to grades, grading, and late dates. Please view canvas for your actual grades in the course.

Grade Assignment

The assignment of letter grades will be made as follows:

Letter Grade Points
A ≥ 90%
B ≥ 80%
C ≥ 70%
D ≥ 60%
F < 60%

In general, we will not assign lower grades than shown. We reserve the right to change the grading cut lines.

Point Distribution

Activity Weight
Reading Assignments 18%
Labs 17%
Knowledge Checks and Exams 35%
Online Essays and Discussions 22%
Practical Project/Final Paper 8%

Grade complaints will be considered only for two weeks immediately following when the assignment grade appears on Canvas!

Assignment Categories

Reading Assignments

Reading assignments are to be done in Zybooks, and are meant to be done before the associated lecture. Additionally, for the next assignment to open in the module (labs, practicals, quizzes, exams), you must first complete the associated reading. The readings often start out longer at the start of the semester, but decrease in length when we return to topics. We will drop the two lowest reading assignment grades, but due to submission requirements, all readings need to be submitted at least once to progress in content.

To complete a reading, it suggested you use the link in canvas every time you login as compared to going directly to zybooks. Due dates for the assignments are in Canvas, and are the night before the associated lecture.

Accommodation Window / Resubmissions

You may resubmit assignments until the unit exam. Due to how technology interacts, the official “cutoff” date is in zybooks which will allow you to submit anything done before that date to canvas at a later time. Please note, it is still recommended that you complete most of the reading by the due date in canvas!

For accommodations, the resubmission window takes into account most accommodations, as it will allow anywhere from 3 days to 3 weeks of extra time. While the expected time is the due date in canvas, we understand that everyone can occasionally need accommodations, so having this resubmission window helps show competency at your own rate.

Labs

Labs are a major component in learning coding content, designed with variation and interweaving of topics in mind. We will drop the two lowest lab grades. They are meant to be done after the lectures, so the structure is reading -> lecture + knowledge checks + labs. Most labs are worth 10 points, but a few are worth more than 10 points. These are critical labs to the final project, and may not be dropped.

Accommodation Window / Resubmissions

You may resubmit labs up to 5 times until the unit exam. Due to how technology interacts, the official “cutoff” date is in zybooks which will allow you to submit anything done before that date to canvas at a later time. Please note, it is still recommended that you complete most of the reading by the due date in canvas!

Also, remember you can run in development mode as many times as you want, you are just limited your times to submit for grading. Your submission count can be found in zybooks after clicking the submit mode tab.

Knowledge Checks & Exams

Knowledge Checks and in-class activities supplement the lecture, by interweaving recall and instruction with the lecture content. In-class is only available in-class, and not able to be made up. Knowledge checks are available on canvas, required to progress content and may be redone as many times as possible until finals week. During a standard semester, we will have a max number of participation points for this category (not possible to go over 100%). This will allow you to make up missed in class days with knowledge checks.

Accommodation Window / Resubmissions

In class activities cannot be made-up. However, with knowledge checks it is possible to make up missed activities. Knowledge checks may be resubmitted as many times until end of the semester.

Study Suggestion

You should go back to older knowledge checks each week, and interweave your study habits. For example, during week four, pick a knowledge check from 1, 2, and 3 to redo. This will help solidify content, and help with retention of information.

Exams At the end of the unit, after all readings are submitted (at least once), and knowledge checks are submitted (at least once) the take-home exam will open. You will need to have this done before the assigned exam day - or you will not be able to take the exam. The exam is a take home exam. You can use all resources at your disposal - as long as you take it individually, and you have only one submission attempt. During exam week, help desk will have limited hours, and you may not use help desk for exam questions.

Accommodation Window / Resubmissions

As you have an entire week to take the exam, most accommodations are included in this week (the exam itself is only meant to take a few hours).

Mastery Path Assignments

Based on your raw exam score, you will be assigned an extra assignment. This assignment may also require that you visit with th TA to help with the assignment. For mastery path assignments, you have 3 submission attempts. The accommodation window is built into the assignment based on due dates and until by submission windows.

Please note the mastery path assignments are not optional, and they are applied to your exam scores. For way the scoring works out, is as follows:

Assume you earned a 60 on the exam, as the exam is 95 points, that would be 63%. You would be assigned a 12 point mastery assignment, given 3 submission attempts, and a working with the TA, you should strive to earn a full 12 on the assignment. That would be (12+60) / 107, making your percent 67%. However, if you choose to not do the master assignment, your grade would be 60 / 107, or 56%.

The goal of the mastery path assignments is to help you learn the information you missed on the exam, as you will come across it again. It is due two weeks after the exam during a 16-week semester, or 1 week after the exam during an 8-week semester.

Papers and Discussion

You will have three papers throughout the semester, one for each unit. Unit 1 and 3 papers are worth fewer points than your midterm paper (unit 2). Please note, these papers are meant to teach you a foundation for research, and should not be taken lightly! They are a major component of your grade.

Discussion will be taken by attendance for scheduled class sections (801 will not have the assignment).

Accommodation Window / Resubmissions

There is an accommodation window of 3 days after each paper. Please note that due to the nature of providing prompt feedback and peer grading, we cannot extend past this window. The window is automatically taken into account in canvas by the until by date. You should try to follow the due date unless something comes up, and just submit before the until by if something does come up.

Practical Project/Final Paper

You can learn more about the practical project by going to the practical project page. The practical project has both a coding and written component.

Accommodation Window / Resubmissions

The code is graded by TA review, but you need to submit it for grading in zybooks. You can submit as many times as you want. The paper has a week accommodation window between the due date and the until by date. Please note, due to the timing in the semester and needing to get them graded, there will be no submissions after the accommodation window.

Extra Credit

There are a number of extra credit assignments. The most notable are coding assignments based on the content of each unit. The extra credit won’t be applied to your grade until after all assignments are in for all students, and after any class curves are applied.

The goal of the extra credit is to provide an opportunity for students to show competency in programming skill. It will be applied to the labs category, and if a lab due date is missed, it is recommended students complete th extra credit assignments.

Additionally, completing extra credit helps provide additional practice, as learning to program takes practice.

While there are also a number of extra credit opportunities, the most that will be applied to your grade is 100 points. For reference, an units worth of labs is about 100 points.

Topic Mastery

As way to track mastery of topics, we reserve the option to add additional assignments based on your performance on previous assignments. The goal of these assignments is to encourage mastery of topics. Grading for the additional assignments will be factored into the total for ZyBooks, thus increasing your overall grade for that area, and reducing the impact of previous performance.

Course Workload Expectations

You are expected to work every night on this due to daily assignment due dates. This is to encourage good study habits, and the importance of repetition. As it is a 3 credit course, you should expect to spend 9 hours a week for a standard semester (or 18hr for an 8 week) completing content in this course. However, this various greatly based on the path you take when solving problems.

Computer Science Department

279 Computer Science Building
1100 Centre Avenue
Fort Collins, CO 80523
Phone: (970) 491-5792
Fax: (970) 491-2466

Spring 21: CS 150 - Culture and Coding (AUCC 3B/GT-AH3)

Survey of computer science, formal logic, and computational thinking. Explores the historical, gender, and cultural perspectives on the role of technology in society. Includes learning a basic programming language. Students will be expected to write small programs, and construct written arguments on ways in which technology influences our modern culture. Previous computer science experience not necessary.