Types of Assignments and Activities, with Grade Contributions

Problem sets and readings (25%)

Throughout the semester, I will assign several chapters of reading in a text- book and some accompanying problems (usually from the textbook). There will be between 3 and 6 problem sets throughout the semester. You will be required to hand in a digital file with reproducible solutions, i.e. a knitr file that reproduces your answers.

Quizzes (25%)

There will be occasional quizzes, some announced, some unannounced. They will be short (less than 10 minutes), in-class quizzes that will test your understanding of material covered in the course up to that time. The quizzes will not be designed to be difficult, as they are largely designed to evaluate participation, engagement with the material, and attendance. Quizzes will take many forms: short answer or multiple choice questions, an in-class survey of results of a take-home lab assignment, etc… I will drop your lowest quiz score when calculating your final grade.

Participation, labs, and homework (15%)

You are expected to attend class every day, to participate actively in group work and discussions, and to provide helpful and insightful feedback to fellow students. We will be doing a lot of hands-on in-class work. Often, there will be some additional work required to finish the labs after class ends, or a short assignment will be given for the next class. These assignments will not be graded in and of themselves, but your completion of these assignments will be evaluated by quizzes and cold-calling on students during class discussions in the following class period. Your participation grade will depend on your ability to answer questions about these assignments.

Independent Final Project (35%)

A large component of the course will be an independent project which will be presented to and evaluated (in part) by your classmates. Check out the project page for more info.