You homework each week will be graded either automatically, or by the instructor reading over the homework carefully. If it is read by the instructor, it will be graded on a scale of 0 to 9, as follows:

If it is graded automatically, you will receive either a check+ (A), check (B), check- (C), or 0 (F). The instructor will grade only a few assignments for each student; which homework is which is determined randomly.

The automatically graded homeworks and the manually graded ones are all worth the same amount in the computation of your final grade (but the manually graded ones will have more useful feedback written in them).

Any homework assignment may be handed in after the due date, but with ceiling on the score. To accept the homework, the handin server will have separate (logical) assignments, named hw1-second-try, hw2-second-try, etc. These homeworks will always be automatically graded (of course, strange results from the auto-grading system will be investigated upon request). When your final grade is computed, the higher of the original grade and the -second-try grade will be used, except that if the -second-try grade is a check+ then it is treated as a check for this purpose. In other words, your second try cannot raise your grade if the first try was already a check or an 8 or a 9.

The last time second-try assignments will be accepted is the Saturday (any time Saturday) after finals. I have to hand in grades on Monday, so that gives me Sunday and Monday morning to figure them out.

Working with others on assignments is a good way to learn the material and we encourage it. However, there are limits to the degree of cooperation that we will permit.

When working on programming assignments, you must work only with others whose understanding of the material is approximately equal to yours. In this situation, working together to find a good approach for solving a programming problem is cooperation; listening while someone dictates a solution is cheating. You must limit collaboration to a high-level discussion of solution strategies, and stop short of actually writing down a group answer. Anything that you hand in, whether it is a written problem or a computer program, must be entirely your own work. If you base your solution on any other written solution, you are cheating.

Note: allowing your work to be copied is cheating just as much as copying another's work, and thus also subject to punishment.

If you have any questions about what constitutes cheating, please ask.