CS 183/184, Fall 2008/Spring 2009
Computer Science Clinic

Quick index:

  • Useful general information
  • Finding Geoff
  • Expectations
  • Grading criteria for clinic
  • Class suggestion box

    • Useful Information

    Finding Geoff

    My weekly schedule is posted on the Web for all to see. I am generally in my office every day except Friday. If the door is open, please feel free to drop in with your questions. Even if I happen to be busy, I'll at least know that you need to talk to me and we can set up an appointment to talk. If you are on a computer, the command finger @mallet.cs.hmc.edu will generally tell you whether I'm logged in and have multiple active windows, which is a very good sign that I'm in the office.

    I maintain an AIM account to allow quick questions. To avoid spam harvesters, the account name is not given here; I will give it to you in our first meeting. The form of the account is the 4-letter abbreviation of my job title, followed by my last name.

    On Fridays I do research. You can usually still reach me via e-mail or AIM.

    Expectations

    Clinic is a difficult but rewarding course. To help you get through it, I have compiled a separate document listing what is expected of you on a clinic project. You are expected to be intimately familiar with that document.

    Professors Thom and Alvarado have also written an excellent expectations document. What they say in there applies equally well to this clinic.

    Course Grading Criteria

    Grading clinic is always a difficult task, both because of the group nature of the course and because of the nebulous criteria for project success. To help you understand what goes into grading, here is a partial list of what is expected for each letter grade. Of course, nobody will fall neatly into a particular category; instead, the "preponderance of evidence" will carry the day.

    Also, remember that clinic is a team project, not a competition. It is definitely possible for everyone to get an A. Phrases such as "major contribution" do not mean that you have to do more than your fair share of the work.

    A:

    An "A" is awarded for outstanding work that can serve as an example for other students in later years. "A" work represents a professional attitude, reflects thoughtful understanding of the project, meets all expectations, and is complete in every respect.

    1. You did not miss any clinic meetings unless excused by your advisor or the clinic director.
    2. You were never late for clinic meetings.
    3. You did not miss or arrive late for any Tuesday-morning clinic presentations unless excused by your advisor or the clinic director.
    4. All of your weekly status reports were filed on time, with significant content.
    5. You were always prepared for clinic meetings.
    6. The lab notebook was kept neatly, was well organized, and served as a clear record of the entire project.
    7. Your clinic teammates viewed you as a major contributor and a hard worker.
    8. You made major contributions to the design of the project.
    9. You made major contributions to the implementation of the project.
    10. You used source control regularly and properly.
    11. Your code was easily readable by others, both inside and outside the project.
    12. You documented everything that you produced, both internally and for the user.
    13. You contributed significantly to both writing and delivering all clinic presentations.
    14. You showed a strong desire to improve your presentation skills over the course of the year.
    15. All of the clinic deliverables (reports, presentations, poster, and source code) arrived on time.
    16. Your midyear and final reports were complete, clear, and thorough.
    17. Your written clinic deliverables contained no significant spelling or grammar errors, except for infrequent and minor typographical errors that could not be detected by automated tools.
    18. The customer was very happy with the outcome of the project.
    19. In addition, if you were the team leader:
      1. Each team member thoroughly understood his or her responsibilities.
      2. Team conflicts were handled extremely well.
      3. Difficulties with the project were always reported quickly to the advisor and liaison.

    B:

    A "B" is awarded for good work that has only a few flaws. A "B" effort is characterized by an excellent attitude and good understanding of the project. It meets most expectations and is complete in nearly every respect.

    1. You had at most one unexcused absence from clinic meetings during the term.
    2. You were almost never late for clinic meetings, and never late by very much.
    3. You had at most one unexcused absence or two late arrivals for Tuesday-morning clinic presentations during the term.
    4. Nearly all of your weekly status reports were filed on time, with significant content.
    5. You were nearly always prepared for clinic meetings.
    6. The lab notebook was reasonably well organized and provided a good record of your participation in the project.
    7. Your clinic teammates viewed you as helpful.
    8. You made significant contributions to the design of the project.
    9. You made significant contributions to the implementation of the project.
    10. You used source control frequently.
    11. Your code was readable by others, both inside and outside the project.
    12. You documented nearly everything that you produced, both internally and for the user.
    13. You participated in both writing and delivering all clinic presentations.
    14. You made an honest attempt to improve your presentation skills over the course of the year.
    15. Nearly all of the clinic deliverables (reports, presentations, poster, and source code) arrived on time.
    16. Your midyear and final reports were almost complete, quite clear, and pretty thorough.
    17. Your written clinic deliverables contained only a few significant spelling and grammar errors.
    18. The customer was fairly happy with the outcome of the project.
    19. In addition, if you were the team leader:
      1. Each team member understood his or her responsibilities fairly well.
      2. Team conflicts were handled without lasting effects.
      3. Difficulties with the project were nearly always reported quickly to the advisor and liaison.

    C:

    A "C" is awarded for satisfactory but uninspired work. A "C" effort is characterized by a positive attitude and some understanding of the project. It meets some expectations and is reasonably complete in all important respects.

    1. You had at most two unexcused absences from clinic meetings during the term.
    2. You were occasionally a bit late for clinic meetings.
    3. You had at most two unexcused absences or three late arrivals for Tuesday-morning clinic presentations during the term.
    4. Many of your weekly status reports were filed on time, and they usually had significant content.
    5. You were often prepared for clinic meetings.
    6. The lab notebook provided a fairly good record of your participation in the project.
    7. Your clinic teammates did not view you as a detriment to the team, but were not happy with your contribution or the level of effort you devoted to the project.
    8. You contributed to the design of the project.
    9. You contributed to the implementation of the project.
    10. You used source control often enough that no critical data was placed at risk.
    11. Your code was reasonably readable by your teammates.
    12. You documented most of what you produced, both internally and for the user.
    13. You participated in both writing and delivering most clinic presentations.
    14. You made some attempt to improve your presentation skills over the course of the year.
    15. Some all of the clinic deliverables (reports, presentations, poster, and source code) arrived on time.
    16. Your midyear and final reports were somewhat complete, fairly clear, and somewhat thorough.
    17. Your written clinic deliverables contained quite a few spelling and grammar errors.
    18. The customer was not actively unhappy with the outcome of the project.
    19. In addition, if you were the team leader:
      1. Each team member had some idea of his or her responsibilities.
      2. Team conflicts were eventually resolved.
      3. Difficulties with the project were usually reported quickly to the advisor and liaison.

    D:

    A "D" indicates substandard work. A "D" effort is characterized by a negative attitude, little understanding of the project, and meeting only a few expectations. It is incomplete in a number of important respects.

    1. You had more than two unexcused absences from clinic meetings during the term.
    2. You were often late for clinic meetings.
    3. You had more than two unexcused absences, or more than four late arrivals, for Tuesday-morning clinic presentations during the term.
    4. Nearly all of your weekly status reports were missing or filed late, or they rarely had significant content.
    5. You were rarely prepared for clinic meetings.
    6. The lab notebook provided a poor record of your participation in the project.
    7. Your clinic teammates felt that you contributed little, if anything, to the project.
    8. You did not contribute significantly to the design of the project.
    9. You did not contribute significantly to the implementation of the project.
    10. You used source control only rarely, so that critical data was placed at risk.
    11. Your code was very difficult for your teammates to read.
    12. You documented little of what you produced.
    13. You participated in writing and delivering only a few clinic presentations.
    14. You made almost no attempt to improve your presentation skills over the course of the year.
    15. Only one or two of the clinic deliverables (reports, presentations, poster, and source code) arrived on time.
    16. Your midyear and final reports were incomplete, hard to follow, and missed some important areas.
    17. Your written clinic deliverables contained many spelling and grammar errors.
    18. The customer was not happy with the outcome of the project.
    19. In addition, if you were the team leader:
      1. Each team member had little idea of his or her responsibilities.
      2. Team conflicts lingered for long periods without resolution.
      3. Difficulties with the project were rarely reported to the advisor and liaison until it became impossible to avoid doing so.

    F:

    An "F" indicates unacceptable work. A failing effort is characterized by an obstructionist attitude, no understanding of the project, and meeting almost no expectations. It is incomplete in nearly every respect.

    1. You had repeated unexcused absences from clinic meetings during the term.
    2. You were consistently late for clinic meetings, or were extremely late.
    3. You had repeated unexcused absences or late arrivals for Tuesday-morning clinic presentations during the term.
    4. All of your weekly status reports were filed late, or they never had useful content.
    5. You were never prepared for clinic meetings.
    6. The lab notebook was almost never used and provided no useful record of the project.
    7. Your clinic teammates felt that you were a detriment to the project.
    8. You did not contribute to the design of the project.
    9. You did not contribute to the implementation of the project.
    10. You did not use source control.
    11. Your code was nearly impossible to read.
    12. You documented none of what you produced.
    13. You participated in writing and delivering almost no clinic presentations.
    14. You made no attempt to improve your presentation skills over the course of the year.
    15. None of the clinic deliverables (reports, presentations, poster, and source code) arrived on time.
    16. Your midyear and final reports were seriously lacking on content, incoherent, and had major gaps in coverage.
    17. Your written clinic deliverables were riddled with spelling and grammar errors.
    18. The customer was so unhappy with the outcome of the project that they will probably not return next year.
    19. In addition, if you were the team leader:
      1. Each team member had no idea of his or her responsibilities.
      2. Team conflicts were not resolved, or were exacerbated by your poor handling of the situation.
      3. Difficulties with the project were covered up and were never reported to the advisor and liaison.

    This page is maintained by Geoff Kuenning.