CMPT 873 (Fall 2002): Course policies

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Class attendance and participation

Attendance in class is not required.  However, a large portion of the class content is not in the text and will only be given in class.  Furthermore, in-class exercises and discussions will be crucial in mastering the material.  The concepts underlying usability and user interfaces are simple-the difficulty is in the execution.  The ability to analyze an interface only comes with practice.  The class sessions will be an important opportunity to get that practice. While attendance will not be a specifically allocated part of the total grade, I will take attendance and participation into account for individuals who are on the borderline of letter grades.  Those who actively participated will be given the benefit of the doubt, while those who didn't come or sat passively will be left at the lower grade.

Assignments

Assignments must be turned in by the start of the class session they are due. Assignments turned in after the start of class will have their grades automatically reduced 10%. Assignments will not be accepted more than 24 hours after the due date.

Format of written assignments

As a graduate class, this course is training for professional communications. In particular, you are practicing writing for publication. Observe all standard rules for published writing: Cite all references in one of the standard styles (IEEE, ACM, or American Psychological Association style) and provide a bibliography.

Plagiarism and assignments

It is crucial that each assignment reflect the work of the individual or team that submits it.  Any traces of plagiarism-the unattributed copying of someone else's work-will be dealt with according to the University regulations.

E mail policies

I encourage students to submit questions and comments by e-mail. I strive to respond within 24 hours of receiving your mail, although I do not guarantee that response time. I ask you to observe the following guidelines:

• Always put a relevant subject line on your message. I will delete unread any mail without a subject line. Furthermore, if you are starting a new thread, indicate that with a new topic. I get upset when an e-mail with a subject line "Re: midterm schedule" turns out to be about some unrelated issue. And when I get upset I usually delete the message without replying...
• Do not use chat-mode abbreviations such as "u" for "you", "2" for "to" or "too". Write out your words.
• Don't send an e-mail about an assignment at 20:00 the night before it's due. I probably won't even receive it until after class and even if I do receive it I won't bother replying.
• All requests or discussions about grades or special considerations must be done face to face, either after class, during scheduled office hours, or by appointment. I will not consider any requests made via e-mail.

A general rule about social communications, including email: In any communication, you have the choice to minimize the effort you put into it (usually at the expense of requiring more effort from the recipient) or putting more effort into it so it is easier for the recipient. The tradeoff you make will vary depending upon your relationship with the other person, who is going to gain from the communication, and many other factors. Communication styles that are fine for casual interaction with friends are inappropriate for more formal contexts. Most of the above guidelines are simply asking you to put a bit of upfront effort into your email so I can read and reply more easily and effectively.