Assignments and Grading
This class will provide you with a platform for learning and trying new things. You will get the chance to connect what we learn and discuss in class with what you have learned and practiced in other classes across Swarthmore. Specifically, you will develop a strong foundation in social computing through a combination of individual assignments, group lab assignments, and a semester-long group project.
My Approach to Grading
Research has demonstrated that grades diminish students’ learning, decrease students’ interest in the subject matter, and prevent students from taking creative risks. Moreover, many students experience anxiety about grades. In this class, we are here to learn, to become interested in HCI and Social Computing, and to take creative risks by trying new things — and we certainly don’t need more anxiety in our lives.
So we will take a slightly different approach to assessment. My intention with this class is to help you to work in an organic way, as you will after graduation. No one at work will give you a “93%” on a project. So while you will get a final grade in the class, I will emphasize the quality of your work over the quantity of your grade. When I review your work, I will ask questions and make comments meant to engage your work rather than simply evaluate it. You, too, will reflect deeply on your work and that of your peers throughout this semester, and we will discuss your learning and effort as the course progresses. We will do this throughout the course, but there are three things I will ask you to do as anchors for this process:
- Goal-Setting: During Week 1, we will set goals for our learning this semester to give us each a concrete place to aim for in addition to the general course learning outcomes listed above.
- Midterm Reflection: Midway through the course, I will provide you with a link to an online form that will guide you through a reflection on your work thus far — what challenges you’ve overcome, how you’re living up to my, your group’s and your own standards, and what your goals are for the coming weeks. I will also ask you about what I can do better to help facilitate your learning goals. This is your chance to assess yourself realistically and challenge yourself to improve in the second half of the term. I will respond to your reflection, and we’ll have a conversation if our respective assessments do not match.
- Final Reflection: During Finals Week, I will provide you with another link to an online form where you’ll complete your final self-reflection for the term, similar to the midterm reflection.
Assignments will be graded two ways, indicated when the assignment is posted: (1) with a check+, check, and check- scheme or (2) with a rubric. All students will receive the same grade for group assignments, unless there is a severe imbalance in the contributions made among team members (e.g., one person contributes much less or much more). Your final grade will be a weighted average of your grade for each individual or group assignment. For me to assign you a final grade, please turn in all assignments by their respective due dates. See below for more information about extensions and extenuating circumstances.
How to Get Good Grades
It’s easy for school to become a game. Check the boxes, don’t rock the boat, say nice things. In this class, we’re going to shake that up a bit. Like all shake-ups, it may be uncomfortable, but in the end it will be a chance for growth. To get a good grade in this class, pay special attention to these areas:
- Attendance and Participation: A lot of learning will happen in our time together, and I don’t want you to miss out. Plan to attend regularly, coming prepared and with energy to participate.
- Assignments: Use your assignments as an opportunity to demonstrate to me what you are learning. In your individual and group project assignments, strive to integrate insights that have come up in classroom conversations as well as the course readings.
- Professionalism: School is practice. Here's your chance to try out new systems and figure out what will work for you in life. Give it a serious try, and bring your best self to this class. That way you'll get the most out of this experience. If you are worried about getting a good grade in this class, your best strategy should be to do the readings, ask questions often, complete the assignments diligently and on time, and engage earnestly with all your classmates.
Assignments
- Class and Lab Attendance: 7.5%
- Class and Lab Participation: 7.5%
- Pop Quizzes: 7%
- HW Assignments: 16%
- Partnered Demo: 7%
- Solo Reading Reflection: 5%
- Feedback: 4%
- Solo/Partnered Lab Assignments: 24%
- 4 labs: 6% each
- Group Project: 38%
- Ideate: 3%
- Prototype: 5%
- Front-End UI: 8%
- Back-End Server: 8%
- Deployment and Evaluation: 6%
- Final Presentation: 8%
Overall Grade Value
| Final Grade |
|---|
| A – Excellent |
| B – Good |
| C – Acceptable |
| D – Poor |
| F – Failing |
Attendance
For our learning community to thrive everyone should participate in the discussions and activities, therefore, attendance is required for class and lab sessions. You can miss up to two class or lab sessions without penalty, e.g., one class and one lab (or) two classes and no labs. After that, each absence will result in a 2% reduction in your final grade. If you have an extenuating circumstances or need an accomodation, please reach out to me.
Pop Quizzes
The readings are a vital part of the course. For you to fully participate in our learning community, including the class discussions, you need to actually have read the assigned readings prior to class. I don’t expect you to memorize every fact, figure, or famous person mentioned in the readings, however.
The goal for these pop quizzes is not to test your memory or comprehension, but rather a low-stakes way to make sure that you have read (watched, listened, etc.) the readings for the day and prime your mind to engage in the class discussion.
There will be a number (=N) of pop quizzes throughout the semester (more than 2, less than 32). Cumulatively the quizzes are worth 7% of your grade, i.e., each quiz will be worth (7/N)% of your grade. Life happens, sometimes you aren’t able to finish all of the readings. That’s okay — your lowest quiz will be dropped.
If pop quizzes make you overly anxious and unable to take part in the class discussions, I’m happy to discuss an alternative — such as writing a reflection. Come talk to me during office hours or schedule a meeting with me.
| Rating | Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Check+ | 100 | Is clearly able to demonstrate having read (watched, listened, etc.) the readings for that day. |
| Check | 90 | Is mostly able to demonstrate having read (watched, listened, etc.) the readings for that day. |
| Check- | 80 | Is somewhat to demonstrate having completed the readings for that day. |
| Minus | 70 | Is unable to demonstrate having completed the readings for that day. |
Extra Credit
Illustrative course concepts
At my discretion, I will give 0.5% extra credit to students who suggest an example illustrating course concepts that I can integrate into a lecture. You may suggest an example for a lecture that was already delivered so that it can be integrated next year, or it can apply to an upcoming lecture so that it can be integrated this semester. The bar for extra credit is that the example is strong enough that I intend to integrate it into the lecture. Up to 0.5% extra credit per selected example, for up to a maximum of 2.5% extra credit in the course. To submit an example for consideration, send me a private message on Discord.
Examples include:
- Airbuds: a social app that lets friends see what each other are listening to
- The statistic that 98% of Reddit users are lurkers
- Wikipedia as an example of social loafing
Bug bounty program
Many large companies have "bug bounty" programs where they will pay a few hundred dollars up to tens of thousands of dollars for finding a security vulnerability or other errors in their software. In this class, I'd like your help to improve the course materials. A bug could be a broken link, a typo, confusing/conflicting instructions, a programming error. I will give 0.1% extra credit for each new bug found and reported to me. To report a bug, post on the #bugs channel on the class Discord server.
Please include the following information:
- A brief description of the "bug"
- Where the bug is located (e.g., which page, which section, which line in the code)
- A suggestion for fixing the bug
Deadlines and Extensions
Deadlines are primarily there to help the class run smoothly, such as finishing reading in time for the discussion in class and turning in assignments and project deliverables in time for presenting them in class. The group lab assignments in the second half of the semester are cumulative: you should complete — and receive feedback on — one assignment before you can move on to the next one. All assignments are due by 11:59pm Eastern on the due date.
Sometimes life happens. That’s okay. Everyone gets 3 late days for the semester to use on the paper reflection or demo write-up, no questions asked. The only restriction is you must hand in the third assignment on time since other people depend on your timely feedback.
There are 3 late days for the lab assignments. I’ve provided much more time for you to work on those assignments with your team (ranging from 1 to 4 weeks). To use your late days, you must fill in this form letting me know how many days you need to use before the deadline. Your late days will be counted at the granularity of full days. That is, if you turn in an assignment five minutes after the deadline, it counts as using one day. You can’t combine late days between individual assignments and lab assignments. There is 1.5% extra credit for each late day saved.
However, if you have an extenuating circumstance, please reach out to me about whether and how you can receive extensions beyond the three late days. It's important that you be proactive in letting me know about things that come up instead of telling me after the fact so that we can plan together and others are not disrupted.