CS 318 - Grading
Your grade for the course is the weighted sum of the scores for the exams and programming projects. Weights are as follows:
MPs 32% (MP0=2%, MP1=4%, MP2-MP5=5%, MP6=6%) Midterm 30% Final 38%
Grades are approximately assigned according to the class mean and standard deviation. Thus, you are doing battle with your classmates for the best grades. We do not assign actual grades until the end of the semester. This means that you will not receive a letter grade on your exams, but we will post the mean and standard deviation so you can see where you stand in relation to the rest of the class.Last year, we did not give out any pluses or minuses, but we reserve the right to do so this year.
Also, in the past, undergrads and graduate students have been graded on the same scale. We anticipate that this will be the case again unless the undergraduates perform significantly worse than the graduate students.
This semester, we will be using GradeBook to store grades. This program was created by CCSO here at the University of Illinois. It allows you to check your grades without anybody else seeing your scores. It also means that we do not have to print out grade distributions after each MP.To access GradeBook, you need a Macintosh or PC-Clone, and a TCP/IP connection. You can download the client software from this site.
If you do not have a computer, you can go to one of the CCSO machines on campus (eg. the Illini Union) or one of the dorms. It should be available on both Macintoshes and PC-Clones at these locations.
Once you have the GradeBook client running, login to it with your StudentID and the password use use for UIDirect. You will be presented with all of the courses for which you have a GradeBook file. Double click on CS318, and you will see your scores.
New this year is the ability to check your grades via the web. Go to the Student Web Access page and follow the instructions.
Since the programming projects account for a third of your grade, they are important in this class. Thus, we will be looking for good programming style, appropriate commenting, and accurate implementation of the algorithms presented in class. We will use the following general grading criteria for the MPs.Please note that the point distribution may change for each MP as different aspects of the programs are emphasized. Also note that if your program does not compile/work, the most you can possibly get is 50%.
- 40 points - Code and Program Structure
- 10 points - General Commenting
- Explain what each procedure or function does in a few sentences (usually at the top of the procedure). List the inputs, outputs, and side-effects, if any. Explain any complicated code or unique ideas (usually in the body of the procedure). Note that you won't receive any points for commenting if your code doesn't do anything.
- 10 points - Commenting Variables
- Tell what each variable is used for in a sentence or less. This is not necessary if it is readily apparent what a variable does (eg. "j" in a for loop).
- 20 points - Efficient Use of Code and Proper Algorithms
- Some examples:
- Efficient use of procedures/functions and loops
- Code reuse (without duplicating it)
- Use switch statements when appropriate
- Don't recalculate constants in loops
- Follow the requirements of the MP
- 60 points - Execution
- 5 points - Visual Appeal
- Does your program look nice? Would you be happy if your friends saw it?
- 10 points - Ease of Use
- Are the controls simple/readily apparent? Do you provide some sort of help text?
- 45 points - Special Cases of Testing
- These will be different for each MP and you may not know what they are prior to handing in your MP. If you do all of the required items for the MP, you should be okay. Remember to try boundary conditions to see if you can get your program to bomb.