Assignments & Grading
Grading
Project-related assignments
- Project Assignments (50%)
- Project Presentations (initial pitch, update, final) (15%)
Participation: 1) Class attendance, 2) role-paying seminar presentations + submitting non-presenter comments, and 3) participation in class discussions (30%)
Weekly reflection and feedback forms - due before class every week (5%)
Project-related Assignments
All assignments are submitted on Canvas. The project runs the whole semester as a sequence of milestones:
| Assignment | Due | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| Team Creation | Thu Aug 28 | 0 |
| Submit Project Ideas | Mon Aug 31 | 2 |
| Project Proposal and Scope | Mon Sep 14 | 5 |
| 3-minute Project Pitch | Tue Sep 15 | 3 |
| Implement Baseline(s) | Thu Oct 1 | 5 |
| Project Update Presentation | Tue Oct 6 | 3 |
| Initial ML Solution | Tue Oct 20 | 5 |
| Evaluation | Thu Nov 5 | 5 |
| Iteration 2 | Thu Nov 19 | 5 |
| Project Presentation | Tue Dec 1 | 5 |
| Project Writeup and Demo | Tue Dec 8 | 10 |
Grace days
Project teams receive 4 grace days across the semester for project deliverables, with no more than 1 per assignment. They are applied automatically to your earliest late submissions — you do not need to request them. Work submitted late once your grace days are used will lose significant credit.
Participation & missing days
You may miss up to 3 sessions and still be considered for full participation credit; beyond that, participation credit is reduced.
Discussion is a critical part of this class. It is how a lot of the learning happens, and it is how real projects actually work. We want to encourage you, and give you practice, in being comfortable and effective in every session. The participation grade credits the effort and work you put into this class, in and out of the classroom.
That said, people differ in how comfortable they are speaking in front of a group, and speaking is not the only way to participate. Beyond attending, participation is counted across three modes:
- Speaking and discussing content in class
- Responding to Slido polls and taking part in in-class activities
- Signing up for and being thoughtful in a paper presentation role, and submitting thoughtful discussion questions for the non-presenter assignments
Attendance is the baseline. The three modes above are assessed across the semester rather than session by session — not every path is available every day.
| Paths you engage in | Credit |
|---|---|
| 2 or more | Full |
| 1 | Half |
| None | None |
If speaking up in class is difficult for you, come talk to me. I would much rather find a version of participation that works for how you work than have you sit through the semester uncomfortable — and office hours are a good place to practise the skill in a lower-stakes setting.
Missed classes within your 3 allotted absences do not affect your participation grade. If you need to miss more than 3, email me as soon as possible and we will find ways for you to participate asynchronously.