Grading Policies

Our goal in teaching this class is to help you learn the material. Our grading policies are based on this goal: we’ll provide you with feedback on your learning in homework and lab, and the rest of our policies are meant to further this goal as well.

Assignments

You will be assessed through the following assignments:

• (about) 14 weekly vitamins
• 6 homework assignments
• 12 lab assignments
• 2 midterms
• 1 final project

Grades

Grades will be assigned using the following weighted components:

• Vitamins: 5%
• Homeworks: 20%
• Labs: 15%
• Midterm 1: 20%
• Midterm 2: 20%
• Final project: 20%

Grading criteria

• Vitamins are weekly short assignments to check that you are keeping up with lectures. Vitamins should take fewer than 15 minutes to complete. Your two lowest vitamin scores will be dropped.
• Homework will be graded on completion and correctness. No assignment may be dropped, but we have a lenient extension policy (see below).
• Lab assignments will be graded on completion and correctness, but all test cases for autograded questions will be public. Your two lowest lab scores will be dropped.
• When submitting assignments on Gradescope, you must match each page to the corresponding question on Gradescope. If you fail to do so, you may not receive credit for your work!
• A grading rubric and more details regarding the final project will be released later in the semester.

Regrade requests

• After each assignment is graded, course staff will post the deadline for regrade requests for that assignment on Ed.
• To ensure that our grading team is not overworked, regrade requests for each assignment must be submitted before the deadline (except in cases of emergencies).
• Note: When you submit a regrade request, we will take a fresh look at the question, so it is possible that you will receive a grade lower that what you originally received.

Exams

There will be two midterms on February 24, 2022, and April 14, 2022. Midterms will be held from 7-9PM. You must take the midterm at the specified time: if you have a conflict, please contact course staff ASAP at data102@berkeley.edu. We will not accept any conflicts after the drop deadline (except for emergencies).

Exams will tentatively be held in person. Further information will be communicated in due course.

Late Policy

We strongly encourage you to turn in assignments on time. We plan course staff availability (office hours, time spent on Ed, etc.) based on the due dates: specifically, around homework being due Friday.

We know that we’re still in an unprecedented global pandemic: unforeseen circumstances beyond your control can and will come up, and so we offer a self-serve extension of up to 3 days on all homework assignments. You may turn in any homework assignment up to 3 days after the due date and still receive full credit. Please don’t plan to turn in all your homework assignments 3 days late: to help allocate course staff time and for the well-being of our course staff, we won’t have as much availability to answer questions after the assignment is due. For labs, you can submit up to 24 hours after the posted deadline without penalty, in the same manner as homeworks.

You should still consider the assignments as due at the posted deadlines, and treat the grace periods as “extensions” that would normally be granted in certain situations, such as falling sick, testing positive, power outage, etc. As such, please do not contact course staff asking for extensions beyond the stated grace periods. If an unfortunate situation arises such that you will not be able to participate in the class for a significant amount of time, such as a death in the family, hospitalization, etc., then please get in touch when you can and we will discuss.

DSP students eligible to receive extensions on assignments will have homeworks due 48 hours after the posted deadline, and will receive the above 3-day grace period as well. Labs and vitamins will be due 24 hours after the posted deadline, plus the 24-hour grace period for labs.

Collaboration Policy

Data science is a collaborative activity. While you may talk with others about the homework, we ask that you write your solutions individually. If you do discuss the assignments with others please include their names at the top of your notebook. Keep in mind that content from the homeworks and labs will likely be covered on both of the midterms. We will be following the EECS departmental policy on Academic Honesty, so be sure you are familiar with it.

Waitlist

If you are on the waitlist, you should complete and submit all assignments as if enrolled: we will not offer any makeup assignments for waitlisted students.

We Want You to Succeed

If you are feeling overwhelmed, visit our office hours and talk with us. We know college can be stressful and we want to help you succeed!

Campus Honor Code

As a member of the Berkeley community, we expect you to follow the Berkeley Honor Code:

“As a member of the UC Berkeley community, I act with honesty, integrity, and respect for others.”