BCS 200P: Syllabus

Fall 2010

Time & Location

Labs meet in Harkness 114

Section Days and Times

Section 1: Thursday, 7:40 – 8:55 pm
Section 2: Friday, 2 – 3:15 pm
Section 3: Tuesday, 12:30 – 1:45 pm
Section 4: Tuesday, 2 – 3:15 pm

Personnel

Lab instructor: Katie Carbary

Office hours: Tuesdays, 4:50 - 6:05
Office hours location: Meliora 117 (through door 114)

Lab TA: Meredith Brown

Office hours: Wednesday, 6:15 - 7:30 pm
Office hours location: Hylan 303

The best way to get help outside of lab is to come to office hours. Email is also a good way to contact us about short clarification questions related to the lab. However, because the material in the lab is difficult to explain over email, more involved questions will need to be answered in person. I will do my best to answer your emails quickly, usually within one business day. In exchange, I ask that you check your University email or the lab Blackboard page regularly for any important announcements.

General Information

This lab is accompanied by a lecture course taught by Prof. Dave Knill, BCS 200 Statistical Analysis and Experimental Design. Unless there is an unusual situation that you have discussed with us, you should be enrolled in both the lecture and the lab concurrently.

I will make every effort to coordinate the lab sections with the lecture to ensure that you get as much as possible from the class. However, questions about the lecture content or readings should be directed to the lecture TAs (Alex Fine and Ting Qian), or to Prof. Knill. Similarly, questions about the lab should be directed only to Meredith or me.

Attendance in Your Lab Section

Attendance is required (except for weeks when there is no lab; see schedule below). If you know in advance that you will need to miss a schedules lab for a good reason, please contact me in advance to discuss your options. You may be asked to meet with one of us during office hours, and/or to make up the work and submit it independently. Because of space constraints in the room where we are meeting, it is not acceptable to attend another lab section without explicit permission from Meredith or me.

From time to time, students request to move to another section of the class permanently. Note that permission to switch to another section can only be granted in cases of an otherwise irresolvable schedule conflict, and only if space permits.

Lab Activities and Assignments

Each week, we will do a required in-class lab activity. At the end of the activity, students will be expected to turn in their work according to the instructions given on the assignment. These assignments are to be submitted on Blackboard, and should not be printed out or emailed to any of us as a method of submission. Your assignments will generally be finished in lab, but in some cases may require a small amount of time after lab to finish.

Each assignment is due via Blackboard 5 business days after your lab section. In other words, each homework must be turned in before the beginning of your next lab.

Lab Assignment Grading

For each assignment, you will receive one of the following scores on Blackboard:

0 = no credit; given when a student misses a lab or doesn't turn in the assignment. This will also be given if you turn in something that does not resemble the assignment, for example, a blank page.
1 = needs work; given if your work is not complete, doesn't follow the guidelines for the assignment, or is difficult for the TA to interpret.
2 = full credit (100%); this is given when you turn in a complete assignment, on time, in an appropriate format, and have made sure that any written component of the assignment is clear.
3 = extra credit; this may occasionally be given to students who have demonstrated an exceptional understanding of the concepts presented in the lab, or done an outstanding job in writing up the assignment.

As it says in the syllabus for your lecture: "The grade that you receive for the lab will be factored in with your exam and homework grades in a final grade that will be given to you for both the class and the lab; that is, you will receive one final grade for both the lab and the class."

Class Etiquette

In general, if you think something might be distracting to other students in the lab, or that it will make it more difficult for you to complete your work in class, please do not do it! Specifically:

Please turn your cell phone ringer off during lab
Please refrain from using websites and other computer programs that aren't relevant to your work in lab. Examples include YouTube, Facebook, Pandora, iTunes, and anything that involve watching movies, listening to music, or online chatting with your friends.

Thanks for making the lab a distraction free environment for your fellow students.

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