CS101b - Introduction to Relational Databases

Course Policies

Here are the policies for the Introduction to Relational Databases course. If you have any questions or suggestions for any of these items, please feel free to let me know right away.

Grading

The overall course grade is computed from the following:

• Assignments: 60%
• Midterm: 20%
• Final exam: 20%

Individual assignments may have different numbers of points based on what each assignment covers, but they are all weighted equally in the overall grade.

Tentatively, grades will be assigned as follows:

• 90-100% is an A
• 80-90% is a B
• 70-80% is a C
• 60-70% is a D
• < 60% is an F

This grade scale may be adjusted during the term. Any changes will be made known to the class right away.

Students taking the course on a pass/fail basis will pass for a D or better; otherwise they will fail.

Late Assignments

Assignments are penalized for lateness. The rules are as follows:

• If I receive your assignment on the day it's due, I won't consider it to be late.
• If it's late up to 3 days, you lose 25%.
• If it's late up to 7 days, you lose 50%.
• After 7 days, you receive no credit for the assignment.

If you know you are going to be late for a good reason (e.g. doctor's appointment or other prior obligation), let me know in advance so that we can choose another due date for you.

If something unexpected comes up (e.g. sickness, family emergency), I want to see some kind of documentation for that; for example, a note from the Health Center or the Dean's Office.

Collaboration Policy

The default collaboration policy for assignments is described here. The whole point is that if you get completely stuck on a problem, you should feel free to talk to other students, up to a point. However, you will still benefit the most if you sit down and solve the problems yourself. I try to make sure the problems are simple enough that you will have a reasonable chance of success by yourself.

With that said, here are the details:

• You are free to discuss the general concepts covered in class with other students; this is always encouraged. Feel free to work through examples given in the book, or in any of the lecture notes.

• You are allowed and even encouraged to work through unassigned problems with other students, if this will help clarify any questions. Every chapter in the textbook has a "Practice Problems" section; this is a good opportunity to make sure you understand the concepts covered in class.

• You may discuss general approaches to assigned problems with other students, but you must work through the solution to each problem by yourself. You are not allowed to work through assigned problems with other students.

  Example: You have to write a SQL query to find all departments in a company with a budget higher than the average budget. It is fine to discuss the details of the SQL syntax for grouping and aggregation with other students. It is also fine to discuss any nuances of SQL aggregation that are particularly relevant to that problem. However, you must write and debug the query on your own, without help from other students.

• You are definitely not allowed to look at other students' solutions (or partial solutions) until after you have turned in your assignment.

• You are not allowed to look at any solution-sets for an assignment until after you have turned in your assignment.

If a particular assignment mandates a different collaboration policy, the differences will be noted on the assignment itself. Otherwise, assume that the above is the collaboration policy.