Homework Assignments and Exams

Overview

• We will finalize during the first week of the semester.
• We will discuss any changes with the class if we have to adapt the schedule.

Grading

We grade the class on a point system. Exams and homework assignments are worth various points. The points for the individual homework assignments are below. The midterm exam is work 20 points and the final exam is work 30 points.

The mapping of points earned to grades is:

Exams

The midterm exam is a take home exam. The exam is a set of practical exercises. The practical exercises involve using database systems to solve problems, e.g. writing queries, defining schema, etc. We expect to assign the midterm on 22-Oct-21 and you have one week to complete it.

Additionally, there will be a short, in person quiz on the day we release the take home midterm.

Our goal with the quiz is to test you on the type of questions and topics that often occur during job interviews. This helps you prepare.

The final exam follows the same format as the midterm. There is a take home exam and a short, in-class quiz. We expect to release the final 10-Dec-2021, and you have approximately one week for the take home section. The in-class quiz will occur when the registrar assigns a final exam date and time.

Homework Assignments

There will be four homework assignments, and a HW 0 that you complete to set up your environment. You will find information on HW 0 on CourseWorks and below when we publish. Homework assignments are a combination of written questions reinforcing critical concepts and practical exercises. The practical exercises requires using databases, e.g. database queries, designing schema, etc.

Students have a total of 5 late submission grace days:

• Home work assignments are due at 11:59 PM on the date the assignment is due.
• One minute past the deadline counts as a full late date. You accrue one additional day for every 24 hours.
• You can apply as many remaining late days that you have to any homework assignment.
• Once you have used all late days, a late assignment gets a 0.