Our research shows that students learn more and generally prefer to work with other students to complete in-class activities. Moreover, in your professional career, you will almost certainly need to work collaboratively with others, and we need to provide opportunities for you to practice and learn collaborative skills. Thus, learning to work in a team is one of the learning objectives of this course.
Students will complete group activities (GA) every Tuesday, either during lecture time (12:30pm CT) or at another designated time selected by the group (option for students in section M). Students will be assigned to teams of 2-3 students. Each team will complete one instance of a GA assessment in PrairieLearn, and the grade will be shared by all team members. We expect that most students will be able to finish the GAs during class time, but these assignments can be completed by 10pm of each Tuesday.
Since many students will not know other students in the course, we want to give everyone a chance to meet others to work with. During the first 2 weeks of class, you will be assigned to a random team for your GA. At the end of week 2, you will be given the option to choose your team or to be assigned to a random team. You will be given the option to change your team at about the halfway point of the semester.
We do not grant extensions on GAs. You will get one drop of the lowest score. If you have a valid reason to miss a GA, you can submit a request for excused absence.
Week 1 Tuesday: General announcements and course policies
Students in the in-person section will join from CIF, students in the online section will join remotely using the Zoom Meeting.
Week 1 Thursday: Mock group activity (GA0)
We will have a mock GA on Thursday, to make sure all students are familar with this format of class activity. Students in the in-person section will be sitting at tables with up to 8 students, but they will form smaller groups of 2-3 students to complete GA0. Students in the online section will be randomly assigned to groups of 3 students using the breakout rooms in Zoom Meeting at 12:30pm CT. This will be a great opportunity to meet other students in the class. This GA is not required and will not count towards your grade.
Week 2 Tuesday: GA1
We will have the first GA covering an intro to Python. Students in the in-person section will again form groups of 2-3 students. Students in the online section will be randomly assigned to groups of 3 students using the breakout rooms in Zoom Meeting at 12:30pm CT.
Week 2 Thursday: Optional Study Hours
We will have the study hours following a hybrid format during this week only. Students can join either from CIF or Zoom at 12:30pm CT. Attendance is not required. Starting from week 4, the optional study hours will happen in-person only at CIF, and is available to students in both sections.
During the first two weeks, students will have the opportunity to select their groups submitting a survey in PrairieLearn ("Select your group and time to meet (not for credit)"), under the constraint that each group should have 2-3 students . You can still work with a larger number of students (let's say two groups of 3 students all working together), but you will need to open the GA with only the members assigned to your team.
In case you don't know anyone in the class, you will have the opportunity to meet other students during GA0 and GA1, when we randomly place students in groups. You can also use CampusWire to find teammates.
The group selection survey will close on Friday of week 2. Students that do not make their selection by the deadline will be placed at random groups.
You will be able to check your assigned group by Monday of week 3 via PrairieLearn.
We will be using structured roles in this class to facilitate groupwork. You will be expected to take on these various roles during the course of the semester:
Manager: Responsible for coordinating efforts of the team and making sure that all team members are contributing. For example, if a team member is silent for a while, it is the manager’s role to check in on the team member. The manager is responsible for indicating who took on each role at the start of a GA.
Recorder: The recorder is responsible for being the main “driver,” entering answers into PrairieLearn. For example, we would encourage the recorder to have PrairieLearn open and sharing their screen with other team members.
Reflector: The reflector is responsible for making sure that all team members understand what’s going on. For example, the reflector might ask whether each team member understands the problem before moving on to the next problem. The reflector is responsible for completing a short survey at the end of each GA.
All students will complete the group activity during lecture time (12:30pm-1:45pm CT) from CIF (however, the assessment will remain open until 10pm). Attendance is required. Students who prefer an asynchronous experience and/or prefer to not be required to attend lectures at a designated time should register in the online section.
Collecting attendance: If you make the commitment to come to class, we will make the commitment to get to know you personally! Course staff will scan your QR code from the Illinois App at the start of each GA. They will also spend the first few weeks learning your names. Course staff will reserve the right to not award attendance points if you are physically present but mentally absent (even after collecting your attendance using the QR code). For example, if you are distracted by other things like social media or other assignments and course staff have to ask you to stop multiple times, you will not get your attendance points.
Group formation: Starting from week 3, we will mark the tables with numbers. Students will receive a table number and should go their assigned table at the beginning of the class.
Support: We will have course staff in the classroom to help students during class.
Absences: If you are not feeling well or believe you may be ill, please do not come to the classroom. You have two options in this case: a) you can submit a request for excused absence (if you are not able to complete the activity remotely due to illness - check the syllabus for further instructions) or b) you can contact your teammates and make arrangements to connect with them remotely via Zoom. We will collect your attendance once we verify you are indeed remotely connected and working with your team. Also, remember that your lowest score will be dropped, so you can miss one GA, no questions asked!
Computing the attendance score (0-100): At the end of the semester, you attendance score will be computed as
attendance score = 100*min(12, number of GAs you attended) / 12
This calculation takes into account that you can miss one GA during the semester (there will be 13 GAs counting towards your grade). Your attendance score will count towards 3% of your final grade.
Students will complete the group activity on Tuesdays at a time of their choice between 12:30pm and 10pm CT. We strongly encourage students to meet during lecture time (12:30pm-1:45pm CT), whenever possible. You may also consider meeting in-person at a location that works for your team (dorm, Grainger library, Siebel basement, or your favorite coffee place). The online section was created to let you craft the best experience for yourself when working with a group. Instead of requiring attendance, we will require you to participate in the GAs by looking at other metrics.
Group formation: Students that do no pre-select their groups will be placed at random groups. Every student will have an assigned team starting from week 3, and an assigned breakout Zoom room number for online assistance during class time.
Online support via Zoom: We will have course staff available from 12:30pm-1:45pm CT (class time) via Zoom. Your group can stay at a breakout room for the duration of the class, or can just join the Zoom link when help is needed. If you did not make any prior arrangement with your group to meet at a pre-defined time and location, you must join the Zoom link at 12:30pm CT.
We will be using the Queue to coordinate support for the Zoom breakout rooms. To get virtual assistance from course staff, you will need to post a message on the Queue indicating your breakout room number. We will not be able to answer questions using the Main Room from Zoom.
In-person support at Siebel: We will have course staff available from 12:30pm-1:45pm CT (class time) at Siebel 2406. This will give you very similar experience than students in section N, without having the required attendance.
Absences: If you are not able to complete the GA remotely due to illness, you can submit a request for excused absence (check the syllabus for further instructions). If you believe you are ill, but still would like to complete the GA with your group, you can do it remotely.
Computing your participation score (0-100): At the end of the semester, your participation score will take into account these 4 metrics:
a = 100*min(11, number of GAs you completed with your assigned team) / 11
b = % of peer review ratings that are satisfactory or above (more info below)
c = % of required peer reviews completed
d = % of structured roles you participated in
And these metrics will be used to compute:
participation score = (a+b+c+d)/4
This calculation takes into account that you can miss one GA during the semester (there will be 12 GAs with assigned teams). Your participation score will count towards 3% of your final grade.
Peer reviews: Peer reviews will have 5 agree/disagree ratings per teammate. Any rating that is neutral or agree will be counted as satisfactory. You will complete two peer reviews during the semester, which will include the following statements about yourself and your teammates: 1) Makes high quality contributions to the team's work 2) Asks for and shows an interest in teammates' ideas and contributions 3) Demonstrates knowledge of course content or actively ask questions when lost or confused 4) Motivates the team to do excellent work 5) I would gladly work with this individual in the future.
Students in each group will work together to complete an assignment delivered using a combination of PrairieLearn and Jupyter notebooks. The assignments are autograded (and corresponding) scores are shared among all the members of the group that participated in the activity.
A student who is not actively contributing to the GA must not join the group assessment! Note that participation should be a responsibility of the entire group. Do not provide the "join" code to a group member who is not actually meeting with the group (either online or in-person).