Our research shows that students learn more and generally prefer to work with other students to complete in-class activities. 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). The required group activities (couting towards grade) will start on week 3. For in-person collaboration, we encourage groups of 2 or 3 students, since this formation makes it easier for students to look at each other's laptop screen. We will have practice group actitivies during the first two weeks of classes.
Some students will be taking the quiz online during the class time on Thursdays. For more information about the quizzes, check the Quizzes page.
On the weeks without quizzes, we will have Optional Study Hours, when we will use IPython (Jupyter) notebooks to implement some of the numerical methods covered in the pre-lecture videos. Attendance is not required. These notebooks are available online via PrairieLearn (#WS) for asynchronous consultation.
Note that we will not be covering new content during these demo classes. Instead, we will use this time to review material and provide additional support to students who benefit from the in-person interactions with course staff and other students (new content is only introduced during the asynchronous online recorded pre-lectures).
Students from both sections are allowed to attend (since the study hours are optional, we always have enough space to accommodate all students who want to participate).
The Optional Study Hours may sometimes be offered online via Zoom. Make sure to check CampusWire weekly for updated information.
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 A.
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 6 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 3-4 students using the breakout rooms in Zoom Meeting A 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 (not for points)
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 3-4 students using the breakout rooms in Zoom Meeting A at 12:30pm CT. This GA is not required and will not count towards your grade, but it is a great opportunity to get familiarized with Jupyter notebooks and Python programming language.
Week 2 Thursday: Optional Study Hours
We will have the study hours following a hybrid format during this week only. Students in the in-person section can join from CIF and students in the online section can join from Zoom Meeting A at 12:30pm CT. Attendance is not required. Starting from week 4, the optional study hours will happen in-person only at CIF, but students from the online section are welcome to attend (seat capacity has never been an issue in the past, since many students do not attend this optional class activity).
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 (for both online and in-person sections). 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.
Attendance: 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. We will scan your QR code from the Illinois App. Students that prefer an asynchronous experience and prefer to not be required to attend lectures at a designated time should register in the online section.
Group formation: Starting from week 3, we will mark the tables with numbers. Students who selected their own groups will receive a table number and should go their assigned table at the beginning of the class. Students without assigned groups will sit at any of the open "not-assigned tables" (they will be marked accordingly).
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.
Attendance: 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), especially the ones who were not pre-assigned to any groups, or the groups that cannot agree on a different meeting time.
Location: Students are encouraged to meet in-person, whenever possible. Discuss with your group if this is something that would work for you. You can meet at your dorm, Grainger library, Siebel basement, your favorite coffee place, or from the Monumental Study Steps or Cafe area at CIF.
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.
In-person Support at Grainger: We will have course staff available from 12:30pm-1:45pm CT (class time) at Grainger Library room 404. You can meet with your group at the open study area in the 4th floor of Grainger Library, and get in-person assistance by stopping by room 404 (just around the corner). This will give you a very similar experience than students in section N, without having the required attendance.
In-person Support at Siebel: We will have course staff available from 12:30pm-1:45pm CT (class time) at the Siebel study room (basement). Your group can use any of the available tables and get in-person assistance by stopping by the table with the CS 357 sign. This will give you a very similar experience than students in section N, without having the required attendance.
Online Support: 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.
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.
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.
At random times during the semester, we may investigate if students are joining the group assignment, but not participating in the activity (we have this data from PrairieLearn log files!). If we conclude that a student joined the GA just to get the score (i.e. did not actively participate), they will be reported for academic integrity violation. The minimum sanction is a zero in that assignment, but other sanctions may be imposed.
We are not expecting (or enforcing) that all students should be making submissions, and typing answers. It is okay for teams to decide what works best for them when completing the GA (for example, one person types all the answers, while others discuss and support the team). However, we expect to see all students at least entering the join code, moving from one question to another, and completing the trivia question at the end of the GA.
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).
We will also check the attendance logs for the students in the in-person section at random times during the semester. Students who are not coming to the classroom and still appearing on group submissions will later get a zero on the corresponding GA.