ECE ILLINOIS

About the ECE 313 Concept Matrix

Spring 2017



Mastering concepts through problem solving and team work

In addition to the exams, you can demonstrate your mastery of the concepts in another way. It will be your responsibility to learn and master the concepts through studying the notes, attending lectures and problem solving sessions during scheduled class meetings, working with MasterProbo, attending office hours as needed, and discussing the concepts and problems with your classmates. You will then demonstrate your mastery of the concepts during office hours, through small group or individual question and answer demonstrations with a TA or instructor. You are encouraged to start working with MasterProbo early in the week as consolidation of concepts in your mind takes time. The deadline for MasterProbo checkpoint is midnight each Sunday as listed in the table on the course webpage. However, you can still earn credit for learning concepts up until 7 pm the following Tuesday. The concept matrix itself (see link at the bottom of this page) indicates which concepts each student (listed by NetID only) has mastered. In the concept matrix, a “1” in a box in the row after your NetID indicates that you know a particular concept.    A “5” in a box indicates that you know the concept for that box, and also the concepts in the four boxes that follow it,  That is, a single entry of 5 is equivalent to 1 1 1 1 1. 

TIP: You can save time by demonstrating multiple concepts at one go--often the concepts for a given week are closely related. While we will try to adjust staffing hours to meet your needs, you might want to avoid lines that may grow shortly before the deadline for a group of concepts. NOTE: The TAs will stop certifying at 7pm sharp even if there are students there at that time waiting to be certified, so don't wait until the last hour to get certified.

The protocol for concept matrix certification is as follows:

Participating in groups is an opportunity for collaboration and improving valuable communication skills. While it is not an absolute requirement for you to participate in a group, the course staff will give priority to groups, because it is only fair to give priority to groups of students who have each helped in the certification process by not only learning the concepts themselves, but in helping certify that others have learned them.


What if you are not available or not interested in getting certified for a concept?

In order to accommodate a broad range of learning styles, and to increase flexibility, the concept matrix points will be adjusted as follows. As mentioned above, if you are certified for a given concept by the deadline you get one point for that concept. If you do not get certified for a concept, you will receive partial credit T for the concept, where T is the fraction of points you score on the midterm exams and final. Specifically, the contribution of the concept matrix points to your final score in the course will be calculated as follows:

T=[15*(exam 1 percentage score) + 15*(exam 2 percentage score) + 30*(final exam percentage score)]/60

adjusted concept points = concept points + (50-concept points)*T

contribution to final score = 10% * (adjusted concept points)/50

The following table shows some examples to help you understand the formula.

Number of concepts certified T adjusted concept points contribution to final score (10% max possible)
50 any value of T 50 10%
0 70% (about average) (50)(70%)=35 7%
0 90% (strong test scores) (50)(90%)=45 9%
30 70% (about average) 30 + (20)(70%)=44 8.8%
40 70% (about average) 40 + (10)(70%)=47 9.4%
30 55% (below average) 30 + (20)(55%)=41 8.2%
10 55% (below average) 10 + (40)(55%)=32 6.4%


Concept matrix