Assessment and Grading Policy
Assessment will be in four categories:
Lab/Homework Assignments: 36%
Exam: 15%
Class Project: 39%
Project Plan: 3%
Checkpoints: 6%
Dashboard: 20%
Presentation: 5%
Final statement: 5%
Class Participation: 10%
Reading Questions: 5%
Lab Participation: 5%
Lab/Homework Assignments
Most weeks, students will have a chance to begin work on a computer lab/homework assignment in small groups (via Zoom breakout rooms) during the Wednesday class session. Homework exercises will typically be due before the start of class on Monday. Any deviations from this schedule will be announced via Canvas. If the University is closed on the due date of an assignment (due to holiday or bad weather or any other reason), then the assignment will be due by 9am before the next class session (that is not canceled). There will be a 10% penalty on assignments submitted after the deadline and up to one week after deadline, and a 20% penalty on assignments submitted more than one week and up to two weeks after the deadline, and a 30% penalty on assignments submitted more than 2 weeks after the deadline.
Examination Policy
A midterm exam will be taken during one of our regular class times. The only two conditions under which you can request a makeup exam: (1) If you know in advance that you will have to miss a midterm exam for a religious observance or university sponsored trip (e.g., athletics, research field work, class field trip), then you must request a makeup midterm in advance of the exam and as early in the semester as possible, to facilitate scheduling. (2) If you are injured or ill or in isolation or quarantine during the midterm exam, you should request a makeup exam as soon as practical. If any of the above cases, documentation may be requested. Please email the instructor as soon as you are able to request scheduling a makeup exam. The timing and format of a makeup midterm exam will depend on the circumstances and be at the instructor's discretion. For a religious holiday, the instructor would likely recommend taking the same exam early. For an extended illness, the instructor would likely recommend taking an alternative exam at the end of the class to substitute for the mid-term exam. Possible alternative exam formats include (but are not limited to) short answer, essay, or oral exam.
The intent is that most students will not take a final exam. However, the final exam week may be used in unusual circumstances (e.g., in place of the mid-term exam due to an extended illness, need an alternative project format due to accessibility issues).
Class Project
Students will synthesize lessons learned in the class by building an exoplanet “dashboard” that ingests data related to detecting and/or characterizing exoplanets, performs basic data manipulations, fits a model to the data, assesses the quality of the model for the given observations, and effectively visualizes the results. More detailed instructions will be provided after the mid-term exam. This is a substantive project and students should spread their effort over several weeks of the semester. To encourage making steady progress, students will earn credit for submitting a plan and demonstrating significant progress for two checkpoints. Students are encouraged to work in small teams of two to three, so that they can build a high-quality dashboard. Groups will submit a single dashboard and present their dashboard to the full class during the final weeks of class as a group. Each student will individually submit a final statement describing their contributions to the dashboard project, describing the contributions of their teammates, and reflecting on what they learned from the experience. Remember that both you and other group members will have other assignments, exams, and projects. Therefore, it is very important to develop a mutually agreeable schedule and to follow through on your contributions in a timely fashion.
Readings & Reading Questions
Students will be expected to read assignments before class on the days indicated in the course website (page for that weeks' lesson), so they will be prepared to participate in class discussions and to make progress on a lab assignment during class. All students should submit at least one question per week (typically about that week’s readings) via TopHat by 9am Eastern Time on the day of class that the reading is to be completed by. Reading assignments will appear in the lesson pages of the website. There is a link to the course TopHat site inside the Canvas webpage. Submitting your questions well before class starts is important, so the instructor will have time to read the questions and update the day’s lesson to respond to student questions. You’re also encouraged to take a look at questions submitted by other students and give a “thumbs up” to indicate those questions that you’d like to be addressed in class. Since reading questions can not be made up, each student’s five lowest reading question scores will be dropped when computing final grades. Students who are reluctant to ask questions in class are especially encouraged to ask extra questions prior to class.
Lab Participation
In-class computing lab sessions will provide an opportunity to work on lab/homework assignments. Students should participate regularly, so as to help solidify their understanding of both exoplanet topics and build data science skills. Gaining experience communicating technical information and working as a team is an important part of the course, so are encouraged to work in small groups. Let the instructor know if you would like a Zoom breakout room created for your specific group. Attendance will be taken during Wednesday lab sessions and count towards half of the course participation grade. If the student is not online when attendance is taken, then they can earn a maximum of half a point for that week’s class participation (even if they arrive later or were participating previously that day). If you know you need to miss class (e.g., university-approved travel, health issues, isolation or quarantine), then let the instructor know in advance whenever practical, so the absence can be removed from your average.