Course Guidelines

Grading

Your grade for this course will be based on your numeric score on the homework assignments, hourlies, and the final exam.

The grades will be weighted as follows:

• 50% - five homework assignments (10% each).

  Note that there is an optional sixth assignment; see below for more information.

• 20% - two hourly tests (10% each).
• 30% - one final exam.

The hourlies and the exam are closed book: no notes, computers, calculators, or other aids will be permitted. Relevant definitions and formulas will be provided for you on the test.

Assignments represent individual work; no collaboration is permitted. All questions about the assignments should be directed to the course staff; discussion between students about the specific problems on the assignments is not allowed. (Discussion about the course material, however, is strongly encouraged. Study groups are a wonderful way to master the material.)

An optional sixth ``make-up'' assignment will be made available to any students who specifically request it. The grade for this assignment will replace the lowest grade of the five ordinary assignments, and provides an opportunity for students who do poorly on one of the assignments to demonstrate that they have mastered the material and improve their grade. Note that it is possible that doing the ``make-up'' assignment will lower your grade- if your score on the sixth assignment is lower than the lowest score of your other five assignments, then your cumulative score will also be lower!

Lateness Policy

The course works best when homework is handed in on time- it can be graded and returned promptly (giving you valuable feedback for your next assignment), solution sets can be distributed, and I can get a feel for how well you have learned the material. However, I realize that sometimes this is not possible, due to other commitments you might have, or personal emergencies that might arise.

• Requests for an extension should be made directly to the professor, either in person or via email (ellard@deas.harvard.edu) or telephone (496-6434 during the day, 643-9644 at night). Except in the case of extreme emergencies, requests for an extension must be made at or before the time that the assignment is due.
• There is a deduction of 10% per day late. Late days are not subdivisible; one minute late is the same as one day.
• There is a ``grace period'' of three days that can be used at any time during the semester. This can be subdivided among two or three assignments, or used all at once. Simply send email to your TF when you submit your assignment, saying that you are using your grace days, and the lateness penalty will not be taken. Once again, late days are not subdivisible; one minute late is the same as an entire day.
• The first two assignments (which are due on Mondays) have a drop-dead date of the following Thursday. The other assignments, which are due on Thursdays, have a drop-dead date of the following Monday. Homework submitted after this time will receive a grade of zero, unless an extension has already been granted.

  Note that the drop-dead dates mentioned earlier are not effected by the grace days.