ECE 416 Course Policies and Grading

The prerequisite for this course is the successful completion of ECE 415 with a grade of C or better. You should not attempt to take this course without first satisfying this requirement.

There will be a mid-term exam, a final exam, several laboratory exercises, and a final project. (See also the ECE 416 term project description; for honors students, also read this.) The laboratories will be held in Min Kao 229 at times and dates to be announced. The GTA for the course is in charge of the laboratory and grades all homework assignments, and will be announced in class. Homework assignments will be given no more than once a week, and unless otherwise specified are due in class one week (2 class days in the event of intervening vacations) after each is assigned. No late homeworks will be accepted. The class will be divided into teams of 2-3 students for the final project. An oral presentation and written report are required for the final project, and all students must participate in the oral presentation. All members of each team must agree upon and sign a statement documenting the contributions of each team member.

Grades will be based upon a weighted average of your grades on the exercises, the two tests, the laboratory grade average, and the final exam, as follows:

Average of Homework Assignments 20%
Mid-Term Exam 20%
Average of Lab Exercises 20%
Final Project Grade 20%
Final Exam 20%

There is one exception to the weighted average computation of grades: You must participate in the laboratories, and your average grades for each category (exercises, tests, laboratory, final project, and final) must be greater than zero in order to pass the course.

All materials turned in for a grade must be well-organized and legible. Your work is to be stapled in the upper left corner and is not to be folded. Only the front side of each page may be used, and your name and student ID number must be written on the top right corner of each page. Each problem is to be clearly stated, with the solution following. All work must be shown, meaning that the steps taken to arrive at the solution must be documented in order. Either poor organization or poor legibility can result in a grade of zero on the assignment or test.

You may seek help for other class members on the homework assignments and laboratory assignments; however, each of you must turn in a solution. With the exception of the final project, one solution for a group of students will not be accepted, and solutions that are obviously from the same source will receive the same grade: zero credit. All work on the tests and the final must be your own and must not be shared with another person. Any student who violates these policies is subject to disciplinary action as detailed in Hill Topics.