Policies

Course Policies

General University Policies

http://www.sfu.ca/policies/teaching/

Make-up Tests and Exams

A makeup exam will be arranged if you miss the midterm or final exam due to a documented health problem or other extenuating circumstances.

Medical reason: The SFU Healthcare Provider Statement form must be completed.

To withdraw due to medical reason: The SFU Healthcare Provider Statement for Withdrawal must be completed.

The number of questions and the difficulty of the make-up exam could be different from the original one, depending on when the make-up exam will be given, how many students will take it, and other relevant information.

If you cannot make an exam or due date because of a religious holiday, please inform the instructor by the end of the first week of classes so that a new date can be found. No allowance will be made after week one!

Final Grades

This course will be graded on a curve. The final letter grades are assigned based on the official weighting scheme and the following adjustments:

In borderline cases, intangibles such as a demonstrated expertise in class discussions or particularly well-done projects and homework problems will be considered.
In individual cases where the final exam score is significantly different from that obtained in the other tests, the weighting of the final exam will be increased compared to other tests. In this light, a poor midterm grade is a cause for concern, not panic.

Collaboration and Copying

Although students are encouraged to work together on the understanding and conceptualization of the material (this is, in fact, one of the best ways to learn), direct copying of another student's work is not allowed. Students are also on their honour not to search out solutions to the problems through other means (such as past students). It is fine to use published resources, such as books, journals and the Internet provided that you supply a reference.

Assignments that are found to contain copied material, including simple notational changes, will receive ZERO for the assignment. Repeat offenders will get an F in the course. Anyone caught cheating on an exam or test will recieve an automatic F.

Assignments

Homework should be clearly written on standard 8.5x11 inch paper. Please ensure that all problems are in order and identified by number.
It really is very important to show your work when you solve a problem - solutions that only contain an answer will receive a zero! Remember that the most important thing is not the exact answer but the fact that you know what you are doing. Along this lines, it is often useful for you to hand in/email me a copy of your code (properly documented) when you solve a problem using the computer.
Although it is not necessary that you grind out the last ounce of simplification in your answers, you should be able to do the "obvious" simplifications. Just leaving your answers in their coarsest form doesn't allow you to interpret what is happening. Grading will be done accordingly.
It is important for you to make comments about your solutions, since this demonstrates better understanding on your part and also allows me to give you better feedback regarding your answers.
It is also important that you turn in relatively neat and organized assignments. It's better to start a new page for each new problem and write the solutions in pencil so that errors can be erased instead of crossed out.

Important Policies about Assignment Submission

1. To ensure fairness to all students, all assignments/projects must be turned in on the due date to count for full credit, except for documented medical reason or family catastrophe.
2. Please don't ask the instructor for extension based on any other reason, such as too many homeworks or exams in a certain period. Remember, there are other students who have the same situation as you.
3. Late submissions for some homework assignments are not accepted due to exam schedule or dependency with the subsequent assignments.
4. If allowed, late submissions are subjected to 25% penalty for each calendar day.

Disability Accomodation

Students requiring accommodations as a result of a disability must contact the Centre for Students with Disabilities (604-291-3112 or csdo@sfu.ca).

The BC Freedom of Information Act

It is required that ENSC professors collect samples of student works to put in our internal course files. For example, assignments, exams and project reports may all be copied and saved. This information could be used by other professors, the department, or the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB).

As part of the new BC ``Freedom of Information Act'', the University must now inform you whenever information is collected about you, and must tell you how the information will be used. I am thus giving you "notice" that unless you specifically object, some of your works in this course may be put into the course files at the end of the semester.