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Grading

Evaluation in this course will be by means of Homework (20%), two hour-long tests (20% each) and a final examination (40%). Grades will be assigned according to the University's standardized grading system (see the University of Colorado Catalog):

Homework

The general purpose of homework assignments is to focus your attention on important aspects of the material, giving you practice in applying your knowledge and exposing any areas of misunderstanding. Each assignment specifies the areas of interest and outlines what you are expected to gain from doing it.

Homework will be assigned each week, and may involve both written work to be handed in and practical work to be demonstrated in the laboratory.

Written work is due at the beginning of the Monday lecture; demonstrations of practical work must be given no later than your assigned lab period for the week in which the homework is due.

If you are ready to demonstrate your practical work prior to your assigned lab period, and you are able to arrange a time when both your TA and the equipment are free, you may give your demonstration early. Late homework and demonstrations will not be accepted under any circumstances.

By prior arrangement, with sufficient justification, you may be excused from a homework assignment or an examination. You may also be excused after the fact due to a serious personal emergency, but such an excuse will require copious documentation.

Teamwork

You must work in teams of 2-4 to complete each homework assignment; homework handed in by individuals or larger groups will not be accepted. There are two reasons for this requirement:

• Students derive significant benefits from discussing material with one another and attempting to answer each other's questions.
• Teamwork reflects industrial practice, and experience in this area is useful both in later courses and in your career.

Demonstrations

1. verifying that you have completed the assignment and
2. showing that you understand the principles the assignment illustrates.

Each demonstration is worth some number of points, and will be graded on the basis of clarity (50%) and demonstrated understanding (50%). The demonstration will actually be given by a single team member, but the points will be awarded to all team members as the grade for that week's demonstration. The team's success depends upon the success of the demonstrator. Thus the team should make an effort to prepare the demonstrator to give the best possible demonstration and to answer any questions that the TA might ask about the assignment. Unless special arrangements are made with the TA, the same team member may not give demonstrations of two successive assignments and all team members must give roughly the same number of demonstrations over the course of the semester.

You will not be able to demonstrate everything you have done in five minutes, so you must be selective. For example, if being able to do A depends upon being able to do B, then demonstrating that you can do A also demonstrates that B has been done. The ability to effectively present your work is vital to success in engineering, or in any other creative career. You will almost invariably be making such presentations under a time constraint, and therefore they will have to be carefully planned.

Examinations

The dates and times of the examinations are:

Examinations are intended to measure your individual mastery of the material. They will concentrate on your understanding of the important concepts, rather than your ability to memorize details. Group discussions, in which you try to explain course material to your peers, is a good way to study for these examinations: The best way to learn something is to try to explain it to someone else. However, it is important that you limit your frustration! If the group has a question that baffles all of its members, it's time to see the instructor or one of the TA's...