in English suomeksi Project

Computer Organization I, Spring 2008, Study Circle Project PR 2 (16 pp)

Design and implement two (2) practice problems, one for each topic selected earlier. Please notice, that even though implementing practice problems is relatively easy, coming up with a good practice problem is not. Use appropriate time for planning before you jump into implementation.

Topics

  1. Mail your study circle participant names to the lecturer (Teemu.Kerola (at) cs.helsinki.fi).
  2. The lecturer will select practice problem topics (lecture numbers) for you and publishes them in the project 2 status page. The first topic is for part a, and the second topic for part b.

Project Delivery

Project is turned in in two parts, part a (8 pp) by 6.4.2009 by 09:00 and part b (8 pp) by 27.4.2009 by 09:00. Project may be turned in late, but late penalty is 1 pp per day. For example, if the project is 30 hours late, late penalty is 2 pp. Start early, work on the project all the time, and finish it early!

The project is turned in as a hardcopy and via email. Missing electronic return will cost you 4 pp (we can not try it out easily) and missing paper copy 2 pp (we need to copy it for evaluation notes).

Electronic copy is turned in via email (Teemu.Kerola (at) cs.helsinki.fi) as one zip-file, that contains

The hardcopy may be returned within 24 hours after the electronic return. You can hand it in (e.g.) in an envelope addressed to the person in charge of the course (Teemu Kerola, CS Dept.) to the downstairs porter's station.

The report should be in pdf, html, or doc format. It includes at least:

  1. Project identification data (course, project, date)
  2. Study Circle memebers (name & date of birth; no student id's)
  3. How much each member has participated in the work (e.g. Maija 100%, Niilo 90%, Olli 120%, Pirjo 90%)
  4. Are you willing/not willing to let the university use your project work at will in the future.
  5. Attachment: Practice problem topic, the question, answers and their explanations

Project Evaluation

The evaluation is trying to achieve the following: (a) study circle is rewarded for completing the task, (b) students working more will be rewarded with slightly better grade, and (c) not so diligent students will notice it in their grade. Although it has been very difficult to formulate grading quidelines to achieve these goals, we have tried to do it.

The evaluation of the projects is made on the basis of the study circle's report and the functionality and appropriateness of the practice problems developed.

The projects yield three kinds of points (e.g., for an 8 pp project):

Late projects are penalized 12.5% per day, if they are accepted at all.

For a 8 pp project, this means that a passed project yields 2 pp, and depending on the grade you can get 0-6 pp more, participation may give you something between -4 pp and +2 pp, making a total of 0-10 pp. If the project is graded very good and the student has received extra points for it for being extra diligent, then students overall points can be up to 125% (10 pp) of the maximum points (8 pp).

The study circle will give (in the report) the percentage of participation for each of their members, and this percentage will be taken into account when calculating the individual grades for the members. If a study circle cannot agree on the percentages, it should ask the instructor or the person in charge of the course for help.

A 100% involvement indicates that a student has completed 100% of his or her work in the project in question. The involvement degree is given with the 10% unit accuracy to each member of a study circle, and their average must be 100%. An involvement degree of 80-120% is normal. If any student has an involvement degree of 30% or less, that student will not pass the project. Such a student will hardly have participated in the work of the study circle at all.

The degree of involvement in a project will affect each student's grade in accordance with the following table:

Degree of involvement
Participatio
(vs. max pp)
Example on
8 pp project
Example on
24 pp project
140% or more
+25%
+2 pp
+6 pp
130%
+12.5%
+1 pp
+3 pp
80-120%
± 0%
± 0 pp
± 0 pp
70%
-12.5%
-1 pp
-3 pp
60%
-25%
-2 pp
-6 pp
50%
-37.5%
-3 pp
-9 pp
40%
-50%
-4 pp
-12 pp

Each passing project will yield at least 25% of the project points (minus possible late points). In the course bookkeeping (Kurki) the projects are shown under heading "HT".

Examples on participation points

In all examples below we are considering an 8 pp project, and study circles will receive 2 pp for project completion.

Example 1. Project is 15 hours late, so each participant will lose 1 pp. The study circle is given grade 4, and participation is as follows: Maija 110%, Ville 70% and Anne 120%. Participation points are: Maija 0, Ville -1 and Anne 0. The project points will be Maija 5 pp (2-1+4+0=5), Ville 4 pp and Anne 5 pp.
So lazy Ville will suffer one point reduction, but Maija and Anne will not gain from it.

Example 2. The study circle is given the grade 4, and participation is as follows: Maija 80%, Ville 140% and Anne 80%. Participation points are: Maija 0, Ville +2 and Anne 0. The project points will be Maija 6 pp, Ville 8 pp and Anne 6 pp.
So, the diligent Ville will get an extra point, but Maija and Anne will not suffer any point reduction.

Example 3. The study circle is given the grade 4, and participation is as follows: Maija 130%, Ville 130% and Anne 40%. Participation points are: Maija +1, Ville +1 and Anne -4. The project points will be Maija 7 pp, Ville 7 pp and Anne 2 pp.

Example 4. The study circle is given the grade 4, and participation is as follows: Maija 120%, Ville 160% and Anne 20%. Anne did not participate in this project and she should not have been counted in at all. Maija's and Ville's participations need to be re-evaluated: Maija 90% ja Ville 110%. Participation points are: Maija 0 and Ville 0. The project points will be Maija 6 pp, Ville 6 pp and Anne 0 pp.