Policies

This page extends and gives further context to information on the class summaries provided on Programs and Courses, and the ANU policies that cover all courses and student conduct.

Code of conduct

Everyone in this course is responsible for:

• Promoting an inclusive, collaborative learning environment.
• Taking action when others do not.

We reject behaviour that strays into harassment, no matter how mild. Harassment refers to offensive verbal or written comments in reference to gender, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, race, or religion; sexual images in public spaces; deliberate intimidation, stalking, following, harassing photography or recording, sustained disruption of class meetings, inappropriate physical contact, and unwelcome sexual attention.

If you feel someone is violating these principles (for example, with a joke that could be interpreted as sexist, racist, or exclusionary), it is your responsibility to speak up! If the behaviour persists, send an email to your course convener to explain the situation. We will preserve your anonymity¹.

Note that you are also bound by the ANU Student Code of Conduct during your time as an ANU student, in particular students are expected to:

actively participate in learning activities including all class time, independent learning and assessments, and strive to seek depth, breadth and challenge in their learning;

Communication

In this course, you’ll receive information through two channels:

• your student email account (i.e. uXXXXXXX@anu.edu.au)
• the COMP1720 forum.

Check the forum regularly and set up your email preferences so that your notifications go somewhere that you will see them.

If you need to ask a question about the course here how to do it:

• If you have a question about any aspect of the course content or future assessments, post it on the forum.
• We prefer you to use public forum posts for any question so that other students can help and benefit from any discussions. The forum is a great community, so make the most of it.
• If you have a private question for your tutor or the lecturer (e.g., about a mark or to ask for an extension), please use a private question to instructors on the forum.
• Your tutors are not available for meetings or chat messages on Microsoft Teams, or email messages, outside of your lab time. All communications between students and tutors outside of labs should be through the course forum.
• Disrespectful, harassing, or discriminatory posting or messaging in this course is not acceptable and will not be tolerated (see the code of conduct).
• If you need to get in touch with the course convenor directly (e.g., for an appeal or to report a breach of the code of conduct), you can post a private thread on the forum, or if you believe the matter to be sensitive then please send an email.
• We will try to respond to forum posts and emails within three working days. We do not respond outside of ANU business hours or on the weekend.
• There are also student reps for the course (you’ll elect them in week 1), so you can talk to them and they’ll pass your (anonymous) feedback on to me.

For any further help with any aspect of the course, see the Getting Help Page.

Late Submissions

Late submissions for assessment tasks are not accepted without an extension.

Extensions

Link to the School of Computer Extension App

If you have any issues that would prevent you handing in work on time, please use the School of Computing Extension App.

• In most cases it is easy to arrange a short extension.

The School of Computer Extension App has built in instructions to help you provide correct information. You will be asked to include your student number (UID), a short statement of your situation and when you think you can get the work completed.

In the first instance, you do not need to provide documentation (e.g., a medical certificate or educational access plan), as this is not required for a short extension, but we may ask for it in some instances.

Note that:

• If you receive an extension you may not receive feedback on your work at the same time as other students.
• We do not process extensions every day, but will attend to your request within a few days. Do not send multiple messages (email, forum post, etc.).
• Extensions of more than 10 working days are not granted unless as part of an Extenuating Circumstances Application (see below).

Extenuating Circumstances

Extenuating circumstances are previously unknown and unavoidable issues that have affected your ability to study or to complete an assessment item. If you have experienced these kind of issues (e.g., sickness, injury, unexpected caring duties) you may be able to apply for adjustment to an assessment.

There is more information and links to complete an Extenuating Circumstances Application (ECA) here.

Note that:

• Extenuating Circumstances is not for extensions of 10 working days or less. If you need a short extension see above.
• The outcomes of an Extenuating Circumstances Application are limited to those documented on the website and the outcome is not decided by the course convenor.

Appeals

From the date that your marks for any assessment item are released electronically you have a period of two weeks in which to make an informal appeal of your mark to the course convenor.

An informal appeal requires some explanation about why the original mark was not correct (e.g., the marker accidentally missed a particular aspect of your assignment).

You should submit an informal appeal in a private post on the forum. Please include your student number (UID), a short statement of why you think your mark was not correct referring to the marking criteria for the assignment.

If an informal appeal is denied by the course convenor, you may still make a formal appeal. This requires a convincing statement that your mark was incorrect given the stated marking criteria and assessment instructions. For the formal appeal procedure see the information here.

Supplementary assessment

If you receive a PX grade you are eligible for supplementary assessment. The assessment item may be an assignment, a written exam or an oral exam. To pass this assessment item, you must demonstrate a “good” attainment of the learning outcomes, generally equivalent to a mark of 60/100.

Academic integrity

At the ANU we take academic integrity seriously. In COMP1720/6720 all the ANU academic integrity principles apply.

In particular:

All ideas, code and content that is not created by you must be referenced in your references.md.

You are allowed to include material in your assignments from others where it fits with the specification, but you must not pretend that you created it. See the ANU’s academic integrity best practices for learners to understand more about how to work.

In this course we aim for a strong culture of collaborative learning on all assessment tasks, but you are assessed on your individual contribution. Referencing work that you have (legally) adapted from online sources or from a colleague is a basic act of respect in a network of peers.

As a basic measure, we expect everyone to have at least two references in each references.md showing that you are aware of the how to work independentently in a studio environment and acknowledge sources.

If you act against the principles of academic integrity in this course, it’s very likely you’ll get caught. At a minimum, this could delay your completion of the course (and your graduation), and could have very serious consequences for your enrolment at ANU in serious cases.