Background Expectation
We assume students have basic programming experience in any language.
Communication
All communication in this course takes place via two channels: (1) the course website and (2) Piazza.
Management/Support
Students in this course can expect to receive as much help as possible from tutors and the course convener.
Lab Attendance
While not mandatory, we strongly recommend that you attend all the lab sessions. In the lab sessions, you will get hands-on help in applying the concepts we cover in the lectures. They also provide a chance to get to know your tutors and get feedback on in-progress assignment submissions.
Every lab has various “exercises” which you should do on your machine and push up to GitLab. Not all lab submissions contribute to your final grade, however, you are expected to push your work to GitLab so that the tutors can see your progress and give you feedback. If you do not engage with the lab material by submitting the lab exercises, then you seriously weaken your case if you want last-minute help with assignments.
Important Note We will check your latest push to the GitLab repo for Lab 2 and Lab 3 files (due in week 4, March 15, 6 pm). These circuit diagrams (ALU and Register File) are worth 5% of the total grade for the first assignment.
Assignment Effort
We encourage all students to brainstorm ideas with other students in the class. We request students (individuals or groups) to identify all sources that helped with their solutions. In particular, please list the students in any discussion and brainstorming sessions. As an example, “My solution to the third question is inspired by brainstorming for ideas with Alex, Jon, and Rebecca.” You can be more specific, “The modifications to the ARM microarchitecture for supporting register-memory instructions are due to discussions with Angela.” If called for an oral interview after the assignment deadline, each student must explain their assignment submission.
Assignment Groups
We allow students to form groups of up to two to work on the two assignments. Each group will submit one solution to the assignment. Each group member must contribute equally to the assignment. Each group member must sign a statement that they have read and understood the assignment, including the solutions. If called for an oral interview, each group member must be prepared to discuss the assignment submission, including written responses to questions and code-level details.
Code of Conduct
We will penalize any violation of the ANU student code of conduct in oral and written assessments, group work, and feedback sessions with the convener. In particular, please refrain from using curse words or foul language in written assessments, including but not limited to the naming of variables, signals, and new instructions, strings, and comments.
Academic Misconduct
All students must abide by the standards outlined in the ANU statement on academic honesty and plagiarism. Please review the specific requirements for this course on the academic integrity website of the course. As a reminder, individual assignment submissions must include a signed integrity and originality statement, and all group submissions must include a signed group originality statement. (Please also read the expectations outlined in Assignment Effort and Assignment Groups sections above.)
Feedback
Marks and feedback for all assignments will be released through GitLab. The marks will also be available on Streams.
Late Penalties
Late submission of assessment items (and non-attendance at exams) will result in a mark of zero for the assessment item.
This means you must plan ahead and not leave your submission to the last minute. We will not accept last-minute excuses for lost work, e.g., because you forgot to push changes to GitLab.
Extensions
Please send an email to Shoaib.Akram@anu.edu.au in the case you want an extension to an assignment deadline.
Appeals
If you are not happy with your mark for any assessment item, then here’s the relevant ANU Policy (see section 61):
The University recognises the right of students to seek a review of, and to appeal against, a result for an assessment task within a course, or their final result in a course. Appeals against a result for an individual assessment task are considered as a component of the final grade, after the final grade is released. Appeals against assessment outcomes are conducted according to the Assessment Rules.
Supplementary Assessment
If you receive a PX grade, you are eligible for supplementary assessment. The assessment item can be a written or oral exam. If you pass this supplementary exam, you will receive a PS grade and a mark of 50. If you fail, you will receive a grade of N and a mark of 44. Supplementary assessment will happen early in Semester 2—we will be in touch via email to let you know the details.