In Class Activities (ICAs) are opportunities for students to try new concepts as they are presented in class. They are evaluated on the basis of completion and will be awarded a score on a scale of 0 to 100 points. Some ICAs are so simple that they are evaluated on an all-or-nothing basis (zero or 100). Other ICAs may have multiple steps. For example, students assigned a four-step ICA could receive 25 points for each step, making for the possible grade outcomes 0, 25, 50, 75, or 100.
As the name ICA implies, students are expected to complete the ICAs in class. Some ICAs may have components that presume the presence of a student in class – such as a hand drawn diagram, or the review of another student’s code. Students who are not physically present for such activities forfeit the opportunity to earn the points associated with the activity.
Students may be permitted to turn in all or a portion of their ICAs after class ends, but no later than 11:59 pm on the day of the class. This will be announced in class.
Late ICAs are not accepted and will be given a grade of zero.
The two lowest ICA grades will be dropped for each student at the end of the semester.
Many of the ICA start files have been deliberately “contaminated” with one or more errors. These errors (or “bugs”) will become more difficult as the semester progresses. This is a deliberate strategy to help students improve their debugging / troubleshooting skills.