Grading details

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This page contains the guidelines for grading and complaints for phases 2 and 3 of the project.

Deadlines

Deadlines are to be met strictly. Most of the deadlines are set at 2400, detailed and up-to-date information can always be found on the main page as well as on the corresponding phase pages.

Deductions

The deduction for a missed deadline is 10% of the maximum number of points per started day (i.e. 0.5 points per day).

This means that for a deadline set at 2400 handing in material at 0010 is considered the same as 2000 of the next day and leads to a deduction of 0.5 points. In case of forgotten material the timestamp of the last part we receive counts. (Obviously you don't get a higher deduction if you hand in a given part late than if you had not handed it in at all.)

(In)completeness

You have to hand in everything as demanded on the page of the corresponding phase by e-mail. If certain parts are missing, we are unable to grade them and you will receive no points for the corresponding tasks. It is therefore important that you double check the archive you hand in before the deadline to make sure it's complete. Also reread the phase page before handing in your reports, just in case you've missed something.

The reports must include a copy of all the material that your work consists of. The simple reason for this is that we need to make sure that nothing can be changed after the deadline.

The only exception to the above rule are archives whose size exceeds a certain limit (as described on the phase pages). So in the case of large database dumps etc. you can send us an address where we can download the corresponding files or leave them (clearly visible!) on your account. Just include the address or exact location instead of the oversized files.

Complaints

If you think that there is an error on the grading sheet, you can send in complaints within three days after reception of your grades. In such a case send an e-mail to Philippe with a detailed description of what you think is wrong.

You must include your group number in the subject.

Please only send in complaints that are well substantiated. Arguments like "this seems too harsh" or "the grade does not reflect our amount of work" do not qualify as good arguments. The grading schemes are exactly the same for every group. Also note that we do take into account general difficulties.

Why do we do this? (a.k.a. "Why are you being so mean?")

First of all, we're not being mean. Really! :-) We may be strict on certain points but there are good reasons for this. Here are the three main ones:

• Fairness The majority of the groups hand in their reports on time. Usually those are the ones that started their work on time and didn't save it all up until the last moment. There is no reason why the other groups should be granted more time for the same requirements. It would simply be unfair towards most of the students.

• Organization We usually start grading your work the very next day after the deadline. One reason for this is that all of us have a lot of other work to do, so we need to schedule these things carefully. Another reason is that we want to give your grades back as soon as possible. After all you have worked hard for them, so we want to give you the feedback before you've continued too far in case you want to correct certain things. Late hand-ins give us a lot of additional work because we may already have graded parts of your work and then need to redo the same thing.

• Preparation Later in life you will have a job and if your boss gives you a deadline, there are good reasons for this. In a company many other people may depend on your work being on time and unmet deadlines can cost a lot of money. So you should see this project also as a preparation for this aspect of later life. And after all, a deadline is called a deadline, not a slightlyinjuredline. :-)

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