Lecture Participation Polls

Syllabus Course Grades Lecture Participation Polls Homework Policies

IMPORTANT NOTE: Due to COVID-19, all aspects of RPI's Fall 2020 Data Structures course will be conducted online. Please be patient as we adapt our materials and teaching methods to this format.

We will use Submitty to collect answers to simple multiple-choice questions and/or short answer exercises during lecture (Tuesdays & Fridays). These lecture participation polls help increase engagement in lectures and allow the instructor to gauge student understanding & absorption of the material. These polls will be clearly identified in lecture as either "individual" or "collaborative". For collaborative questions you are encouraged to discuss the problem with the students sitting around you.

Due to COVID-19 and remote learning in different timezones, some students will be watching the recorded video lectures outside of the scheduled time. The deadline for submission of the lecture polls will be extended to accomodate these students. We have not finalized the extension period, but it will be at least 12 hours after the end of the scheduled lecture period.

Participation Incentives

Lecture participation polls will not be directly factored into the semester grade. However, as an incentive for participation and correct answers to these exercises, students will be able to earn extra homework late days and priority TA/mentor help during crowded office hours.

We will generally have 4-6 lecture participation poll questions per lecture. Participation in a poll question (no correct answer) is worth 1.0 points. A correct answer on a non-poll question is worth 1.0 points. An incorrect answer on a non-poll question is worth 0.5 points. No answer on either a poll or non-poll question is 0.0 points.

After earning your first 15.0 lecture participation points, you will receive an extra homework late day. And for every 30.0 lecture participation points after that you will receive one additional homework late day. Earned late days may not be applied to previous homeworks. You must have earned the late day before the homework deadline in order to use the late day on that assignment. Specifically, if your poll participation during a Friday lecture earn you a late day, you may not use that late day on the assignment that was due the night before.

During busy office hours, students who have strong lecture participation from the most recent lectures (at least 75% of the points from the last 3-4 lectures) will be eligible for the "Priority Help Queue".

Academic Dishonesty

Lecture participation poll responses will be used to earn incentives for the Data Structures course. Responding to questions with another individual's account constitutes academic dishonesty. If we find anyone submitting answers or using the account of another individual we will zero the lecture participation points of all involved students and report the incident to the Dean of Students.