Where can I find instructions on
run the SPIM assembler ?
What is the policy on late home
work?
What about the juniors, seniors,
and graduate students in the class?
Since it is a curve doesn't
somebody have to fail?
Won't the material in this class
be outdated soon?
Can I pick up my old tests and
homework?
Add codes may be obtained in Engineering 1, Room 2106.
The
Registrar runs an Internet site where
grades can be obtained as soon as they
are filed.
During the quarter we will have several exams. The exams are designed to test
your understanding of key concepts in the subject so you can get feed back on
how you are doing. Each midterm will cover a smaller amount of material (easier
to study for) and if you goof one up it will not affect your overall
grade too much.
All reports and homeworks are subject to the same
standard. Reports and homeworks that are illegible run the risk of being
returned ungraded. If you decide to re-submit the lab/homework late
penalties still apply.
The best way to get understanding is by working problems because problems
focus your attention. It is also not too surprising that individuals who do well
on the problem sets do well on the exams.
The answer to this is probably written down in
some manual that has been misplaced. Actually, the specifics change from
system to system and change depending upon the system configuration. The best
thing to do is find someone who does know and learn. The best person for that
is the TA (that is what they are there for). If you know someone who has taken
the class then that's OK too.
You can find copies of a SPIM simulator to run
on your own computer at:
http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~larus/spim.html
Documentation for the SPIM machine is at:
http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~larus/SPIM/cod-appa.pdf
and more
http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~larus/SPIM/spim_documentation.pdf
You can turn in homework late but it isn't
recommended for the following reasons:
- The home work will not be returned with the
main batch. If you use it to study with for exams you'll miss it.
- Late home work is usually graded more
strictly since you have had more time to work on it.
- Late home work is subject to a penalty.
The homework score is multiplied by a factor computed as
exp (-t/T). Where T = 5 days. For example, the factor for 2 days is exp
(-2/5) = 0.67.
- You will miss the benefit of doing it since
exam questions are usually based on homework problems.
Even though this is intended to to be a lower
division class it continues to enroll significant numbers of upper division
and even a few graduate students. It turns out that the upper level students
do not appear to affect the class curve as much as one would think. Why? No
one knows for sure but possible reasons are:
- They figure it is an easy class and attempt
to mini-max the grade. This generally doesn't work because the class grade
is built on consistency of effort and understanding of the
material.
- Figure that since they already know the
material, they can skip the home work and programming projects. That
approach generally leads to less than optimum results as well since they
usually don't know as much as they think they know and a third of
the grade is on homework and programming. By the time they figure this out
it is too late.
- Decide that since so many of the tests are
open book they will just wing it and learn the material during the test.
Another recipe for disaster since there is usually too many questions to
look up every one and there is no alternative if you get even temporarily stuck. You can't
fly into the test with your training wheels down and expect to do well.
Not at all. If everyone demonstrated a keen
understanding of the material then there would be all high grades. As it is
(unfortunately) this doesn't seem to occur. Every quarter there seems to be a
group that turns in all the homework (with pains taken to get it right),
reasonably answers every question on the tests, and demonstrates a fair amount
of creativity in writing the programs.
Then there is a group that gets most of the
home work right (some wrong, some missing), skips or can't answer several
problems on each test, and does not attend class for one reason or another.
Then there are some that miss exams (especially
near the end of the term), skip the homework, excuse themselves from the
programming assignments, and all but disappear.
You can be in any group that you choose.
Once you graduate, the half-life of the
specific information that you have learned is about 3 or 4 years (and that may
be optimistic). To remain viable in the computer science field you absolutely
must keep learning.
As far as this class is concerned, the
specifics of programming with the SPIM system you are very unlikely to ever
see again. The value of the class is to fundamentally understand how the basic
computer operates and get a little of the hands on feel. In addition, you will
gain both knowledge and appreciation of what the computer is doing "under
the hood". More importantly, you will develop a capacity to learn new
material and apply it effectively.
Can I pick up my old tests and
homework?
All midterms, lab reports and
homeworks (except possibly the last ones) are passed out in class. Any
remaining assignments are available for 30 days into the following quarter. Just
drop by during office hours. After that time they will be destroyed.
