Course policies

The information below is intended for students in the courses that Peter McIntyre teaches. It is your responsibility to read, understand, and follow them.

Information About Grades

Your work will earn grades that that are fair and appropriate for the situation. Here’s what you can expect for most of your work in my courses:

A - Excellent, top-quality work, which (typically) goes beyond normal expectations

B - Good work, done with a good (i.e. higher than average) level of quality

C - Satisfactory work, which meets specifications, of average quality

D - Work that is below expectations, but unfortunately is still enough to earn a passing grade

F - Unsatisfactory work

As you can see, it is important to know that you will not earn an “A” simply for meeting a set of specifications. High grades are earned with work that is clearly better than expected.

I do not like “D” grades. To me, a “D” is an “F”. I personally consider a “C” to be a minimum pass, but College policies state that the threshold is lower. We’re getting to the point in our human society where software is at the core of everything. And where bad software can kill people, and cause emotional and economic damage. As a result, my standards are higher, and yours should be too. Don’t create crappy work that becomes part of a news story some day.

I also consider that test-like work, where you are doing individual work, is a more reliable indicator of your capabilities than assignment-like work. As a result, test-like work has a higher value when making grading decisions.

Finally, I would like to explain the grading process, because too many students ask “where did I lose marks?”, or “why did you take marks off?”. Those questions are not appropriate. Why? Let me ask you a question: Before you begin work (on a test or on an assignment), how many marks have you earned on that work? Again, before you begin. Well, the answer is zero. Therefore, the marks on a test or on an assignment are the marks that you have earned, starting from zero. I never “take marks off”. And, you earn marks - you don’t lose marks.

Tests and similar graded work

Tests must be written when scheduled. You can’t simply write a test when it is convenient with you.

If you are unable to write a test, what happens?

In this course, there is NO opportunity to attempt a replacement test. Therefore, it will receive a grade of zero (0).

A policy will be in place to consider the impact of a legitimate illness.

Graded work will not be re-marked. However, adding errors will be corrected on request.

During a test, the use of reference material, or personal electronic devices, is not permitted.

Assignments and similar graded work

During the term, one (1) late assignment will be accepted, within three (3) days of its due date and time.

Otherwise, an assignment is due on its assigned due date, at a specific time. If it is late, it will receive a grade of zero (0).

Academic Honesty

Please ensure that you follow Seneca College Academic Policy when you do your work. The following link, from the School of Information and Communications Technology website, has some helpful information: School of ICT – Academic Honesty

Submit your own work.

It is acceptable to collaborate with a peer during your work on an assignment. However, this does not mean that you can “share” code or other code assets.