How to Prepare and Submit Your Assignments (general)
 Harry S. Delugach

This section applies to all submitted work, whether electronic or regular. If there are course-specific guidelines, they take precedence over these. Ask your instructor if you have any questions.

[Authorship]  [Content] [Source code] [Hardcopy submission] [Electronic submission] [Executables]

This document was last modified on 26-Aug-2008.

Note: Failure to follow these directions may have a negative impact on your grade.

Authorship

By submitting an assignment for a grade in this course, the student is acknowledging that all work has been done by him or her unless you explictly state otherwise. Any work done by any other person (and only if allowed under the assignment guidelines) MUST be appropriately acknowledged and referenced. For team assignments, no work may be done by any person who is not a team member. Outside sources must always be appropriately acknowledged and referenced, with allowance for the exception below.

There is a general exception regarding the course textbook(s) and course notes on homework assignments or short papers. For assignments, the text or notes do not have to be explicitly cited (though sometimes it is a good idea to point out your source). For short papers, the text and/or class notes can be included in a bibliography as a general reference.

Content

  • Be sure your name, the course name/number and the assignment/project are identified in the content of what you turn in. Do not rely on an email address or filename to identify you! Do not include your student id (A-number)! 
  • If there is more than one question, submit your answers in the order given. If there are sub-problems, answer them also in the order given. Make sure all answers are properly labeled according to the question.
  • Including the actual question's text is a good idea if the question is short.
  • If you choose not to answer a question, show the number and write "BLANK" or "NOT ANSWERED"
  • Check spelling and punctuation, making sure they match the problem(s).
  • All writing should be in standard English, unless specifically and explicitly directed otherwise. All of the rules of proper English usage, spelling, and taste prevail. See here for some common English errors that are to be avoided.

Deadlines

  • Most submitted work has a deadline. If the deadline date is a class session, the work is due at the start of the class period. If you turn in your assignment during the middle of a class, expect a one-day penalty.
  • Late work will be subject to a penalty of 5 points per 24-hour period (or part thereof) past the deadline until the effective time received (see table below)

Hardcopy submissions (i.e., printed or written, handed in physical form)

Format, style, etc.

  • If you have multiple pages, they must be STAPLED together (no paper clips, please).
  • You are expected to type your papers, using any standard word processing software. Diagrams or drawings should also be prepared using software (i.e., not "hand" drawn).
  • Use a font size of 10pt, 11pt, or 12pt, single spaced and have about 1 inch margins on the top, bottom, left, and right of your text.
  • DO NOT FOLD your papers.
  • DO NOT USE a cover sheet unless specifically required by the instructor.
  • DO NOT enclose your assignment in an envelope, unless specifically required by the instructor. If you are told to use an envelope or folder, make sure there are no loose pages that might fall out of it, and BE SURE to put your name, course, date and assignment on the outside of the envelope.

Most assignments and other work will be turned in as printed or written materials ("hard copy"). If hard copy is required, then an electronic submission is not acceptable without prior permission of the instructor; otherwise, the instructor may not consider it turned in until the actual hard copy is submitted. (If electronic submission is allowed, follow the Electronic Submission guidelines in the next section.)

You are expected to use a word processor or other electronic preparation software, unless an exception is specifically given. You are responsible for getting your own printing done in time. Do not wait until the last minute to print your submissions -- printer problems are not acceptable as an excuse for lateness. Very minor edits in pen or pencil are allowed.

Effective date/time received

Here is how the effective date/time received will be determined for hard-copy submissions. Your work is not considered properly submitted until either (a) the instructor or (b) a CS staff assistant receives the work in person. In order of decreasing reliability (and therefore potentially decreasing grade), here are your choices:

  • How turned in Effective time received
    Submitted electronically Date/time the upload was recorded or time that email was received (be sure to allow five or ten minutes transit time)
    Give to instructor in person Date/time handed to instructor
    Give to departmental assistant in person Date/time the assistant logs and stamps the assignment
    Slide under instructor's office door Date/time the instructor happens to enter their office (or later)
    Put in instructor's campus mail box (in the mailroom) Date/time the instructor next happens to look in their mail box
    Put on departmental assistant's desk or chair Date/time the assistant happens to notice it
    (if it is noticed at all)
    Give to someone else other than the above Whenever that someone decides to give it to me. Maybe never.
    Put it somewhere other than the above If the assignment does ever reach me, the date and time that I actually receive it.

Electronic submissions

In most cases, materials are to be submitted electronically. Check with the instructor if you have any question about whether electronic submission is allowed for a given assignment. If (and only if) electronic submissions are allowed, follow these guidelines.

  • You are expected to type your papers, using any standard word processing software. Diagrams or drawings should also be prepared using software (i.e., not "hand" drawn).
  • Use a font size of 11pt, or 12pt, single spaced and have about 1 inch margins on the top, bottom, left, and right of your text.

Electronic submission rules

  • Submit a single file, submit only ONCE
    • Prepare your submission in a single file.
    • Include all cover pages (only if required), appendices, etc. in the single file. If you don't, it is possible that some parts of your submission will be lost, ignored, overlooked, etc. and hence will not be graded.
    • If more than one copy is submitted, the instructor may choose to grade any of the copies you have submitted, regardless of the date you sent it, or what you have said in an email note. In general, the first copy submitted will be the one graded, not the last. You are therefore urged to check your work carefully before you submit it!
  • Submission methods allowed:
    • ANGEL Assignment: Submit as an attachment to your submission for the assignment.
      • Filename must follow assignment instructions.
      • Assignment will generally be graded and returned to you (see Electronic Grading below).
      • Format must be MS Word (see below) or Open Office .doc format
    • Email: Attached to email (include in the message a brief overview of what the document is)
      • Subject must include course number and brief assignment name.
      • Email itself must include your complete name.
        • This is in addition to the attachment (which of course would have your name in it).
        • This is in addition to your email address which may or may not resemble your name.
      • NOTE: If you are sending an attachment from a Windows system, DO NOT DRAG-AND-DROP your file(s) into an email message (this will cause them to be encoded in a non-standard format). Instead, use the "Attach File" (or similar) button/menu-item to attach files to emails.
      • NOTE: Make sure it's really an attachment! Some systems (Yahoo is especially bad for this) assume that attached text should be made part of the email message itself. One way to is to cc: yourself and make sure you get an attachment back.
    • Server: On a server (suitably concealed). It is your responsibility to make sure that file permissions are set properly so that only the instructor can access your submission.
  • Format allowed (except for ANGEL): any one of the following formats (other formats with permission of instructor):
    • MS Word (any version except Word 2007 (Vista), any platform)
    • PowerPoint (any version, any platform)
    • RTF
    • PDF
    • Postscript
    • ASCII or Unicode text
  • Deadline
    • Same as the one for hard-copy submission
    • If the submission is a problem set to be graded, you must submit your problems before the class in which I will go over them. This is because I customarily grade assignments immediately, and go over the answers in class during the next class period,
    • Late assignments generally take a 5-percent penalty per 24-hour period (including weekends and holidays). For obvious reasons, no credit is given for assignments turned in after I have gone over any solutions in class or posted solutions on the Web site.
  • Electronic Grading: If I will be grading your assignment and return it electronically, do the following:
    • Do not use either Postscript or PDF submission formats.
    • Expect the graded submission to be returned in the same format and software version in which you submitted it.
  • NOTE: The presence of a computer virus in any submitted file (as detected by any well-known commercial virus detection program) may adversely affect your grade and/or your academic progress.

Source Code

"Source code" for these purposes means any signficant section of executable code,written by the student, usually longer than 15 or 20 lines of code, For example if you have short segments of code for demonstration purposes, or if you show programs to implement an algorithm or demonstrate a capability, these aren't considered source code for my purposes. In general, do not submit longer amounts of source code unless specifically directed. Short segments of source code (e.g., less than 20 lines) should be included as regular text if you're doing hard-copy submission.

When source code is submitted, all source code written by you must be commented and documented. Each file must contain at least your name, the date you wrote them, the course number and title, the instructor's name, the assignment identifier (if any), and a general summary of what's in the file. Internal units (e.g., classes, modules, etc.) must have a comment header block with a summary of the unit. Code written by other persons or obtained from other sources must be attributed. Individual assignments may require additional comments; see assignment for details.

Executable Unit(s)

To submit some executable artifact (e.g., program, script), do one of the following:

  • Make such artifact accessible over the Internet in a location and form (e.g., zip file) which you specify in an email to the instructor, or
  • Submit the assignment through the "Assignment" facility in ANGEL, or
  • Email the executable artifact to the instructor so that it is received before the deadline (see below).

It is your responsibility to make sure that any file permissions are set so that the artifact can be accessed by the instructor as needed. If an executable (or other) submission contains any sort of virus, worm, Trojan horse or other malicious code (whether deliberate or accidental), then a grade of zero will be given for the entire assignment. At the instructor's discretion, the matter may also be subject to disciplinary action through the University Judicial Board.