To find your assignments, go to https://github.students.cs.ubc.ca/cpsc330-2020w-t1.
For every assignment, we will create a repository (repo) for each student. The repository will be named based on an internal ID
that we generate for each student. For example,
if your id is goatcabin then for assignment 1 there will be a repository called
hw1_goatcabin. The assignment will ship with the necessary code/data.
If you visit the organization homepage you will see a list of all repositories that you have access to.
We anticipate that you will clone your homework-specific repository and do your work from within there. GitHub provides you with a backup, version control for your work, a way to collaborate with others, to show unfinished work to instructors and ask for help, etc. To submit your homework you must both push your work to https://github.students.cs.ubc.ca/ and submit your rendered HTML file to Canvas where it will be graded. Your assignment will come bundled (at the very bottom of the notebook) with a short script to render to HTML and push your work to Canvas. To use that script, you will need to create a Canvas token. For a demo on how to do that, see this video by my colleague Tomas Beuzen (his video is for another course, but the basic idea is the same).
Once you submit to Canvas, you should go to Canvas and ensure your assignment is there as expected. It is your responsibility to make sure your assignment is submitted to both places and failure to do so will result in a deduction of marks.
Unless otherwise noted, if you download a dataset for your assignment, please do not push the dataset to your repo. (If the dataset in bundled with the assignment, then it's of course fine to leave it there.)
Your final report must be submitted online as a Jupyter notebook, so please do not write up your answers on paper!
Be sure that your answers are clearly written and easy for the TA to understand. The TAs have the option to reduce your mark if your answers aren't clear or are difficult to understand (even if they are correct).
Please do not delete the question cells or move the questions around. This will make things easier for the TAs.
You must ensure that all your code output (values, tables, figures, etc.) is displayed in the notebook. For example, if you are required to calculate some value, it is not sufficient to just store the value to a variable, nor is it sufficient to have a print(value) in your code - the print code must actually be run and the notebook saved, so that the output is shown on the screen when the notebook is rendered. Likewise, if there are tests (e.g. assert statements) provided in the code, make sure these are left in so we can see the output of the tests. This allows the TAs to see your results without running your code. Failure to display all output will result in a deduction of marks.
If you are unsure whether your report is rendering properly, please view your submission in Canvas. This is exactly how your TA will see it.
In most assignments, you will be asked to produce plots/figures. When including figures in your submission:
- Embed the figures in your report. Make sure your
.ipynbfile includes all the figures you want the TAs to see. - All figures must include axis labels and, if multiple curves are present on the same figure, a legend.
- All figures must have some accompanying text explaining what the figure is about. You can do this by putting a figure title in the image itself (such as, "Training error vs. k") or you can use LaTeX to add figure captions that appear underneath the figure.
- Regardless of your image formats, all text must be big enough to read without straining or zooming. Please be careful about this for axis labels, legends, titles, etc. Avoid tiny text!
You must work alone for Assignment 1. For Assignment 2 onwards, you may work with a partner or work alone. You can make this decision independently for each assignment. To work with a partner, you must follow these instructions before you get started.
The GitHub part
- Agree with your partner on which repository you want to work in, e.g.
hw2_yourCWLvs.hw2_theirCWL(it makes no difference, but make sure you both know which one you're using). You'll do all your work together in that one repository and ignore the other one. - The person whose repository you are using needs to go to the Settings tab in GitHub, then Collaborators & teams, then search your partner's CWL username and add them as a collaborator with Write or Admin access (not Read) so that they can push to the repository.
Note: This system requires a certain level of trust and professionalism, because the parter(s) with Admin access could remove the other person at any time. If the system is abused, we may stop allowing partners for any future assignments. Please do not use your Admin powers for anything confusing such as renaming your repository.
The Canvas part
- One of you (either one, but make sure you know who is doing it) needs to go to the course on Canvas, and select People on the left sidebar. There should be a tab for the particular assignment, e.g.
hw2_groupsfor hw2. Go to that tab. - Search for your partner's name to find their group, and select "SWITCH TO" to switch to their group.
Note: apparently the search doesn't work very well, so you may need to try their first name, or last name, etc. If you can't find your partner by searching, an alternative is to see what group you are in and let them know. You can do this either by searching your own name or going to the Groups tab at the far left of the Canvas window.
Note: I realize this is a horribly bad interface but I think this solution will actually be more convenient for students than the old solution because it allows you to decide on partership after the assignment is released. In the old system students had to declare partnerships in advance and it caused a lot of chaos. Just make sure you do all the steps before submitting anything.
Submission
- Make sure you've done all the above steps.
- As usual, push your work to GitHub as you work on the assignment.
- When it comes time to submit Canvas, only one of you needs to submit. For now, please have this be the "primary" partner (whose repository you are using). I don't think this is necessary but it's a helpful safeguard while we test-drive this workflow on hw2.
By default late submissions will not be accepted. The rationale is that we will be posting the solutions shortly after the assignment deadline, and we cannot accept submissions after the solutions are posted. I do not like this, but I believe the overall policy is best for the class as a whole.
In exceptional circumstances a late submission may be accepted with an academic concession - see here for more info.
If there are errors or other changes that need to be made to an assignment, I will announce them in a pinned Piazza post.
If you use information from students outside your group or from online sources including code snippets from Stack Overflow or lecture notes, cite this at the start of each question. You will receive a mark of 0 for the assignment (and possibly other consequences) if you are found copying from other sources without citation.