For the official course syllabus, please view the canvas page https://canvas.vt.edu/courses/215759/assignments/syllabus.
Please carefully read the following list and follow the instructions. Failure to do so may result in a delayed response or no response at all.
For SSD accommodations,
please fill out this form: SSD form
For course material and course logistics (exam time, format, ...) questions,
please use Piazza or go to OH (virtual or in-person)
For grading appeals,
please submit a help ticket
For problems with Canvas or GitHub, etc. preventing you from submitting your work through designated channels,
For late board pickup or early board dropoff
please go to any in-person OH held by GTAs
If your kit looks and feels physically OK, but it does not behave the way you expect it to,
please run the "test your kit" program
If your kit fails the "test your kit" test, or it is getting too hot, it has loose parts on the board, etc.,
please submit a help ticket
If you are having software or hardware issues with your computer,
please use one of the following channels:
swat.eng.vt.edu
submit a help ticket (we may be able to lend you a laptop with working CCS)
For absences, non-SSD accommodations, life situations,
please contact Dr. Ali (leyla+2564@vt.edu) or your section's instructor
Help on Piazza
We recommend Piazza as the main forum to seek answers for your questions. Always check to see if similar questions have already been asked and answered before posting your question. We will reply to your questions within 48 hours from posting your question. That means if you send questions two days before a deadline, you will not get answers early enough to solve your issues.
Help during Office Hours
We will have in-person and virtual Discord Office Hours staffed by our Instructors and Graduate/Undergraduate Teaching Assistants. However, not all questions/concerns are handled in all Office Hours. Please read below to see which OH meets your needs.
Instructors only:
your progress in the course including grades, missed assignments, etc.
feedback about various aspect of the class: assignments, lectures, TA support, deadlines.
professional advice and consultation
SSD and non-SSD, such as religious Holidays, accommodations
TAs only:
debugging and detailed assignment-related questions
Pick up/drop off/exchange the hardware kits
Instructors and TAs:
course material: lectures, quizzes, product documentations, general programming concepts
general discussion and brainstorming about tackling the projects
TA OH queue
TA Office Hours uses a discord server to manage the Office Hour queue whether you are attending an in-person or a virtual office hour.
Before the first time you wish to attend office hour, please follow the below instructions:
Make sure you use your FULL NAME as your name on the server. For some of you, it means changing your name within this server.
Within the Discord VCEL server, go to the #welcome channel and learn about procedures and rules within VCEL.
If you have not already done so, take the VCEL etiquette quiz. You need to get 100% on it. You can retake the quiz till you reach 100%. OH etiquette quiz
Every time you wish to attend office hour, please follow the below instructions:
During the OH time slot you are interested in, or up to 15 minutes earlier than its starting time, submit a ticket to the OH queue. Entering the queue
(optional step) Monitor the queue progress on this spreadsheet: The queue monitor
If you are interested in the discord/virtual support within the VCEL Discord server, keep an eye on #queue-pickup for your name to be called. Follow the TA to the channel for your one-on-one support. If you are looking for in-person support, wait for your name to be called.
Fun fact: We call our Discord server Virtual Computer Engineering Lab, or VCEL, in memory of our physical CEL (Computer Engineering Lab)!
Exam location: In class (with some exceptions)
Midterm exam length: 60 minutes. (This length includes 10 minutes extra for unexpected network or computer issues. Remember, this is a test and not homework. In other words, you should be able to answer questions and move on quickly. Unless you are facing extraordinary circumstances, we do not foresee extending this time for anyone. ) In summary:
for SSD students who need x2 the time: 50*2+10 = 110 minutes
for SSD students who need x1.5 the time: 50*1.5+10 = 85 minutes
for all other students: 50+10 = 60 minutes
Final exam length: 120 minutes. (This length includes 10 minutes extra for unexpected network or computer issues. Remember, this is a test and not homework. In other words, you should be able to answer questions and move on quickly. Unless you are facing extraordinary circumstances, we do not foresee extending this time for anyone. ) In summary:
for SSD students who need x2 the time: 110*2+10 = 230 minutes
for SSD students who need x1.5 the time: 110*1.5+10 = 175 minutes
for all other students: 110+10 = 120 minutes
Exam open-book format: You can refer to any course material (for this semester) and Wikipedia during the exam. However, referring to any other source is not allowed and violates the Honor Code. Both regular calculators and online calculators are allowed. We use LockDown Browser during the exam.
Questions or concerns during the exam: If anything seems to be unclear, write any assumptions that are needed and continue with the exam. If the question does not have a space for you to add your assumptions, send an email to the instructors with your assumptions.
Honor Code: This is a free country. Nevertheless, discussing course material during the period of the exam will constitute a violation of the Honor Code policy in this class. Even simple questions such as "Which module covered i/o pin configurations?" are a violation.
Scratch Paper: You can have single sheet of paper with your name written on it for solving problems. We will NOT collect the papers.
Student ID: You will need to have your student ID with you during the exam.
Honor Code statement: You will be asked to sign the following statement as part of the exam.
On my honor, I will neither give nor receive unauthorized assistance from/to anyone in any form on this examination. More broadly, I will not discuss any course or exam material until exam grades are released with anyone, in or outside our class community.
Exam exceptions/conflicts: If you have a conflict with any of the exams or you have SSD accomedations related to time or location of the exam, please fill out this form