Mathematics for Computer Science

Excused Absences & Waived Midterms

Every student is allowed to have some low grades dropped if they submit makeup work described below. We drop the lowest
  • three class participation grades,
  • one pset grade,
  • one midterm grade.

The three dropped class participation grades are treated as personal days available for example for sick days, religious holidays, out of town varsity competitions, job interviews, or sleeping in. Makeup for one or two further missed classes will be allowed when two or more of the three personal days were for medical or other legitimate reasons beyond the student's control.

Makeup for a second pset will be allowed in rare cases when both psets were missed for medical or other legitimate reasons. Note that pset solutions are posted shortly after they are due, and late submissions or due date extensions are not allowed once the solutions are out.

Students may choose to do a makeup for more than one midterm (say because a later midterm came out worse), but only the lowestscore will be dropped. Makeup for a second midterm will be allowed in rare cases when both exams were missed for legitimate reasons.

Makeup Procedures

The same makeup procedure (described below) applies for class participation, psets and exams.

Students should arrange makeups with their team coaches. Makeups for psets and midterms are expected within about a week of receiving grades. Missed classes should also be made up within a week. Extensions for makeup completion can be approved team coaches, but coaches have been instructed not to allow open ended makeup submission.

Writeups that do not reflect reasonable attention to the material being made up will be returned to students for further work. When satisfactory makeup work has been completed, coaches will notify the Gradesmaster to drop the grade.

  • Participation Makeup.

    This should consist of a written commentary (see below) on the day's class material that reflects an engagement comparable to that required to prepare for, and participate in, class. A commentary of two or three pages reflecting 2 to 2.5 hours work would be typical.
  • PSet Makeup.

    A commentary of three or four pages reflecting 2.5 to 3.5 hours work would be typical for a missed pset. Students may also do makeup for a submitted pset whose grade is the one they want dropped. They need only make up for the parts that lost points.
  • Midterm Makeup.

    The guidelines for midterm makeup are the same as for psets.

Makeup Commentary Guidelines

The student should should review the problems and solutions. It is generally not useful for a student simply to write up their own attempt at solutions. Instead, they should indicate, for example, if they:
  • believe they would have solved the problem on their own, outlining their approach and including a commentary on how it compares to the given solution,
  • learned something they didn't quite know (indicate what),
  • remain uncertain about the solution, indicating the uncertainty as specifically as they can,
  • think the problem highlighted an important concept---or just a technicality, briefly explaining why they think so,
  • think the problem was too hard/long/easy for its place on a class problem/pset/exam, briefly explaining why they think so,
  • can suggest an improved version of the problem or soln, OR
  • can suggest an alternative version for future use.

Lateness Policy

If a student comes to class 15 to 45 minutes late (without prior warning and excuse), they can expect a participation grade of at most 1. Grade will be 0 for more than 45 min lateness.

Repeated lateness of any kind is not consistent with a team-study based class like 6.042. A preceding class being "far away" or running overtime are not acceptable excuses. In these circumstances, students should notify the instructor of the preceding class at the start of that class that they have to leave precisely on time (which by Institute rules, is 5 min before the hour or half-hour) in order to get to 6.042. They can explain that 6.042 has required attendance and penalties for lateness.

Students should consult with their coach or an instructor to have a lateness excused.


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MIT 6.042 class material by Albert R Meyer is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License .
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This document last modified Saturday, 11-Mar-2017 17:40:51 EST