Section 8 Deliverables, Expectations and Assessment

All students are expected to attend all sessions, participate vigorously in the class discussions and in team work, complete all individual work in a timely fashion, demonstrate improvement of skills over the term, and perform well on the Quizzes and in the final portfolio presentation. Such a performance is the minimum standard required to receive a grade of B.

To receive an A, students are expected to complete all the requirements described above, demonstrate excellent work in both the final portfolio presentation, and outstanding work in at least one of the following: [a] in class participation, [b] assignments, [c] quizzes.

8.1 Grading Breakdown

Grading standards apply in the same way for all students, regardless of whether they are enrolled in PQHS 431, CRSP 431 or MPHP 431. The courses are identical.

The course grade is based on four key areas of demonstrated accomplishment. The planned breakdown is as follows, but Dr. Love may make adjustments as the semester progresses.

Weight	Task
15%	In-Class and Outside-of-Class Participation
25%	Completion and Quality of Homework Assignments
30%	Performance on Quizzes 1-2
30%	Final Project Presentation and Related Materials

Any questions regarding how you are doing in the course should be directed to Dr. Love alone. In particular, the TAs do not have full access to the final grades.

8.2 Participation

Students often ask how they can improve this part of their grade. I cannot emphasize enough how much we want to hear from you about things that are relevant to this course.

If you’re not shy, ask questions in class. The TAs help me assess participation, so they are paying attention, too. Come to the TA office hours if you need help. Make an appointment to talk to us if you have something to discuss that doesn’t work well in email.
Email 431-help at case dot edu. with your questions and comments. That’ll lead to faster answers, typically, and help us recognize you as someone trying to improve their understanding.
- Find typos in the materials (code, slides, the Notes, this syllabus)? Send them to us at 431-help at case dot edu.
- See a cool visualization online? A nice use of statistical methods or design in a paper? Share them with us, at 431-help at case dot edu.
Mindlessness and poor planning are unimpressive. Be smart and plan ahead. Do the work on your end first. In the last 18 hours before something is due, we generally do not answer questions, deliberately.

8.3 Attendance

We assume you will attend all classes.

If you need to miss one class, it’s your job to ensure that you get hold of all relevant materials, and meet all deadlines, but there is no need to let Dr. Love know about in advance.
If you need to miss multiple classes in a row, you should let Dr. Love know this in advance. Send him an email directly, being sure to specify the dates that you will miss.

8.4 Deadlines in this course are very serious.

This is graduate school. Missing deadlines is no longer an available option to you.

We treat everything that arrives within one hour of the deadline as “on time” and everything that arrives 61 minutes or more after the deadline as “late”.
Turning in incomplete, but on time work is bad, but it is far better in this class than turning in complete work late.
Dr. Love will be the sole judge of whether or not to accept late work.
Late work without a catastrophic circumstance is completely unacceptable.
- Catastrophic circumstances specifically do not include “my computer broke down when I tried to send my work five minutes before the deadline”. It is your responsibility to anticipate and allow time for computer problems.

8.5 There are now TWO Quizzes.

There are two quizzes scheduled. Each Quiz will be taken online, exclusively.

If you need to make alternate arrangements for a Quiz, please contact Professor Love via email as soon as possible, and in any case, at least a week before a Quiz is released.
A test survey will be completed in September to ensure that you can use the quiz software to submit your results.
You will have a minimum of 3 days (72 hours) to work on each quiz. Most students complete each quiz in 3-5 hours.
All quizzes require an Internet connection, and a CWRU login.
Late submissions of Quizzes will not be accepted.
Quizzes typically involve somewhere between 30 and 50 short-answer questions.

8.5.1 A few general comments on the quizzes

The questions are not arranged in any particular order, and you should answer all questions.
All questions involve relatively short responses, sometimes after working through a detailed analysis.
You will have the opportunity to edit your responses after completing the Quiz, but this must be completed by the deadline.
You are welcome (even encouraged) to consult the materials provided on the course website, but you are not allowed to discuss the questions on the Quizzes with anyone other than Professor Love or the teaching assistants.
We do not guarantee to answer questions we receive via email less than 3 hours prior to the Quiz submission deadline.
After each Quiz is complete, an answer sketch will be made available.
Grades for the Quizzes are usually available within 36 hours of the deadline. If you feel Dr. Love has made an error in grading your Quiz, please let him know directly, by email.

8.5.2 Your Quiz Grade

Your overall Quiz grade in the course will be calculated in two ways. Whichever yields the higher score will be the grade I incorporate into the process for determining your final Course grade.

weighing Quiz 1 as 40% of your Quiz grade, and Quiz 2 as 60% of your Quiz grade, or
weighing Quiz 1 as 33% of your Quiz grade, and Quiz 2 as 67% of your Quiz grade.

8.6 There are Homework assignments.

There are several homework assignments scheduled. Most require straightforward demonstrations of mastery for core principles and fundamental skills. Some require deeper dives into more technically sophisticated material. Some also require reflection, particularly based on materials we’ll be reading throughout the semester, especially from Nate Silver’s book.

8.6.1 Where will I find the Assignments?

The actual homework assignments are found at https://github.com/THOMASELOVE/431-2018/tree/master/homework

8.6.2 Where do I turn in the Assignments?

You will turn in your Assignments using the Canvas system at https://canvas.case.edu.

The course’s primary listing is PQHS 431, but students in CRSP 431 and MPHP 431 should find the same information. The link to post your responses for Assignment 1 will be there by the first day of class. Subsequent assignments will appear after the deadline for the preceding assignment has passed.

8.6.3 General Comments on Assignments

Each assignment will require you to analyze some data, and prepare a report using R Markdown. You will submit both your Markdown file, and an HTML document built using R Studio from that Markdown file.
Most assignments will require you to write an essay. Essays must be composed as part of your Markdown file, and thus included in your HTML document. Do not edit the result of your R Markdown conversion into Word.
When writing in English, use complete sentences, rather than bullet points.
Clearly mark each Question in each Assignment. There is no need to repeat the question before answering it, although you are welcome to do so.
Read and heed the advice of Jeff Leek in The Elements of Data Analytic Style. Chapters 5, 9, 10 and 13 of that book are especially relevant to our early assignments.
You are welcome to discuss each Assignment with anyone, including Dr. Love, the teaching assistants, or your colleagues, but your answer must be prepared by you alone. We especially encourage you to take advantage of TA office hours and email 431-help at case dot edu.
In general, we do not guarantee to provide answers to questions that we receive in the last 18 hours before an assignment is due. So don’t leave anything until the last day. Allow time for computer problems.
Late work is inappropriate for graduate school. Failure to turn in an assignment within one hour of the deadline will result in a very poor grade on the assignment if it is (eventually) turned in, and a zero (from which it is difficult to recover) if it is not turned in. Submission of timely, but partial work is far better than no submission at all.
If an assignment is scheduled so that you will not be able to complete it in a timely fashion, it is your responsibility to email Dr. Love about the situation so he can evaluate it. Such requests should be sent as soon as possible, and at least 48 hours prior to the deadline for the assignment, except, of course, in the case of truly horrific circumstances.
Grades on Assignments are usually available one week after the submission deadline.
If you have a complaint about your grade on a Homework Assignment, please first review [the Grade Appeal Policy][Grade Appeal Policy - Wait until December!] at the end of our syllabus.

8.7 There is a final project, rather than a final exam.

All materials and information related to the project are maintained at https://github.com/THOMASELOVE/431-2018-project and regular updates will appear there throughout the semester.

The project includes work throughout the semester, culminating in a final presentation to Dr. Love of your work in mid-December, specifically on 2018-12-10, 2018-12-11 or 2018-12-13. All students will need to give a presentation in person on one of these three days. Presentation scheduling will occur in October.