Section 12 Deliverables / Assignments

Course deliverables (assignments) include (in increasing order of importance):

  • minute papers (and class participation)
  • labs
  • quizzes, and
  • projects

Our main course website will provide details on all of these deliverables to you. This syllabus material describes each in general terms, and provides some guidance on what happens after the deadline for each.

12.1 Deadlines for Deliverables

All deadlines for deliverables are posted as part of the Course Calendar, found on the main web site. The Course Calendar is the final word for all deadlines.

12.2 Minute Papers (and Class Participation)

During the semester, there are ten Minute Papers scheduled. In this class, a Minute Paper is a short survey (completed using a Google Form) where you will answer a few questions about how the course is going for you. To complete the Minute Paper, you’ll need to log into Google with your CWRU account. The pre-class survey uses a similar format, but is more extensive than a typical Minute Paper.

Each Minute Paper ideally takes less than five minutes to complete, and is best done right at the end of Tuesday’s class. The Minute Papers are actually due at noon Wednesday most weeks to give you some time to reflect, if you’d like, or if you’re in a hurry at the end of Tuesday’s class.

Students who watch the class via video recording are still required to complete the Minute Paper in a timely fashion. You should complete the Minute Paper even if you haven’t yet viewed the most recent class.

12.2.1 Grading Class Participation

Only Professor Love sees the results of the Minute Papers with identifying information. He then summarizes findings without identifying people and addresses those in the Thursday class whenever possible.

Student Class Participation grades are determined by Dr. Love out of a maximum of 100 points. This determination is based on:

  • 45 points for completing the 431 welcome survey that most of you did prior to class, and if you haven’t done it, please do so now.
  • plus up to 40 additional points for Minute Paper responses (4 points for each on-time submission)
  • plus up to 20 bonus points for actions that help the class, as awarded during the semester

These bonus points have a small impact, generally, but include things like:

  • finding typographical or coding errors in Professor Love’s slides, notes and other published materials.
  • asking especially helpful questions in the Minute Papers or on Piazza
  • providing helpful responses to questions on Piazza
  • identifying interesting visualizations or uses of ideas we’re discussing in class in the popular or scientific media (this is also done via Piazza)
  • plus a few other things that come under the general heading of “being helpful.”

Thanks to the bonus, scores up to 105 / 100 in Class Participation are technically possible. Bonus credit is capped so that no one’s class participation score will exceed 105 points.

12.2.2 Participation

We cannot emphasize enough how much we want to hear from you about things that are relevant to this course.

  1. If you’re not shy, ask questions in the Chat during class. Come to the (virtual) TA office hours if you need help.
  2. Contribute to Piazza with questions, answers and helpful comments. That’ll help us recognize you as someone trying to improve their understanding.
  • If you find typos in the materials (code, slides, the Notes, this syllabus) send them to us on Piazza.
  • See a cool visualization online (of anything other than COVID-19 data)? A nice use of statistical methods or design in a paper? Share them with us on Piazza.
  1. Email Dr. Love if you want to discuss something that doesn’t fit on Piazza or in a conversation with a TA. Visit with him before or after class. Make an appointment to talk with him if you have something to discuss that doesn’t work well in email.
  • It’s always helpful if Dr. Love knows who you are, and this is an especially difficult thing to achieve this year with a large and remote class.

12.3 Labs

During the semester, there are eight lab assignments scheduled. Professor Love reserves the right to change the number of labs depending on how the class is going during the semester.

  • Most require straightforward demonstrations of mastery for core principles and fundamental skills. Some require deeper dives into more technically sophisticated material.
  • Most labs ask you to clean/visualize/analyze some data that we provide to you, and also to react to something we’re reading at the same time in the Spiegelhalter or Leek books.
  • You should anticipate that some coding in R and writing at least one essay will be required in most labs.

Each lab includes instructions as to how to make your submission, usually through Canvas. The course’s primary listing on Canvas is PQHS 431, but students in CRSP 431 and MPHP 431 should find the same information. The link to post your responses for each Lab will appear in time for you to submit the work, usually just after the deadline for the preceding Lab has passed.

Each lab is associated with a deadline. Late work is permitted, but penalized (see the Grading section below.)

12.3.1 A few tips for Early Lab Work

  1. When writing anything for this course in English, use complete sentences, not just bullet points.
  2. Clearly mark each Question in each Lab. There is no need to repeat the question before answering it, although you are welcome to do so.
  3. 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 Labs.
  4. You are welcome to discuss each Lab with anyone, including Professor 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 Piazza.
  5. In general, we do not guarantee to provide answers to questions that we receive in the last 12 hours before a Lab is due, especially once we’ve gotten into mid-September. So don’t leave anything until the last day. Allow time for computer problems.

More information (and the actual Lab assignments) will be found on our main course web site.

12.3.2 Grading Labs

Labs are graded by the Teaching Assistants, according to the rubric and answer sketch. Everything counts, including the quality of the presentation, as well as the coding and statistical work.

For each Lab, we publish a detailed answer sketch (within 24 hours of the deadline). Later, when the grades become available (roughly one week after the deadline) you will also receive the grading rubric used by the teaching assistants. You should expect to receive your grade on each Lab you submit on time roughly one week after the deadline. Along with the grade, on-time labs will receive modest feedback about the work.

  • Labs received on time can receive up to 100% of the available points for the lab.
  • Labs received after the deadline but before the answer sketch is published can receive up to 90% of available points.
  • Lab submissions received after the answer sketch is published but still within one week of the deadline can receive up to 75% of available points.
  • Lab submissions received more than one week after the deadline will not be graded.

Your lowest two lab scores over the course of the semester will be dropped before we calculate your grade on labs.

  • As a result, you can skip up to two labs during the semester without penalty.
  • If you decide to skip a lab, please submit a note to Canvas by the deadline saying that you are skipping the lab.
  • Should you run the risk of needing to miss more than two labs during the semester, contact Dr. Love via email.

12.3.3 Appeal Policy - Request a Review in December!

Clarification of concerns related to potential typographical or other errors in our Lab answer sketches is welcome at any time, but haggling over points on assignments can be a real time sink in a large class. To that end, students are requested not to dispute any grading on Labs during the semester, but instead to request a review using a Google Form to be opened by Professor Love in December.

Should you receive a lower grade on a Lab than you feel you deserve based on the feedback the TA provides, the answer sketch and the grading rubric, you can submit a request for a regrade by Professor Love by submitting a request through a Google Form he will provide to you.

  • On the course’s Labs page, we include a section about Grading Errors and Regrade Requests. There, you’ll find a link to a Google form (you must log into Google via CWRU to see it) listing all of the Labs. Any student who wishes to dispute points can specify the number of points in question for each item, and the details of the issues that concern them.
    • If you wish to dispute a grade, just fill out the form at any time before the deadline in December. You can edit the form after submitting it so that you can add additional requests up until the end of the semester.
    • All forms must be submitted by the deadline in December specified on the Course Calendar.
    • Disputing a grade on a homework with a teaching assistant is pointless.
    • Professor Love is responsible for all final grading decisions, and if you have a concern, you should submit your request through the form.

Students are welcome to ask questions of Professor Love about grading during the term. The TAs and Professor Love are happy to discuss in a general sense any questions about an assignment, but no grades will be changed until the end of the term. - The one exception is if there is a mistake in adding up points, or some similar clerical error. If you find such an issue, please bring it to Professor Love’s attention via email, and such problems will be corrected immediately.

In mid-December, after Professor Love has worked out what letter grade to give each student, he will go through the requests on the form and determine for each whether the student’s letter grade would change if all of the points in dispute were granted. If the answer is no, then he won’t even look at the disputed grade(s). If the answer is yes, then he will look very carefully to see if enough extra points are merited to change a grade. (It will not help your case to submit frivolous requests.)

The main advantage of this system is that it saves all of us the hassle of haggling over points that are never going to mean anything anyway. It also provides “equal access” to students who are too timid to express their concerns. Finally, if there is an issue with grading a particular problem or assignment that needs to be reconsidered, Professor Love will have access to all papers and can make a universal decision1

12.4 Quizzes

During the semester, you will have two quizzes to complete. Each quiz is taken online via a Google Form (like the Minute Papers or the Welcome to 431 survey.) Each quiz includes both short-answer and multiple-choice items. The quizzes focus on whether you can apply the tools developed in class to address small problems.

You will typically receive access to the quiz 4 days before it is due, and each quiz will be designed to take 4-6 hours to complete, so the time pressure should be minimal. If you need to make alternate arrangements for a Quiz, please contact Professor Love via email as soon as possible, at least a week before a Quiz is released.

12.4.1 Piazza and the Quizzes

As we’ve discussed, for most of the course, Piazza will be our tool for asking and answering questions.

However, for questions about the Quizzes, we will provide an alternate method for you to ask questions of Dr. Love and the Teaching Assistants, and we will share that approach at the top of each Quiz as they become available.

12.4.2 About the Quizzes

  1. Quizzes typically involve 20-40 questions.
  2. The questions are not arranged in any particular order, and you should answer all questions.
  3. All questions involve relatively short responses, sometimes after working through a detailed analysis.
  4. You will have the opportunity to edit your responses after completing the Quiz, but this must be completed by the deadline.
  5. 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.
  6. We do not guarantee to answer questions we receive about the Quiz less than 3 hours prior to the Quiz submission deadline. As noted above, we will not use Piazza for Quiz questions, but instead an alternate approach we will provide to you with each quiz.
  7. Quizzes that are more than an hour late will not be accepted, except in truly remarkable circumstances.
  8. An answer sketch for each Quiz will be made available within 48 hours of the deadline.
  9. Grades for the Quizzes are usually available within 48 hours of the deadline.
  10. If you feel Professor Love has made an error in grading your Quiz, please let him know directly, by email, as soon as possible.

For more information on the Quizzes, please visit our main course web site.

12.4.3 Grading the Quizzes

Each quiz will be graded solely by Dr. Love. A detailed answer sketch and grading rubric will be provided to you when grades are available, usually within 48 hours of the quiz deadline.

In calculating your quiz average for your course grade, he will weight your stronger Quiz performance at 60% and your weaker one at 40%.

Should you need to miss a Quiz, the other Quiz will count for all of the Quiz component of your course grade, and will automatically make the Quiz element your “Weight 3” element in determining your final course average. (See the Grading Breakdown section below for details.)

12.5 Projects

During the semester, you will have two projects to complete.

  • Project A anticipates you using materials from the first 12 classes.
  • Project B anticipates you using materials from the first 24 classes.

For more information on the Projects, please visit our main course web site.

12.5.1 Grading the Projects

Some elements of each project will be graded by Dr. Love, and others by the teaching assistants.

In calculating your project average for your course grade, I will weight Project A at 40% and Project B at 60%.

Students who cannot complete a project (either A or B) in a timely fashion will receive an incomplete grade until both Projects are completed. A penalty will be applied to late work on projects.

Once the complete project instructions are available, please contact Dr. Love directly if you are in any way concerned about your ability to complete a project on time.

  1. I got this idea from Jessica Utts at http://www.amstat.org/publications/jse/v22n2/rossmanint.pdf.↩︎