Intro to Computer Engineering

Course Policies

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Grading Policy

CSE 1302 is a 3 credit course. In addition to the scheduled studio and lecture meetings, you should expect to spend roughly 3-5 hours per week outside of class on prep work, assignments, and quizzes.

Your course grade in CSE 1302 will be based on a weighted average of the following components:

Studio work (15%)

Your work in studio will typically be undertaken in small groups. You must arrive on time and be present in studio to receive credit, and you must work steadily through the session until the TAs have cleared your group's work. You are not graded on how far you get, but on how well you explore the issues you are investigating (see Late Policies and Missed Work too).

Arrival more than ten minutes late will result in forfeit of the studio credit.

Assignments (15%)

Assignments are designed to provide practical experience with central topics of the course. For most assignments you will be able to work in pairs (all assignments unless explicitly indicated otherwise). For each assignment you will have conferences with a TA to explain your design, demonstrate your working solution and to present your implementation. Your presentations at these conferences are part of your grade on the assignment. Each assignment will have a rubric that details how the work will be graded (see Late Policies and Missed Work too).

Exams (60%)

There will be four exams to evaluate your understanding of concepts covered in lecture and in the readings. The first three will be given in class on the dates shown on the course calendar. The fourth is a cumulative final exam, which will be scheduled by the University Registrar during the final exam period; the date and time will be announced on the course calendar and on Canvas as soon as they are available.

Your lowest exam score of the four will be dropped. The remaining three exams each count for 20% of your course grade. There will be a help session devoted to reviewing for each of the first three exams (see Late Policies and Missed Work too).

Quizzes (10%)

Quizzes will cover content from the prep material and assignments. There are two types of quizzes:

See Late Policies and Missed Work too.

Course Evaluations (1% Extra Credit)

1% extra credit can be earned for the entire class if at least 75% of the enrolled students complete the standard university course evaluation survey, which will be emailed to you near the end of the semester. Providing feedback to help us improve the course is an important part of course participation, so it is worth 1% of your grade. Credit is based on completing the survey before its deadline (not your responses to the survey, just your participation — specific responses provided by students are not provided to the faculty until after final grades are in and are provided in an anonymized form).

Late Coupons (1% Extra Credit)

Each unused late coupon (see Late Policies and Missed Work) is worth 1/14 of 1% extra credit. So, a total of 1% extra credit can be earned if no late coupons are used.

Practice Exams (1% Extra Credit)

Before each of the first three exams, a Canvas quiz with sample exam questions will be made available. Up to 1/3 of 1% extra credit can be earned by successfully completing each of these. 1% extra credit can be earned in total. Three attempts are allowed for each one. There is no practice quiz for the cumulative final exam, since it covers the same material as the first three exams.

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Course Grades

Your course grade will be determined approximately as follows:

Range Grade
[93-100 A
[90-93) A-
[88-90) B+
[83-88) B
[80-83) B-
[70-80) C
[60-70) D
<60) F

Grades will be recorded on Canvas. Please check there periodically to be sure everything is correct.

If you have concerns about your grade at any time during the course, see an instructor or contact the Head TA. Please do not direct these kinds of questions to other TAs, unless it is a question about an assignment graded by that particular TA.

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Late Policies and Missed Work

Success in CSE 1302 depends on keeping up with the assignments. At the same time, we don't want you to be stressed out over deadlines. With this in mind, the following late policy has been established. Please read it carefully so that you understand your options. Exceptions to this policy will be granted only in the case of a documented extended illness, documented family emergency, directly conflicting religious observance, or documented university conflict (such as travel for an athletic event). Consult the course calendar for quiz dates, exam dates, and assignment due dates.

Artificial Intelligence

Generative AI models such as ChatGPT and other LLMs are allowed in this class. However, if you choose to use them, you must clearly indicate what it has done vs what you have done. Additionally, you are responsible for understanding and being able to explain not only what it did, but how and why it made those decisions. Credit will not be given on programming assignments if students cannot explain portions of the code to the TA or instructor’s satisfaction.

Quizzes

Quizzes must be submitted by the day and time they are due as shown on the course calendar. No make up quizzes will be given.

Your lowest two (2) quiz scores will be dropped and not impact your grade.

Exams

Exams must be taken on the day they are given. If you anticipate that you must be away from campus on the day of an exam, you should notify the instructor by private Piazza post at least one week in advance of the date of the exam. Include in your post the reason for the anticipated absence and a list of alternative times when you could take the exam. If you are ill on the date of an exam, you should provide the instructor with documentation of the illness and arrange for a make-up exam date as soon as possible. In any case, you must not discuss the contents of an exam with anyone between the time it is given and the time you take the exam.

Your lowest exam score of the four will be dropped and will not impact your grade. If you miss an exam and do not arrange a make-up as described above, that exam becomes your dropped score.

Assignments

Credit is given for assignments by providing a demonstration of the assignment and the students’ knowledge of it to a TA or instructor. Due to the allowed use of LLMs in the completion of assignments, students must be able to explain every part of an assignment to receive credit for it.

Start assignments right away, so you have time to complete them and submit them by the due date. If you wait until the last minute and get stuck, you may have trouble getting help. Also, by finishing assignments on time, you will be ready to start each new assignment as soon as it is assigned.

The deadline for any assignment may be extended at the discretion of the instructor. The instructional labs or online software such as GitHub may be unavailable for brief periods due to unforeseen circumstances. Such outages are to be expected and will not normally result in an extension.

Fourteen late coupons: Each student is issued fourteen virtual late coupons for use during this semester. Please read the details below carefully:

Just to recap:

Assignment Demos

Assignments require that you give a demonstration of your working assignment to a TA. This may be done during a lab section or during normally scheduled TA hours. You should complete your demo by 15 minutes into the lab session on the day your assignment is due, or a late coupon must be used.

Since lab sessions serve as a valid time to demo assignments, the TAs will first demo individuals or groups that have finished the assignment. TAs will not answer questions on the assignment due that day. If you are doing a demo in a lab section, you must sign up for your demo at the beginning of the lab section (within the first 15 minutes) and you must be prepared to demo immediately when it is your turn. The lab session is primarily for studio.

You can not re-demo your work under ordinary circumstances (i.e., you can not have your work partly graded then ask to be regraded if you are disappointed with the result). Do not request a demo unless you are done with your work and it is ready to be graded.

Your work in this class often depends on circuits constructed on breadboards (and carried to class). Unfortunately these sorts of projects are somewhat fragile. You should always thoroughly test your work before signing up for a demo to ensure everything works correctly. Often simply tightening connections will fix any problems, but this isn't always the case. If you believe you are suffering from a hardware failure, see if you can borrow hardware from a classmate, TA, or instructor and proceed with the demo. If you're unable to find substitute hardware you may have to use a late coupon to complete your work.

Studios

As stated in the attendance policy, studio sessions are required. You can miss one studio during the semester without penalty. No make up studios are allowed.

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Attendance Policy

Credit for studios does require both attendance and participation in studio sessions. Physically attending studio but actively working on things from other classes (for example) will result in not getting credit for that day’s studio. Attendance at lectures is not strictly mandatory, but many lectures will have a quiz incorporated that is only open during the lecture session.

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Collaboration Policy

Honestly represent your work. The material you turn in for course credit must be a fair representation of your own work. Copying another's work is strictly prohibited.

Give help appropriately. When helping someone, it is important not to simply give them a solution, because then they may not understand it fully and will not be able to solve a similar problem next time. It's always important to take the time to help someone think through the problem and develop the solution. Often, this can be accomplished by asking them a series of leading questions. Remember the old saying:

Give someone a fish and they'll eat for a day. Teach someone to fish and they'll eat for a lifetime.

Give credit for help received. If you receive help from people (besides the TAs or an instructor), you must list their names where appropriate using comments in the material you submit.

Work individually or in groups. Studio work is collaborative and is always performed in groups of two to four people. Working in groups can be beneficial because you can discuss design options and catch each other's mistakes. Pair programming is permitted for most lab assignments, subject to the following rules:

  1. Only two people may work together. (Groups of three or more are not allowed.)
  2. You must work side by side on the entire lab. It is your responsibility to schedule time to complete the lab when both of you are available.
  3. You must take turns at the keyboard, preferably switching at each step of the assignment.
  4. You must discuss each solution as you are completing the lab (not just watch the other person type).
  5. You may NOT divide up the assignment and each do part of it. Both partners must participate in completing the entire assignment.

There is zero tolerance of Academic Dishonesty. We will be actively searching for academic dishonesty on all homework assignments, quizzes, and exams. If you are guilty of cheating on any assignment or exam, you will be referred to the university’s discipline committee. In severe cases, this can lead to expulsion from the University, as well as possible deportation for international students. If you copy from anyone in the class both parties will be penalized, regardless of which direction the information flowed. This is your only warning. The penalty for academic integrity violations will be a grade of NEGATIVE 100% of the assignment’s weight. (It is twice as bad for your final grade to cheat than to not turn in anything.)

Please refer to the University Undergraduate Academic Integrity Policy, for more information. If you suspect that you may be entering an ambiguous situation, it is your responsibility to clarify it before the professor or TAs detect it. If in doubt, please ask.

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University Policies

Academic Integrity

In all academic work, the ideas and contributions of others (including generative artificial intelligence) must be appropriately acknowledged and work that is presented as original must be, in fact, original. You should familiarize yourself with the appropriate academic integrity policies of your academic program(s).

For what counts as acceptable collaboration in this course, see the Collaboration Policy above; for the use of generative AI, see Artificial Intelligence.

Unauthorized Recording and Distribution of Classroom Activities & Materials

The following applies to all students in my class: “Except as otherwise expressly authorized by the instructor or the university, students may not record, stream, reproduce, display, publish or further distribute any classroom activities or course materials. This includes lectures, class discussions, advising meetings, office hours, assessments, problems, answers, presentations, slides, screenshots or other materials presented as part of the course. If a student with a disability wishes to request the use of assistive technology as a reasonable accommodation, the student must first contact the Office of Disability Resources to seek approval. If recording is permitted, unauthorized use or distribution of recordings is also prohibited.”

Disability Resources (DR)

WashU supports the right of all enrolled students to an equitable educational opportunity and strives to create an inclusive learning environment. In the event a physical or online environment, learning activity, or learning interaction results in barriers to your inclusion due to a disability, please contact WashU’s Disability Resources (DR) to engage in a process for determining and communicating approved accommodations. As soon as possible after receiving an accommodation from DR, send me your WashU Accommodation Letter. Because accommodations are not applied retroactively, initiate your request to DR prior to, or at the beginning of, the academic term to avoid delays in accessing accommodations once classes begin. https://disability.washu.edu/

If you have an approved accommodation for exams, please send me your Accommodation Letter by private Piazza post as early in the semester as you can, so that we can arrange proctoring before the first exam.

Sexual Harassment and Assault

If you are a victim of sexual discrimination, harassment or violence, we encourage you to speak with someone as soon as possible. Understand that if you choose to speak to me as an instructor, I must report your disclosure to my department chair, dean, or the Gender Equity and Title IX Compliance Officer, which may trigger an investigation into the incident. You may also reach out to the Relationship & Sexual Violence Prevention (RSVP) Center to discuss your rights and your options with individuals who are not mandatory reporters. https://titleix.wustl.edu/students/confidentiality-resources-support/

Religious Holidays

To ensure that accommodations may be made for students who miss class, assignments, or exams to observe a religious holiday, you must inform me in writing before the end of the third week of class, or as soon as possible if the holiday occurs during the first three weeks of the semester. For more information, please see the university’s Religious Holiday Class Absence Policy.

Please notify me by private Piazza post.

Emergency Preparedness

Classroom and student safety will always come first. Students are reminded to review emergency preparedness and response actions at emergency.washu.edu and to familiarize yourself with the building(s) that you frequent. Know the layout, including exits, stairwells and the Emergency Assembly Point (EAP). If an emergency occurs during class, we will stop instruction, assess the situation, and respond accordingly, including following any instructions provided in a WashU Alert message or noted on emergency.washu.edu. Additionally, to ensure receipt of all WashU Alerts, students should ensure contact information in Workday Student is current and download the WashU Safe App.

To report an emergency:

Campus Number
Danforth Campus (314) 935-5555
School of Medicine Campus (314) 362-4357
North/West/South and Off Campus 911 then (314) 935-5555

Resources for Students

WashU provides a wealth of support services that address academic, personal, and professional needs. To start exploring resources that can help you along the way, please visit: Resources for Students.

Generated at 2026-08-27 17:25:43 +0000.
Page written by Ron Cytron and Josh Gelbard and Doug Shook and Bill Siever and Evan Simkowitz and Roger Chamberlain and James Orr.