This is the system we will use at the end of the quarter to map numerical final grades to letter grades. No curve is applied, and there are no other factors shaping the mapping from weighted averages (details here) to letter grades.
| Grade range | Letter grade |
|---|---|
| ≥ 100 | A+ |
| ≥ 94 | A |
| ≥ 90 | A− |
| ≥ 87 | B+ |
| ≥ 84 | B |
| ≥ 80 | B− |
| ≥ 77 | C+ |
| ≥ 74 | C |
| ≥ 70 | C− |
| ≥ 67 | D+ |
| ≥ 64 | D |
| ≥ 60 | D− |
| < 60 | No pass |
⭐ The below is drawn from the requirements for CS224U and CS 347.
A short (2-paragraph) written response to each reading to be posted the day before class.
The response should not focus on summarizing the papers, but instead raise questions that would be appropriate for discussion, or propose ideas to think about. The goal is to get you to think critically about the research that a paper presents and why that research is important.
Some example perspectives include but not limited to:
Reading responses will be graded on a check-minus/check/check-plus scale. The rubric will be (adopted from CS 347):
More information and details: Role-Playing Seminar
You are the instructor who needs to provide a comprehensive overview of the paper. What did it study? What’s the novelty? What’s the methods and results?
The papers have not been published yet and is currently submitted to a top conference where you’ve been assigned as a peer reviewer. Complete a full review of the paper answering all prompts “strengths, weaknesses, questions”
You’re a researcher who is working on a new project in this area. Propose an imaginary follow-up project not just based on the current but only possible due to the existence and success of the current paper.
You work at a company or organization developing an application or product of your choice (that has not already been suggested in a prior session). Bring a convincing pitch for why you should be paid to implement the method in the paper, and discuss at least one positive and negative impact of this application.
Identify how this paper self-assesses its (likely positive) impact on the world. Have any additional positive social impacts left out? What are possible negative social impacts that were overlooked or omitted?
You’re a hacker who needs a demo of this paper ASAP. Implement a small part or simplified version of the paper on a small dataset or toy problem. Prepare to share the core code of the algorithm to the class and demo your implementation. Do not simply download and run an existing implementation – though you are welcome to use (and give credit to) an existing implementation for “backbone” code.
Grading: 5 points (group), 5 points (each role)
Please familiarize yourself with Stanford's honor code. We will adhere to it and follow through on its penalty guidelines.
On the one hand, we want to encourage you to pursue unified interdisciplinary projects that weave together themes from multiple classes. On the other hand, we need to ensure that final projects for this course are original and involve a substantial new effort.
To try to meet both these demands, we are adopting the following policy on joint submission: if your final project for this course is related to your final project for another course, you are required to submit both projects to us by our final project due date. If we decide that the projects are too similar, your project will receive a failing grade. To avoid this extreme outcome, we strongly encourage you to stay in close communication with us if your project is related to another you are submitting for credit, so that there are no unhappy surprises at the end of the term. Since there is no single objective standard for what counts as "different enough", it is better to play it safe by talking with us.
Fundamentally, we are saying that combining projects is not a shortcut. In a sense, we are in the same position as professional conferences and journals, which also need to watch out for multiple submissions. You might have a look at the ACL/NAACL policy, which strives to ensure that any two papers submitted to those conferences make substantially different contributions – our goal here as well.
It is very important to us that all assignments are properly graded. The teaching staff works extremely hard to grade fairly and to turn around assignments quickly. We know what you work hard, and we respect that. Occasionally, mistakes happen, and it's important to us to correct them. If you believe there is an error in your assignment grading, please submit an explanation in writing to the staff within seven days of receiving the grade. We will regrade the entire assignment to ensure quality.