Lectures are in person, though there are pre-recorded videos from the pandemic offering of the course for some of the course materials (the first two parts). During class, I will deliver the content in the videos live. The goal is to allow you to ask questions live and check your understanding with a live instructor able to help in the moment. Attendance is expected but not required (attendance won't be taken, but you are responsible for all content that is discussed in class, even if it is not in a pre-recorded video).
There are three types of assignments.We will use Piazza for questions.
If you have questions about the course, and those questions are in a sense impersonal — that is, they are about course material or course logistics — we ask that you post those questions publicly, rather than contacting any of the staff members directly. This ensures you will receive the fastest, most consistent possible response from the staff. Since students usually have common questions, posting public questions is also very efficient for your classmates as well. As yet another advantage, it avoids duplication of work on the part of the staff.
If you have a specific question about your implementation - if any code or partial solution is involved - then ask a private question, which is invisible to your classmates.
In general, there should be no reason for personal email unless it is for extenuating circumstances.
Lab sessions are not strictly mandatory, but they do provide a potential boost to your grade by giving you guaranteed points. That is, if you were to attend all 9 labs, you would have 9% of your grade in full. If you do not, then that 9% is filled with your average project grade.
Lab sessions are held in the Computer Science Instructional Laboratory (also known as the CSIL); it is located on the first floor of Crerar Library.
At the beginning of the session, the TA will provide an introduction to the lab for that week. For the first several sessions, there is a Qiskit activity for you to complete. Show the complete lab to your TA to check it off, and that will give you credit for attending that week. On weeks without a structured activity, then you will start and work on your assigned project. You will get credit for attending if you are actively working on the project for an hour.
The purpose of lab is to provide you working time with a helper present so that you can make progress and get some momentum to help you complete the assignment through the week. This makes it easier to stave off procrastitation if that is your inclination (my research experiments have shown a negative correlation between procrastination and grades).
Textbooks:
Recommended: Q is for Quantum, Terry Rudolph
Dancing with Qubits, Robert S. Sutor
All assignments (short answer, Python, Qiskit) will be submitted in Gradescope.
Each student’s final grade will be computed according to the following formula:
Any student who is under suspicion of having violated academic honesty rules will not be allowed to withdraw from this course.
All requests for Pass/Fail must be received before the final exam. Note that if you take this course P/F, in normal years, you may not use it to satisfy requirements for a computer science major or minor. However, due to the pandemic, computer science majors are allowed to use a limited number of P/F courses towards their degree. You will need to check with your major advisor if you are not sure whether you can count a P/F grade towards your degree. To pass, you must earn a C- or better in the class.
Withdraw requests are now handled by your college advisor, not the instructor nor the major advisor. Requests must occur by 5:00pm on Monday of the ninth week of instruction.