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Policies

Academic Honesty

You must adhere to The University of Chicago policy on academic honesty:

The above rules have the final say in all cases, but to summarize as it pertains to this course:

  • Do not copy anyone's work.
  • Do not allow your work to be copied.
  • Do not submit work identical to another student's (this means more than just copying. Writing up detailed pseudo-code together can result in identical code that was not "copied").
  • Document all collaboration.
  • Credit all sources.
  • If you use any source for a small question (e.g. how to loop through the keys of a hash map), please include the source as a comment in your code. For example: 
    // Referred to
// https://stackoverflow.com/questions/58611896
// how-to-return-an-iterator-over-the-keys-of-a-
// hashmap-from-a-trait-implementation

:::{warning} Sharing work in advance of the deadline in any way, including posting to the internet, is expressly forbidden. We take academic honesty seriously and violations will result in serious consequences. Please note: if you are found in violation of our academic honesty policy, either through sharing or through copying, the effect on your grade will be severe. At minimum, your final course grade will drop one full step (letter). At maximum, you will receive an F in the course. Furthermore, please note that the instructors are required to report all infractions to the College. If you violate our academic honesty policy, you may be subject to further penalty or disciplinary action by the College. :::

Policy on Generative AI

Acknowledgement: This policy on Generative AI is adapted from CS142 at UChicago.

When using Generative AI systems (GenAI), it is important that you use them in a way that supplements your learning, instead of substituting your learning. Yes, you may have heard how software developers use GenAI as part of their workflow, but you are not yet a software developer! You are still at a stage in your learning where it is important that you complete programming tasks by yourself, so you can build a strong foundation in programming.

Please trust that, if we ask you to perform a task by yourself, it is because it will benefit your learning (and that taking shortcuts on that task will not prepare you well for further CS studies). Programming is a skill, and they way you will get better at it is by practicing that skill. Asking GenAI to solve programming tasks for you is like trying to learn how to play the piano by asking someone to play the piano for you. You may get the gist of what is involved, but you won't be able to do it yourself.

As such, you must not use Generative AI systems (GenAI), such as ChatGPT or GitHub Copilot, to write or generate any of your code in this class.

You may use these systems for reference purposes only, but you must tread very carefully:

  • For academic honesty purposes, you must treat these systems like any other external resources (similar to looking something up on Wikipedia, Stack Overflow, etc.). This means you must always provide citations when using GenAI, including the exact prompt you used and, if supported, a link to the chat conversation (for ChatGPT, see the ChatGPT Shared Links FAQ
  • When using GenAI, don’t forget that these systems have no sense of what is true or not, and will sometimes provide incorrect answers. Additionally, even when providing correct answers, those answers may contradict instructions/guidance we provide in this class. It is important that you always look at answers from GenAI with a critical eye, and that you remember that the content we provide in the class always takes precedence.
  • In general, you must only use them to answer specific conceptual questions, and never to request that the system generate any code for you. For example, it would be appropriate to ask GenAI the following: "I know how to append an element at the end of a list in Python, but how do I add an element at the start of the list?". It would also be appropriate to use GenAI to deepen your understanding of topics we've covered in class. For example: "I am familiar with AVL trees. Can you tell me about other types of self-balancing trees, and how they compare to AVL trees?"
  • If you are concerned about academic honesty issues, a good heuristic to use in order to figure out what is or isn’t appropriate is to imagine GenAI as a helpful but fallible classmate. For example, it is generally appropriate to review lecture notes with a classmate and ask questions about concepts you didn’t fully understand. So, asking GenAI about this is likely fine. On the other hand, it is never fine to ask a classmate to write part or all of a homework for you.

Diversity

The University of Chicago is committed to diversity and rigorous inquiry that arises from multiple perspectives. We concur with that commitment and also believe that we have the highest quality interactions and can creatively solve more problems when we recognize and share our diversity. We thus expect to maintain a productive learning environment based upon open communication, mutual respect, and non-discrimination. We view the diversity that students bring to this class as a resource, strength and benefit. It is our intent to present materials and activities that are respectful of diversity: gender, sexuality, disability, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, race, religious background, and immigration status. Any suggestions as to how to further such a positive and open environment in the class will be appreciated and given serious consideration. If you have a preferred name different from what appears on the class roster, or preferred gender pronouns you would like us to use, please let us know.

Accessibility

The University of Chicago is committed to ensuring equitable access to our academic programs and services. Students with disabilities who have been approved for the use of academic accommodations by Student Disability Services (SDS) and need reasonable accommodation(s) to participate fully in this course should follow the procedures established by SDS for using accommodations. Timely notifications are required in order to ensure that your accommodations can be implemented. Please meet with me to discuss your access needs in this class after you have completed the SDS procedures for requesting accommodations.

Phone: 773-702-6000

Email: disabilities@uchicago.edu

Covid-19

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