Piazza: We'll use the 6.02 piazza forum (opens in new tab) for Q&A and other discussions regarding the course. Please sign up, and check that page regularly.

Lab hours: The TAs and LAs will be available in the afternoons and evenings in the 6.02 lab, 38-530. The staffing schedule is posted on the Lab Hours page on the course website. The lab has 100 debathena workstations (or, BYOL -- bring your own laptop). The lab is open during the following hours:

Hours	Days
0900 - 2330	Mon - Thu
0900 - 1700	Fri
closed	Sat
1300 - 2330	Sun

There are special hours during holidays and breaks -- see the schedule posted in the lab for more details.

It's possible to successfully complete all the lab tasks on your own computer without coming to the lab (you'll need to install all the required software, of course), using Piazza or coming to the lab during the posted hours to resolve your questions.

You may also email 6.02-help at mit dot edu, but we prefer Piazza. Did you remember to sign up?!

Each PSet includes problems that involve writing Python code, so be sure to start early and leave enough time to debug your implementation before the due date. There will be six checkoff interviews during the semester, lasting 15-20 minutes each on average, which you must complete with your assigned TA on or before the dates specified on the problem set. Your TA will contact you to schedule these interviews.

Completing the interviews is a pre-requisite for passing the course. A missing interview will result in a failing grade; we will not grant "incompletes" for missing interviews.

After your PSet has been graded, your score and any comments from the grader can be viewed online by browsing the PSet. If you have any questions or concerns about the grading, contact your TA.

Please note that working through the PSets (and other practice problems we provide) is the best way to test your understanding of what we teach and to prepare for the quizzes.

Late policy: You may use up to five extension days (in total) over the course of the semester for the nine PSets, apportioned in any way. To claim an extension day, click on the "student extension" button associated with the PSet, on the "Online grades" link. For any other late PSets, your score will be multiplied by 0.5; moreover, you must submit it within 7 days of the original due date to get any credit.

If you have a note from Student Support Services, please see your TA or one of the course lecturers. For all other circumstances (interview trips, sporting events, performances, overwork, etc.) you may use your extensions. If these days are not enough, please contact your TA.

Collaboration policy: The PSets must be done individually. You may get help from the course staff and other students on the underlying material in the PSets, but the work you hand in must be your own. In particular, you must not copy another person's solution, code, or other work. Someone telling you the solution to a problem is also not acceptable. Copying another person's work or allowing your work to be copied by others is a serious academic offense and will be treated as such. We will spot-check your submissions using a software utility, as well as manually, for cheating, so please don't tempt fate by submitting someone else's work as your own; it will save us all a lot of grief.

Quiz 1: October 11, 2012 (Th), 7:30-9:30 pm. Location: 34-101 & 32-123
Quiz 2: November 13, 2012 (Tu), 7:30-9:30 pm. Location: E25-111, E25-117, & 66-144
Quiz 3: December 18, 2012 (Tu), 1:30-4:30 pm. Location: Johnson Track (upstairs)

Mulligan option: Each quiz is two hours long, including Quiz 3. However, during the third hour of the 6.02 final exam time slot, we may offer a mulligan, or "do-over" option, for one or more parts of the previous quizzes that we believe have not gone well for many students. The mulligan is optional; if we offer it, the score used will be the larger of the original score and the mulligan score for the parts of the quizzes for which the mulligan is offered. Note that we will determine whether a mulligan will be offered after Quiz 2 has been graded, but before the drop date. Skipping the mulligan will not reduce your grade.

To assess and encourage participation, recitations (and perhaps some lectures) will include simple "spot questions" that we will ask from time to time. Over the duration of the term, between lectures and recitations, we anticipate many dozens of such questions; if you pay a little attention, answering them will be trivial. At the end of the term we will take your responses to all these questions into consideration to assess a participation score, which will count toward a small portion (3%) of the overall grade.

If you miss a few lectures and recitations, it shouldn't materially affect this score. If you miss more, it probably will, and may affect your grade if you end up at the border between two letter grades.

Three quizzes for a total of 52%:

Quiz 1: 17%
Quiz 2: 18%
Quiz 3: 17%

Nine PSets: 5% each, for a total of 45%
Participation in recitations and lecture: 3% (cf. spot questions)

To see your scores, use the "Online grades" link in the nav bar on the left.