General Information

MIT catalog description

Topics on the engineering of computer software and hardware systems: techniques for controlling complexity; strong modularity using client-server design, virtual memory, and threads; networks; atomicity and coordination of parallel activities; recovery and reliability; privacy, security, and encryption; and impact of computer systems on society. Case studies of working systems and readings from the current literature provide comparisons and contrasts. Two design projects. Students engage in extensive written communication exercises. Enrollment may be limited. 4 Engineering Design Points.

Underground Reviews (require an MIT personal certificate): 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996, 1995, 1994, 1993, 1992, 1991

Announcements

For announcements and assignments, the Web is our authoritative form of communication. We expect students to check the 6.033 home page for both news and assignments regularly, every couple of days. If you hear a rumor, check it there.

MIT Web Certificates

Access to a number of documents on the course web site is restricted to its students, using MIT Web Certificates. Protected documents include some of the reading materials with copyright restrictions, and the recitation/tutorial assignments.

Grading Policy

Your final 6.033 grade will have the following components:

17.5%	DP1 Report (half technical, half writing)
17.5%	DP2 Report
20%	Technical Section Participation and Weekly Assignments
5%	Writing Section Participation
40%	Quizzes

Note that over a third of your grade comes from written assignments: we expect you to take writing seriously in this class.

Section Evaluation

The section part of your grade reflects your overall level of participation in recitation and tutorial as well as a series of weekly hands-on projects that support recitation. Section instructors will base at least half of the evaluation on your communication skills: oral communication skills as observed in recitation paper discussions in class and written communication skills as evaluated by your instructor and your teaching assistant. The remainder of your section grade is based on the quality and enthusiasm of your participation, your understanding of the papers, and on whether you handed in the assignments, since the exercises aid your ability to discuss the papers.

During most weeks, you will be expected to complete a hands-on experiment that requires a computer, usually an Athena workstation, and sometimes using the Web. The idea is to reinforce some of the abstract concepts from the lectures or papers that week and find out how things really work. These assignments generally do not require programming.

A portion of your grade will also be based on your participation in writing tutorials and on your communication and interaction with your writing instructor.

Design Projects

The final result of each of the two design projects will be an extended paper in which you describe a detailed system design to solve a real-world problem. There will be two design projects, each of which will extend over roughly half the semester. The first will be an individual project; the second will be done in teams of three students from the same recitation.

The first design paper will be graded by both your recitation instructor and the Communication Department, as described in the section on writing requirements.

One of the teaching assistants' primary roles is to tie the design projects into the topics covered in lectures and recitations. On most Fridays, they will be teaching "tutorials" to explain the design projects' requirements and some of the tradeoffs inherent in the projects. Like lectures and recitations, these tutorials are required. Students are also welcome to ask questions about the design projects during TA office hours.

A couple of weeks into each design project, you'll be asked to hand in a short design proposal. We'll evaluate this to make sure you're on the right track and to suggest writing improvements, but it will only count against the project grade if you fail to hand it in. We'll also discuss common mistakes during tutorial. Both design project proposals will be forwarded to the writing program, and be graded according to the description in the writing requirements section.

You must turn in both design projects in order to pass 6.033. If you have not turned in either of the two design projects, you will automatically receive an F.

Quizzes

Two quizzes are held during the term. A third quiz (1.5 hours in length) will be scheduled during finals week. Each quiz will focus on a third of the class's material, but keep in mind that later topics in 6.033 build heavily upon the earlier topics. The quizzes count as follows: 12.5% quiz, 12.5% quiz 2, and 15% quiz 3.

Late Policy

Collaboration

You may not collaborate on quizzes. On all other assignments you are welcome to discuss ideas with others, but your writing should be your own and you should acknowledge all contributions of ideas by others, whether from classmates or from papers you have read.

Class meetings

Lectures will be held on Mondays and Wednesdays from 2:00pm-3:00pm in 32-123. Recitations are on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Friday sessions will usually be tutorials, but we use some of the Friday hours for lectures by the staff of the M.I.T. Communication Program, and some for quizzes. See the schedule for the exact dates of these events.

These four types of sessions are all required. For the first recitation, attend whichever one you want. After that, you will be assigned a permanent recitation.

For details about your recitation and tutorial time and place, consult the recitation and tutorial assignments.

Staff

Course staff mailing list: 6.033-staff at mit.edu. Use this mailing list to contact all the 6.033 staff members.

Communication Intensive Recitations

MIT faculty and department members believe that students in any field should learn to write prose that is clear, organized, and eloquent, and to marshal facts and ideas into convincing written and oral presentations.

MIT implemented the Communication Requirement in 2000 in response to alumni feedback. Alumni said that they had received an outstanding technical education at MIT but needed more training in writing and speaking to succeed in their professional careers.

The 6.033 faculty have worked with the MIT Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) program for more than 10 years to design 6.033 writing and speaking assignments. We have chosen assignments that are similar to the kinds of writing you will do in the engineering workplace: memos, proposals, design reports, and design presentations.

To assist you in preparing for the written assignments, several of the Friday recitations will focus on communication instruction. At these recitations, you will receive advice on how to write your one-page assignments, DP1 proposal, and DP1 from a Writing Recitation instructor. Attendance to the writing recitations will be included in your final overall recitation grade.

• Therac-25 written assignment (one-page memo #1)
• Design proposal for Design Project 1 (DP1 Proposal)
• Design Project 1 (DP1)

For design project 1, your recitation instructor and writing instructor will work together to assign your final grade, with approximately equal weight being given to writing and technical portions of the grade. You will be given the opportunity to revise your design project to improve your writing grade, with revisions due approximately one week after the design project is handed back.

According to the Communication Requirement webpage 6.033 satisfies CI-M for Course 2A, 6-1, 6-2, 6-3, 6A, 18-General, 18-Theory, 18-Applied, and 18-C. If you are not in these programs, 6.033 does not satisfy the CI-M requirement for you.

Writing Prizes

The EECS department hands out a few awards for excellent papers for Design Project 1. Outstanding Design Projects are nominated by technical and/or writing faculty. Every submitted design paper is eligible for an award; the final decision is made by the 6.033 and writing staff based on both technical content and writing quality.

Questions or comments regarding 6.033? Send e-mail to the 6.033 staff at 6.033-staff at mit.edu or to the 6.033 TAs at 6.033-tas at mit.edu.

Top // 6.033 home //