6.033 Academic Continuity Policies

Per MIT's policy, 6.033 will be offered fully in-person this semester. In-person learning is an important and valuable part of the 6.033 experience, but if you are sick, or fear you may be sick, do not come to class. We have plans in place (below) for students who need to miss a few in-person sessions because they're isolating. If you need to miss more than a few, we will work with you and S3 to figure out the best path forward. But we cannot stress this enough: Attest to symptoms if you have them. Do not come to class if you’re sick or might be sick. Do not, do not, do not.

Lectures

Even though they are large, lectures in 6.033 are fairly interactive (sometimes with props and costumes!). They are also relevant to the next day's recitation. We believe that students get the most out of lectures by attending them in-person, with their classmates, at the scheduled time.

However, if you need to miss a lecture because of isolation:

• If you are feeling well enough to watch lecture as it happens, you’ll be able to (almost) livestream it during the normal lecture time (we are expecting a 1-3-minute delay between the live, in-person lecture and the stream).
• If you are not feeling well enough to watch lecture as it happens, we will make recordings available that you can watch once you're feeling better. These recordings will most likely go live a day or two after lecture.

Even though recordings will be made available, we do not recommend treating this as an option to view all 6.033 lectures asynchronously. 6.033 is a fast-paced class, and each day's material builds on the previous day. Attending lectures at the scheduled time gives you the best opportunity to stay on track.

Additionally, if at any point we have an assignment that takes place during a lecture, we will not consider overlapping class schedules as a valid reason to miss that lecture.

Recitations

Recitations in 6.033 are discussion-based, and you are graded for participation. If you need to miss a recitation because of isolation:

• To cover the content:
  • We will post notes related to each recitation. These notes will likely not be ready before the recitations happen, but will be posted within a day or two after each recitation (the notes are meant as a resource for everyone to use to prep for the exams, and especially for students who had to miss a recitation; they’re not meant as a resource to prepare for the recitation).
  • We will hold open office hours on Sunday specifically to review that week’s recitation material. Anyone is welcome at these office hours, but they are specifically targeted towards students who had to miss a recitation that week. You should come to these office hours having read the paper, and with questions. The TAs will be prepared to answer your questions and will have a few examples ready to illustrate certain concepts. These hours will occur in an open zoom room where students can learn from each other. Note that this is not the same as coming to office hours to listen to the TAs give you a presentation on the material; you should come with questions and be prepared to engage with the staff about the material.
• To cover participation:
  • You can miss up to two recitations in 6.033 with absolutely no effect on your grade. If you let your TA know that you’re missing class because you need to isolate, we won’t count that absence against your two “free” absences. However, if you need to miss more than two recitations because of isolating, we need to work with you and S3 to come up with a plan.

There is no option to participate in recitations remotely and synchronously (e.g., if you’re isolating but feel well, we don’t have an option to zoom into recitation). Our staff is not large enough to teach additional zoom recitations (especially given that every student has a different schedule), and incorporating zoom participants into an in-person recitation has not worked well in the past given the size of our recitations.

Tutorials

If you need to miss a tutorial, please reach out to your WRAP instructor. We will be able to accommodate absences for students who are isolating, but the exact way in which we accommodate them will depend on where we are in the design project.

Exams

There are two exams in 6.033: Exam 1 (after spring break) and Exam 2 (during finals week). If you need to miss the exam because of isolation, the staff will work with you to schedule a make-up exam, provided we know in advance. If you need to miss Exam 2, we may need to issue you an OX for 6.033 given the deadline for final grades.

Assignment Deadlines

The late policy in 6.033 already allows for 24-hour extensions as long as you let your TA know ahead of time. If you feel you would benefit from additional extensions because of isolation, please reach out to a dean at S3 so that we can work with them to find a reasonable plan.