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Spring 2009
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General InformationCatalog description // Announcements // MIT Web Certificates // Grading // Collaboration // Class meetings // Staff and Office Hours // Writing program // Spring 2008 Class Materials (opens in new window) MIT catalog descriptionPrereq.: 6.004 (and, by implication, 6.001 and 6.002)U (2) 5-0-7 CI-M 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): 2008 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996 AnnouncementsFor 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. If you miss an announcement, it should be in the News Archive. MIT Web CertificatesAccess 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 PolicyYou will receive two grades: one from the writing program (your writing grade) and one from the 6.033 staff (your 6.033 grade), which are combined in a final grade as follows. Your final grade is your 6.033 grade unless you received lower than a B for your writing grade. If you receive lower than a B, your final grade will be your 6.033 grade but dropped by one letter grade. Your 6.033 grade is based on three components: section evaluation, design projects, and quizzes. They are weighted as follows: Section EvaluationThe 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. Design ProjectsThe 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 forwarded to the Communication Program and graded on writing, 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 mandatory. 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. QuizzesTwo 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.
Non-linearitiesPlease note well: Although the formula to calculate your final 6.033 grade appears to be linear, there are some important non-linearities in the calculation. These non-linearities are the three ways in which you can be sure of getting an F in 6.033:
CollaborationOur policy is simple, based on professional standards: on quizzes you should not collaborate. On all other assignments you are welcome to work with anyone else on ideas and understanding, but your writing should be your own and you should carefully acknowledge all contributions of ideas by others, whether from classmates or from papers you have read. Class meetingsLectures 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: 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. Your 6.033 CI Grade: Your Writing Recitation instructor will comment on and grade four of
your written assignments:
The grades assigned by the writing program will follow the descriptions given on this page The Therac-25 writing grade will
not be factored into the average for the writing component of your grade. The writing grades, Dp1 proposal, and Dp1, as well as attendance at
the writing recitation sections will constitute your 6.033 writing grade, as
follows:
If your average writing grade is
below a B, your final
grade for 6.033 will be reduced by 1 letter grade. With permission of your Writing
Recitation instructor, you may revise your assignments to improve your grade. If you miss agreed appointments with your
instructor, your revisions may not be accepted. 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
currently satisfy the CI-M requirement for you. Phase II If you still fall under the old
writing requirement, Phase II, you will complete the same assignments as CI-M
students. Your work will be assessed under the Phase II requirement. For further information about Phase II, please
contact Dr. Perelman at 617.253.3375. 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. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Questions or comments regarding 6.033? Send e-mail to the 6.033 staff at Top // 6.033 home // $Revision: 36 $, last modified on $Date: 2009-02-10 19:17:44 -0500 (Tue, 10 Feb 2009) $ GMT by $Author: cowling $ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
