6.1800 Spring 2024 Calendar
Objectives + Structure Grading + Policies Participation Staff + Schedule
Design Project Hands-ons
Overview Office Hours Piazza

Getting Help

If you are struggling with any aspect of 6.1800, the staff is here to help. If you're unsure where to go with a question, just drop by office hours or email any member of the staff (your TA is a great point of contact). But here are some more details on how we communicate with students, and how you can communicate with the staff:

Canvas: We’ll use Canvas to send out any important class-wide announcements, and occasionally instructors will use it to send out communication to the students in their section. We also use Canvas to give you feedback on your assignments and to release grades. You should pay attention to communication that comes via Canvas!

Office Hours: Come to office hours for help with literally anything related to 6.1800! Clarifications about an assignment, one-on-one help with an assignment, questions about lecture or recitation material, questions about how to succeed in 6.1800, help with anything you’re struggling with, etc. If you come to office hours with a clarification question about the design project spec, we might ask you to post it on Piazza instead (so that the instructor who’s leading the design project can answer), but there’s no harm in asking in office hours.

Your teaching team (that is, your TA, recitation instructor, and WRAP instructor): If you have a question about how you’re doing in 6.1800, reach out to your TA, recitation instructor, or WRAP instructor. They’re in the best position to help you specifically, since they’re your main point of contact for the class. They’re also the best place to go with questions about anything that happened in recitation and tutorial (e.g., “Can you explain more about what you meant when you were talking about ICANN’s role in DNS?”)

Dr. LaCurts: Even though you have the most contact with your teaching team, Katrina is also always happy to chat about the class: anything from lecture material, to how to improve your grade (if you want to), to what you might do with a career in systems (your recitation instructors are also great at answering that question). If you are thinking “This class is so big, Katrina will not have time to talk to me”, rest assured that Katrina will have time to talk to you. Katrina also likes to talk about birds, art, and powerlifting, if you’re into any of those things.

Piazza: We don't use Piazza for announcements; any important announcements will make it to you via Canvas (or live in lecture/recitation/tutorial), corrections/clarifications to an assignment will make it to the assignment itself, and answers to questions about the design project will be accessible via a frequently-updated FAQ on the website. But Piazza is good for quick questions about an assignment or the course material, and we actually prefer to receive questions about the design project via Piazza. For example:

FAQ

I could really use a short extension on an assignment; can I have one? Almost certainly yes as long as you let us know ahead of time. You can assume you'll be granted a 24-hour extension (even if we don't respond to your email before the deadline). If you're in a situation where you think a longer extension would be helpful, please read the next question.

I have personal circumstances that are affecting my performance in this class. What should I do? We can usually accommodate this. Get in touch with Student Support Services, as well as with some member of the staff: your TA, your recitation or WRAP instructor, or Dr. LaCurts. We will work with you and S3 to come up with a plan.

I have a question about something in the class and I'm not sure who to contact. Get in touch with your TA, your recitation or WRAP instructor, or Dr. LaCurts. We want you to feel comfortable reaching out for help, and we're happy to redirect you to someone else on the staff if there's a better person to answer your question.

I'm looking for personalized, one-on-one help in this class. Where can I go? Office hours are the best place to start, and are usually pretty chill. Another option is HKN Tutoring, which provides free one-on-one tutoring for hundreds of Course 6 students each semester and is another resource for students looking for extra help. Sign up to be a tutee (or tutor!) here.

I'm having trouble working with my design project team, but I'm worried that if I say something, one of my teammates will be penalized. What should I do? Please reach out to us. Your WRAP instructor is likely the best point of contact for this, but you can also reach out to Dr. LaCurts. We will work with you and your team to find a solution; no one will be unfairly penalized. In some cases, a member of your team may be having difficulties outside of class, and this gives us an opportunity to help support them while also making sure the design project goes smoothly for everyone. (See more about design project teams here.)

I'm having trouble accessing some part of the class. The staff of 6.1800 is committed to the principle of equal access. We encourage you to meet with Dr. LaCurts to discuss your disability-related needs, including accommodations which you may need in order to fully access this course. If you have a quick issue—you can't login to Gradescope, you don't know what room your recitation is in, etc.—reach out to your TA or post a question on Piazza and we'll help. [an error occurred while processing this directive]