Tutorial attendance and lab participation
All twelve tutorials count: one point for attendance and one for taking part in the weekly experiment. Together they make up 20% of your course grade.
When: Every Wednesday tutorial, weeks 1–12 · Weight: 20%
What counts each week#
Every Wednesday tutorial in weeks 1–12 is assessed. There are two points per week:
Attendance · 1 point. Attend the scheduled tutorial and check in with the tutor, who records your attendance for that week.
Lab participation · 1 point. Make a prediction, try the week’s experiment or compare two cases, then explain what changed and why. The tutor checks your work and explanation during the session.
Show the tutor your run, trace, table or notes before leaving. A spoken explanation or a short written explanation is equally acceptable. You may discuss experiments with a partner, but each student checks in and explains their own reasoning.
You do not need a perfect algorithm or a successful delivery to earn the participation point. A failed experiment counts when you can explain the failure and what you would test next. Simply opening the page or copying a result without explaining it is not participation. There is no mark for collecting screenshots or for visual polish.
How the total is calculated#
All twelve weeks count equally; there are no dropped weeks. The maximum is 24 raw points, converted to 20 percentage points of the course grade:
Tutorial contribution = (points earned ÷ 24) × 20.
For example, 18 out of 24 earns 15 percentage points towards the course total. The attendance half and participation half each contribute up to 10 percentage points. The rubric below splits this tutorial component; its percentages are not additional course weight.
If you miss a session#
Contact the tutor as soon as you can. For an approved absence or access need, agree an equivalent activity and a check-in with the teaching team. The team will confirm how attendance and participation credit apply. Unarranged absences receive no attendance credit; opening the Lab later does not automatically record either point.
How this connects to the assignments#
Keep your weekly evidence: it helps you build Assignment 1 (30%) and Assignment 2 (50%). Tutorial points reward attendance and engagement; assignment marks assess the submitted implementation, validation and analysis. The same experiment can inform both, but the assignment still needs your own code and explanation.
The tutor keeps the weekly record. This demonstration website does not record attendance, award points or receive submissions.
The spec
The brief poses the problem and leaves room for a response. The spec is the fixed part: what a marker checks. Some lines can be checked mechanically; the rest call for judgement.
- all twelve weeks count equally, with up to two points in each tutorial
- the tutor records attendance and participation separately each week
- participation includes a prediction, an experiment or comparison, and an explanation of the result
- a failed experiment can earn the participation point when you explain what it reveals
- 24 raw points are scaled to 20% of the course grade
How it is marked
| Criterion | Weight |
|---|---|
| Attendance across all twelve tutorials | 50% |
| Active participation in the weekly experiments | 50% |