Some FAQs, Spring 2022

Everyone,
There were quite a few questions people had about how the course
works! For the benefit of all, I’ve listed them below with the
answers. Feel free to ask additional questions by email.

DB
——–
Q: If I decide to use the website format for the project, how do you
judge what is a sufficient amount of content to include for the topic?
in pages?

A: The total amount of words would be less than for a paper, because
some of your effort would be in setting up the website. But the
overall effort should be the same. If you reuse content you found on
the web, be sure to give credit to the source, otherwise it would be
plagiarizing and there is no credit for an assignment containing any
plagiarism.

Q: Would I need to present the video and show my self? Kind of like a
reporter or could I just show content related to the video and not
appear in front of a camera?

A: You would not present the video to the class. Online students would
instead hand in the video itself or link to it. The video format is up
to you, it could show yourself or not, depending on how you do it.

Q: My main question is: Do you receive a lot of complaints about all
the nuisance ads that display on the WordPress blog?

A: No, but maybe people don’t like them even if they don’t complain. I
don’t know. Blackboard doesn’t have ads but Blackboard is also a
terrible example of software design especially for computing students
who need to learn about good design, not bad design. Also learning how
to use Blackboard will be totally useless to you after you graduate,
while learning about major blogging platforms could have applicability
outside of your college years. Maybe another student will respond with
a solution or partial solution… A good ad blocker add-on for your
browser? If I tried to get UALR to pay for a no-ad account they would
probably just say, they’re already paying an arm and a leg for
Blackboard, so just use that.

Q: You’ve done a very good job of setting up this course! I wish more
of the instructors in the CS department put this much effort into
clearly laying out their courses. All my what, when, and where
questions were all answered in the course info and syllabus.

A: Thanks!

Q: How long does my game have to be? How long does my paper need to be?

A: Papers are 2,250 words. They used to be 2,500 words until a student
said they never wrote a paper that long in their life, not even in an
English class. A game should be equivalent in amount of effort to a
paper.

Q: Is explicit language a major concern? Obviously offensive slurs are
a no-go, but I am concerned about whether using it would be
off-putting. In fact, I would probably have already dropped the
occasional swear in this blog if I knew the definitive answer. I’ll
keep it in moderation, of course.

A: The grader’s first language is not English. I won’t get offended
myself, but think about the concept of effective writing style: how to
best reach your reader. Maybe the “moderation” idea has some value…

Q: When an assignment says “Due Friday or over the weekend”, for
example, does “over the weekend” constitute a late submission?

A: “Over the weekend” would certainly count as on time.

Q: If I were to do a video presentation or skit with friends and
family, how long does it have to be?

A: Equivalent in effort to a 2,250-word paper. It’s not really
possible to judge effort based only on video length. Other things are
very important too.

Q: I know that if we choose a presentation for the format we don’t
have to present it, but for the 5-minute presentation will we send in
a video or slideshow?

A: You would send the slides, but do not need to record a slide show
presentation. For a video, skit, etc., just send that instead of
slides.

Q: if you choose a 50-minute presentation as the project format what
is the 5-minute presentation?

A: Pick out 5 minutes worth of slides and hand in two slide decks, one
long (the “project”), and one short (the “5-minute presentation”).

Q: Also will I be notified if my blogs are not written
correctly/coherently? I am worried that I may have read the directions
wrong

A: Yes. Just do your best on the directions. And ask if you are
confused about any of them.

Q: In terms of the course information, my questions are these:
Assignments are considered on time if they are submitted within two
days of the due date, correct? For example, I would get points if I
submitted Tuesday’s assignment on Wednesday.

A: Whoa! Regular 100-point assignments are due on the stated due dates.
On the other hand, for the 10-point lecture engagement exercises,
according to the assignment statement, these are each due 2 days after
the scheduled day of the lecture itself (which as an online student
you don’t attend). This is in part because Blackboard does not put the
recording of my lecture online immediately, so it takes me a day
sometimes to post a link to the recording. However you can certainly
use recordings from previous semesters if you want. Please spend about
50 minutes on each one (the same time commitment of attending an
actual lecture).
Regular HWs are worth 100 points and are due on the stated due dates,
no two days extra.

Q: Secondly, I’ve just been typing to this blog for submission and
publishing it. I assume that’s how we turn things in.

A: Exactly. We will check your blog. Please do not send an email
unless it’s late. If it is late, do send an email because we might
have already checked the blog and won’t check it again, so if it is
late you should email it to make sure we see it.

Q: One question I have is what questions is the second option for the
Today’s Assignment talking about? I read through the lecture outline
and it is hard to tell which question are part of the lecture and
which are the ones I am to answer. Or if they are the same thing.

A: Same thing. The lecture bullet points have questions there for
discussion purposes and those are the questions to think about and
answer. (This question was about the 10-point lecture exercises.)

Q: How will feedback be offered for the homework? Both the project HWs
and the cases?

A: Yes. All grades below full credit should come with an explanation.
Feel free to ask for more feedback by email as needed.

Q: What turnaround time for grading is to be expected?

A: Please send me a reminder if it’s been more than a week.