Course Grades
Grades in CS/INFO 4152/5152
The main course is project-based. Therefore, the majority of the grading will be at the group level. To make sure that individuals are assessed fairly, we have a sophisticated assessment policy to determine your contribution to the team. Part of your grade is assigned individually, while the other part of your grade is assigned as a group (e.g. all members receive the same grade, regardless of effort).
Grades for students taking CS/INFO 4152 are primarily determined at the group level, as that is where the vast majority of the points are. As long as you find a position to contribute equitably to your group, you will do well in this course.
However, students enrolled in the masters section of the course are expected to demonstrate a greater degree of individual mastery in the subject matter. This is reflected by an increased emphasis on the individual grade. In particular, students in CS/INFO 5152 will have two additional individual grades that students in CS/INFO 4152 do not.
Graded Activities
Group Grades
Game Grade
The game grade is determined entirely at Showcase, and reflects the quality of your finished product on the following scale.
- A: Game is well-made and fun to play
- B: Game is stable, but less fun than it could be
- C: Game is not fun at all, or too buggy to play
D’s and F’s are for extreme problems and handled on a case-by-case basis.
Course Documents
As part of the development cycle, you will write many specification documents. These are graded writing-seminar style, with many opportunities for revision.
Presentations
Every two weeks, your group will present an the progress that you have made on your game. Initial presentations are graded pass-fail. Later presentations are graded according to how your group responded to earlier feedback.
Individual Grades
Game Grade
By default this is the same as your group game grade. However, it may be adjusted by your peer evaluations in CATME. Individuals that contributed the most work or the most vision may receive a higher grade. Individuals that cause conflict or create “negative work” will receive lower grades. D’s and F’s are reserved for individuals that abandon their group in the middle of the project.
Participation and Reports
Class participation is graded according to your contribution in during design and playtesting discussions. Finally, this grade also includes mundane factors such as attendance.
In addition, every student is expected to make regular reports through CATME. This will be part of the two week report at the end of each milestone. Students who do not fill out these reports will lose points.
Individual Activities (5152 Only)
The initial three weeks of the course will consist of several activities to introduce students to relevant topics in programming and/or design (depending upon the student role). While ungraded for all 4152 students, these will be graded for students enrolled in the 5152 offerings.
CUGL Tutorial (5152 Only)
Students enrolled in the 5152 offering are expected to write a tutorial on a specific feature of CUGL. For programmers, this can how to use a class (or collection of classes) to create an interesting effect. For artists, this can be how to animate a particular action. For UX designers, it can be how to create an interesting scene graph.
Such students are required to propose their tutorial by the first beta release. They will get one round of feedback on their tutorial before the final submission just before Showcase.
Grade Factors
For activities common to both 4152 and 5152, students will be graded exactly the same regardless of the course they are enrolled in. However, the amount of weight that each element contributes to the final grade does depend on the course.
Grade Weights for 4152 Students
• | (Group) Game Grade | (25%) |
• | (Individual) Game Grade | (25%) |
• | Course Documents | (25%) |
• | Participation & Reports | (20%) |
• | Presentations | (5%) |
Note that the participation grade for 4152 students includes a pass/fail grade indicating that you made a legitimate attempt at the individual activities, even if you did not complete them successfully.
Grade Weights for 5152 Students
• | (Group) Game Grade | (25%) |
• | (Individual) Game Grade | (20%) |
• | Course Documents | (15%) |
• | Individual Activities | (15%) |
• | Participation & Reports | (10%) |
• | CUGL Tutorial | (15%) |
Grades in EGRC 4152
ENGRC 4152 final semester grades include those items listed in the table below. Grades for the documents and items listed in the table below will be the same in CS/INFO and ENGRC enrollments. Grades for each of these will posted in the CS/INFO course CMS, as the grades will be identical to what you earned for that course.
The breakdown of grades for this class is tentative, but we expect it to be roughly as follows:
• | Charter & Group Reports | (10%) |
• | Concept Document | (17%) |
• | Gameplay Specification | (17%) |
• | Architecture Specification | (15%) |
• | Design Specification | (15%) |
• | App Store Page | (16%) |
• | Attendance & Presentations | (10%) |
CATME Grades
One additional feature of ENGRC 4152/5152 will be CATME team assessment surveys. These will be sent to your Cornell email address automatically. Watch for them to arrive, and check your Junk/Trash/Other folders.
There is nothing to submit in Canvas; the instructor will port in the points from the CATME. However, you MUST fill out the CATME survey inside the CATME system. CATME results may impact your participation grade on the associated written document or sprint.
The grading scale below is simply for participating in the CATME survey. Impacts on the Participation grade are a separate assessment done by the instructors.
- 5 pts: Completed, saved, and submitted CATME, with radio buttons done on time AND a full set of at least two required sentences at the end of the survey.
- 3 pts: Completed CATME radio buttons only, but on time.
- 0 pts: Not done and/or not done on time.