This is the second introduction video. It explains how the course works and what you need to do each week.
We'll start with the labs and how to prepare for them. Starting with the course videos that you watch at home before class. Then we'll explain the grade, the weekly quizzes, and the rules for using AI. We'll also cover the tools you need before the first lab and the plans for the final project.
This is a flipped course. You prepare at home before coming to the lab. Each week, watch a few short videos like this one and complete the quiz on them before class.
In the lab, you work in pairs on practical problems. An instructor is there to help. There is no separate lecture. Class time is for lab work.
After the lab, start preparing for the next week with its videos and quiz. The course follows this pattern each week.
Your final grade has three parts. Together, the weekly quizzes count for twenty percent of your grade.
The weekly labs count for forty percent of your grade. They count for more than the quizzes. You earn lab credit by completing the work each week. As a rough guide, each lab is marked out of four points. Some labs need preparation, such as installing a tool, and the lab handout on the website says exactly how to prepare. Coming unprepared can cost you points. To give you a little flexibility, We drop your lowest lab grade from the final grade calculation. The rest of your lab grades make up the forty percent.
The final group project counts for forty percent of your grade. You work on it at the end of the semester.
There is no written exam. Most of your grade comes from the weekly work. Together, the quizzes and labs count for sixty percent. The project shows what you can build and counts for the other forty percent.
There is one short quiz each week. Each quiz should take about one or two minutes.
Together, the quizzes count for twenty percent of your grade. A typical week's quiz counts for less than two percent of your final grade.
Each quiz is on that week's videos.
The labs run in small groups. Each lab group has up to twenty students.
Each group has one lab instructor who stays for the whole session.
You are graded on the work you do in the room. You must attend the labs. Come to the lab section you are registered for. We cannot accommodate you in a different lab. Changing to another lab section is only possible when that section has room.
You need a justified reason to miss a lab. That could be illness, it could be reserve duty, or another good reason.
Email your lab instructor. Explain why you need to miss the lab and ask what you should do.
Your instructor may give you an exemption from that lab. Or they may ask you to do the work on your own and email the results. Follow your instructor's instructions.
You can and really should use coding agents in the labs and final project. You can use them as much as you like. That's the point of this course. We grade how well you work with the agent.
You must do the quizzes on your own. This is the one place we ask you not to use an agent.
The rules depend on what you are working on. You can use agents in the labs and project, but not during the quizzes.
You need a paid subscription to a coding agent for this course. We expect you to use Claude Max five x, or a similar plan for another agent such as Codex. Our estimate is about one hundred US dollars a month for the whole semester. A plan that allows less usage probably won't be enough for the coursework. If you run out of usage during a lab, it will interrupt your work. Think about this monthly cost before you enroll in the course.
You need a laptop with a Unix-style command line before the first lab. You can use macOS or Linux. On Windows, use W-S-L two.
You also need Git and a GitHub account. Install Docker too. You'll need it for labs later in the course that use isolated environments.
Start installing the tools a few days before the first lab. Leave time for downloads and for fixing problems. Installation can take a few hours, especially with W-S-L on Windows. Install your coding agent and sign in to your paid account before class. Check that the agent starts and works. The lab does not include installation. You can ask an AI assistant to explain the instructions or help with errors.
The final project counts for forty percent of your grade. You will build software in a group using what you learned in the course.
We have set aside time in weeks twelve and thirteen for you to start the project.
We have not yet settled the group size, what you need to submit, or how the project will be graded. We'll share those details later in the semester.
The project is a group software build, worth forty percent of your grade. We'll share the detailed rules well before you need them.
Each week, watch the videos and do the quiz at home. Then come to the lab, where your work is graded. To summarize: Quizzes count for twenty percent of your grade. Labs count for forty percent, and the final project counts for forty percent.
Before the first lab, install the tools, sign in to your account, and run the checks in the preparation instructions. Check that your laptop, Git, GitHub account, Docker, and paid agent subscription are ready to use. All participants need a working setup.
Watch the remaining videos, and we'll see you there.