Inclusion | Advice for Success | Office Hours | Ed Discussions

Inclusion

We are committed to making CS 4820 an inclusive learning environment, where every student can learn the material and enjoy the class, in line with the department's Values of Inclusion. You belong here and deserve to be treated with respect, by your classmates and the course staff. In turn, we expect students to communicate in a respectful manner with the instructors, course staff, and fellow students. If you experience anything in CS 4820 that goes against these values, please contact the instructors, so that we can work with you to address the issue.

Advice for Success

Algorithms assignments can often require creative insights and complex proofs beyond what previous courses have required. Here are a few tips for succeeding in your writeups:

• Start your assignments early. Even if you aren't writing anything down yet, looking over the problem set well in advance of the due date can ensure you have enough time to brainstorm possible solutions and to clear up confusion about how to interpret a problem. Creativity doesn't work well on a deadline.
• Talk with classmates about ideas. While you should not share solutions to problems, we encourage you to talk to your classmates while you work through them. In particular, we recommend finding a group of students to meet with throughout the semester in advance of the deadline to talk about ideas. Make sure you are working through the problems together, not just sharing insights.
• Also, work independently. Learning the process of how to approach algorithms problems is as (or more) important than the solutions themselves. Working (and sometimes struggling) through the homework problems on your own is the best way to prepare for the exams (which count for a much larger percentage of your overall grade).
• Ask questions at Office Hours and on Ed Discussions. The material in this class moves quickly and is often cumulative. If you find yourself scratching your head after a lecture, even after consulting the textbook and course notes, you're certainly not alone. Stop by Office Hours or post on Ed Discussions to get your questions answered.

Office Hours

CS 4820 has a very large course staff, whose primary job is to help you learn the material. One of the main ways we achieve this goal is through Office Hours, where students can get help in the course from the Instructor and the TAs. Most of the TAs for the course are previous 4820 students, who have a good understanding of what you're going through in the course. We look forward to seeing you at OH!

You should stop by if you have a specific question about the material from lecture or a homework problem, or if you have more general questions and want to chat with someone more experienced. At Office Hours:

• TAs help students get unstuck when they are stuck on problems. TAs provide encouragement to students when they are making progress!
• TAs do NOT simply give out the solutions to the homework.

OH are most effective if you come with specific questions about what you've tried so far, and why it doesn't seem to work. OH are also a great place to meet fellow students / study partners from the class. The most successful students in 4820 attend OH frequently!

Throughout the semester, CS 4820 has Rhodes 590 as a permanent study/OH space. At peak hours, OH will be held in Rhodes 655. See the schedule on the main course page.

Ed Discussions

Ed Discussions allows for open discussions of all course-related questions. You are encouraged to post any questions you might have about the course material. The course staff monitor Ed Discussions closely, at reasonable waking hours. If you know the answer to a question, you are encouraged to post it. Be mindful, however, not to post the solutions to homework problems directly. When in doubt, allow the Course Staff to respond.

By default, your posts are visible to the course staff and other students, and you should prefer this mode so that others can benefit from your question and the answer. However, you can post privately so that only the course staff can see your question, and you should do so if your post might reveal information about a solution to a homework problem. You can also post anonymously if you wish. If you post privately, we reserve the right to make your question public if we think the class will benefit.

Ed Discussions is the most effective way to communicate with course staff. Please avoid email if Ed Discussions will do. Ideally, email to cs4820sp25@gmail.com should be reserved for sensitive communications. Broadcast messages from the course staff to students will be sent using Ed Discussions and all course announcements will be posted there and pinned, so check the pinned announcements often!