CCS: Policies

Collaboration policy

Individual assignments must be completed individually, you may not directly share or discuss answers/code with anyone other than the instructors and tutors. You are welcome to discuss the problems in general and ask for advice. When in doubt, post an EdStem question that is only visible to instructors; they can make it public if appropriate.

Sharing/reusing code

Unless we explicitly tell you not to use something, the course’s policy is that you may use any online resources (e.g., StackOverflow), but you must explicitly cite where you obtained any code you use, either directly or for inspiration. Any recycled code that is discovered and is not explicitly cited will be dealt with in accordance with the School’s academic misconduct policies; see below. On individual assignments you may not directly share code with another student in this class.

Generative AI

We strongly discourage using generative AI during class or for your assignments as it robs you of key learning experiences for which you are joining this class. While, in the future, you might work with the help of or in combination with generative AI, this kind of collaboration of experts will only be effective if you are an expert yourself and understood and can critically reflect upon the output of generative AI.

You should be aware of the University’s guidelines on the use of generative AI. Importantly:

• Be aware that if you use AI tools (such as ChatGPT or others) to generate an assignment (or part of an assignment) and submit this as if it were your own work, this will be regarded as academic misconduct and treated as such.
• If you use any generative AI tool (such as ChatGPT) to help you (e.g., generate ideas or develop a plan), you should still acknowledge how you have used the tool, even if you do not include any AI generated content in your work. You should acknowledge the AI tool used, describe how you used it, and indicate the date you accessed it.

Academic integrity

The University takes academic misconduct very seriously and is committed to ensuring that so far as possible it is detected and dealt with appropriately. For more detail, check the official policy on academic misconduct.

Cheating or plagiarising on assignments, lying about an illness or absence and other forms of academic dishonesty are a breach of trust with classmates and faculty, violate the University policies, and will not be tolerated. We will report any such cases to the School Academic Misconduct Officer, which may result in marks being deducted for affected work.

Late work, extensions, and special circumstances

All work is due on the stated due date. Due dates are there to help guide your pace through the course and they also allow us (the course staff) to return marks and feedback to you in a timely manner. However, sometimes life gets in the way and you might not be able to turn in your work on time.

• Extensions: The University has an extension policy whereby you can request an extension for any assignments where late work is accepted. If your extension request is approved, you can turn in the assignment late and not incur the late penalty. You can request an extension for assignments. To request an extension you must visit the Extensions website and apply for an extension there. Note that decisions are made by an external committee, not the course teaching staff, so requests for extensions must go through this form and not through course organiser or tutors.
• Exceptional circumstances: You can think of exceptional circumstances as one level above an extension request, where there is a documented reason why you’re unable to complete any assignment in the course. Exceptional circumstances decisions are made at the end of the semester by an external committee. To request exceptional circumstances you must visit the Exceptional Circumstances website and apply for exceptional circumstances there.

If you’re not sure whether your personal circumstance should be filed under an extension or exceptional circumstances, we recommend you reach out to your Student Advisor or the Student Support Team (inf-sst@inf.ed.ac.uk).

Diversity and inclusion

It is our intent that students from all diverse backgrounds and perspectives be well-served by this course, that students’ learning needs be addressed both in and out of class, and that the diversity that the students bring to this class be viewed as a resource, strength and benefit. It is our intent to present materials and activities that are respectful of diversity: gender identity, sexuality, disability, age, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, race, nationality, religion, and culture. Your suggestions are encouraged and appreciated. Please let us know ways to improve the effectiveness of the course for you personally, or for other students or student groups.

Furthermore, we would like to create a learning environment for our students that supports a diversity of thoughts, perspectives and experiences, and honors your identities. To help accomplish this:

• If you have a name that differs from those that appear in your official University of Edinburgh records, please let us know!
• Please let us know your preferred pronouns.
• If you feel like your performance in the class is being impacted by your experiences outside of class, please don’t hesitate to come and talk with us. We want to be a resource for you. If you prefer to speak with someone outside of the course, your personal tutor is an excellent resource.
• We (like many people) are still in the process of learning about diverse perspectives and identities. If something was said in class (by anyone) that made you feel uncomfortable, please talk to us about it.