What you should know on the first day of class

Lecture Sessions

Three lecture sections are being offered for ECE 120 this Spring, https://ece.illinois.edu/academics/courses/ECE120. Two sections (AL and AL4) will be taught online through Zoom and one section (AL2) will be taught in-person in ECEB 3017. You will attend three lectures per week (MWF) during the scheduled lecture times (in-person/ online synchronous lectures). For more information, please see the detailed schedule (link).

Note that the first week of our semester is online. After the first week of the semester, all courses scheduled to meet in person are expected to return to that modality. Zoom links of your sections are posted on the detailed schedule page on Canvas.

Discussion-Worksheet - Every Thursday

You will also attend a weekly discussion session on every Thursday. During the scheduled discussion time, you will work with other students on a worksheet. The discussion sessions will be conducted by TAs. You should upload your completed discussion worksheet to Canvas. The submission deadline is 11:59 pm CT on the day of the discussion session. For more information, please see the detailed schedule (link).

Prelecture -Quizzes (optional) - due at 8:30 AM on the day of the lecture session

The Prelecture quizzes, which are closely related to prof. Lumetta's lecture recording and notes, are due by 8:30am CT for the lecture-discussion covered by the pre-lecture recording. You will take the prelecture quiz on PrairieLearn. Links to an external site. Participation in prelecture-Quizzes will earn you extra credit towards Exams (1% of the overall grade without going over the 60% Exams cap).

Homework

Homework assignments and their deadlines will be posted on the Syllabus -SP22 page of this wiki. Homeworks are submitted online through PrairieLearn Links to an external site. / Canvas. Homework 1 -SP22 is due on Wednesday, January 26 at 9:00 pm.

Laboratory assignments

Labs and their deadlines will be posted on the Syllabus -SP22. Labs will be due roughly every week. A failing grade (F) for the course will be given to any student who does not score at least 50% in the labs. Lab 1 -SP22 is due on Friday, January 28 at 10:00 pm.

Midterms and final exam

There will be three midterms and a final exam in this course. Exam dates are posted on the Syllabus -SP22. All exams are online exams that you take at times posted on this Page.

Getting help

The ECE 120 Staff are committed to helping you learn, but you must ask for help! If you have technical questions, please ask at Office Hours or post a question on the Canvas Discussion Board. You can also ask your instructor or TA quick questions after lecture or discussion. If you have questions about how to improve your learning skills, please feel free to ask any member of the course staff with whom you feel comfortable. These conversations are best had in person/Zoom (face-to-face) rather than by email. Finally, if you have questions about course logistics or can't get your question answered any other way, please email Prof. Bhowmik.

Grading Policy

Homeworks - 15% (lowest two homework grades will be dropped)
Labs - 15% (lowest single lab grade will be dropped, excluding Labs 12 and 13)
Discussion - 10% (lowest two weeks will be dropped, see below)*
Midterm 1 - 10%
Midterm 2 - 15%
Midterm 3 - 15%
Final Exam - 20%

Every homework assignment will be weighted equally, even though the raw totals may be different. Likewise, every lab will be weighted equally. The lowest two homework grades will be dropped. The lowest single grade will be dropped among labs. For this reason, there will be no deadline extensions for any reason.

Grade cutoffs:

A+ > 97	B+ 87-89.99	C+ 77-79.99	D+ 67-69.99	F < 60
A 93-96.99	B 83-86.99	C 73-76.99	D 63-66.99
A- 90-92.99	B- 80-82.99	C- 70-72.99	D- 60-62.99

In the event that course performance is worse than expected, these cutoffs might be lowered, but they will never be raised. Furthermore, they are strict. For example, a grade of 89.99 is a B+ and not an A-. A failing grade (F) for the course will be given to any student who does not score at least 50% in the labs.

Hardware Labs:

Hardware Labs: (https://ece.illinois.edu/academics/ugrad/lab-kits)

ECE120 has a combination of hardware and software labs. All the labs will be performed online. Students will demonstrate their hardware labs online through Zoom. Considering the COVID-19 pandemic and students' needs, the department has prepared Lab-kits for our students. It’s time to get students their Kits! Please take a look at the website, https://ece.illinois.edu/academics/ugrad/lab-kits

ECE120 Lab Kits: ECE120 Lab Kits can be acquired free of charge. Please read FAQ below before ordering. Mistakes will cause delays in receiving your kit!

Important Dates: Orders for ECE 120 will be accepted starting Monday, January 24, and the last date to place an order is January 28.

Discord:

We would like to extend an invitation to this semester’s Discord (link Links to an external site.), which will be a place for students to talk and meet with their group online.