COMPSCI577: Introduction to Algorithms (001) FA22
Instructor:
Dr. Marc Renault

Assignments (15%)
There will one assignment per week, starting in week 1, released on Thursday, for a total of 13 assignments
(no assignment due during Thanksgiving, or released on the last week). Each assignment will carry the
same weight, and will be due Thursday at 11:59 pm of the next week. The assignments will be graded
based on participation rather than correctness. Submitting a blank document will not be sufficient to gain
participation points. Rather, each question in the assignment will be graded for participation, giving an
overall participation score for the assignment.

In order to get participation points, you must submit an answer that demonstrates to the grader that
you made a reasonable attempt to answer the question. Most questions will involve designing algorithms,
working through algorithms and writing proofs. Be sure to show your work. If you are unsure how to
answer a question, explain what you understand about the question, what approach you believe needs to be
taken for the question, and where you are stuck. This will also earn participation credit for those questions.
For each assignment, each question or enumerated subquestion with a reasonable attempt to answer will
be given a participation grade of 1. No reasonable attempt to answer will be given a participation grade
of 0. The 80% rule will apply, see below.

Built-in flexibility: 80% rule
For the scores where the 80% rule applies, if your calculated score is 80% or higher, you will be credited
the full points. If it is y% for y < 80, you will be credited y
100 ·x points, where y is your calculated score
and x is the total points. I.e., a discussion participation score of 79% would result in 3.95 out of 5 points.