Dozen Rules On How To Ace My Class

Rule 1.   You have to earn your grade through proper preparation and achievement in coursework, quizzes and exams.   University  grades are earned, never need based, therefore please don't ask for a better grade because of your need.    

Rule 2.  You cannot get a good grade in my class unless you invest time and energy.   Attend class, pay attention, participate in class discussions. Read the book, notes and the references.  Better still, read these ahead of the class.  You will find attending class more productive that way.  

Rule 5.  Do not snooze in my class; it is unprofessional and disrespectful to your colleagues and to me.

Rule 3.  Cut work, not class.  Don't plan on working 40 hours/week and breeze through my class.  Typical starting salary for a comp sci graduate with a good GPA is over $50K (repeat with a good GPA).  Consider cutting work while in school, getting financial aid to finish your degree in 4 years.  Start earning real money as a graduate rather than delay graduation while earning minimum wage flipping hamburgers.

Rule 4.  Don't plan your wedding, vacation, or even a world-trip adventure, around quizzes, finals or homework deadlines (yes, this happens!)

Rule 5.  Cut out excuses; they don't fool anyone except you.

Rule 6.  Prepare for the quizzes, exams, and assignments.  You can't do the assignments in the last minute.  Submissions that exhibit little thought or skill generally score poor grades.

Rule 7.  Think about what the question asks and answer only the question- nothing else.   It helps to  write the question out before trying to answer it.  It also helps to write notes on what you are going to focus on before writing the actual answers.

Rule 8.  Don't plan on getting extra credit work; I don't give them.

Rule 9.  Don't submit scruffy work.  A professional presentation makes you feel good and makes me feel like reading your work with more interest.  Always do grammar and spelling checks on written submissions.

Rule 10.  When answering questions, in exam or homework, do not copy material verbatim from the book or notes; answer in your own words.

Rule 11.  For design and programming assignments use tools such as CASE tools, IDEs, debugging tools,

Rule 12.  Enjoy the class, I love teaching you, I hope that you will enjoy learning.

Rule 13.  Same as Rule 1.